Kerillian Lore

Fatshark Lounge
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Hey y’all, i’m a huge sucker for warhammer lore (V2 in particular) and the mention of a particular bit i haven’t heard yet by @SmokerT69 has convinced me that a compilation of all her ‘once heard lines’ should be compiled together, to get a clearer picture, as some may not have been heard by all. Please differentiate between the careers, this is mainly about WS, but HM and Shade are also welcome.

Theory-crafting can be thrown in here, too.

I’ll start with some of my own, this excerpt is from the wiki entry of the Cytharai, to be specific Drakira’s entry:
’ The Queen of Vengeance, Drakira , is ever ready to help an Elf seeking retribution for some slight or other. She chooses to spend her time away from the other gods and as such is the favoured goddess of the Waystalkers, who prefer to spend their time deep in the forest. Though Drakira is quick to grant her gifts, they seldom come without a price and she is just as quick to claim that in payment.’

I’m thinking that the payment maybe has something to do with the curse she is under, which is visible through her blackened eyes. Maybe the ‘meeting’ with the Spellsinger she had was leading up to a plead for help to Drakira. Or she only mentions her because of her profession, idk. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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I assume you’re on about the voice line of Araloth being family. Which if true, is huge. I really hope they expand on that.

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I might be wrong, but Wood elves having black eyes is not something abnormal

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Even for a Wood Elf, Kerillian’s sight was sharp, able to pick off a ladybird eating a leaf at a hundred paces if she chose to. But this gift, coupled with a natural curiosity also turned into a curse when she saw something that no mortal was meant to see. One autumnal night, when both moons rode high in the sky, Kerillian spotted a Spellsinger as he meandered under the boughs. The Elf mage was no trespasser and so there was no reason Kerillian should have kept track of him, and yet she did.

Her curiosity piqued. The Waywatcher followed the mage from above as he walked deeper into the forest… and put her on a path that would change her fate forever.

As Far as I know She is “banished” for something. She might be cursed as well (as part of it).

The V1 lines and lore book give far more info on the characters than most of the things I heard in V2.

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So these are some of the interesting ones she seems indeed kind of cursed dough that isn’t completely correct.

EDIT: This is probably a monster of Nurgle accompanying/flying Burblespue here, yes he forged the pact here in Stormdorf. (the one line before refers to burble as well)

Now I miss a lot of lines in V2 (and flair that came with it)

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People have speculated that her counting kills is part of that curse. I dunno, but it could be plausible. Perhaps she needs a certain amount of kills before “X” happens. Or perhaps it’s just her way of atoning for her crimes. But still, if Araloth is her family, he’s the Lord of the most prosperous and militarily powerful region of the wood elves. Not to mention I think he’s the curent avatar of one of the elven gods. For her to be banished, she must have done something really bad.

At the same time, she was a waywatcher. Waywatchers and waystalkers are the elite of the elite. During meetings of elven “noblity”, they normally sit above the rest and by themselves. They’re extremely respected.

As for black eyes. I’m pretty sure all wood elves have black eyes.

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100% speculative (and I have to admit, at least twice as cringy), but my own prevailing theory is something along the lines of this:

Once upon a time, Kerillian would follow this Spellsinger dude into the woods which would lead to them (accidentally) fricking over a bunch of Wood Elf souls that were meant to go where-elf-souls-normally-go, but instead went to Ereth Khial, otherwise known as The Pale Queen (this is in reference to her saying “the dead, what else?” when asked by Kruber and Bardin about what got her in trouble to begin with).

Kerillian, in an attempt to free these souls, entered into a pact with The Pale Queen, where she would offer up a massive quantity of souls in exchange for the elf souls (this is why she’s cursed, as she’s marked by the goddess of death, and is also why she counts every kill she makes, as she’s counting how many souls she needs before her end of the bargain is up).

If Kerillian was to die during the journey, she would be damned to The Pale Queen as well (which is why Kerillian’s so terrified of her when she’s downed in-game).

Kerillian then entered into self-imposed exile and journeyed to Ubersreik. Most likely because she knew the end of the world was coming and was aware of the Skaven threat, but who knows. The important thing is, the Skaven showed up, and that provided an ample opportunity for reaping some souls.

She decides to team up with the “mayflies”, as they prove rather efficient in helping her reach this goal faster (unbeknownst to them, of course), and the rest is history.

So yeah, that’s my E P I C theory fellas. Be sure to donate to my Patreon and buy all my merch so I don’t have to take any responsibility in my life.

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I wish Total War: Warhammer and other media featuring wood elves (as well as more of the models themselves) featured black eyes. It’s a very cool look and goes a surprisingly long way in setting them apart from the usual fantasy elf people are accustomed to.

@LordRhinark

I hope this is true! It makes for a very interesting story and I hope poor Kerillian can collect the souls she needs. Though I suppose in the end all elven souls were ultimately consumed by Slaanesh? :frowning:

In my headcanon she somehow survives and goes off to make half-elven babies with Kruber. :innocent:

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Meh, too easy. In my head canon she ends up with Salty. I bet Salty is a freak in the sheets.

I really hope we get a DLC focused around each character and their back stories. Love to go to the southern continent for Bardins hold he’s looking for. Do what ever stupid Sigmar crap Salty wants to do and finally some maps to try and end Kerillians curse.

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HAH! That’s fun. I’m willing to bet there’s no emotion; he is just raw, Imperial efficiency. Aside from that: not all wood-elves have black eyes, but it’s not exactly world-breaking if they do. It’s just another color of eyes, if I’m not wrong.

Lastly, I think the counting kills thing is part of the curse because of her interactions with Sienna in VT1. Sienna comments that, “The Weave around you stirs with every rat-man you slay.” I’m fairly sure this is why everyone else believes it as well.

Couldn’t agree more; I really like where @LordRhinark is headed with his theory. Elves aren’t exactly prepared to throw their lives away at a moments notice, so why not pick up a pack of humans and a dwarf who are more than prepared to leap into the fray?

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I dunno man, the religious nut jobs are normally the most perverse… I could see Salty getting into some srs BDSM :joy:

As for kerillian, she also hints via dialogue that she killed a lot of humans at hogarts bridge or something. Not sure how it’s spelt, but I know it’s in the general area, next province over. So I’m guessing she was just killing whatever she could until she caught wind of the rat men and teamed up with these guys to maximise the slaughter.

Wood elves do not consider humans or even dwarfs as equals. I know they think of humans like vermin or insects. So I’m guessing she would have had no issues exterminating them whenever the chance would arise.

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I feel the way Kerillian interacts with Kruber and Sienna in particular shows she’d probably have difficulty killing them. Maybe she slaughtered humans in the past, but those two? And other humans upon getting to know them? I doubt she’d be able. It’s clear in a lot of her dialogue that although she pretends to view them with contempt she has some degree of appreciation for them.

She’s very tsundere to put it in weeb terms. “Don’t die, Sienna. You’re the least annoying one.” and a quite shaken, upset one when Kruber dies that I can’t quite remember are very cute lines. Of course there are some really cold “character died” lines for all of them but I choose to believe they’re not “canon”, lol.

I guess it’s possible she might if forced, though. I actually wonder whether she was the one to kill the humans at the bridge; in that line it seems like she’s just trying to get a reaction out of Saltzpyre.

Maybe I just have too much faith in her. :sweat_smile:

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I think you’ve pretty much nailed it on the head; every member of the Uber-Doober 5 is a death-weapon and none are to be trifled with, but I still believe Kerillian is fairly soft-hearted in the end.

I’d say that those really cold lines are actually attributed to the battle-hardened veterans of the group who fight and kill for a living, they’re not desensitized, they’ve just trained themselves to hold it back. Allies dying rips them apart emotionally but they can’t show that in the heat of battle; it’s gotta wait for when they get home or they’ll join the dead. I imagine Kruber, especially, has done it a lot… I defer to @BizarreSalp’s excellent Kruber stories for breaking my heart about that lad. I’ll dig them up if I can, I think I favorited them.

@SmokerT69 I do agree that she probably thought about that at the beginning but I think she’s built up an appreciation for them that she can’t discard anymore. They might be the only 4 people in the world who actually care about her life continuing. Bardin, especially, really cares for all of his companions and absolutely panics when one of them takes a dirt-nap… he has little taste for Wutelgi, but Kerillian’s not a Wutelgi anymore; she’s Dawi to him until she irritates him.

Heartbreaking that they’ll all die in a year or two. More depending on the time-frame we are at.

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I hope that when support for Vermintide as a franchise is ceased, whenever that may be, that we’ll get a final DLC in which we have to say very emotional farewells to each of the Ubersreik five. :frowning:

Even just imagining having to see them die; their last moments together, makes my nerdy ass a tiny bit teary. :sweat_smile: They could totally make so many people sob if they played their cards right.

A really powerful Halo: Reach style final stand or something. Maybe the one and only level that’s five player.

Also, listen to this laugh: https://youtu.be/BYQKrx4do4M?t=327

There’s no way she could hurt Sienna. :blush:

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This conversation has got me all emotional about the Uber-Doober 5. I hate it when the good guys lose… it makes for a better story, but I don’t have to be happy about it.

Can someone draw a picture of them having a happy ending? A picnic on a hill looking out and across the Reikland? I only know how to use MS Paint to direct Destiny Raids, not prevent me from feeling these feelings.

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I got u, fam. :slight_smile: <3

First set of stories
Second set
Third Set
Finale

I also started writing some stories based on the levels - I have not forgotten to write more, but I’ve been straining to finish my first work for publication, alongside my regular work!

The first of those level stories
And a few more

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Wow, you’re a great writer. I especially enjoyed the Kerillian stories. (obviously)

I’d probably read a whole Vermintide book from you.

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Thanks very much! The idea has crossed my mind to write one . . .

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Sorry to double-post, but I am. >_>;

@LordRhinark
That is a really interesting and awesome theory! I love it, and it makes a lot of sense. I’d donate to your pp if I wasn’t broke lolol.

@Haybear
Totally agree about the black eyes, it’s a lot more ethereal. I also wished that they typically had more of Kerillian’s accent rather than the “generic fantasy English” accent that they get in Total Warhammer. Not that that’s bad on its own, but it seems to often just be a default for every single fantasy race that isn’t growly and monstrous.

I agree that she would never really kill the others of her party. I think she’s actually really fond of them as comrades-in-arms, but keeps aloof because she knows there’s no happy ending there. :frowning: After all, if the world ends, they all die (and certainly she has an inkling that SRS STUFF is going down), and if they win, well - she’ll still outlive them by such a margin that their lives will be more akin to the mayflies she loves to refer to them as.

I think as you mention, she is quite Tsundere and also just has poor social skills. Asrai aren’t known for their social graces, and she’s practically a hermit even by their standards.

@SmokerT69
Keri x Salty was my first ship in the game. XD At the very least I can see them blowing some stress off . . . They’d both approach it in a casual enough way to avoid emotional entanglement. :stuck_out_tongue: Though if she was to end up with a mayfly for serious, it’d probably be Kruber. He’s efficient, in his own Mayfly sort of way.

Dunno if the Hogart’s Bridge slaughter was before or after her exile? Wood Elves will casually kill anyone who comes into their territory, so if some Imperial troops happened to pass through a forest (they have some presence in some forests in the Empire), they’d kill them even if they don’t normally care.

@Torantolis
I just finally got to reading the whole thread. I’m only okay at drawing, but I would like to write a happy-ending story!

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Yeah, except for the few fortunate (important) ones like Tyrion, Teclis, Alarielle, Malekith, and so on and so forth (fricking elf plot armor).

I’m rather curious (yet also sickened to my very core) at the prospect of inter-breeding between species in Warhammer being a possibility.

It’s more or less confirmed to be possible with Daemons (Nurglite Daemons, of all things) due to the very existence of Orghotts Daemonspew (whom we will no longer speak of from this point forward), but otherwise, I don’t recall any canonical half-breeds in the lore.

It definitely leads to some… “interesting” thoughts when forces such as the Slaaneshi are taken into consideration (whom literally find everything and everyone frickable).

Cough

“Not now, witch!” - Saltzpyre, upon receiving friendly fire from Sienna.

“Save it for later, Saltzpyre.” - Sienna, upon receiving friendly fire from Saltzpyre.

Cough

Cough cough

Reminds me of a conversation in the keep.

Kerillian: Oh, really? I have to endure the sight and sound of you two every single day and it drains my sanity. Apparently I’m not as good at shutting out the world as I used to be.

Kruber: Then try harder. We do.

Kruber’s too pure for this world. My man just wanted to retire, get himself a farm, and drink some ale, but instead he caught himself a nasty case of post-traumatic stress disorder, a rat infestation, and the literal end of the world.

Uhm, I’d honestly rather strap actual dynamite to my pelvis and blast my wiener c l e a n o f f all the way to kingdom frick in a botched circumcision attempt than suffer the absolute disgrace that is resorting to e-begging complete strangers for currency over the internet.

I may be a scumfrick rat bastard and a complete and utter shitelord, but I’m an honourable one at that, and I’d sooner see myself damned straight to Tartarus for my numerous transgressions against human decency, common sense, and the occasional random bystander on the street, than sully the in hindsight rather questionable reputation I’m desperately trying to uphold.

Oh yeah, this is a Kerillian lore thread. I dearly hope this is laden with enough irony not to banish me to the Ban Realm. Please papa Fatshark I don’t want no trouble.
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