From:          graemed@magnet.com (Graeme Davis)

WARPSTONE
Warpstone is the raw stuff of Chaos - a form of matter dragged through into
this world from another dimension by the violent birth of Chaos. It is a
powerful source of magic, and is greatly sought after by all followers of
Chaos.
A single piece of raw Warpstone is usually an irregularly-shaped lump about
the size of a man's fist. It emits an intense black light, which seems to
swallow light from its immediate vicinity, creating a small patch of
darkness around it. In this raw form, Warpstone is very dangerous to all
creatures, and prolonged exposure can cause severe mutation or death. The
Skaven, and many of the other races of Chaos, were created by exposure to
raw Warpstone, as natural creatures were twisted by its magical emanations
and developed mutations which have been handed down through the
generations.
Any creature exposed to raw Warpstone (ie within 10 yards of an unshielded
source) for a period of a day or more has a 5% chance of developing one
mutation, which is rolled on the Personal Chaos Attributes table in Slaves
to Darkness. Roll at the end of each day of exposure. Skaven Grey Seers
have only a 1% chance of being affected, since their constant exposure to
raw Warpstone has given them a limited resistance to its effects.
Warpstone can only be used in a controlled way once it has been refined.
This is a difficult process, and one which only the Skaven Grey Seers have
the natural ability perform, actually gaining magical energy by doing so.
Refined Warpstone is a grey powder, quite unlike the original matter. It
has has no warping effects unless it is eaten or otherwise taken into the
body, in which case there is a 1% chance of gaining a Chaos mutation every
time it is consumed. Many Skaven bear the results of this unholy diet. Grey
Seers may consume refined Warpstone without risk of further mutation
because of their special resilience.
SKAVEN WARPSTONE MAGIC
As well as supplying the Skaven magicians with magical energy, Warpstone is
used by the Skaven clans for their own purposes. Clan Skryre, the
Warlock-Engineers, are able to manufacture many strange and powerful
weapons in this way. Warpstone is added to metals in carefully controlled
quantities during smelting or annealing, endowing the metal with magical
qualities. Members of the Clan Moulder use small amounts of Warpstone to
cause mutations amongst their captive breeding stock, creating new races of
twisted and loathsome creatures such as the Wolf-Rats and Rat-Ogres. Clan
Pestilens have developed the use of Warpstone to start devastating plagues.
Clan Eshin are adept at making deadly weapons and poisons from Warpstone.
Even the Warlord Clans find uses for this strange and potent material, in
the form of specially manufactured protective amulets, maddening
battle-drugs and mind-altering potions.
Some of the magical items manufactured by the Skaven from Warpstone are
described below. These are only the items which have been seen by Human
chroniclers; it is almost certain that there are other weapons in the
Skaven arsenal, as yet unknown.
The Firethrower
This device projects a corrosive, flaming mixture, made from refined
Warpstone in conjunction with other chemicals and magic. It is much feared,
and extremely deadly both to its target, and sometimes to its crew. The
firethrower has a crew of two Ratmen, which are moved as a single unit. If
one of the crew is killed or disabled, the weapon cannot be fired until a
replacement is found; the surviving crew member may either abandon the
weapon, acting as an independent character, or stay with it until the
missing crew member is replaced. The first crewman aims and fires the
weapon, while the second carries its deadly fuel in a small cask on its
back.
4]Firing: The weapon must be primed before use, so the crew may not move
and fire in the same round. The weapon has a range of 24 yards, and firing
is handled as follows:
The firethrower is aimed and fired using the normal rules for throwing
incendiaries, ignoring the "missile lands at thrower's feet" rule. It is
subject to misfires; consult the following table in the event of a misfire:
D100 roll	Result
01-25	Nothing happens. Crew may attempt to fire again next round.
26-75	Firethrower jams. Crew must spend D6 rounds clearing it for firing.
76-00	Firethrower explodes. Crew is killed automatically, all other
creatures within 2 yards take D3 automatic hits at S 5, modified as usual
by armour and T. All flammable objects within 2 yards of the weapon are
automatically set alight.
Any creature struck by the firethrower's warpflame suffers 1 hit at S 5,
modified as usual by armour and T. Creatures which survive the attack are
warped by the fire (see below).
Warpflame: any creature which survives an attack by the firethrower must
make an immediate WP test; if the test is failed, the victim's body bursts
into a gout of mutations, with new limbs, snakes, antennae and other
unnatural excresences sprouting from its twisting, melting body. The victim
becomes a living, bubbling pile of caustic slime, and moves in a random
direction each turn/round (roll D8 each turn/round: 1 = ahead, 2 = ahead
left, 3 = left, and so on). Anything it blunders into sustains a single S 5
hit. The slime-creature is immune to all psychology rules, and retains the
profile it had at the moment when it was warped. The victim may expend a
Fate Point in order to avoid being warped, but even then gains 6+D6
Insanity Points.
Plague Censers
These are specially made incense-burners carried by certain members of the
Clan Pestilens. Refined Warpstone is burned like incense, and the  censers
are swung around the wielder's head, scattering their foul poisonous fumes
in the air. Ratmen using these devices wear thick hoods and scarves to
protect them from the fumes, although this does not always work. The
effects of this gas are horrible to see, causing anyone breathing it to
develop a rapid and painful form of plague in which the skin blisters and
swells before breaking out into bleeding sores and boils.
The whirling censer creates a cloud of poisonous gas within 4 yards of its
wielder. All creatures within this area must make a successful I test or
suffer an automatic S 3 hit from the flailing censer (modified as normal by
armour and T), and a successful Poison test or sustain another automatic S
2 hit (not modified by armour), for each round they are within the cloud. A
D6 must be rolled every round for the Censer Bearer; on a roll of 6 the
wielder is struck by its own censer, and suffers damage accordingly.
A censer continues to burn and emit its noxious vapour so long as it is
swung, but will be extinguished once its user is slain or disabled. An
extinguished censer may still be used as a weapon, and counts as a
double-handed flail.
Warpstone Charms
These are made from small pieces of Warpstone, and may take almost any
form; normally they are irregularly-shaped pieces of coloured stone, jewels
or chunks of crude metal, all incorporating or exposed to the effects of
Warpstone. They are tokens of luck, and may offer some protection from
magic. Charms of this kind are used by the most important amongst Skaven
(ie the biggest and meanest). During their construction, they somehow
develop a life of their own, so that they writhe and move constantly, and
may be warm or soft to the touch. These pieces are literally hammered into
the Skaven's skin, often about the head, sticking out like a row of studs.
If a Skaven loses an eye, ear or some other feature, it may be replaced by
a Warpstone charm. The Warpstone charm has three functions:
Firstly, if the charm is used to replace an organ, such as an eye, it will
fulfil the function of that organ just as well as its original did; thus a
Skaven who has had both eyes replaced by Warpstone charms will still be
able to see normally.
Secondly, the charm gives the Skaven a +10 bonus to WP tests when it is
attacked with magic.
Thirdly, any Skaven carrying a Warpstone charm may use its power to ignore
any single dice throw and roll again. This power may only be used once per
day.
Poisoned Wind
This is one of the Clan Skryre's most notorious weapons. A devastating
magical wind is entrapped inside a globe of glass. The globe is produced by
means of the Warpstone, and small amounts can be seen inside the unbroken
globe. Globes may be thrown up to 6"/12 yards, or smashed if the carrier
prefers, releasing a sudden blast of strange gas. This lasts only that turn
and affects all models within 2"/4 yards. The effects of the gas will vary
from victim to victim; some suffer hardly at all while others go completely
insane, attacking their friends or becoming utterly helpless.
The victim must make an immediate Poison test or gain D6 Insanity Points.
Warpstone Grenades
Like the Poisoned Wind, these weapons consist of glass globes, hurled by
hand or from a sling. The globes contain a flammable mixture of Warpstone,
phosphorus and pitch, similar to the concoction used in the Firethrower.
This mixture ignites on contact with air, so that when the globe is broken
it explodes, spattering the sticky burning matter over a 4 yard radius.
Everything within this radius takes D3 S 4 hits; because the mixture sticks
to anything it hits, all targets are treated as flammable.
Warpscrolls
These are powerful magic items, inscribed upon the hide of living creatures
using a special ink manufactured from Warpstone. To be fully effective the
hide must be flayed from the creature while it is still alive, and then
cured using finely ground Warpstone power. Once prepared, the Warpscroll
can be used by any Skaven Plague Monk  of hero status. The Skaven must
remain for a turn reading and displaying the scroll, in the following turn
it may direct the effects of the scroll against any enemy unit or
individual within 12 yards.
The effects of the scroll cover an area 4 yards in diameter, with the
centre of the area not more than 12 yards from the scroll itself. All
living creatures within this area must make an immediate WP test or suffer
rapid and irreversible ageing, shrivelling and dying in a few brief
seconds. Victims may spend a Fate Point in order to avoid this fate.
Assassin Weapons
Assassin Weapons are used by the infamous Clan Eshin, the Skaven spies and
assassins. During their manufacture, a small amount of Warpstone is
incorporated into their substance, which is also treated with certain
guarded magical spells known only to the Rat-assassins. The metal becomes
incredibly hard and sharp, and constantly "sweats" a deadly poison. An
Assassin Weapon is usually (90%) a dagger, but they have also been known to
take the form of arrows, crossbow bolts, throwing stars (R 4/8/20; ES C;
Rld 1 round), and other small weapons. No Assassin Weapon larger than a
dagger has ever been recorded.
The effect of any armour is reduced by 1 point, and cause double normal
damage. Any creature wounded by an Assassin Weapon must make an immediate
Poison test or die.
Potions of the Skaven
These potions incorporate refined Warpstone along with other strange
ingredients, and are used to improve the fighting abilities of the warrior
Skaven.
The potions will only be found on Skaven leader-types. If you wish to
determine this randomly, 5% of all Skaven champions, heroes and wizards
will have one potion, which is good for one dose only. When any Skaven
drinks the potion, roll D6 and consult the following table:
1	The Skaven ignores all psychological effects;
2	The Skaven gains a +20 bonus to all Magic tests;
3	The Skaven becomes subject to hatred of all non-Skaven, and will attack
the nearest non-Skaven immediately;
4	The Skaven becomes subject to Frenzy;
5	The Skaven's metabolism speeds up to a phenomenal rate; its M, I and A
are all doubled. Roll D6 at the beginning of each round; on a score of 1,
the Skaven collapses dead.
The effects of the potion lasts for 2D6 hours. Any non-Skaven drinking such
a potion must make an immediate Poison test or die; even if the test is
passed, the character will be in great pain (all percentage characteristics
halved) for D4 hours.
The Arca Chaotis
The most feared Skaven weapon of all is the Arca Chaotis, or Black Arc - a
magically protected chest that holds a huge chunk of raw Warpstone in a
suspension of energy. The Arc is normally kept securely locked, and is
borne by its dedicated litter bearers. The casket can only be opened by a
Warpstone key. Once exposed, the Arc hurls forth bolts of black lightning,
capable of razing cities and destroying armies. Only a character carrying a
Seerstone (see below) is really safe. The Black Arc is said to be one of
the most potent sources of power in the entire world. Thankfully, the
Skaven have never been known to use it, and there are some who believe that
it is merely a legend.
The Seerstone
The Seerstone is a ball of crystal, at the heart of which lies a piece of
raw Warpstone. The Warpstone glows with an especially fervent black
radiance whenever the Black Arc (see above) is near, and so allows its
holder to trace the position of the Arc. As the holder approaches the Arc
the glow strengthens, and as he draws away the glow fades. Only a Grey Seer
can use a Seerstone for this purpose. The stone also serves to protect its
holder from the lightning bolts that spew from the Black Arc once it is
opened. A character holding a Seerstone cannot be harmed by the Arc,
although all around him is death and destruction.