The time of mortals is ending, and the reign of Chaos draws ever closer. The Dark Gods are at last united in a singular purpose, loosing their madness across the world as never before. In the Empire of Sigmar, Karl Franz's gaze is focused on the incursion of the savage northmen, but it is not the only threat. As the Chaos moon Morrslieb waxes full, shrill voices echo through tunnels gnawed far beneath the Empire's cities, and a Skaven host swarms towards the surface. It emerges first in the city of Ubersreik, a screeching mass that consumes all before it. Soon Ubersreik is a charnel-town, drowning beneath the malevolent shadow of the Horned Rat.

Yet even in the darkest times, there are always champions to light the way. As Ubersreik cowers, five heroes, united by capricious fate, carry the fight to the rat-men. It remains to be seen whether they have the strength to survive, let alone work together long enough to thwart the invaders. One truth, however, is beyond all doubt: should these five fall, then Ubersreik will fall with them.

In Vermintide, the city of Ubersreik is under siege as players select from a band of five heroes with different play-styles and abilities, all equipped with unique gear and personalities. Working together cooperatively, players must use their individual attributes to survive an apocalyptic invasion from hordes of relentless, power hungry Skaven, across a range of environments stretching from the top of the Magnus Tower to the bowels of the Under Empire.

Kerillian walks the land of men, but has yet to reveal her reason for doing so.  When asked, she may not even dignify the question with an answer or simply make up some wild tale just for her own amusement.

She rarely seeks interaction, but is unfortunately regarded as a curiosity since Wood Elves are a rarity in  the lands of men.  Although many avoid her at all costs, there are those who can’t resist an approach, and there are even those foolish enough to challenge her.

To the Wood Elves, killing a human is not a crime in itself. It’s simply a question of disciplining, correcting and culling the lesser races when the need arises.

However, Kerillian has no patience to teach others, and instead concentrates on walking her own path. She views humans as nothing more than young, unruly, and hopelessly untalented children. Sometimes amused by their immature antics and clueless beliefs, sometimes angered for the same reasons, but either way, she tends to speak her mind with a patronising and belittling bite.

Choosing the Waywatcher

The Elves of the Warhammer universe are not so much traditional fantasy Elves, but instead have more in common with their more sinister versions of the Nordic folk tales. Hence we wanted to include one of the wood elf Waywatchers amongst our heroes, both to reflect their rich culture and enigmatic personalities. Like most of her race, Kerillian is lethal, agile and cold, with pitch black eyes and a proficiency in archery.

Sketching out a concept for Kerillian came relatively easy, since the Wood Elves of Warhammer have such a distinctly arboreal look to them. Their armour and weapons grow and flourish with usage and are nuanced in shades of brown and green to better blend into the surrounding environment. Utilizing materials such as bark, sticks and pinecone shells for the protective parts of her armour, the dark green cloth allows her to move swiftly and silently across forest terrain.

When we started creating her in-game model, her body and armour were only tweaked slightly during production, with her natural pose being bent over like a cat ready to pounce. The biggest alteration we made to her armour was changing the colour of the fur around her shoulders from brown to white to make her more distinguishable from the Skaven.

Our real challenge was getting her facial features right. Our first take of her came out looking too human and too much like a supermodel. In short, we were not going in the right direction. The artists kept iterating on her look, attempting to make her leaner, and more exotic and alien in appearance. The Wood Elves of Warhammer are just as lethal as they are beautiful, and this needed to be reflected in their appearance.

This was far from the last step we had to take in ensuring that Kerillian came out looking the way we wanted, and even though these iterations stretched past the original deadline, we were not giving up until she was just right. In the end, Kerillian emerged considerably more feral, leaner and more graceful, looking just like an Elf from Athel Loren.

Kerillian’s Arsenal

Kerillian likes to stay light on her toes and pick off enemies from a distance. In the eyes of a Wood Elf, the Bow is the only ranged choice of worth and she is exceptionally skilled in using it. If Kerillian lines up her shot up just right, she can even shoot through two enemies using only one arrow.

For maximum agility and speed in close quarters, we gave her a set of Dual Daggers. This allows her to swiftly slice, hack and cut her enemies as she darts  through the Skaven packs. For situations requiring more power, she can switch to one or two Elven Short Swords, or even combine one of her Daggers with one of her Swords. True to her kin, Kerillian is only willing to use weapons and armour of elven make, regarding all others with contempt, deeming them vastly inferior.

The Story of Kerillian

Waywatchers are charged with guarding the secret paths of Athel Loren, the ancient home of the Wood Elves. This was Kerillian’s vocation, a duty she performed for hundreds of years, slaying trespassing Beastmen as well as curious Bretonnian peasant boys foolish enough to enter the woods in search of the Fey.

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 against her when she one night saw something that no mortal was ever meant to see.