Skulls? Why all the Skulls!?

[FateWeaver]

Alright, I need answers and I am sure there is a lore buff around here who can provide them.
Why is the imperial city so rife with carved skulls embedded in all the architecture? In the tavern for example the place is overflowing with skull artwork, not exactly what you picture in a place where you are supposed to be merry and have a drink and have a laugh with your fellow citizens...
Not to mention the actual real human skulls, where is the respect for the dead!? They are placed around like decorations, in the Horn of Magnus level there is a mailbox-like structure with skulls piled up inside for example, right there on what is supposed to be a busy street!
Is there a cultural reason for it all that makes sense? Or is it all in the name of Games Workshop and Fatshark's artistic freedom to do pretty much whatever the Hell they want in order to turn everything as grimdark as they can get away with? I am honestly clueless and would much appreciate an answer.

[Harukage]

Nah, they just slap some warp dust on their blades. It is extremely toxic i tell you.

[FateWeaver]

Well thanks to all of you, I feel I have a slightly clearer picture now. The only one I am still struggling with are the human skulls in the main hall of the tavern, but apart from those I feel I understand The Empire a bit better now. For example I thought Sigmar was the only allowed god to worship before you made me aware of all the Morr worship going on.

[BallisticOctopus]

Harukage eredeti hozzászólása:

Nah, they just slap some warp dust on their blades. It is extremely toxic i tell you.

Well, that would technically be a poison :P

Then again, they use warpstone for everything. From the gas used by Globadiers to the bullets shot from the Ratling gun. But yes, it's dangerous as all hell. Don't they use slaves to mine the stuff, because it's so damn bad for you?

[Harukage]

Warstone is a hardened dark magic. Do not even ask how it is possible. Aparently the big green moon is fully made of that stuff.
Warpstone is aparently toxic, radiactive and a very strong mutagen. It is also a source of a vast amounts of energy.

[FateWeaver]

You know the more I see of Warhammer Fantasy the more I wish Games Workshop would hire a development team to make the Warhammer Fantasy equivalent of Skyrim, I just feel I can get lost in this setting. Oh Warhammer Online, why did you have to die...? :(

[Harukage]

FateWeaver eredeti hozzászólása:

For example I thought Sigmar was the only allowed god to worship before you made me aware of all the Morr worship going on.

Idk, isn't soldier constantly mention Tall an Shallia? They are also Empire's gods. The lord of the wilds and his wife the goddes of mercy and healing.
There is also the good old warrior god Ulric, the slayer of monsters, The White Wolf. Wolf Hammer weapon in the game is reference to him, and is used widely by his clergy nad templars. Also warhammer originaly was his symbol and Sigmar was an Ulric's faithfull,
There is also Myrmidia, not original Empire's goddes, but she is also rather popular. Her cult came from Estalia. She is the goddes of seas and sailors.
One of the game's tips during loading also mention about the god of trickery and thieves. Though i can't remember his name.

[Free Luigi M.]

The answer is probably because the creators of warhammer really liked skulls. They are everywhere both in Fantasy and 40k. And they are used mainly by the "central" human faction in both cases. The Empire and the Imperium with the space marines.

And Sigmar is just the main deity. There are others.
He was a legendary hero, much like Conan, who was born in a barbaric human tribe. Became warlord, united all human tribes and founded the Empire, being crowned first emperor. And he kicked Asavar Kul's ass, who was the first Chaos Gods' chosen who tried to destroy the empire and bring the end times. There is a legend in which Sigmar exterminates an orc army by wielding just a skull from an ox, or something. Then he simply disappeared.
During the end times it is revealed what happened to him.

[Byron]

in the warhammer and warhammer 40K settings, a human skull is a symbol of the human race. that's it.

from a design perspective, it's a good way to help establish the grimdark aesthetic that the warhammer intellectual property has come to embody as well as help build unique character to the setting. so tired of seeing fantasy humans with gold and blue and lions and eagles.

[Kybran]

there isn't really a "good faction" in Warhammer anyway. not in Fantasy and especially not in 40K
they're all racist, fascist, zealots, religious fanatics, warmonger, etc etc