The Death’s Head

Our campaign is centered on a certain area of Mordheim, known locally as the Death’s Head district. This area is the hunting ground of Soloman Vantor’s minions and where the Priests of Morr have been directed to through their dream-visions.

The district itself runs from the ruined southwest wall encompassing the gaol, along the south side of the Old Palace Road that leads to the banks of the River Stir, down the west side of the river bank and once more to the city wall. The Death’s Head district sits within the shadow of now-ruined palace of Count Steinhart. The Temple of Sigmar’s Rock is within a bow’s shot from the banks of the district, however the solitary bridge that connects the island temple to the city crosses on the far bank, meaning the Sisters have a long journey through the rubble and across the Middle Bridge should they wish to reach the district.

Even when Mordheim was at its most prosperous the Death’s Head was viewed as a place to be on your guard, for while the buildings and shops that edged the Old Palace road were seen as reasonably opulent, the quality of the housing and its inhabitants rapidly declined once you moved past Executioner’s Square. The exception to this was the business premises that sat on Death’s Head Road, the street which the district was named after, that lead from the southern exit of Executioner’s Square to the Temple or Morr. At times of the executions, the convicted was bought from the nearby gaol to the square. Once the axe had fallen a ceremonial procession led by the ‘head bearer’, who held aloft the freshly decapitated head and was followed by ‘corpse carriers’, moved from the square down the Death’s Head Road to the gates of the Temple of Morr, where Acolytes would be ready to receive the body. Bystanders would congregate along the road to mock and jeer the criminal’s dead body as the procession walked by.

It was rumored that, before the comet, the Thieves Guild known as the Guild of Shadows had numerous safe houses in the back alleys and narrow streets of the area, although their presence was not as strong as in the Poor Quarter. It was also said that the House of Coils – the most powerful Death Guild outside of Altdorf, held court within the district.

The vast majority of buildings within the district, like most of Mordheim, now lay in ruins. Ever since the comet plunged into the city and the warbands started to hunt for wyrdstone, the Death’s Head has been given a wide birth. It is said that Executioner’s Square now contains the incorporeal spirits of damned criminals. Rumors persist that the gaol, which was crammed full on the fateful night of Mordheim’s damnation, is still inhabited even though a great crack rent the building in two, allowing any surviving criminals a means of escape. Most chillingly of all, the district was home to the crowded Cemetery of Saint Voller, and everyone knows that the dead do not rest easily in Mordheim.