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CULT OF TAAL AND RHYA TEAMS

Player Art


Player Icons
Kurnocervus


Famous Teams
Oakleaf Wanderers first mentioned in 2nd edition Companion

Background
Cult of Taal and Rhya teams were first spotted training with Kurnous and Isha teams in the forests at the edge of the Empire. The cults druids, rangers and hunters wore little to no protective equipment and learned off the Asrai Fae to play a dexterous hit and run style approach to the sport. While not as tough as most human teams The Cult of Taal are heavily skilled and fleet of foot. These nomadic cultists appear from time to time in Leagues throughout the Old World and with moderate success, most notably the team Oakleaf Wanderers. But just as quickly as they appear in a region they vanish again, popping up in other parts of the Old World and beyond to test their skills, but more often than not they play to prevent and protect wild places from intrusion, just as Kurnous and Isha teams do.

Rationale
Druid teams were first mentioned in 2nd Edition Companion book and I felt the Cult of Taal and Rhya was the perfect sub sect of Empire to express this idea in a team. The Cult of Taal and Rhya is essentially the closest thing to Wood Elves that humans get in terms of their beliefs. The cult essentially worship Isha and Kurnous albeit under slightly different names. When designing this roster the first thing of note to take into account is that they wear no armour other than robes and the skin of animals. So it was immediately apparent I was making an all Av8+ team. The Cult are also similar to Wood Elves in their foraging and living off the forest.

As the team is based off Oakleaf Wanderers I decided to name the linemen Druids, rather than just calling them Taal and Rhya Cultists. They are less armoured than standard humans and more nimble, living in and off the forest, so I gave them Ma7 to represent this. I considered A access as well, but opted to leave them with only G access for now.

Next I added the Horned Hunters, these are the team's Blitzers. They wear the skull and horns of giant Stags and they're fierce Blitzers. Horns was perfectly fitting due to their appearance, and I felt they should start with Block as they are still Humans Empire Blitzers, albeit dedicated to the ways of the Cult of Taal and Rhya. As with all players in this team they start with Av8+, but their lore specifically describes them as having magical Woad Tattoos, which is meant to give them something akin to "Feel No Pain" and the closest fit for this in Blood Bowl is Iron Hard Skin. Woad Tattoos is also in Albion teams and on Savage Orcs so there is verisimilitude there. The only consideration was the skill access. In the end I opted for GAS for this player. They are described as very agile due to living and hunting in the forest but also powerful. I also felt it was needed for balance reasons due to the vulnerability of the this due to their low Av.

Next I added Longshanks. These are essentially Rangers, they are described as the most dexterous of the humans, as dexterous as the Wood Elves and they are described as being great archers. So I felt giving them Pa2+ and Pass was very fitting, as with the rest of the team I gave them Ma7 and Av8+ due to living in the forest and being nimble. I considered giving them GAS access too, but felt starting off with Dodge was enough for them in terms of describing the players abnormal agility. Rangers/Longshanks are known for their stealth and trapping, so I added Diving Tackle to represent this. Longshanks are few in number so left them as 0-2 on the roster, which makes them a very unique Thrower positional in the game, P access also means they can develop into the team's Leaders. In their lore they take the Wandering vow, which prevents them staying in one place. This is thematically in keeping with the famous team - Oakleaf Wanderers.

Finally I gave them access to the Kurous Big Guy - the Kurnocervus. The Cult of Taal and Rhya have an affinity with the spirits of the forest and it is fitting that the spirt would protect the team.

Team design, background and rationale by Garion