Gotrek and Felix

Gotrek and Felix are a pair of characters in the "Warhammer Fantasy" setting; appearing in a series of novels written primarily by William King.

The novels chronicle the adventurers of a Dwarven Slayer named Gotrek Gurnisson and his poet/insurrectionist companion, Felix Jaeger. As a Slayer, Gotrek seeks a glorious death in battle to atone for his unknown sins; Felix, bound to him by a Dwarven oath incurred after a drunken binge, is tasked with writing of his heroic exploits and ultimately recording his death. Felix, however, has long since come to adopt the opinion that "Anything capable of killing The Slayer would finish me off shortly afterwards".

As well as appearing in the novels they have also been incorporated into the Warhammer Fantasy Battle game appearing initially as hero characters for the Dwarf army and then later in the "Dogs of War" army book.

Character

Gotrek Gurnisson is a Dwarven slayer, a Dwarf who has brought shame upon himself and has taken an oath to seek death fighting in honourable combat. Like all slayers, Gotrek had shaved his hair into what usually is a cresent shaped mohawk. Through the trials he has faced he has lost an eye in battling with the orcs and goblins and appears to be large and muscled. He wields a battleaxe imbued with powerful rune magic. Having gained this weapon during his first excursion into the northern Chaos Wastes, where he recovered it from the dead son of King Thangrim Firebeard. Gotrek's axe is as powerful as that wielded by the dwarven High King, Thorgrim Grudgebearer. This weapon was the Runemaster's Axe of the lost dwarven horde of Karag Dum, and supposedly previously belonged to the dwarven deity Grimnir. Although the link is rarely, if ever, directly stated, the suggestion appears to be that the second, and more powerful of Grimnir's axes is now wielded by Gotrek Gurnisson. The elven mage Teclis once read the magical aura of Gotrek, and determined that immense power is flowing from the axe and slowly changing The Slayer into something greater than an ordinary dwarf.

Felix Jaeger is Gotrek's reluctant companion and rememberer, after Gotrek saved Felix from being killed in the window tax riots in Altdorf. In a drunken stupor, Felix had promised to record Gotrek's death so that his honor could be maintained. Dwarfs take oaths very seriously, so Felix was compelled to travel with Gotrek. Felix is a human with a swordman's physique and long blonde hair, who favours a chain shirt and red cloak. Over years of following Gotrek, Felix has become an accomplished swordsman and duelist. His own weapon is the rune sword Karaghul, a blade with a dragon hilt recovered from the fallen hold of Karak Eight Peaks. A relic of the Order of the Fiery Heart templars, it was forged for the purpose of slaying dragons. It grants him a shield from a dragon's fiery breath, as well as providing a powerful confidence when facing such a creature.

Gotrek and Felix Novels

The series is comprised of the following:

* Trollslayer
* Skavenslayer
* Daemonslayer
* Dragonslayer
* Beastslayer
* Vampireslayer
* Giantslayer
* Orcslayer (written by Nathan Long)
* Manslayer (written by Nathan Long)
* Elfslayer (written by Nathan Long)
* Shamanslayer (to be written by Nathan Long) "Announced at Games Day 2008"The series from Trollslayer to Vampireslayer have been collected in "Gotrek and Felix Omnibus I and II".

The pair have been in several short stories as well including:
* The Dark Beneath the World in the collection Red Thirst

See also

Black Library

External links

* [http://www.trollslayer.net William King's official website]
* [http://www.freewebs.com/kalevalahammer/timelinegotrekfelix.htm/ Kalevala Hammer] - fan-based site, with timeline for the stories. This timeline is based on the books, but still fan-made.