r/AoSLore

So it is no secret that the community has largely had a lukewarm reception to the Cult of the Wheel for numerous different reasons. But with the new Forgepriests, I feel it is worth highlighting some other major and/or interesting Cults Unberogen.

So that's what this dossier will be for. This is gonna be a simple bulletin list cause a lot are lacking in info. But maybe we'll get more in time:

• Order of the Dove: The Order is a mendicant order who makes agreements to join reclamation crusades as healers in exchange for getting to build hospices in the new cities founded in the wake of these crusades. Venerate Sigmar as the Caretaker of Humanity.
• Brethren of the Bolt: The lightning-addled Brethren of the Bolt worship Sigmar's aspect as a bringer of Azyr's divine lighting. Seen as fanatical even among the Cults Unberogen, each member is a being who found their calling after being stricken by electricity in one manner or another. The cult believes the Realms are theirs for the taking by divine mandate.
• Cult of the Comet: Also known as the Cometarian Missionaries are a religious sect headquartered in the Realm of Azyr. A restrictive cult best known for sending its missionaries far afield, such as to doomed Mournhold.
• Blessed Fulgurians: Basically less than nothing is known about these guys but the 3E Cities of Sigmar Battletome did mention them as a major cult.
• Burner-Cults: To the burner-cults of Hammerhal Aqsha, Sigmar is the raging fire left behind where lightning strikes. During the horrors of the Shudderblight they were convinced by Zanta Falora and Fente, two of the traitors killed on the Eve of Four Killings, to turn poor districts like Kindle Heights into raging bonfires.
• Deacons and Brothers of the Chain: Another Cult in Hammerhal with not a lot on them. But interesting enough to add as they engage in votive flagellation.
• Deaconite Guard: While not a Cult Unberogen in and of themselves, the Deaconite Guard serve as the personal bodyguard of Supreme Pontifex Elethrus Vinx in Hammerhal Aqsha and her Fortress Cathedral. Think of Vinx as the Pope of Popes, she who all other cult leaders and Pontifexes and High Priests and Theogonists technically must adhere to, this includes Zenestra who is a Pontifex.
• Priests of the Anvil: Scant lore so far but of a cheerful sort. The Priests of the Anvil are stated to be one of Hammerhal's largest and oldest cults, its influence on par with the Cult of the Wheel.
• Church of Azyr: Coming from older lore such as the Soulbound Corebook and predating the Cults Unberogen as a concept is the Church of Azyr. Once holding ultimate authority but this has since been retconned. What we do know is it is headed by the Arch War-Priestess below whom may be twelve Grand Theogonists of Azyr.
• Fulguritic Daughters: An order of nuns, they are not permitted to partake in alcohol.
• Disciples of the Witness
• Kroak Sub-Cults: The 2023 Seraphon Battletome mentioned that ever since the Siege of Excelsis a number of sects in Excelsis have started worshiping Kroak as a guardian Spirit as part of their Sigmarite doctrine.
• Disciples of the Witness: Born in the turmoil of Mournhold becoming Ulfenkarn. This Cult came to believe Radukar was an avatar of the God-King.
• Cult of Ash and Flame: Street gang turned doomsday cult, the Cult of Ash and Flame believed all in Ulfenkarn were damned with only cleansing fire being salvation.
• Saint Cults: Cults dedicated to saints such as Saint Garradan of Demesnus and Saint Steel Soul, who are the same guy, are known to exist among the Cults Unberogen.
• Brethren of the Forge: The Cult to which the Mallus Forgepriests belong views Sigmar as a crafter of civilization and wars, as well as the hammer ready to strike the enemies of all mortalkind. They also view meteoric iron as a divine gift that must be forged into blessed weaponry. They appear to be crafters, smiths, and laborers as well as bringers of purification who can remove corruption wherever they tread or orate.

So let's kick off today with a controversy, this dumb mutt hates the Fallout franchise too to bottom. But rather than getting into any politics or gameplay aspects, my reasoning is purely philosophical.

There's scrap piled high in residential areas, usable buildings left to ruin and fester. There is trash on the floor. To me that screams that this version of humanity has given up, and that's indeed a constant theme and then there's all the civilizations made collapsing for nonsense reasons.

I don't believe humanity gives up. That ain't a positive statement either as we can see in Age of Sigmar. The Reaver City of Carngrad is a testament to the indomitable, unwavering will of humanity to persevere in the most hostile environments.

Every crumbling walk in Carngrad is shored up, every spire claim, every ruin picked clean, every bit of scrap converted, surrounding it are skinning camps to turn every ounce of material from dead beasts and slaves into valuable hides, meats, claws, teeth, bones, weapons, and so on.

Age of Sigmar gives me what Fallout doesn't, in the opinion of a dumb mutt, a showing of how humanity would act in a post-apocalypse.

We'd simply rebuild societies immediately. They'd be different, weird, chaotic. Some would be raiders like Carngrad's folk while others would be like Sigmarite Strongpoints or even lurklairs or skinning camps or anything really. People build and create, it is what they are good at.

In Age of Sigmar endless fallen civilizations ancient and recent for the realms, and magpies that we mortals are. Everyone is out there picking them clean, turning them into new cities, sweeping the trash off the floor. The Realms are a scavenger's paradise.

What are your favorite examples of scavenging and scrapping in this High Fantasy post apocalypse?

Aqshy gets Telantr snake people and Graz bat people; Hysh gets sphinxes both evil and non-evil flavor; the oceans have three different empires of fish people; Shyish gets moon-wolfmen; Azyr gets all the sapient dragons and gryphbeasts; and Ghur, well it gets everything.

So Realmwalkers! I posit, claim, hope against mad hope, Ghyran gets Beaverfolk building massive dam cities that redirect rivers.

Cities of wood and detritus! Rather than foes to the Sylvaneth they should be allies or at least neutral. Chittering little lake communities built not on coal power but the streams and rivers they claim.

A society completely reliant on riverine travel, lumber industries, water sorcery, woodworking, fishing, and what have you.

I would say their centers of power are isolated Laketowns that struggle to maintain control of the waterways they rely on for commerce, industry, food, and survival. Constantly fighting the horrors of the Green Realm.

Now the archenemy of these Beavers couldn't be more obvious. Kruleboyz. The wars they'd wage over the appropriate ways to terraform the waterways!

Thoughts? Opinions? Additions?

I was thinking about how various factions (especially the non order aligned ones) sometimes compete against each other, and wondered if there is anything out there about two Cities of Sigmar sending Armies against each other. I know that most CoS have pretty great distances between each other, and their borders are pretty malleable, so reasons for conflict seem unlikely, but I'd be surprised if Age of Sigmar were the exception to the GW Standard of giving reasons for why factions would be facing themselves in battle on the table top.

>THE HAMADRITHIL

> "Though it is inhabited by no few Sylvaneth whose sapblood has been soured by hate, the true nature of the Hamadrithil is known only to Alarielle and its most feared inhabitant: my sister Drycha. It is a rift obscured by writhing shadows and surrounded by an aura of unspeakable malice. To stand close to the Hamadrithil's entrance is to feel the sensation of a fell presence straining at the leash- a presence that vibrates with Insatiable hunger. Alarielle herself has journeyed into its depths more than once, though she has never has divulged to me of what lies at its heart.

>There are whispers, of course. Some insist that within the rift a godbeast is sealed, a chitinous leviathan that can project its will through trillions of insects. Others ssay that the Hamadrithil is a forbidden and isolated forest to which the Everqueen sends those magical beasts too monstrous to be allowed to run free. Some radical voices even wonder whether the Hamadrithil is connected to that hellish realm Inhabited by the Dark Gods and their spawn, although it would surely be insanity for Alarielle to venture into such a portal if that were the case. The truth may never be known, for my mother keeps the rift's location a fiercely guarded secret.'

>p.33

Even though I know everyone’s talking about Kurnothi, I might be the only one who’s more interested in the Outcasts and an expansion about them. I have high hopes, especially since the BT mentioned that there are more and more of them.

Among the many things that I am no good at absorbing is military tactics, fighting styles, formation preferences, and the like. But I know it is there. I know myriad regiments of renown, ability boxes, ancient Warscroll Battalions, novels, Battletome descriptions, and more lay out the fighting styles of hosts major and minor.

For example the Iron Thanes prefer to emulate persistence and ambush hunting in their tactics, as one might expect from a Ghurish Stormhost. While the equally Ghurish warriors of the Kraken Blades instead prefer operating at retinue level employing flanking and skirmishing tactics, in emulation of a kraken's tendrils.

So today my fellow Realmwalkers. I ask you, what can you share about the rest? What do you know about the tactics of the Stormhosts both major and minor? Or about the tactics and strategies of the different chamber types? Dare I even ask, would you be so kind as to tell me and others the fighting styles and tactics known about any of the unit types?

One thing AoS does better than 40k and fantasy is actually have woman be part of the setting. Question in regards to women in chaos societies and or in general chaos side do they face sexism, or are chaos socities and chaos in general egalitarian when it comes to woman and men?

If so can you give any examples of it, is active or more passive?

As of "Grombrindal: Legend of the White Dwarf", we have confirmation that members of the Freeguild Command Corps so not have to be human.

One might argue that's obvious but lore confirmation is always a help to many. In this case the short "All That Could Be" stars War Surgeon Ormund Haakerson.

Interestingly, though Haakerson states he's the only Duardin in high command of his crusade he isn't surprised at the existence of a Duardin Command Corps Arch-Knight, which Grombrindal is disguised as. Nor is any other character in the story. They're just surprised such an Arch-Knight is there given he wasn't before.

We can likely assume Aelves can also fill these positions, and that both species could hold the others. Even the position of Marshal, as officers of both species in the Freeguilds are known.

Any thoughts or opinions on this information?

This sounds like a shitpost but I mean it.

Imagine investing a settlement's worth of realmstone building and running an incredibly intricate piece of engineering, itself powering a towering wandering fort with legs and massive cannons. Imagine spending who knows how long of your best engineers' time building this absolute monstrosity and yielding your engineers afterwards to serve as crew, proud to send it to war in Sigmar's name, aiding his quest of bringing order to the realms.

Only for the captains and crew of your invention to go rogue, get corrupted or just generally run off, to such an extent that Cogforts become a byword for mercenary factionlessness, rivaled only by the Gargants themselves.

I don't know if this has appeared yet in the lore but I can't wait to see this come up in stories featuring the Ironweld. Having the chief engineers absolutely flip their lid when they're told that the Cogforts have become the new posterboy of treachery, ill-discipline and outlawry. If I was the one who put blood, sweat and tears into making a Cogfort for the marshal upstairs only for said marshal to "lose" it and it showing up a month later covered in gutplates (and still with its crew, presumably, since you sure didn't teach any Gnoblars at your academy) I imagine I'd half turn to Emberstone myself.

So I have been noticing that a truly staggering number of newbies are under the impression that all Stormhosts are akin to the Anvils of the Heldenhammer in being aloof, grim, stoic individuals who interact little with mortals.

So I call upon you old timers and Stormcast fans! Let us discuss all the mundane things Stormcast Eternals do: Like shopping, drinking in taverns, hanging out in libraries, feasting, partying, and more besides.

I'll start by noting that both "Soulbound: Brightspear City Guide" and "Nadir" in the "Harrowdeep Anthology" present Eternals visiting pubs as pretty common.

Then there's "Yndrasta: The Celestial Spear" which has Yndrasta recall a time when Hamilcar Bear-Eater invited her to attend a feast with him and some of his mortal auxiliary friends. Appropriately awkward.

Yurik Velzaine of the Emberwatch admits to being a fan of Azyrite dramaturges in "Chronicles of Embergard - Blood in the Mines".

So what can you add my friends? Let's humanize the Eternals for those worried or convinced they may not be.

So how absolute is this plan ? I just finished star seers ruins audiobook,great one, and I was wondering about that since by the end of it reveals that one of the human characters, a mage is doomed to fall to chaos. Is it actually completely absolutely certain that this must happen? Or can she actually change her fate? If it is ,is there free will in the mortal realms? Though I did get the impression that it can be done ,at least by chaos since they mention them putting the cosmos out of balance

The CoS Battletome is now on pre-order in New Zealand, and the page they have shown as a preview image in the webstore is on the Cults Unberogen. This part was the most interesting to me:

>It is not only humans who worship Sigmar with a frightening intensity. Inspired by the example of the legendary gargant Saint Templesen, many city-gargants embrace the Sigmarite faith with wide-eyed fervour. Cramming themselves into pews or peering in through the stained windows of churches, they guffaw and whoop at tales of the God-King's heroic deeds. Anyone - even a thinling deity - who could smash the titan Behemat and beat up Gorkamorka, the two-headed god of Destruction, is worthy of worship in their minds. They are, however, far less interested in dry recitations from the ancient texts or sermons on moral rectitude, and they are not shy about making this known. Loudly snoring city gargants can prove an oratorical challenge even for the most bellicose preacher.

With the decreasing emphasis on Aelves and Duardins in the Cities, I feel a lot of people are afraid that the idea that they are multicultural places inhabited by many different races is dying out. But at the very least, the gargants have culturally assimilated into the Cities while still seeming to have their own individual character separate from the humans.

Hi everyone,

I am pleased to welcome you to entry 11 of this series of “Fun with Flags Gods” where we dive into the RL and fictious background of various gods and entities from Warhammer Fantasy and AoS. After hitting the 10-anniversary last time with Alarielle, people suggested to focus on Grungni today. So this time we are taking a look at our all-welcome smith Grungni and we will also peak a bit into his dwarfen lackeys. Because dwarfs have quite the long history in our folktales and sagas. Please note that I will use the term dwarf/dwarfs in this write up, instead of duardin or else for simplicities sake.

Otherwise I can only assume that you already know the drill, as we have reached entry 11 already. Thanks for your support and for the various comments and discussions, that arise from my mad ramblings :)

As always, you can read up the previous entries here if you are interested: Kurnoth, Morghur, Behemat (and giants), Dracothion (and dragons), Sigmar, Mathlann, Morathi-Khaine, Hashut, Nagash, Alarielle

As I assume you know this series by now I have not a lot to say anymore except have fun : )

 

1.      The Background: The gods, the myth the legend

L. Wayland killing Ämillias (Wilhelm von Kaulbach 1848), C. Hephaistos (Age of Mythology Retold), R. Ptah (AOMR)

Metalworking has been one of the most important discoveries in the history of humanity. So much so that we named entire periods after them, like the Iron and Bronze Age. Because with metal tools and items have so many benefits. Not are they much longer lasting but they also allowed for tools with entirely new processes such as ploughs and pickaxes or hollow structures like pots and pans which were great for heat transition. Among many other things. It was a life changer for sure. But at the same time, it also disrupted human society. Because the skill to work with metals is rare and requires a lot of training and effort. Similarly, it required special resources, which are often not locally available and need to be gathered from faraway places. This created new classes of people. Smiths and miners, who had to be supplied by farmers with food, and merchants and administrators to oversee and distribute the various resources. Long distance trade existed before as well, but it was far less organized and far less critical to a society than we see with the arrival of metal working. Such as the tin and copper routes of the Bronze Age. Copper is rarer than iron already, but tin is roughly as rare as uranium. The only larger mines able to feed the demand for tin in these times were on the British Island and in the Persian Hinterlands. A transcontinental trade network with norms for weight and sizes of tin units was established to fuel the bronze age societies in the Eastern Mediterranean. Due to the importance of these new resources control over them became also more important. In addition, metals were great to create weapons made solely for human vs human conflict. All this shifted society and created new elites, especially warrior elites. Which show up all over the world since metal weapons are introduced. Be it the princes of the myceneans, the Kshatriya caste in India, warrior nobles in germanian and celtic cultures and elsewhere. And this continues almost ‘til the modern day, such as with feudal systems of knights and samurai. This is reflected in lots of myths where various smith gods have the main job of supplying weapons or magical items to heroes and warriors.

However please keep in mind, that technology is not a straight line and lots of technologies employed relied on circumstances and economic incentives. We know of various highly organized cultures with astonishing buildings and technology, who did not or rarely use metal items. Like the Incan Empire or the various Mesoamerican cultures. Meanwhile various peoples in western Africa seemingly skipped bronze altogether and jumped straight to iron. And indeed, even though many history books and especially video games treat iron as an update to bronze, in reality it was not. Bronze has many benefits over iron, such as being much easier to shape, much easier to recycle/reuse, far more resistant to oxidation and being able to mass produce in great numbers. We have found remnants bronze workshops that could create hundredths of bronze items per day. By comparison iron is much more difficult to work with prior to industrial plants. Lots of complex objects like bells and cannons or statues could not be made out of iron prior to the industrial revolution in any economically feasible way. If both are in equal supply, bronze is a better material for most things. But as mentioned tin is rare and with the bronze age collapse many of these tin trade routes broke. Arguably the people then switched to iron out of necessity, which existed almost everywhere. But as mentioned it is hard to work with and difficult to make. So, people back then may even have seen it as a downgrade. And likely the knowhow to make iron existed before, but no one bothered. Due to making iron from ore being so difficult, meteoric iron was an often-used source, as the impact transformed the iron into an almost usable shape already. I heard stories about inuit using Iron tools for this reason, despite having no proper metallurgy, as several meteorites fell down in Greenland. On the opposite side we have Japanese forging techniques to make their famous blades and else. These were so complicated and tedious because the local iron in Japan is rare and of very poor quality. So, to get anything useful out of it, it has to undergo an even more tedious forging process.

This real-world history out of the way, I already mentioned how smith/craftsman characters are often reduced to providing armaments for heroes in many stories. This is true for lots of gods and beings. Most prominently is probably Hephaistos, the misshapen Greek god of the forge. His smithy was supposed to lie in the Vulcan Aetna in Sicily. And he had various groups assistants. One of these were the cyclopses. The first cyclops were children of Gaia and Uranos, much like the Titans. They were imprisoned in Tartarus by Uranos but freed by Zeus when he rebelled against Kronos. As thanks they crafted Zeus thunder bolts, Hades helmet of invisibility and the Trident of Poseidon.

Hephaistos has a main theme of being a disfigured being. Accoutns differ as to why but one of the most well-known stories is that his mother Hera was enraged by his baby looks and threw him of Olympus. The impact scarred him for life. There is another interesting, crippled smith in European folklore/mythology. Wayland the Smith, a character from various Germanic cultures who is also able to forge mighty weapons and even a flying machine to escape his captor. Among Waylands weapons are for example as a kitchen knive that effortlessly cuts the plate and the table too, if you use it for your breakfast. Or as you see in the picture above a sword effortlessly cutting through a helm and skull, without the smith even trying hard. The flying escape is something shared with the Greek inventor Daedalus, whose stories I assume you to be familiar with. There is also the first king of Attika Erichthonios, who a son of Hephaistos, but also crippled (he has snake legs and cannot walk). But he is an inventor too, as he developed the first chariot. There seems to be a mythological tradition in European cultures to associate smiths/craftsmen with crippled features and/or being imprisoned. The imprisoning part is easy to guess, as metalworking is a rare skill any ruler wanted to monopolize. Hence they take the craftsmen as a prisoner to not loose thier service. The cripple part however is unclear. Some people assume that some fumes and gases released by ores and forge fires may have created health issues which are represented this way in the stories. Such as working with arsenic copper (a predecessor to bronze) releasing small amounts of arsenic into the air. But we do not know whether this is the case for this motive.

However, craftsmen and smith characters are not just providers. They can be greedy, duplicitous and dangerous if feeling or being wronged. For example, Hephaistos does trap gods who wrong him and he once tried to force himself on Athena in one attican story. Meanwhile, Wayland the Smith has various stories. But the core is that another king traps and cripples him to be the sole beneficiary of his services. In turn Wayland kills the kings’ sons, turns their heads into golden drinking cups, and impregnates the king’s daughter before fleeing.  And Daedalus the inventor has similar dark sides to his story. Not only is he a complicit in creating the Minotaur and that resulting nastiness, but Daedalus also killed his own nephew when the young lad showed signs to surpass him.

Another famous god of smith and craftsmanship is the Egyptian god Ptah. In his main center of worship, Memphis, he is also attributed in some text to be the ultimate creator of the world itself, bringing it into existence by word and will. This idea of a created world ex nihilo is something we find in various semitic cultures, including in Abrahamic faiths. Otherwise, the world is usually created circumstantial as features appear and are then put into place by gods. Despite this important position Ptah did not become a primary state god like Ra. Because his cult was gathered around Memphis and Egypt had many such local variants of gods and goddess, each with another top deity and myths to support it. Instead, Ptahs most common position was that of the patron of smiths and craftsmen, and his symbols were found in various workshops across Egypt. Including the Valley of Kings and in the villages that crafted these graves.

Other important smith gods include Ogun, of the west African Yoruba people, Ame-no-Mahitotsu, the japanese kami of metal smiths, or the largely forgotten celtic god Gobanos. And for craftsmen themselves we also have other gods. Such as Athena/Minerva, a goddess who is good at weaving.

One keynote is that metalworking is often associated with magic. Because to outliers it is a very magical craft. With fire you can turn rocks into a substance that does not naturally occur in the world. And this substance can then be transformed into various useful tools and weapons. Objects with which you can plow your fields, slay your enemies or become nigh invincible. To a laymen this is as close to real magic as it gets. For this reason, metal objects were associated with lots of magical abilities. And this extended to the smiths themselves too. In eastern Africa there are various stories of smiths doubling and mages. With some being able to transform themselves into were-lions or were-hyenas. And smiths were responsible for creating both protective talismans as well as curse tablets and other items used in day-to-day magic. Next to properly important items for religious processions and else.

Now some of the most infamous smiths in mythology are giants and dwarfs. E.g. only a sword crafted by giants was able to kill Grendls Mother in Beowulf. Meanwhile even as far back as norse mythology dwarfs were infamous for being great craftsmen, with lots of stories about it. Such as Brokkr and Sindri creating the Hammer of Thor, a self-duplicating gold ring, Sifs new hair, Fenrirs unbreakbale chains or the golden boar for the god Freyr. However, dwarfs underwent a strong evolution since the norse times to our modern fantasy tropes. For example, to us terms like dwarf, troll and else are fixed categories. But for a norse person these were very vague terms. A troll could be a monster, or a hostile force or a personal enemy. A wolf attacking sheep could be a troll, as could be a highwayman or a murderer. Similarly, the line between elf and dwarf was fluid to norse. Down to many scholars arguing that the term svartalf (dark/black elf) is just a synonym for dwarf. But in some stories even a sentient needle was called a dwarf and had two dwarfen brothers. In addition, dwarfs were highly magical. Not just in their skill in craftsmanship, but in general. Dwarfs could curse people or treasures or transform themselves into dragon, like the dwarf Fafnir. So, dwarf did not have a definition as we would recognize it. The only larger unifying theme was that they were chthonic beings, i.e. creatures from the earth or below. Likely they started as earth spirits or minor gods, much like how nereids are minor ocean goddesses.

Around the late Middle Ages, we largely settled on dwarfs as small people with beards who live underground. But they could live anywhere underground, not just mountains. Any suspicious hole could be the home of a dwarf. Therefore, we have lots of stories all across Europe of local dwarfs and similar beings. And whilst they could be smiths, they still had strong naturalistic elements as well. Dwarfs could have powers over plants or flowing water in various stories. And they could be mischievous fay-like beings, both a danger and an aid depending on the tale. Only much later did we have a split, at least in the english-speaking sphere. The classic, naturalistic dwarfs are now called gnome. And the mountainous, industrial dwarfs stayed that way or were called dwarves, due to Tolkiens influence. Again, this is true for the anglosphere. German for example does not differentiate. Hence the garden gnomes are still called Gartenzwerge (garden dwarfs). And Tolkiens Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit largely determined our modern fantasy definition of a dwarf. Great craftsmen and miners who dwell in deep mines and mountain fortresses, digging into the earth, holding sacred oaths and disliking elves. His decision to place the naturalistic themes of woods and nature unto the elves created the gnome/dwarf divide I’d argue.

2.      Hear the hammer fall: Smith gods in Warhammer Fantasy

Thorek Ironbrow and his assistant Kraggi (Total War Warhammer 2)

Grungni is arguably only the second most important god of the dwarfs (after Valaya the mother goddess of all of dwarfenkind.) But certainly the most prominent one. Now in WFB ancestor gods work a bit different from regular gods, as dwarfs are deep into ancestor worship in general. Essentially any dead dwarf could be an ancestor god. But the term is usually used for those ancestors who are venerated by every dwarf. This includes Grungni, his bother Grimnir, their sister/wife Valaya and some of their first gen offspring (but not all like Grombindal/Snorri Whitebeard). These first ancestor gods gained their divine powers form the “glittering realm”. What this realm is, is not known, but one common fan conception is that it’s a special place where the Old Ones taught the ancestor gods all the things’ dwarfs should know. This made the ancestor gods far more powerful and magical than regular dwarfs. One could argue they are essentially dwarfen primarchs. Grungni was the first king of the dwarfs (that we know off) and created their entire lifestyle. He is claimed to have started the tradition of dwarfs living underground as he foresaw the coming of chaos. And Grungni started the migration of dwarfs to the north, spread the dwarfen empire from the non-africa regions of the Southlands all the way north into non-Scandinavia of Norsca, along the Worlds Edge Mountains. This empire is known as the Karaz Ankor, the everlasting realm. Various holds, especially Karaz-a-Karak, are said to have been founded by him. Grungni himself is the god of mining, crafting and smithing and has created various important items. Among them is the Throne of Power, the seat of the dwarfen high king and the only item containing the Rune of Eternity. As long as this rune endures, so do due dwarfs as a people. Other items include Ghal Maraz or the Axes of Grimnir. Grungni is worshipped by almost any dwarf, even by imperial ones in the empire. Indeed, some human smiths also venerate him. And he has temples in every Karak.

Two of Grungnis sons are also important ancestor gods. First Smednir, the god of ore refinement, i.e. turning ore into proper metal. And second the god Thungi, the god of rune crafting.  He discovered the process in Ankor Bryn, the glittering realm, and later taught his father too. Rune magic is a very special and unique process in WFB. Because in WFB dwarfs cannot do magic, unless they are heavily changed and corrupted, like with the chaos dwarfs. And they suffer the unique issue of turning to stone slowly if they cannot use their magic properly.  Indeed, dwarfs are largely resistant to magic, though to what extent depends strongly on the author. So instead of using magic like spellcasters, they instead trap magic into magical runes which they etch into various items. This is a tedious process as even minor mistakes could either violently unleash the trapped magic or worse create in a substandard product. But they are tremendously powerful items in turn. Runes also follow special rules. Some seem to be universal, but others are more the result of a dwarfen mindset. For example, no single item can hold more than three runes. Otherwise, the power would be too large, and the item would be destroyed. In addition, only one of the same runes can be placed on the item. It is called the rule of the jealous rune, but it could similarly mean an overcharge in magic for technical reasons. Also, no rune smith worth their ore would create a duplicate of the same item, because each one is a singular masterpiece beyond compare. Even if logic would dictate to have rune smiths churning out shields and helmets by the dozens with a rune of protection, they refuse for prideful reasons. Speaking of pride, Runesmiths are very, very tedious and hold their secrets tight. If they find no apprentice worth bestowing their secrets unto, they prefer to take the knowledge of their runecraft to the grave. Even if this knowledge would be critical to the dwarfen realm as a whole. This, doubled with the loss of many holds and the violent death of runesmiths, resulted in the loss of a lot of knowledge. Best that can then happen is that some runesmiths uncover old artefacts and try to relearn how to craft these runes. I mention this runesmithing, because only descendants of Grungni can cast runes in WFB. Runesmiths also tend to grow older than regular dwarfs, with Kragg the Grimm, Runelord of Karaz-a-Karak, being the oldest known dwarf with ca 1600 years. When dwarfs normally live around 300-400 years. This age, direct descent from Grungni and their critical skills and knowledge makes runesmiths/runelords as venerated as kings in dwarfen society.

Grungni himself ruled as king of the dwarfen empire before and during the first coming of chaos. It was his decision to hunker down in their holds, much to the charging of this brother Grimnir. And at the end of the Great War against Chaos, he abdicated the throne to his son Snorri Whitebeard, who would later become Grombrindal. Why Grugni and the other ancestor gods departed after the creation of the Great Vortex is not known. But it could be that they required a certain amount of magic to stay earthly and active, much like demon princes or the various dwarfen constructs like Rune Gholems. And the magic levels dropped to low after the Vortex was set up. Grugni himself does not appear in person from then on. But in the End Times the Runelord Thorek Ironbrow tries to find the Glittering Realm and to bring the ancestor gods back. He gets beaten by Nagash who consumes Valaya. And Grimnir has a cameo in the last Gotrek novel. As always, the End Times leave much to be desired.

However, to address the elf in the room, Grungni is not the only smith god of prominence. The other the elven god Vaul. And Vaul is basically Hephaistos but as an elf. Much like Wayland the Smith, Vaul is blind and crippled. Because Vaul challenged Khaine. In 40k lore it was to protect Isha and Kurnous, but in WFB this “war in heaven” among the elven gods is not that detailed if I recall. Anyhow Vaul is blinded and crippled and chained to his anvil, forever tasks to churn out weapons for Khaine. But Vaul accepts this fate, as the elves will need Khaine in the upcoming battles and they will need the weapons he provides. One of the most important weapons he forged was the Widowmaker, a ludicrously powerful item forged in the fire of the Father of Dragons Draugnir. This act of forging took a lot of Draugnirs essence and bonded the fates of dragons and elves together. There are many other artefacts of prominence as well. And the Priests of Vaul are the very best elven smiths there are. They ritually blind themselves too, losing their earthly sight but instead gaining divine/magical senses to become the greatest craftsman west of the Worlds Edge Mountains. They created various masterpieces. This includes Malekiths/Malerions armor, which was crafted by a Malekith supporter among the priesthood. This suit saved Malekiths life after he was rejected by Asuryans flames, but he cannot take it off even millennia later.  Vaul is also valued by all elven people. The wood elves know that you need good tools for your hunts. The dark elves also obviously like weapons, much like the high elves, albeit for different reasons. And each elven culture is said to contain a piece of him. Vauls original smithy is supposed to lie in the volcanoes of Caledor (much like Hephaistos), the dark elves carry has anvil and the wood elf Daith is rumoured to be his avatar, like Ariel and Orion are to Isha and Kurnous, (Hence in TWW we have three settlements called Vaul’s Anvil). Sadly, Daith is a loreblurb entity without much lore behind him. But his anvil of note is that the Swordmasters of Hoeth have no direct connection to Vaul but are themselves required to forge masterful blades. Teclis did this too.

3.      We are the smiths of our own destiny: Grungni in AoS

Artwork of Grungni in Age of Sigmar

In AoS Grungni returns in force. Due to the Helsmith story we now know that the dwarfen gods arose first among the order deities and separated the realms between them. With Grungni getting Chamon and Grimnir getting Aqshy. However, both gods were tricked by Hashut with cursed artefacts that drove them made and they chained themselves unto a mountain top until Sigmar freed them. As thanks both wanted to repay this debt with a service. And Grungni chose the long service to Sigmar.  Over the Age of Myth, he created various wondrous works, whilst his dwarfs created the Khazalid Empire across all the realms, but especially in Chamon. I could list the lots of Grugnis masterworks, but this would probably be too repetitive as lots of these entries focus on single sentence loreblurbs.

Also of note is that Grungni, like Teclis and Tyrion, had a very hands-off approach of his followers. He taught them all he knew and then wanted them to be creative and productive by themselves and craft their own wonders and societies.  And much like the two elven gods, this decision came to bite him in the back. With the coming of the Age of Chaos Grungni retreated into Azyr, leaving most of his dwarfs behind. Again, believing they had all the tools to take care of themselves. The short answer was that they didn’t. Either majority of holds were destroyed or abandoned for safe spots in Azyr. Many others turned to Hashut or were abandoned as its dwarfs fled to the skies to become the Kharadon Overlords. Some also survived by allying with the Sylavneth, like the dwarfen friends of the Ironbark Grove. But the central theme is that just believing/following Grungnis teachings seemed to have been insufficient to survive. And you had to adopt a new way of life to survive. Here we have another parallel between Grungni and Teclis of sorts. Both their people caused their ultimate doom themselves. The elves had the Spirefall, whereas the debacle with the Lode Griffon caused the main Tzeentch invasion of Chamon. But the reaction of the two gods was different. Teclis searched for an answer, contacted the aelementors and then taught his people new ways of life and reinvented their society. But the dwarfs of the khazalid empire had no such divine aid. And as mentioned before, those dwarfs who stuck to Grungnis teachings seem to have been the ones with the lowest chances of survival. Now Grungni knows this has been his greatest mistake and he tries to make amends for it in AoS. But I find this foil between Teclis and Grugni to be interesting.

Anyhow Grungni aided Sigmar by helping him establish Sigmarbulum, creating the Six Smiths and helping him establish the reforging process as well as designing most of the stormcast armaments. Again, here we have the theme of the smith gods primary role being to craft weapons for heroes and other gods rather than being the focus of a story themselves. But thankfully it does not stay this way. During the first parts of the Age of Sigmar Grugni disappears. Essentially, he makes a great tour of the realms, sulking over his past mistakes, making observations and plans to fix everything. He returns first to my knowledge in Broken Realms, where he secretly aids the Kharadon fleet over Vindicarum and later speaks on Morathis behalf during her trial. Afterwards he calls a great council to unify the various dwarfen peoples of the mortal realms, but this does not bear fruit thus far. Though he acknowledges that this process will be long and tedious, much like a piece of iron needs to be hit many, many times.

IMO Grungni is more powerful in AoS than he ever was in WFB. Not only does he craft some ridiculous, mind-boggling things (such as a fantasy space station), but also demigods (the six smiths) or an entire race (cog people of Odsin, though they have little to now lore). What is of note here is that his creations seem to function by themselves and seem sentient. By contrast Grungnis counterpart of Hashut as to use the essence of demons and godbeasts for his infernal machinery. This showcases Grugni as a greater craftsmen IMO. Also, Grungni seems to have control over all kinds of magic. Such as being able to reverse Teclis enlightenment eninges into penumbral enginges, i.e. turning a light-magic machine into one seemingly fed by shadow-magic. Or all the azyrite-infused armaments of the stormcast, or the seeds of iron for the sylvaneth. In short, he can seemingly craft everything, including new types of plants.

In turn Grungni is worshipped by almost anyone. His domain, the First Smithy, is open to anyone wanting to learn craftsmanship. And he counts not just dwarfs among his followers, but also elves, ogers and others. This broad worship makes Grungni one of the most “classical” gods, who are worshipped by everyone, because they are important to everyone. If you are a craftsman you venerate the main craftsman deity. In addition, Grungni is the 2nd most important god of the Stormcast, right after Sigmar. And arguably he has an equal if not greater influence on the Stormcast themselves as he had his hands in everything about their creations and equipment. He even returns during the Age of Beast to refine the stormstrike chariots or make thunderstrike armor the new standard.

But Grungni is no longer the straightforward dwarf he once was. He did do some shady things no proper dwarf from WFB would have done. Such as perverting the invention of another craftsman for duplicitous reasons, like turning Teclis Enlighenment Engines into the Penumbral Engines. Similarly, he was defending Morathi in a court secession, after she had arguably declared war on Sigmar by taking a city from him, risking the lives of thousands of stormcast and underwent a ritual that could have created havoc among the realms if it went wrong. This kind of politicking and protecting a traitor is not what any dwarf in WFB would have done. Then there is the abandonment of his people during the Age of Chaos which broke several things dwarfs in WFB hold sacrosanct. How correct or justified these things are is something people can and do debate a lot. But it is apparent that Grungni is a much more complicated and morally more ambiguous figure than he, or dwarfs in general, where in WFB.  Which interestingly befits many mythological smith/craftsmen characters, who I mentioned to have dark sides to them too. So AoS Grungni is no longer the honor-before-reason fantasy dwarf, but seemingly takes on more traits of smith gods, both positive and negative ones.

And to again mention Vaul for continuities sake, he has no appearance or proper mentioning’s in AoS as far as I am aware. Like the other elven gods, he is likely eaten by Slaanesh but with Morai-Hegs escape his essence could return too and the god could reform at one point.

4. Always have several irons in the fire

Picture fo the first smithy (AoS Soulbound core rulebook)

Having talked about Grungnis character and action in AoS central question would be where his story, and that of his followers, could continue. For this I think the best story beads would be the following:

-          Grungni refounds the Khazalid Empire and creates a new “classic dwarfen” faction. His objective of reunification of the various dwarfen people has been his main motive in 3^(rd) edition and continues. And various rumors claim that we will soon get a reinvented classic dwarf faction, with other rumors claiming that the Fyreslayers join them. Personally, I am not a fan of the latter, as I like the background fluff of the Fyreslayers a lot (even if their models are very boring). But whether and how this happens remains to be seen. In either way if we get the classic dwarf faction, then I hope it will work like the Lumineth. As in we get a new version of a classic fantasy faction (high elves) but reimagined with new lore and designs, rather than slightly changing the faction to make it work in AoS. Here I see quite the potential for a dwarfen faction, especially given how rune golems were a fan favorite part of dwarfs in WFB lore but never appeared on the tabletop. But given how much more frequent magic is in AoS and how Grugni already created several artificial races, we could see a return of golems or clockwork automata next to dwarfs, next to crazier powerful or esoteric weapon systems (anvil of doom 2.0 for example) or powerful rune magic.

-          As mentioned before, Hashut and Grungni are foils to each other. Both are deities of leadership, both create powerful technological constructs and both reshaped and attempt to reshape dwarfen cultures in AoS. With the release of the Helsmith it would be great if we could get Grugnis perspective of the Hashut stories we received, and to get some interplay between the two gods or priests of the two factions.

-          In the same vein it would be interesting to explore the relationship of Grungni with other gods. We know he is good buddies with Sigmar, but as of now Grungni is the only dwarfen god of the pantheon, as his brother is dead and the other dwarfen gods are missing. In this regard he is an isolated if not lonely deity. And whilst there are gods he shares many similarities, he also made rivals out of them. Such as when he reshaped Teclis invention. Other gods he aided, despite their obvious duplicity, like Morathi. It would be interesting to see how Grungni plays his own game of politics among Sigmars allies and gods and either tries to hold the pantheon together, even if the cost is high, or may fail to do so.

-          And I think it would be very important and interesting to explore how Grungni is worshipped in general by various people. Such as the Lumineth of Syar, who are great craftsmen and hold regular competitions were al kinds of sentient beings are invited to show of their craftsmanship. I am pretty sure that these lumineth hold Grungni in high regard. Same for the Ironbark sylvnaeth of Chamon, who are not only expert smiths themselves, but also have a close relationship with their local disposed, taking these dwarfs in a sheltering them during the Age of Chaos. To the point that both groups see the other as brothers. These are but two examples. Ogres are mentioned to be among Grungnis followers too. How does that look? How do all these different beings view Grungni? Still as a dwarf or as a syncretism of dwarf and whatever form they prefer? Etc.pp

-          In the same regard we may get to see monstrous apprentices of Grungni. In the myth we have the cyclopses and telchnids (seal-people), who are assistants of Hephaistos. And in AoS we have a plethora of monstrous creatures highly skilled in craftsmanship and smithing, such as the goronians (destruction minotaurs turned to chaos), or the Formoroids (cyclops-like natives of the Eightpoints. Former builders are now enslaved by chaos and destroying buildings instead of creating them). Perhaps some of these beings or other groups of creatures followed Grungni and found safety in Azyr or his First Smithy. And mayhaps they are now returning as allies of Stormcast, or the Cities of Sigmar or the refounded Khazalid Empire?

-          Of lastly course, Grungni is still employed by Sigmar too, and he could create new tools and armaments for the stormcast and their allies whenever they get an expansion. I mentioned in my Sigmar part how the logister and covenant chambers could have some very creative units. Especially the covenant chamber, who I like to think of as non-stormcast auxiliaries integrated into stormhost. For example, what kind of armament could Grungni invent for giants fighting next to stormcast?

 

5. The End

So, this has been our excursion into Grungnis forges. I hoped you enjoyed reading everything. For the next entry I decided on a double feature for both Tyrion and Myrmidia. Because the position of both gods is eerily similar between the settings. So, I guess there is a bright future ahead. With this pun I see myself out. Because I have to figure out what to say about the Horned Rat as well...

>ASK GROMBRINDAL

>The earliest accounts of the creation of the realms mention that Sigmar befriended a god-like dragon called Dracothion. However, it seems that the godbeast is almost never mentioned again. What has he been up to? And why did he seemingly allow Chaos into the realms without a fight?

>Ben Mendelsohn

>Ah yes, Dracothion. I met him once. Nice chap. Very long. As a zodiacal godbeast, he spends his time travelling through the Great Void, so his behaviour is not entirely predictable by duardin standards. However, he was instrumental in the creation of the Stormcasts, his celestial breath being employed to grant these warriors a portion of his power. Also, many of his draconic offspring were chosen by the champions of Azyr as allies and war- mounts. Two of his most famous sons-Krondys and Karazal continue to wage war against the Dark Gods. We also know he was active during the Realmgate Wars, playing a decisive role in the Battle of the Orb Infernia and fighting Behemat at the Scabrous Sprawl. Since those days, Dracothion has been quieter, but he's out there somewhere, ready to intervene in mortal affairs when his old companion Sigmar calls him forth. As for how or why Dracothion "let Chaos in"?

>I think that's a bit harsh on the old serpent. He's a tremendously powerful being, but he's not omnipotent. After all, none of the gods foresaw the horrors of the Age of Chaos. Besides, Dracothion never was a guardian of the entire cosmos. He is a creature of the high heavens, and Azyr remains unconquered and uncorrupted, so far as we know. I'd say that Dracothion's been doing a pretty good job keeping it safe, all told.

WD 524 page 115

>In one direction the road stretched away to the vanishing point, disappearing into the shimmering heat haze of the plains. In the other direction, where the mountains thrust themselves out into the desert, lay the Voltdrang of the Volturung lodges. It was many miles away yet, but so vast in scale that they could easily see it from their new vantage.

A whole mountainside had been refashioned into the roaring face of Grimnir-at-war. His curled beard cascaded down the rocks to merge with those of the plains. His craggy brows made a stepped series of battlements. His eyes were giant windows, also fortified, between a hooked nose topped with a rampart. The lower jaw of his roaring mouth disappeared under the stone. A huge throat went into the cliff. At the bottom of it was a massive pair of stone gates whose fyresteel reinforcements glinted in the sun.

Part II of "The Volturung Road"

The Voltdrang is a massive face of a war aspect of Grimnir carved into the side of the Firespike Mountains of the Broken Plains denoting the outer boundary of the Volturung terrirory.

To Volari fans. Yes that's right, the Volturung lodges (those are their term for kingdoms) live on a massive desert continent named the Broken Plains. Ain't that a fascinating thing to know?

>The Fyreslayers were already feeling daunted when a tremendous peal of trumpets blasted out from the Voltdrang. They blared across the silent desert. With no other noise to challenge them, they seemed to go on forever. ‘The gates! They’re opening!’ said Tulgamar-Grimnir. A muted cheer went up from the column. The rattling of the gate mechanism came to them cleanly, again for the lack of any other noise to compete. Shouting and the sound of marching feet echoed around the wide throat of Grimnir, followed by more trumpets.

Part II of "The Volturung Road"

The face is the front gate to the main lodge's capital by the way.

>The mountains around the Voltdrang were home to numerous holds. The Ulgaen’s passage along the highways linking them brought a variety of reactions. Some among the Volturung lodges were sympathetic to their plight, while others were openly hostile, telling them their domain was full and that the Ulgaen should seek some other place to settle.

Ulgathern-Grimnir honoured those expressions of fellowship with small gifts of gold, and stoically bore the opprobrium of the rest.

As they proceeded, the mountains reduced in magnificence. The smattering of volcanoes became none at all. The Fyreslayers’ affinity to the earth’s heat told the Ulgaen that the earthblood retreated far underground there, almost out of notice. The last holds they passed were little more than outposts, modest in size and means. Nubby hills covered in sandy terraced fields replaced the soaring ridges and peaks. Farmers watched them from under their wide-brimmed hats, or ignored them as they drove their plough- goats to score the earth.

Two giant watchtowers closing the mouth of a shallow valley marked the end of the Volturung kin-lodges’ territory. Ulgaen-Grimnir and his brothers stopped to confer with the karl of the watch there, and were directed onwards.

Part II of "The Volturung Road"

I know it isn't a lot but the full breadth of a lodge is so rarely described that folk can easily assume there's nothing more to them to Magmaholds. So I'm hoping these couple of excerpts showing they got gates, farms, watchtowers, and more can help folk.

What other details do the rest of you Realmwalkers know about the assets and territories of lodges?

The article just ominously says it will be out "Soon". I assume tomorrow? Also there's a new free Cities Regiment of Renown PDF and a Zenestra's Zealots free PDF. Both have a light dusting of new lore if you want something to peruse for half an hour or so.

>SPELL TOMES

>Many wizards memorize the patterns and invocations required in order to give shape to particular spells, practicing so long and hard that such actions become almost second nature. This is particularly common among combat specialists such as Pyrocasters, Warforgers, and Knellmages, who seldom have the time or space to carry out complex rites in the heat of battle. This type of spellcasting is often referred to by senior lecturers of the Colleges as 'impulsive thaumaturgy.' 'Preactive thaumaturgy,' on the other hand, involves the preparation of one's wards and spells in advance, usually with foreknowledge of the situation one might soon be facing. Arcane tomes - also known as grimoires or therimoires - greatly aid in this process, for within them are recorded the phrases, component lists, and other particulars of the bearer's favored spells. This aids in the casting of magic that might not come to the caster naturally, such as interdisciplinary charms and conjurations. A wizard guards their grimoires with their life, for to lose them is to lose years, perhaps decades, of scholarly research.