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Border Princes

2023-05-04T20:39:39Z

2605:BA00:6208:2AB4:18EB:4997:6477:4392: Added Gashnag a popular character used as a "relatable" antagonist in game sessions. Add more princes if you want the list is long keep it canon and the descriptions of name only realms/princes short.

[[File:Border Princes.jpg|thumb|right|650px|Opportunities abound for the enterprising [[murderhobo]].]]

The Border Princes, also known as the Border Prince Confederacy, the Borderlands, The Frontiers or sometimes the Wild West trope forcibly pushed into a fantasy setting, is a vast region within the Old World of Warhammer Fantasy. It was located between the Black Mountains and Black Fire Pass to the north and the shores of the Black Gulf to the south and so was right in the pathway whenever the Orks and Goblins of the region ever fancied going on a comfortable looting/raiding/sightseeing trip to the Empire or one of the Dwarven Holds.

It was a region of feral wilderness home to many petty Human kingdoms (normally just a castle with some peasant villages nearby) that were established by highly ambitious adventurers who sought to create their own realms (often with dubious claims to the lands around but then law and order doesn't matter in the frontier as much the strength of your sword and army). Often these adventurers would be political or religious refugees from lands such as the Empire, Bretonnia and Kislev or one of the lesser humans kingdoms in the setting no one really cared about (except fluff/lore enthusiasts).

Due to the nature of the region it is often a haven for a bandits, mercenaries, treasure hunters and all manner of disreputable persons alongside the unlucky sods exiled there or have no place other to call home. As mentioned before it is the might of the sword that carries some weight within the region and so a talented warrior could make some success of living there, although the risks and perils are often high.

The border princes do get some mentions in the fluff but only passingly, often as part of one of the novels or a setting to visit. GW has left the region deliberately ambiguous so as to promote players to make their own homemade armies and scenarios (although it could just be as well their old aversion to spending time and effort on any part of the lore that won't generate more monies for the company).

In the End Times the region was pretty much destroyed, overrun by either the Skaven hordes surging across the world or the surviving princes agreeing to joining Mannfred Von Carstein and becoming vampires to save their necks. Unfortunately he backstabbed them and left the region to it's own demise. As the world broke apart as Chaos finally won in the setting the Border Princes became a footnote in history.

However there is the possibility of Fantasy returning so perhaps the region may not be gone forever after all...

==List of Border Princes and their wannabe countries:==
Fatandira: An Arabyan female soldier turned Border Princess.

Gashnag: Known as the black prince he is one of the few "sane" [[Strigoi]] vampires.

{{Regions and areas of the Old World}}

Dark Sun

2023-05-04T18:40:43Z

2605:BA00:6208:2AB4:18EB:4997:6477:4392: No clerics just druids/wizards your "cleric" can imagine his elemental powers come from a deity but it will not communicate with him. TLDR no gods means no gods.

[[Image:DSlogo.gif|center]]
{{Grimdark}}
[[File:Dark Sun 3e PHB.png|400px|thumb|right|The cover of the 3e [[PHB]].]]
{{Topquote|For thousands of years, the Tablelands have remained untouched: its politics frozen in a delicate stalemate, its life in a balance even more delicate. It is true that the Dragon Kings amused themselves with their petty wars, rattling sabers to punctuate the passing of ages. It is true that, occasionally, another city would be swallowed by the wastes.

''But there were no surprises. The Dragon Kings steered everything from their omnipotent perches, content in their superiority, but ever thirsting for challenge. All that has changed. The Tablelands have been thrown into turmoil, the likes of which have not been seen since times forgotten. The Dragon Kings have been thrown into confusion, grasping for the tedium they so recently lamented.

''And yet I fear the worst is yet to come. Change is in the air, and change has never come gently to Athas.|[[Avangion| Oronis]], sorcerer‐king of Kurn}}

'''Dark Sun''' is a campaign setting made for AD&D 2nd edition back in '90; there are [[3e]] conversions approved by [[WotC]], but we had to wait until 2010 and [[4e]] for an updated official version. Dark Sun is essentially a playable [[grimdark]] post-apocalyptic mix of Mad Max, Edgar Rice Burrough's Mars series, Stargate (the movie), and [[Dune]]; it's pretty [[awesome]], but immediately proceeds to eschew common sense (unlike Dune).

==Setting==
[[File:Dark Sun World Map 4E.png|thumb|right|350px|Map of the Tyr Region, as depicted in [[4E|4th edition]]]]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3qHkTmJpq4 Some music to help set the mood.]

The game is set in the world of Athas, a dying planet. Once full of happiness and sunshine, the planet was drained of all resources during the long and rich history the creators came up with. All magic is parasitic and destructive. There is no water, no minerals, and no hope: only cannibal halflings, a lot of sand and a dying sun.

The world is so fucked up it makes Mad Max's setting look like a hippie paradise. Kinda looks like Barsoom on massive grimdark crack. Everyone wears [[Female Fantasy Armor]] (yes, even the dudes), and according to the developers, this was the entire reason they picked a hot climate for the setting instead of an icy one, [[Derp|despite the fact that wearing Female Fantasy Armor in the desert would result in a quick death from sunstroke and dehydration]]; if they wanted everyone to wear [[Female Fantasy Armor]] then a hot ''and humid'' environment like a jungle or a tropical place, such as the setting for the comics series [https://comicvine.gamespot.com/shanna/4005-4579/ Shanna the She-Devil], is the ideal choice (less clothes keeps you cool when it's hot and humid, means less things to get caught in foliage or get pulled by predators or rivals).

The only few realms remaining are fascist police city-states ruled by wizards (all of them varying shades of evil) whose environmentally-unfriendly magic is responsible for fucking up the planet in the first place, and who're slowly losing their humanity as they turn more and more into dragons. Beyond civilized lands everything eats everything. The best weapon you can find is the femur of your party's cleric after being eaten by something that looked like a rock and the best armor is mostly the remains of a giant cockroach. There are no gnomes, orcs, kobolds, or furries because all of them were exterminated by some jerks with psychic brains and magic hands. They were the Champions of Rajaat, and they and the Sorcerer-Kings are by-and-large one-and-the-same.

Fun fact; whilst many Dark Sun fans believe that the Tablelands region covered by the OG campaign setting is literally the last remaining bastion of life on Athas, that's actually never been explicitly stated. In fact, there are subtle hints that there ''is'' a world beyond the Tablelands, and in some places it may even be better than what's left by the Silt Sea. For starters, the Wanderer's Journal, the "worldbuilding" portion of the original campaign boxed set, describes the Ringing Mountains as a full ring around the Sea of Silt, with the ridges always running north-south. So in the Tablelands region they block trade, but at the northern and southern portions of the ring, trade is much easier, as you travel along the valleys, rather than across them. It also mentions cities to the north, and the map itself has roads leading north and south of the Tyr region. And, of course, come the Revised Edition, [[TSR]] did things like introduce the [[pterran]]s as a race from "beyond the Ringing Mountains", and did the Thri-Kreen of Athas and Mind-Lords of the Last Sea [[splatbook]]s, which explicitly are set in areas outside of the Tablelands. Still, the image persists, largely because the lands beyond the Ringing Mountains were never fleshed out in the way that [[Greyhawk]] or the [[Forgotten Realms]] or [[Mystara]] grew from their initial humble starting points.

The original ''Dark Sun'' setting got pretty harshly wrecked by advancing novel continuity. Once a buncha [[Mary Sue|tie-in protagonists]] have already killed all the iconic villains and started fixing the setting's problems, what's there left for ''you'' to do? In response, [[4e]] went full-reboot and adopted an [[Eberron]]-style anti-continuity system: every campaign begins in exactly the same time and place, and the story never advances. It was, especially for a 4e idea, incredibly well-received, and will probably carry over into any attempts to adapt the setting for [[5e]].

Thus far, the closest Wizards of the Coast has come to actually ''adapting'' the setting over to 5e is a few ideas about how to change over any adventuring paths to Athas, though the design team has repeatedly mentioned they intend to try in the future. Co-creator of 5th Edition and creative lead designer [[Mike Mearls]] has stated that he's pretty much converted Dark Sun to 5th, even if only for an office campaign.

===Races===
What really made Dark Sun stand out compared to some of TSR's other offerings was the very distinct and weird playable racial assortment on offer for prospective PCs, which made Dark Sun stand on the level with [[Planescape]] and [[Spelljammer]] as ''the'' setting to play if you wanted to get away from the bog-standard neo-Tolkien brigade. (Although the fact characters used a 4d4+4 [[Ability Scores]] system compared to the 3d6 one, meaning Athasian characters had an '''8-20''' AS range vs. the 3-18 range of regular D&D characters, didn't hurt!)

...At least, that's how it's remembered ''in hindsight''. In actual execution it's a little more... topsy-turvy than that. Let us try and break it down for you.

First and foremost, of course, we have the '''[[Human]]s''', because do you really think [[TSR]] would ever do a setting without them? Standard dominant race stuff, nothing particularly noteworthy here.

Then there's the [[Demihuman]]s of Athas. You'll notice there's no [[gnome]]s here; that's because they are one of several races officially exterminate in Athas' ancient past, which is often regarded as the first reason why this setting is full of win. Here, you get:
*'''[[Dwarf]]''' - Almost typical dorfs, except taller, waaay more muscular, bald with Klingon-like head plates and are even more fixated on their stuff than the hairier, stuntier variety. So fixated, in fact, that if they died without completing the shit they were obsessing over, they came back from the dead as banshees (sentient zombies that looked like a dwarf without skin).
*'''[[Elf]]''' - No forests for them, ha! They are desert nomads with tendencies of mental instability, thieving and grieving all the time.
*'''[[Halfling]]''' - Cannibals who live in the Ringing Mountains, one of the last remaining strips of forest. Despite [[Troy Denning]]'s initial fuckup in ''The Verdant Passage'', where he has the dragonfly riding midgets flinging spells hither and thither, no they cannot use arcane magic. Tries to retcon this in ''The Cerulean Storm'' but it doesn't quite work. MAJOR PLOT LOOPHOLE. Actually (spoilers!) the origin of all other demi-human races on Athas, as theirs was the high civilization of the Blue Age.
* '''[[Half-Elf]]''' - Basically the exact same as half-elves in every other TSR setting of the time; miserable little shits that nobody likes.
*'''[[Mul]]''' - [[Half-dwarf]]! Second reason why this setting is full of win and awesome! Bred for size and strength, but without the lack of agility of the typical stunty dorf, no slave was worth more than a Mul. Except a better Mul. Very prized as gladiators. Suck it, Russell Crowe. Unfortunately, like real-life hybrids tend to be, Muls are sterile, and they also tend to be [[Grimdark|born into slavery and kill their mums on the way out]].
*'''[[Half-Giant]]''' - Big dumb muscle, with a ''lolrandom'' alignment because they're ''so'' impressionable. Usually really fucking stupid. 3e shrank them down to "Medium-Plus" sized. 4e reinterpreted them as a local term for [[goliath]]s mechanically and made them smarter and less lolrandom in their fluff.
*'''[[Pyreen]]''' - A non-player (though 4e made them an epic destiny) race of ancient guardians from before the world was burned to shit, [[Rajaat]] was one of these guys before he went screaming off the deep end. Looks like a prettier version of how 3.5's [[Mongrelman|Mongrelfolk]] are supposed to look based on fluff; a harmonious blending of human, halfling, dwarf and elf. This mysterious & mystical mongrelfolk nature is strange, considering that halflings were the original inhabitants, and it also ignores several now-extinct but previously prominent (or at least "normal" non-monstrous) races, such as orcs. Epic-level immortal multiclassed druid/psions attempting to fix the world. Not getting very far.

Now we move on to the ''weirder'' races, which for some reason basically means [[beastfolk]]:
* '''[[Thri-Kreen]]''' - Pack-hunting giant mantis-folk. Actually debuted in the [[Forgotten Realms]] a whopping ''15 years'' before Dark Sun existed, but this was the first time they got PC stats. In the Original Boxed Set, they were the last of the playable races after the aforementioned humans and demihumans. Most known for their four arms, which gave them inherent multiple attacks in 2e, a trait that was steadily stripped from them over the edition. Also known for seeing nothing wrong with cannibalism - elf is considered a delicacy.
* '''[[Aarakocra]]''' - Tribal bird-people. Unlike their counterparts on other settings, Athasian aarakocrach look like humanoid vultures, are prone to raiding and theft, and have [[psionics]]... but then, few races ''don't'' have psionics in Athas!
* '''[[Pterran]]''' - Shamanistic flightless humanoid pterodactyls that wandered into Athas from somewhere beyond the tablelands.

The "Official" 3e update in [[Dragon Magazine]] #319 added:
*'''[[Elan]]''' - An experiment in creating human uber-psychics by a psionicist order that went wrong due to being too powerful
*'''[[Maenad]]''' - Alien berserker-psion emos that Andropinus recruited from somewhere beyond "The Black", then turned loose to die in the wasteland after they helped him get his city-state back. Rather pissed at that.

4th edition added these races to the canon:
*'''[[Eladrin]]''' - The dwindling remnants of the ur-elf race that once ruled the [[Feywild]], which on Athas has literally dissolved into nothing, leaving only a scattering of extradimensional oases as a result of defiling.
*'''[[Genasi]]''' - They claim they were originally set up as rulers over Athas by the [[Archomental|Primordials]] once they killed all of the gods... but they became decadent and indolent, so the other races drove them off the thrones. And then they blew Athas all to fuck, which the genasi are still gloating about. Now they're starting to emerge from the wastes because they believe it's their job to take command again and fix this shit. Known subraces: Earth, Fire, Wind, Ember, Magma, Sand and Sun.
*'''[[Tiefling]]''' - Brutal raiders from the most hostile and barren regions of the desert, descendants of people who turned to fiend-worship for the strength to survive in the wasteland.

Now, you might think that the above list is pretty decent already, right? Well, it's technically incomplete!

First of all, the original boxed set mentions that '''[[kenku]]''' and '''[[yuan-ti]]''' both exist on Athas, though it doesn't flesh them out much - most fans even forget that Athasian yuan-ti are canon, despite their prominent role in the [[CRPG]] [[Wake of the Ravager]], a game nobody remembered until GOG.com began selling many (most?) of the SSI AD&D modules of the 80s and 90s. Now that WotR is readily available, the thing people remember most about that game is the numerous, game-breaking bugs. (But you should still buy it, as workarounds to the bugs do exist.) Anyway, since both races are playable depending on your base edition, they should be legitimate options in your Dark Sun campaigns.

Secondly, the adventure [[City by the Silt Sea]] introduced the '''[[Dray]]''', a race of dragon-men engineered by Athas' sole [[dracolich]], as both monsters and an optionally playable race. 4th edition promoted these guys to a fullly fledged mainstream race in the setting, although they did just recommend they use [[dragonborn]] stats for them.

Thirdly, the 4e Dark Sun Campaign Guide notes you could justify [[minotaur]]s as the "[[Half-Giant]]" counterpart to [[Beasthead Giant]]s.

Finally, the Monstrous Compendium Appendixes for Dark Sun, especially the second one, detailed a number of species who live on Athas who are sapient but non-playable - the "humanoids" of Athas, essentially. Since Dark Sun coincided with the release of the internet, fans took matters into their own hands and converted a good number of these races to be playable in either 2nd edition ("The Complete Book of Athasian Humanoids") or 3rd edition ("Terrors of Athas"), with the latter in particular promoting a fair number of [[giant]]s and Monstrous Humanoids. Admittedly, some of these are more likely to make you go "what the fuck were they smoking?!" than others.
* '''[[Anakore]] ''' - Sand-burrowing carnivorous predators. Basicall Athasian mole-people.
* '''[[B'rohg]]''' - Four-armed [[giant]]s who are really good at hitting stuff, but not much good at anything else.
* '''[[Baazrag]]''' - Camel-humped sloth-man with a really convoluted history.
* '''[[Belgoi]]''' - Desert-wandering cannibals who use psy-boosted bells to lure suckers into the wastes for dinner.
* '''[[Braxat]]''' - Hulking, armor-plated, acid-spitting [[lizardfolk]] with genius IQs, telepathy, psychoportation, and a sadistic streak.
* '''[[Bvanen]]''' - Armor-plated frog-people from the last surviving swamp on Athas.
* '''[[Drik|High Drik]]''' - Giant, spell-casting [[lizardfolk]] magically engineered as super-soldiers.
* '''[[Feylaar]]''' - Four-armed gorillas with genius intellects and [[psionics]].
* '''[[Giant]] ([[Beasthead Giant]], [[Crag Giant]], [[Desert Giant]], [[Plains Giant]])''' - The last surviving giant species of Athas.
* '''[[Gith|Athasian Gith]]''' - The degenerate descendants of a [[githyanki]] army which was mindblasted into madness by a [[githzerai]] psy-bomb.
* '''[[Hej-kin]]''' - Cannibalistic burrowing creatures that resemble a cross between a [[gnome]] and a mole.
* '''[[Jozhal]]''' - [[Dinosaur|Little raptors]] that have a natural affinity for preserver magic.
* '''[[Lask]]''' - A weird race of reptilian humanoids newly emergent from the spellwarped wastelands of Athas.
* '''[[Lizardfolk|Athasian Lizardfolk]]''' - The last surviving lizardfolk of Athas, who inhabit its last surviving sea.
* '''[[Magera]]''' - Literally just Athasian [[ogre]]s.
* '''[[Mindhome Folk]]''' - Telepathic, pacifist, [[Underdark]]-dwelling little humanoids.
* '''[[Nikaal]]''' - Acid-spitting reptilian humanoids who travel Athas in great trading caravans.
* '''[[Reggelid]]''' - Mad elf-like beings obsesed with defiler magic and who have a bitter enmity against Athasian halflings.
* '''[[Scrab]]''' - Hive-dwelling sapient centipedes with arms.
* '''[[Silt Runner]]''' - [[Kobold]]-like little lizard-people that inhabit the silt sea and its surrounds.
* '''[[Slig]]''' - Perpetually hungry carnivorous humanoids.
*'''[[Ssurran]]''' - 2-legged sentient komodo dragons. Lives in the desert and loves them some lava. Very resistant towards heat and the Dark Sun, these guys enjoy worshiping Fire and Magma.
*'''[[Tarek]]''' - Earth-worshipping, hulking, ape-like humanoids from the mountains. Pretty obviously an "evolved" strain of Athasian [[Orc]]s, like how Ssurrans are Athasian [[lizardfolk]]. Take obvious inspiration from the ape-men of popular pulp novels and Frazetta/Vallejo paintings the same way the rest of the setting does.
* '''[[Tari]]''' - The [[ratfolk]] of Athas. Supposedly nobody in the modern city-states knows they're sapient, despite the fact they had their own empire in the southern regions a couple centuries ago.
* '''[[Trin]]''' - The more primitive and savage cousins of the thri-kreen. Because thri-kreen aren't already mantis-y enough. Have four legs instead of four arms, so they run really, really fast.
* '''[[Tul'k]]''' - Descendants of a tribe of elfs warped into brutish giant ape-men by magic run amuck.
* '''[[Amazon|Villichi]]''' - [[Abhuman|A emergent human subspecies]] consisting of albino psychic women.

We gotta talk dragons now.

*'''[[Athasian Dragon|Athasian]]''' - Only "playable" by a very technical definition of the term, since it was an epic-level class for level 21+ characters with nastily-difficult requirements, though 4e made it an epic destiny. Not at all like the normal ''D&D'' variety, which don't exist on Athas, Athasian Dragons are horrible monsters that embody the corrupted nature of arcane magic in the setting: rapacious, violent, and filled with rage and a lust to dominate or destroy. Depending on source, there's either many or only one being that has ever successfully completed the transformation, and he's the ''other'' [[BBEG]] of the setting, as mentioned above, but almost all of the Sorcerer-Kings are at least part of the way there.
*'''[[Avangion]]''' - The opposite version of an Athasian dragon, being the life-nurturing embodiment of what arcane magic ''should'' be. Looks like a bizarre glowing manta ray-dragonfly, with a huge wingspan. Not as much balls-out murder power as a dragon, but able to no-sell many of its abilities, actually support its party, and not be an insane rage-cauldron the DM could take over whenever he felt like it. Just as hard to qualify for though, and also a 4e epic destiny. No one in the Tyr region has ever successfully become one, though one NPC as far down the process as most of the Sorcerer-Kings are to being dragons, and unlike many of them is actively trying to advance.

===Classes===
*'''<s>[[Cleric]]s</s>''' - There are no real gods in the setting (according to 4e, this is because the Primordials drove them off in the [[Dawn War]]), so most clerics [[elementalist|worship elements or quasi-elements]] - the game implies there ''were'' gods at one point, however, because an [[undead]] monster unique to the setting is a '''Raaig''', the pissed-off [[ghost]] of a long-dead [[cleric]] or [[paladin]], but it frankly contradicts itself a lot. In a desert world, summoning water elementals will get you pussy until you realize that if you level up to much you become a true elemental yourself too. And it is not a nice way to go when you croak after a bunch of people [[cannibalism|consumed your body]] because they were thirsty and you're a water elemental now. The way they are described, they are more "elemental shamans" than archetypical clerics. Other types are insinuated to exist, such as a 'sun cleric' featured in the novels, representing the aspect and domain of the sun as a natural force rather than a deity.
*'''[[Druid]]s''' - Druids serve spirits of the land, which are in short supply given the state of said world. They have a guarded lands that they are responsible to look after, which unfortunately could conflict with adventuring time.
*'''[[Gladiator]]s''' - You know. Like the movie. Also one of the most overpowered classes in the times of AD&D, a low level gladiator could be the personification of a certain Frank Frazzeta's illustration entitled "The Destroyer". Essentially, they were [[Barbarian]]s before Barbarians as 3e made them a thing.
*'''Dune Traders''' - lol that's actually a class? Was more on the role-playing side of things, could get loads of handy contacts and power within tradehouses. Took care of diplomacy, trading, and generally any situation that could be resolved without a weapon.
*'''[[Fighter]]s''' - Not as good as a Gladiator in personal combat, but who is? Really excelled at attracting and leading armies at higher levels.
*'''[[Bard]]s''' - Most bards sing songs and boost the other party members' rolls. Dark Sun bards will poison and kill you, and maybe fuck you. Maybe even in that order, too.
*'''<s>[[Paladin]]s</s>''' - lol nope. Honor and virtue fell by the wayside a long time ago on Athas, but what else would you expect from a planet this Darwinian?
*'''[[Templar]]s''' - Replace Paladins thematically, but more on the police side of things to the point they are essentially the Sorcerer-Kings's [[Nazi|Gestapo]]. Ability-wise, they're more like Clerics with slower spell-progression but more spellslots and the ability to use any weapon. Worship the Sorcerer King who rules their city.
*'''[[Psion]]icists''' - Psionicists are considered accepted and normal in this setting. In fact, every PC is guaranteed to have ''at least'' one psionic power! OMGWTF! (Well, this sounds nice, until you realize pretty much everyone does, especially monsters.) Think Jedis, kind of. Wanna move shit with your mind without casting a spell like some bitch ass looking wizard? Check. Mindrape? Check. ''Fucking Time Travel?'' Double Check. Unfortunately suffered from the fact that psionics in 2e were a horrible mess, and with a few notable exceptions, most of your powers are either incredibly niche or use clunky subsystems.
*'''[[Ranger]]s''' - Same old shit. Think Aragorn in the desert.
*'''[[Rogue]]s''' - Pretty similar to the non-Athasian kind. Attracted a Patron at level 10, aka you work for me now bitch.
*'''[[Wizard]]s''' - Two types exist in the setting, but everyone hates them both:
** [[Defiler]] - Evil mages, who suck out the life force of things. When they level up enough, they usually have an allergic reaction called dragon metamorphosis.
** [[Preserver]] - Mages who are not manly enough to steal huge amounts of life force, so they sacrifice efficiency to keep the stuff around them alive. Unfortunately for them, the commoners think all wizards are the same "technically true btw". Fortunately for them, most of their shit can be passed off as psionics. When they grow up enough to be considered bad ass they turn into the manta ray like aliens from ''Abyss''.
** [[Cerulean_Storm#Cerulean_Wizards|Cerulean Mages]] were added after the [[Prism Pentad]] novels caused the whole series to be rewritten, and are basically neutral mages who try to use the giant raging storm elemental now stranded on Athas as a battery.
** [[Necromancer]]s were retconned into the setting as wizards who draw power from the realm of the dead, which slowly turns them into undead beings. Ironically, they're actually neutral aligned, and technically even potentially good aligned because their powers don't require them to hurt the planet and undeath isn't hungering for life any worse than magic itself does.
** [[Shadow Magic|Shadow Mages]] are like Necromancers, but they draw from the [[Plane of Shadow]] instead of the Gray.

===Sorcerer-Kings===
The [[Sorcerer-King]]s were the jerks chosen by [[Rajaat]] with the deepest reservoirs of hatred (read:racists) for everything. Except halflings. Or was it humans. SPOILER! These were usually the big bad dudes that Dark Sun campaigns revolved around killing. Unfortunately, author Troy Denning killed off most of them in the series ''The Prism Pentad'', thus giving the campaign setting nothing left to live for. TSR brought out a small post-novel supplement entitled "Beyond the Prism Pentad", which also included references to a product called "Dark Sun: ''A New Age''" that was never released, to try and save what little scraps of the setting was left after [[skub|Denning's]] royal buttfuck of it all. It didn't work. As a result, TSR brought it out back and shot it while you cried in your mother's arms. When it came back for a 4E splat, this killing spree was effectively retconned under the same anti-continuity clause that Eberron held to.

Most/all Sorcerer-kings were/are in various stages of Dragon metamorphosis -- i.e. turning into a Dragon, you idiot -- as a result of their addiction to Defiling. "Real" dragons don't exist on Athas, and only the most powerful Wizard/Psionicists with the help of handy [[Necronomicon|forbidden lore]] could start on this journey to REAL ULTIMATE POWER. Side effects include deepening of voice, a bad case of scaly skin, and the desire to FUCKING KILL EVERYTHING. Which gave rise to the most stupid/common-sense ''Dark Sun'' rule ever, via the rulebook ''Dragonkings'', where a 25th level Dragon, if you were lucky/good enough to make it that far and survive a series of spells that ''had an outright chance to kill you'', WAS COMPLETELY TAKEN OVER BY THE DM UNTIL LEVEL 30. How fun is that shit. The reasoning being the Dragon entered a period of Animalistic Rage. And of course, only the DM could properly portray that shit, moron. Go sit on the couch and shut up. (Granted, it was better than giving players literal dragon-god-like power, given the tendencies of the sorts of player willing to commit the atrocities necessary to become a dragon to [[Murderhobo|steal, fuck and kill everything they see including their fellow PCs.]] Remember how all the other Dragon Kings were literally fueled by genocide?)

Originally, just one of the Dragon-Kings was an actual '''dragon''', formerly Borys of Ur-Draxa. PCs could confront him in '''[[DSR4: Valley of Dust and Fire]]''', which is a strong contender for the title of "hardest official module ever made," and which ''itself'' cautioned that it was meant for ''Dragon Kings'' parties over level 21. Wonder how those "[[Mary Sue|Prism Pentad]]" dipshits managed it... Especially since not a single one of them were even level 20 (their stats are given in "Beyond the Prism Pentad") , much less a full 5-man party of level 21+ characters.

To expand their use as a plot device, each Sorcerer-King/Queen ruled a City-State, up until they were slain by Denning like it was a bodily function:

*'''Abalach-re''' - The queen bitch of the City-State of Raam, this paranoid schizo cunt makes [[Skaven|your average Skaven]] look like Ghandi. Also universally loathed and held in contempt by both her own people and all the other Sorcerer Kings. Whether her neurotic paranoia is the result or the cause of this is a bit of a chicken-or-egg question.
*'''Andropinis''' - He had egg shaped nostrils. He wore a toga and ruled over the Greek inspired City-State of Balic. Unique for being the only Lawful Neutral sorcerer-king (All the others are listed as Lawful Evil, naturally), and for running a state that actually somewhat functions, in a democracy-turned-dictatorial-sham kind of way.
*'''Hamanu''' - Mr. Lionface. Not one of the original 13 Champions, he was the ruler of Urik and a blatant homage to Hammurabi. Evil and cruel, with his draconic transformation halted rather than reversed, but his devotion to order, justice, rationality, and his father's dream of a green and peaceful land make him one of the best of a terrible lot.
*'''Kalak''' - You know your old, shriveled, power-hungry, slave-master of a grandfather? That's this guy. Ruler of Tyr before his plan to get jacked up quick on dragonsauce was discovered and foiled by a bunch of meddling kids and one talking dog. The 4e reboot explicitly starts every game with him being overthrown and Tyr being established as a Free City, before letting the PCs see where things go from there.
*'''Kalid-Ma''' - Former Sorcerer-King of Kalidnay, currently trapped in a near-death coma in [[Ravenloft|a completely different campaign setting]] thanks to his head honchessa's cruel betrayal of everything good in her life in favor of her freaky, possessive stalker crush on him. Probably not coming back, regardless of what the deluded cultists rifling through his garbage think.
*'''Lalali-Puy''' - The hottest Sorcerer-Queen, and ruler of the barely civilized Jungle-Town of Gulg. Also one of the less-evil Sorcerer Kings by virtue of not doing much to actively hurt the people who adore her, with some liner notes specifically calling her the most likely King to make a face turn who hasn't already, though her current rule over Gulg is cemented by brutal enslavement of nature spirits, one of whom she's masquerading as.
*'''Nibenay''' - Called the Shadow King. Either he really, really hated people and being seen, or he was too stupid to cast a simple glamour to NOT MAKE HIM LOOK LIKE A DRAGON around his superstitious subjects. Ruler of the largest City-State of the same name, which was locked in a perpetual war with Gulg for some crazy strong blue balls. Or blue wood. Whatever. His templars are all female, and are forced to mate with him for the job, which is frankly par for the course for evil at this point. Even considering his hideous, part-dragon/part-man appearance.
*'''Tectuktitlay''' - He's a ladykiller, he'll rip your heart out and throw it down the fucking ziggurat. Bird like in appearance, he was the Aztec inspired ruler of Drag. Drek. Er, Draj. Smart, despite his insanity and cruelty. He indoctrinates his subjects with the idea that he was born a god and genuinely believes in his own self fabricated mythology.
*'''Oronis''' - Former Sorcerer-King of Kurn. Kinda. Oronis is a special case. He started to feel bad about... you know exterminating all the lizard-men, especially when he saw that it was all for a lie, and he and his comrades were turning the world into a ruin rather than a paradise. So, he took his vitamins, drank his milk, and managed to put the brakes on the whole "morph into a dragon through genocide" thing... and go the other direction into becoming an avangion. Kurn is dying, but it's just a facade for New Kurn now anyway, and he's withdrawn from politics to pursue further experiments into avangion-hood while leaving behind a "true" democracy. Literally the only Sorcerer-King actively trying to make his shithole of a world a better place.
*'''Daskinor''' - Kim Jong Il's Dark Sun doppelganger. Ruler of Eldaarich, this <strike>paranoid asshat</strike> omnipotent and benevolent God King keeps his city <strike>on permanent lockdown</strike> safe and protected from all the evils of Athas. Literally built massive walls to close off his city from the outside world <strike>thanks to his insanity starting to leak into the city as a whole</strike> because it is totally self-sufficient and wants for nothing the outside world has to offer. Especially not water and food.
*'''Dregoth''' - The undead dragon sorcerer-king, ruler of Giustenal. This dude got ganked by a bunch of the other Sorcerer-Kings who were tired of him bragging about the size of his <strike>cock</strike> book of spells a couple thousand years ago, but his loyal Templars brought him back as a Lich, and he's just been chilling underground unbeknownst to every else, for quite some time now. Created the [[dray]] race, which he hopes will one day completely replace humanity as the new "master race."

===Cosmology===
Athas is... ''different'' to the standard realm in the [[Great Wheel]]. Looking across various sources (most prominently "Defilers & Preservers" and "Earth, Air, Fire & Water" for Dark Sun itself) reveals that Athas is connected to only a small handful of planes; the Gray, the Black, and the [[Elemental Planes]]. Further differentiating its cosmology, whilst Athas retains connections to the four standard "True" Elemental Planes (Earth/Air/Water/Fire), it only has four Paraelemental Planes consisting of Magma, Rain, Silt and Sun.

The Gray is essentially the afterlife of Athas; a dreary, endless limbo realm of dismal mists, which serves to blockade Athas from both the [[Ethereal Plane]] proper and the [[Astral Plane]]. Depending on who you ask, it's either Athas's "Border Ethereal" or an analogue region for the Astral Plane.

The Black is analogous to the [[Plane of Shadow]], and mostly serves as a prison for Rajaat.

It's noted that Athas is unusually close to the [[Elemental Planes]], and this is, in part, why the world is so screwed up.

Athas can actually interact with the [[Great Wheel]], and be reached by [[Spelljammer]]s, but it's extremely difficult to do so - the whole thing is effectively a sealed zone, as if something trapped the entire pocket of reality inside a locked room.
* The [[Githyanki]] are known to have opened a portal to Athas and tried to invade... then they ran home with their tails between their legs and closed up the portal, before leaving behind the proverbial sign saying "Do not open this fucking door!" Athasian [[Gith]] are believed to be the degenerate remnants of githyanki stranded here as a result of the failed invasion.
* The Mists of [[Ravenloft]] can also reach into Athas and pluck victims into its embrace. There's even an Athasian [[Domain of Dread]] called "Kalid-Ma". It says something about life on Athas that being stuck in the [[Demiplane of Dread]] is actually perceived by most Athasians as a step up.
* The [[World Serpent Inn]] hosts at least one known two-way portal to Athas.

==Controversies==
As beloved as it is by the fandom, Dark Sun has... its share of base-breaking lore. Here's a list of a few major things that tend to be either loved or hated by fans of the game.

===The Halfling Conspiracy===
A lot of people are less than impressed with the revelation that [[halfling]]s were the precursor race and that Dark Sun became such a fucked up world because one psycho wanted to go back to the days when halflings (and technically thri-kreen) were the only extant race.

===Beyond the Prism Pentad===
As mentioned above, the changes of the Prism Pentad tie-in novels really messed up with the status quo of Dark Sun. Beyond killing off a bunch of Sorcerer-Kings, it also created the Cerulean Storm, an enormous perpetual rain storm wandering randomly across Athas, bringing water back to the planet but at the same time doing so with such violence that it's almost as bad as the original drought.

===Isolated Universe===
Players have debated whether the isolation of Athas from divine entities extends to dimensional travel. Hardcore survival GM'S like to keep Athas isolated to prevent players from scheming ways to import water or metal with magic while imaginative players like combining other universes into their gameplay. Depending on your GM and group of players will you see the full brutality of Athas with several of your mary sues dying or go on a classic d&d power trip.

===[[Mind Lords of the Last Sea]]===
This module, which reveals there is one last sea on Athas, is pretty controversial for various different reasons. Such as the existence of a place where a secretive bunch of psion-lords use telepathy to force people to comply with social standards, the existence of a large body of water on Athas, the fact that it retcons that [[lizardfolk]] aren't extinct (but then, ssurans were basically fireproof lizardfolk under a different name all along and nobody batted an eye at them), or the fact that it has actual telepathic dolphins and surfing rules in it.

On the other hand, some people like the idea of doing ''The Prisoner'' by way of ''Mad Max'', and the actual content isn't quite as stupid and poorly-written as its reputation suggests, with lots of discussion of how many Athasians would react to seeing the titular Last Sea when enough water to fill a bathtub is wealth beyond measure.

==3e Dark Sun==
While by [[Dungeons and Dragons 3rd Edition|third edition]] official support for non-[[Forgotten Realms]], non-[[Greyhawk]] settings had largely been dropped, two separate updates for Dark Sun material exist.

In a surprisingly cool move by Hasbro, fan groups were given official permission to update several [[Planescape|orphaned]] [[Spelljammer|settings]] to 3rd edition for free ([[Ravenloft|or one not so free in exchange for a check]]). In Dark Sun's case this spawned Athas dot org and its several PDFs updating the setting.

A separate update was published in [[Dragon Magazine]] #319. This one is far more divergent than the fan conversion, setting the timeline forward 300 years to restore the status quo after the Prism Pentad fuckup. This update uses the standard 3rd edition class lineup, making Templars just Clerics of their respective Dragon King instead of their own class and having [[Paladin]]s actually exist. Since the psioncs book was already needed for psionics, Half-Giant and Thri-Keen, the other races from that book have been thrown in for the hell of it. One unusual mechanical change is how it adapted the higher than average ability score generation Dark Sun used and that several of its races were already printed with [[Level Adjustment]]: The conversion decided to give ''everyone'' [[Level Adjustment]] +1, giving the non-LA races (like [[Human]]) extra stuff to bring them up to LA +1.

The Dragon version of Dark Sun was accompanied by two articles in [[Dungeon Magazine]] #110 and #111; the former provides the "official" 'Dark Su 3.5 DM's Guide', with a basic run down of the setting's lore as well as 20 monsters updated to 3rd edition, whilst the latter provided a second batch of monsters.

==4e Dark Sun==
Surprisingly, when Dark Sun made it into 4th edition, it was welcomed with great warmth and enthusiasm. This might be because WoTC had learned from the mistakes of Forgotten Realms and so whilst there were changes to 4e, none of them were as setting-breaking as the Spellplague, and many actually regarded these changes as being for the better.

What changed? Well...

'''Cosmology''': Athas is now a world where, during the [[Dawn War]], the [[Archomental|Primordials]] won and killed the [[God]]s. The [[Elemental Chaos]] replaces the [[Elemental Planes]]. The Gray is still around, and is the local name for the [[Shadowfell]], but the Black isn't mentioned. If one makes it through the Gray into the [[Astral Sea]], it's empty; the Gods are dead, their halls are abandoned, and there's nothing but ancient celestial ruins and cosmic battlefields to scavenge through. The [[Feywild]] exists, but has been almost completely destroyed by defiling and its remaining pockets are zealously guarded by the Eladrin. The moons of Ral and Guthay are rich, verdant worlds in their own right, according to astrologers, but beyond the rumored existence of unpredictable "moongates" that allow access to them, nothing more is mentioned.

'''Races''': [[Half-Giant]]s lost their ADHD and are now a reflavoring of [[Goliath]]s, mechanically. [[Dray]] went from an obscure race hidden in one module to being mentioned in the core, although mechanically they're just reskinned [[Dragonborn]]. [[Eladrin]] and [[Tiefling]]s are in the setting now, as the bitter survivors of the nearly-destroyed [[Feywild]] and fiend-worshipping cannibal raiders from the depths of the wastelands respectively. A [[Dragon Magazine]] article states that there are [[Genasi]] on Athas who were originally created to rule the mortal races for the Primordials after they fucked off, but they screwed up so badly they were overthrown and then Rajaat came along. Some races (and horses) previously stated to be extinct are present.

'''Classes''': All Divine classes are officially Not Present Here, although there is a sidebar for being The Last Cleric In The World if you really must. [[Shaman]]s, [[Ardent]]s, [[Bard]]s and [[Warlord]]s take up the healer's niche. A new pair of themes, the Elemental Cleric and the Primal Guardian, fill the niches of the Elemental Cleric and the Athasian Druid from AD&D. Defiling is no longer a variant [[Wizard]], but a power that any Arcane caster can risk using. [[Templar]]s went from their own class to being your choice of either a theme or a subclass for the [[Warlock]].

'''History''': The halflings as precursors is no longer explicit fact.

'''Timeline Reset''': The "default setting" in Dark Sun is now just after the Sorcerer-King of Tyr was assassinated by unknown parties. There is NO metaplot, no timeline advancements, nothing; officially, all Dark Sun 4e material is set at this starting point and it's up to the individual DM to decide what, if anything, has happened since Kalak was killed. And there was Much Rejoicing.

==Plot Holes==
Hey, you remember that bit up at the top where Elemental Shamans summon water elementals for people to drink, since there's (supposed to be) no water left on the planet? Well the thing is, assuming everyone's bladders and sweat glands are functioning properly, this by itself should logically be enough to gradually repair Athas.

That said, as bodies of water would gradually start to form and grow more accessible (and these would be bodies of actual ''water'', not urine and sweat, as there's a reason Earth's oceans are still composed of water and not prehistoric dinosaur urine), there'd be less and less reason to keep an elemental-summoning shaman around. "Why should I pay that shaman for a glass when I can walk to the lake for free?" So the rate of repair would get slower and slower as time went on, possibly completely plateauing before the job was finished.

Of course plugging this hole is as simple as positing a route for water to be lost from the environment. Maybe sandtrout are sequestering it underground. Maybe the Primordials are taking some to be dicks. Maybe water from elementals eventually drifts back to the Elemental Chaos.

A tougher plot hole to work out is, how has no one figured out that full body robes are much better protection in the desert than going borderline-naked? Do the locals all have inherited UV protection? Does the sun not shine in the UV spectrum so sunstroke isn’t a thing? <strike>Should we even care since amazon girls in bikini armor is great?</strike> {{BLAM|HERESY!'''*BLAM*'''}} <br>

==External links==
[http://darksun.wikia.com/ Darksun Wiki] - <strike>a wiki almost as empty as this one</strike> {{BLAM|HERESY!'''*BLAM*'''}} <br>
[http://athas.org Athas.org] - conversion for 3.5, <strike>scheduled to be complete just after 5e comes out.</strike> Sweet shit, it's actually finished!

{{D&D-Settings}}

[[Category:Dark Sun]]

The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game

2023-05-04T18:30:07Z

2605:BA00:6208:2AB4:18EB:4997:6477:4392: /* Forces of Evil */

[[File:MESBG logo.png|444px|right]]
'''Middle Earth: the Strategy Battle Game''', A.K.A. The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game, A.K.A. The Hobbit: Strategy Battle Game, AKA Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game is [[GW]]'s third-biggest game, based on, you guessed it, [[The Lord of the Rings]]. It has a skirmish-style character reminiscent of [[40k]], but it turns into one hell of a clusterfuck and it slows down a lot in large scale games if you're not careful (remember this is a skirmish game with you making decisions on each individual model at times). It can be played at under 400-500 points for a quick fun game, but playing at around 800 points will let you bring some of the big toys (such as Monsters or Wizards), without weakening your main battle line.

==History==
Back in 2001 (you may feel [[Fags_of_4chan|old]] now), the famous kiwi director Peter Jackson did what was thought for decades to be impossible: turning [[J.R.R. Tolkien]]'s The Lord of the Rings books into movies. Ending up as a 10+ hour long [[Tarrasque|behemoth]] of a trilogy, it made more money than a battle barge filled with [[Slaanesh]]i whores. GW, having a keen nose for when someone makes more money than they do, approached New Line Cinema (the film studio behind the movies), Italian publisher Deagostini (famous for publishing collector's items and DIY kits, subscription-based and once piece at a time over the span of years), and Tolkien's heirs in one of the biggest crack-conspiracies this side of [[Snowflame]]: make that shit into a tabletop strategy game. The principal writer of this game was a certain [[Matthew Ward]], who started out at GW as a writer of LOTR, and would later go on to gain great infamy as a [[Roboute Guilliman|Spiritual Liege]] in the 40K universe.

So back in the day of [[40k|3rd edition]] and [[Warhammer_Fantasy_Battles|6th edition]], the Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game took the world by force. What's surprising is that there's a lot of plastic to go around, and you used to get a shit ton of dudes (20-24 models compared to 40k's 10-16 per basic troop choice) in the boxed set. Yes, there's quite some metal and [[finecast]] to go around, but it's surprisingly cheap to make yourself a LotR SBG army. One obvious downside is there isn't much customization with the LOTR miniatures, but that's the trade-off for not having to sell your liver to get into this game.

With the Hobbit movies dragging everyone's fat asses to the cinemas this game looks like it's making a comeback! With new rules being published by GW again, and GW and FW both putting out more models as a new edition aptly called "Middle Earth: the Strategy Battle Game" was released. If you've been hankering to play any of those cool-ass armies, now's probably a good time to get started.

==Story==
Really? Fine. It's Lord of the Rings. Everything and everywhere from the Battle of the Last Alliance to the Scouring of the Shire. That's about it. Well and all of GW and Peter Jackson's fetish stuff. It should be noted that there is A LOT more stuff in this game than appeared in the movies, and in some cases liberties has even been taken with the lore for the sake of cool shit like unique Nazgûl.

Also, yes, there is a model for Tom Bombadil. He's sort-of OP as fuck but also not really.

==Army Building==
Army building in LotR SBG is pretty easy. Choose an Army to select all your Heroes and Warriors from, each army will also have a juicy Army Bonus if your force isn't using certain allies. Start with a Hero and give him a retinue of (usually) about 12 Warriors. Rinse. Repeat. Certain Heroes can't have warbands and are taken as solo models, some are Minor Heroes who can only take up to 6 warriors, whilst others are Legendary, taking up to 18 (Sauron and the Goblin King can take up to 24 but they're special). Each warband is treated as a group for deployment but become individual models after that. Note that you don't have to completely fill out a Hero's group before you move on to another. Once you have all your Heroes (and their respective warbands) choose one to be your army's Leader; your Leader must have the highest Heroic Tier in your army, and if there are multiple heroes with the top tier than you can choose which to take as your Leader. Most lists can only have 1 in 3 models with bows, but several lists have special rules that change this (the Serpent Horde and Azog's Hunters have a 1 in 2 ratio while Riders of Rohan don't count towards the limit).

You can also ally multiple armies together, so long as they share being Good or Evil. Each army must have separate warbands (so no Bilbo leading a dozen Ents) and have their own Bow Limit. Different armies will have different ally statuses with one another which are found on an Ally Matrix. There are three types of alliance: Historic Alliances, which represent actually alliances that happened in either the books or films (eg. Lothlorien and Rohan), in this case both armies keep their Army Bonus. Convenient Allies are alliances that COULD have happened but didn't (eg. Isengard and Far Harad), in which both armies lose their Army Bonus but nothing more. Last you have Impossible Allies which represent alliances that couldn't have happened (eg. Angmar and Sharkey's Rogues), in this case you not only lose your Army Bonus but each allied forces has it's own break limit and can't benefit from another allies Stand Fast! or banner.

The supplements have added another way to make an army with Legendary Legions. These are more restricted army lists that are built to represent particular armies in Middle Earth's history (eg. Faramir's rangers of Ithilien, or Théoden's forces defending Helm's Deep). In return you get some special army bonuses that make your army feel more fluffy as well as perform better on the board. Unfortunately not all armies have Legendary Legions available to them (as of writing there are only three supplements available) but as more supplements come out this will probably change. They also can't take allies.

==Gameplay==
The game plays more like 40k's kill team than like WFB: you have models that can move freely from each other, mounted on the same 25/40mm bases 40k uses. The game has four phases: Priority, Movement, Shooting and Combat.

===Priority===
The turn structure in this game is radically different then either of GW's other 2 big systems in that the players don't take turns, but they instead play phase to phase. This turn determines who goes first: each player rolls a [[D6]], the winner goes first. The guy with priority moves his models first, then the other player moves all of his. This system of alternating phases continues through the shoot phase. The player with Priority also decides which combats happen first and who fights whom in the case of multiple models in a single combat. This is rolled again every turn. The only thing that alters this order is if certain models, usually Heroes, use Heroic Actions (which will be talked about more later).

Sometimes certain events for the mission/effects on models take place during this phase as well.

===Movement===
Nearly everything moves 6" in this game: [[Dwarf|Dwarves]] and Goblins go 5" (explaining why Thorin and co get captured by Elves but Goblins can't catch them), [[Halflings|Hobbits]] go 4", Cavalry usually goes 10", and various Monsters and fliers go different speeds. Movement is halved in difficult terrain, though certain models are immune to this through a few special rules. Certain kinds of movement (climbing, jumping and so on) require dice rolls: 1 is a failure , 2-5 is regular success and the gap/ledge is crossed but the model can't move any farther that turn, a 6 is a success and the gap/ledge is crossed and the model can continue moving up to its move value.

Charging takes place in this phase as well and uses your regular speed: if you're not charging you are to remain 1" from the enemy. Throwing weapons can be used even if you charge, and you stop 1" away from target to use them: if you kill your target you may freely charge another target within your remaining movement.

Most kinds of magic are cast in this phase as well: spend a Will point (more on this later) and roll a D6 against a spell's value: if it's equal or higher than the number the spell is cast.

===Shooting===
If you want to shoot, you get to move up to half of your regular movement, rounded down before you shoot. With crossbows and rock-throwing you can't move at all. Shooting is against a static number on your profile, which is unmodified by range or cover. If you do move, you suffer a -1 penalty to your To Hit roll. Models fire one by one, determining who wants to shoot, seeing if the target's in range, rolling To Hit, rolling To Wound all individually. The target may roll any saves it has (rare in SBG), and continue. Cover isn't abstract in this game; if you're in a wood and you want to be in cover you must be behind a tree. Cover saves work by forcing the shooter to make "In the Way" tests for each object that obstructs the target. Evil models can shoot into combat but the Good guys won't risk their own models. Then again they don't bring along meat shields like the baddies do.

Compared to 40k and WFB, shooting is terrible in SBG. Most ranged weapons are only strength 2 or 3, and when you have to roll against a Defence (toughness) 6 you're not going to do that much damage. In this game, it's all about quantity over quality when it comes to shooting. Still funny when your ballista sends a model flying off the objective just before the game ends in the few scenarios that use objectives.

===Combat===
This is where the game gets nasty. Combat is determined by rolling a D6 for every point of Attack you have. The highest roll wins: draws are determined by the Fight value a model has. If the Fight values are the same, roll another d6: on a 1-3 the 'Evil' guy wins, on a 4-6 the 'Good' guy wins. If a model is beaten in combat it is pushed back 1", if it is not killed it stays there. REMEMBER, YOU MUST BACK AWAY ONE FULL INCH IF YOU CAN (FAIR PLAY PLEASE). If you win, you again roll dice equal to your attack: if you meet the To Wound roll (very often a 5+ unless when faced with tough enemies or if your army sucks) the target dies, no overkill. Heroes can influence the outcome via the expenditure of "Might," by buffing the roll by 1 per point of Might expended. Some Heroes can also boost their own Fight value with Might using "Heroic Strike" - useful for if you're fighting characters with the same Fight value as your Hero, allowing you to win draws.

Now, since wounding your targets requires rather high rolls (5+ and 6+), few models tend to die each turn. Games would take a long time if not for for the Break Point rule: the moment more than 50% of your army is dead, your army is broken and models must pass a Courage test before movement. The test is 2D6 + a model's Courage: if this is equal to 10 or higher you pass. If not, that model flees the board. They have to take this test every turn once your army is broken, but if a Hero makes their roll, every non-Hero within 6" of him automatically passes, which especially in armies with low Courage can be a game-saver.

===Types of Weapons===
Much like both versions of Warhammer, the Middle-Earth: SBG has multiple weapon types to choose from. Typically you use whatever the model is physically armed with, however the big difference is that a "hand weapon" (which most models have) MUST be used as what kind of weapon it's modelled as. In addition, weapons get Special Strikes depending on what they are. These usually involve a certain trade-off such as increased Strength for decreased Defence, or re-rolling 1's at the chance of taking a hit.

'''Swords/Daggers:''' If you have a higher Fight value than your opponent you can opt to drop your Fight value by D3 (to a minimum of 1), but get to re-roll 1's To Wound, which can be really useful on stronger models, however you want to be supported by a spear in case you draw on your combat rolls. If you have a lower Fight value than your opponent you can still get the ability to re-roll 1's To Wound, but if you lose the Duel roll you take an additional Strength 2 hit.

'''Axes/Picks:''' You can opt to use a Piercing Strike, meaning you reduce your Defence by D3 if you lose the fight, but get 1 extra Strength of you win, for when you can use your Strength to match an opponent's Defence or go two points above it, since both of those allow you to get a more favourable To Wound roll.

'''Hammers/Maces/Mauls:''' These give you a chance to knock your opponent prone (which applies a whole slew of penalties) if you win, at the cost of not being able to swing at them.

'''Clubs/Staffs:''' Instead of wounding the guy you're fighting, you have a chance to clobber the shit out of him and reduce his combat stats through his next combat phase.

'''Flails/Scourges/Whips:''' Flails are an odd case; you drop your Fight value to 1, but you get to smack everyone in base contact with you if you manage to win the roll-off.

'''Spears:''' These let models support an ally while they are in base contact with them, typically giving them an extra attack, as well as letting you use whichever Fight value is higher in the case of a draw.

'''Pikes:''' These do the same as spears, but [[Meme|can support a guy who's already supporting an ally]]. Only if the 1st supporter is also wielding a pike though.

'''Lances:''' A model with a lance adds 1 to it's To Wound roll on the turn it charges, unless it charged on difficult terrain. If the unit is dismounted they lose the lance.

'''Two-Handed Weapons:''' Two-handed weapons are special for two reasons: firstly you get to benefit from all the Special Strikes that one-handed weapons have, unlike spears and pikes. Their second feature is they give you a +1 bonus on your To Wound roll at the cost of -1 to your Duel roll. The increased damage is really nice, but you will have a much harder time getting to utilize said damage.

'''Hand-And-A-Half Weapons:''' These give you the option to use them as a two-handed weapon or a one-handed weapon while fighting.

'''Elven Made Weapons:''' When the duel is a draw these tip the balance in your favour; for Good forces, instead of a 4-6 win on a roll of you're now winning on 3-6. For Evil it goes from a 1-3 to 1-4 to win. If both models in a Duel are using Elven weapons then neither side receives the bonus.

'''Master Forged Weapons:''' If you're using one of these then there's no -1 penalty to the Duel roll for using a two-handed weapon.

'''Bows:''' You got a lot of different bows that are specific to each army list, each one with different ranges to hit and Strength to hit with. Elf Bows are relatively popular as they are the most widely available bow for Elf armies that have good range and strength.

'''Crossbows:''' Bows with an extra kick, the downside is if they've moved at all they can't fire, unlike bows which the wielder can move up to half their movement and fire at a penalty.

'''Throwing Weapons:''' This includes throwing spears, they have the shortest range but make up for it with Strength 3 and the ability to throw it even if they moved more than half their movement. Throwing weapons can be also be used when charging a unit, a good way to soften up a unit before getting in a fight.

'''Blowpipe:''' The first thing to take a note of, although they are short range, blowpipes do not count towards the army's Bow Limit. This can give you the options of building a very ranged-centric army, and all blowpipes benefit from the poisoned weapons special rule (re-roll 1's To Wound) and use the same Movement and firing rules as bows.

'''Slingshot:''' The weakest missile weapon on the list, you can fire with it twice if you haven't moved, other than that it follows the bow rules regarding moving and shooting.

===Equipment===
'''Banners:''' You should always take at least one of these. Any Duel within 3" of a banner gives you one D6 to re-roll; this can be done before or after you opponent has rolled their dice to see who wins the duel. Re-rolls must be done before using any might points. Banners cannot be taken into affect if the model is prone so try to keep him safe with a few other units; if at any time your banner carrier is slain, you can pass it to one friendly model that is the in base contact (and not in a fight).

'''Shields:''' Shields allow you to use the "Shielding" rule (no surprise there) which let you double your Attacks at the cost of not being able to swing at your opponent if you win. They also increase your Defence by 1 so long as the models carrying them don't have a bow, crossbow, two-handed weapon or pike. The Shielding rule is useful for having your mob units fighting heroes - it gives you more chances to win the fight in exchange for not being able to wound them, and it's great if you're in a situation where you can't make Strikes even if you win the roll.

'''War Drum:''' These give your troops the extra push into getting them into combat or securing objectives just that little bit faster. As long as they have the same keywords and are within 12" of a drummer, Infantry move an additional 3" and Cavalry (or flying units) move an extra 5". However, any unit that has been affected by a war drum cannot charge in that turn.

'''War Horns:''' If you choose to equip one or more of you units with a war horn, all of your models get +1 to their Courage. Though it may not seem much of difference you will quickly notice how much they can help when you start failing your Courage checks by 1.

'''Elven Cloaks:''' Your units get the Stalk Unseen rule; if your model is partially concealed by a piece of terrain then they cannot be seen, denying your enemy from targeting them with shooting, using Magic and special rules if they are more than 6" away from your equipped model.

===Heroic Stats===
Your heroes possess special stats, namely Might, Will and Fate. These start with fixed numbers and cannot be regained during battle, aside from a few special rules.
*Might can increase any roll related to a Hero by one point or call Heroic Actions, be it in the movement, shooting or combat phases. Aragorn is notable for having a free point every turn, allowing him to curb stomp pretty much anything thrown at him, especially if he's armed with Andúril. Heroic Actions break priority and are useful if you decide your hero needs to be balls-out awesome that turn. Might, when used correctly, can decide games, but most heroes only get 2-3 points of it so you need to use it carefully.
*Will is used to cast and resist spells and to modify Courage tests. You can use as many as you like to try and cast a spell, though one good roll suffices to cast. Most powerful Wizards (Gandalf, Saruman, Galadriel) can use a free point of Will per turn. The Ringwraiths are special in that they start with a LOT of Will (7 in their weakest form, up to 20 for the Witch-king at full power) but lose a point every time they fight in combat and simply disappear if they run out to represent their ethereal, wraith-like nature.
*Fate are one-use saves: on a 4+ you ignore a wound. Sauron equipped with the One Ring has a 2+ save, [[Powergamer|as if killing him]] [[Troll|wasn't difficult enough already]]. Note that Fate Points can be modified by expending Might.

==Armies==
Games of TLotR SBG always take place between two armies: Good and Evil, no exceptions. There is, luckily enough, more than enough flavour to go around divided between the forces, and some very loose rules for allies within each side. For clarification: If both armies are Good or Evil, you just decide who wins ties on 1-3, and who wins on 4-6.

===Forces of Good===
*'''Arnor:''' the last defenders of the northern kingdom. very reliant on their heroes and army bonus and a pretty limited selection of models, but nonetheless some VERY strong combinations and sturdy basic troops. Sadly, GW no longer produces the models, which is a crime.

*'''The Shire:'''. Hobbits! Hobbits everywhere! The closest thing the good guys will ever have to meat-shields, Hobbits are slow and barely strong enough to hurt each other, let alone the enemy. They have some amusing heroes (Frodo's post-dropping-the-Ring-into-Mount-Doom form makes for some hilarious [[troll]]ing) and are surprisingly accurate with their pebble toss attack. LotR SBG is a game where numbers REALLY count as combats are done on a model-by-model basis and having multiple guys in a fight can swing it against even the best in the business, not to mention the fact that they are a really nice filler for other factions: allied to another list (such as Elves) they can be tournament winners. However, you could buy Apple for less than a full army of these guys as they're just so few points, even their most expensive (read: the least cheap) heroes cost less than goblin heroes.

*'''The Fellowship:''' A good source of powerful heroes, but they shouldn't all be taken at once if you want to keep friends or play a reasonably point-priced game.

*'''Rivendell:''' The [[High Elves]] will fuck your shit up. Highly skilled warriors, some of the deadliest heroes in the game, and Cavalry that makes you roll for [[Anal Circumference]]. Their obvious downside is their high cost.

*'''Lothlórien:''' Though not as tough as their High Elven cousins, the Wood Elves specialise in pissing you off with invisible bows. They have the deadliest archers on the side of Good, they are just as deadly in combat as their High Elven cousins, at the cost of less access to extremely powerful Heroes.

*'''The Rangers:''' Dangerous folk they are, until they actually hit the tabletop that is. It's a cool army list and an interesting take at an all Hero army, but while a full list of bow-wielding 2 Attack hunters seems neat, they lack the killing power - and more importantly the durability and model count - other forces bring. They are notable for being absolutely broken in Battle Companies.

*'''Rohan:''' Anglo-Saxon Cavalry. If you play Rohan and you don't field your entire army on horseback, you're doing it wrong. You NEED Théoden to make this army work, but when it does man oh man can they cause some pain.

*'''Minas Tirith:''' one of the largest armies in the game in terms of options, with highly competitive options laced throughout. Tough, reliable troops with fantastic Heroes, their only downside is some lower Fight values than other Good armies, though there's a multitude of ways to get around that.

*'''Fiefdoms:''' A bunch of filthy rural hillmen and badass knights from various small territories who come to Gondor's aid in the third book. They have tons of very specialized warriors that could easily win you the game if you can keep them alive and stabbing the right targets, and have some of the best Good Heroes (Imrahil, Forlong) for competitively low points costs, although they do tend to fall apart quickly if their Heroes die. They would probably be one of the most played armies if most of their models weren't expensive. Luckily, you can find many 3d printed alternatives for much less money.

*'''The Dead of Dunharrow''': The guys who left Isildur hanging when he called them to fight Sauron. Expensive points-wise, but actually one of the cheapest armies to start in terms of money spent. They're some of the dead 'ardest Good models in the game, the King of the Dead is a combat monster, and they're absolutely trolltastic because they roll to wound against Courage, not Defense. That said, they have a low Fight value, Monsters and Cavalry will roflstomp them, and high-Courage armies can shake them off, so they're not invincible.

*'''The [[Dwarf Fortress|Kingdom of Khazad-dûm]]:''' The Dwarves in LotR are tough. Nearly impossible To Wound with ranged weapons and only killable in combat with lucky hits or Monsters, prepare for long drawn-out battles against Durin's Folk. Costed somewhere in between the Gondorians and the High Elves, Dwarves have the ability to outlast most of their enemies. Fun to note is that though they have become the arch-blueprint of what it means to be a Dwarf, they themselves have models that use swords and bows.

*'''Númenor''' Basically one type of warrior and a few Heroes. Warriors of Númenor are pretty much warriors of Minas Tirith that sold their heavy armour for Strength 4. Only named Heroes are Elendil (an absolute war machine) and Isildur (who's also great). Anarion is also mentioned in a rule so he might be added eventually, but for now your only other options are Númenórean Captains.

*'''Wildmen of Drúadan:''' Why? No, seriously, why? They have two choices. A named hero with a standard captain profile and a poisoned blowpipe and hates Orcs, Uruk-hai, and Goblins, and a Warrior model who's just like the Hero but with worse stats. Effectiveness aside WHO EVEN ASKED FOR THESE GUYS TO BE INCLUDED?

*'''The Wanderers in the Wild:''' These are the Heroes not fitting in with the other armies, including a few Dwarves, as well as [[Troll|Tom Bombadil & Goldberry]].

*'''Fangorn:''' The good guys source of giant walking monsters, Treebeard and the other Ents are here to smash and stomp their way through anything in front of them with highly Strength, high Defence, three Wounds per model, and Strength 10 ranged attacks. Fortunately you won't have to face more than 3-6 at any one time.

*'''Misty Mountains:''' Just a flock of Giant Eagles, fast and powerful but almost always going to be outnumbered.

*'''Thorin's Company:''' Like the Fellowship, but with the adventuring party from The Hobbit instead. Can field a truly large amount of powerful but cheap Heroes, and also Bilbo. He gets all the perks of the One Ring (invisibility) with none of the downsides, because Sauron is still in his recovery phase.

*'''Radagast's Alliance:''' Eagles, again. Literally even their Army Bonus is the same, though they can now take Radagast (obviously) who's one of the most effective spell casters in the game; and Beorn who's an absolute monster but costs 200 points so use him wisely.

*'''Army of Thrór:''' Units are pretty much the same as Kazad-dûm's base warriors but they can take spears in stead of bows. They also have one of the Best Dwarf units in the game both in rules and design.

*'''Garrison of Dale:''' Pretty good archers with Elf bows, and they have access to a Windlance.

*'''The White Council:''' All of the Wizards. Crazy amounts of magic. Also Galadriel. Holy shit Galadriel. Too bad they only have about ten attacks even in a thousand point army; best used so you can ally in spell casters to other Good armies.

*'''Thranduil's Hall:''' Counter's the [[Elves]] main weakness by being absolute [[Troll|trolls]] against horde armies. Has plastic elites but finecast regular Warriors so have fun buying that.

*'''Army of Laketown''': Let's be honest, the only reason you'd buy these is Bard the Bowman and Stephen Fry (now in resin).

*'''Survivors of Laketown''': Your army of angry fisherman, now Bard is the Leader of his people and you get Gandalf and Bilbo too. Your Militia aren't as good at fighting as your Guardsmen are, but they are braver. It works out well as it's easier to buff the Fight value with this army's Heroes than it is to raise Courage in the Army of Laketown.

*'''Iron Hills Dwarves:''' Lead by Dain Ironfoot, these Dwarves ride goats & boars into battle, they bring very high Defence, crossbows and siege engines that fire "the old twirly whirlies".

*'''Erebor Reclaimed:''' You have all the dwarves from Thorin's company (No Gandalf or Bilbo) but now they've got all the best armour and weapons Erebor's armoury has to offer. They can also get Dain, Iron Hills warriors and Goat Riders.

===Forces of Evil===
*'''Moria:''' Your prime source for Goblins: though not very tough, brave or strong, you will drown your enemies in a green(ish) tide. Don't forget to open up a can or two of [[troll]]olo on your enemies; they're not very expensive if you use a few. Remember: heroes can be as cheap as 35 points, so use this. Also includes the Balrog and [[Dragon|Dragons]], both of whom are incredibly powerful and hard to kill.

*'''[[The_Lord_of_the_Rings_Strategy_Battle_Game/Tactics/Isengard|Isengard]]:''' [[Meme|Where Hobbits are taken to.]] The Uruk-Hai are a force to be reckoned with: with Strength 4 they can punch lesser men to death with ease. Their crossbows make them the shootiest force on the evil team, capable of outshooting Elven armies in a straight fight, although the Elves still have the advantage of greater range and manoeuvrability (damn knife ears). They also have a ton of pikes. Also includes Dunland and Warg Riders.

*'''[[Mordor]]:''' While not impractically weak like the Moria goblins, [[Orc|Orcs]] are still weaker than most good warriors and rely on numbers to win the day, unless you start to use the different breeds of Orcs of course. The Morannon Orcs are stronger and better armored, the Mordor Uruk-Hai are as strong and bold as their Isengard cousins, and the dreaded Black Guard of Barad-Dûr can slay lesser Heroes with ease. Not to be overlooked are the Black Men of Númenor, who are a Terror-causing and disciplined, albeit pricey, choice. This list has some brilliant Heroes, including the Mouth of Sauron (who got [[Konrad_von_Carstein|butchered]] in the extended run of Return of the King), Gothmog (he lead the siege on Minas Tirith), Shagrat of Minas Morgul and the [[Nazgûl]]. Oh baby the Nazgul. You want the named versions, which are pricey but worth it.

*'''[[Barad Dur]]:''' Supposed to be Mordor in the second age, so basically a shitty Mordor list. You can take Orc Warriors, Black Númenóreans, trolls and Nazgûl but not much else. You're not playing Barad Dur because of its warriors though; you're playing because it's the only army that has Sauron in it. The big man himself costs a whopping 400 points but easily has the [[Dragon|second]] best stat line and the best spells in the game and is practically invincible. Don't be surprised if people flat out refuse to play you if you bring him.

*'''The Eastern Kingdoms:''' You might remember these as the guys from the second movie. They are tough, disciplined and have some pretty strong characters, including the Dragon Knights and War Priests who use [[Weeaboo_Fightan_Magic|their outlandish weapons and styles to overcome their enemies.]] The others, the [[White_Scars|men of Khand]], are basically Mongols. They can also use pikes and shields at once.

*'''Harad:''' There are more than a few reasons to take these lists. One: they have Suladân and the [[Tallarn|Serpent Horde]], lightly-armoured warriors with poisoned bows, horses and a lot of friends (exactly the opposite of you once you play a fully competitive Harad list). Two: Watchers of Karna and Serpent Guard spam. Three: the War-Mûmak of Harad (war elephants), who was for a long time the biggest non-terrain model GW has ever made outside of [[Forge World]].

*'''Far-Harad:''' Camel cavalry, half-trolls and blowpipes a plenty for these guys, don't worry they still get to bring Mûmakil.

*'''Umbar:''' The pirates of Middle-Earth, the Corsairs of Umbar are your range specialists, they can outshoot most other armies with their long range and high damage weapons, and they aren't that bad close up either since they include the dreaded Corsair Reaver.

*'''Angmar:''' Gets all kinds of undead. Mix these in to make their opponent's Warriors die, but they are going to get the tables turned on them without support. Enter Cave Trolls and the gloriously cheap and expendable Orcs, and it contains the Shade.

*'''Sharkey's Rogues:''' Saruman and Wormtongue with a gang of ruffians and slavers, not many options but fun if you ever wanted to recreate the Scouring of the Shire.

*'''The Nazgûl of Dol Guldur:''' The Necromancer and all his Ringwraiths in armoured spirit form. you also get the Keeper of the Dungeons that Galadriel obliterated. You can also take Gundabad and Orc hunters with them but if you want them then you're better off playing one of Azog's armies.

*'''Azog's Hunters:''' Orcs, but with twice the attacks. Also has the ability to bring the most bows any Orc force could bring. They have some surprisingly good named captains as well.

*'''Azog's Legion:''' Fancy running an army of Orcs who have a bone to pick with Elves and Dwarves? well this is the army for you. Not only will you have heavy Orc Infantry but also access to Goblin Mercenaries, Bats, Ogres, Trolls and Trolls with catapults to really ruin the Good guy's day.

*'''Goblin Town:''' For people that find Moria Goblins too elite. Compared to their Moria cousins they trade armour for free spears (but only if they're supporting goblins from the same hood). The hilarious goblin scribe effectively gives you an infinite supply of goblins, which is handy when you have the Goblin King using them as ammo. Their army bonus also lets you take six extra warriors in each warband allowing for even MORE hoards.

*'''The Trolls:''' The three idiots who got themselves turned to stone. They are fun to play with in some scenarios and have a few tricks to win fights without even killing the enemy.

*'''Smaug''': [[Games Workshop|Kiss your money, possessions and kidneys goodbye]]. In model form he's the size of a small dog and almost costs as much, but he's awesome, so much so he's banned from a lot of tournaments even ones hosted at Warhammer world. 700 fucking points.

==Allies==
Taking Allies can be a good thing if your army lacks something that another is more specialised in, but you need to be careful with who you take because you could lose that Army Bonus for not only your army but also your allies. Unless of course that doesn't remotely bother you then feel free to go nuts.

'''Historical Allies:''' This allows your forces to keep their Army Bonus. You'll have to take a Hero of Fortitude or lower from each different ally you include.

'''Convenient Allies:''' Your army and allies both lose their Army Bonus, however, you can still call heroic actions for either force.

'''Impossible Allies:''' All the penalties from Convenient Allies carry on except this time units can't benefit from banners or Heroic Actions or Stand Fast! if they're allied in from another force.

==Tactics pages==
Here's the tactics pages that we have so far:
{{Middle_Earth_Strategy_Battle_Game_Tactics}}

==Round-up==
The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game has its own charm over 40k and WFB, mainly due to its setting and smaller scale. Games can turn into mobs pretty fast, but using standard scenarios included in the rules go a long way to prevent that with their specific Victory Conditions. The game also has narrative scenarios, which allow you to recreate parts of the books/movies, such as Balin's Tomb or Weathertop. The new starter set has scenarios to recreate the charge of the Rohirrim outside Minas Tirith and Théoden's fight with the Witch-king. The Battle of Pelennor Fields box set is ideal to learn nearly a metric ton of rules of the game as the content includes characters to master: Heroic Actions, magic, Monsters, Special Strikes, Terror, Cavalry... and so on. The way the turns are played can be off-putting at first to some, but the game can be a lot of fun especially if you have Howard Shore [[Noise Marines|blasting in the background.]] Try to play the scenarios in the booklet of the starter set while listening to the OST of The Return of the King, you know what I mean...

==Books and supplements==
* [[Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game/Rulebook]]
* [[Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game/Armies of The lord of the rings]]
* [[Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game/Armies of The hobbit]]
* [[Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game/Gondor at war]]
* [[Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game/Battle companies]]
* [[Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game/Scouring of the Shire]]
* [[Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game/War in Rohan]]
* [[Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game/Matched play guide]]
* [[Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game/Quest of the ringbearer]]

==Houserules==
One of the fun aspects of this game is that allows you to have 3 styles of gaming experiences:

*'''Narrative play:''' Very funny, well written and sometimes a bit unbalanced in order to recreate the iconic moments you love from the movies or books on the tabletop, for example: Faramir with his heavy armour riding a horse before having a shower of arrows.

*'''Matched play:''' The most played one, with awesome tournaments across the world and focused on balance issues, so the meta can adapt depending on the overused/underused profiles/armies.

*'''Open play:''' Here you can play your own scenarios, with the models you want without penalties (ex: Elessar with Elendil... why not?) And you can create your own profiles for models you have or have not been released yet (Anarion?)
And even more, you can create your own profiles for Heroes or Warriors that you find a bit lackluster or overpowered compared to what you saw in the movies or the books.

[[Category:The Lord of the Rings]][[Category:Wargames]]

Dwarfs (Warhammer Fantasy)

2023-05-04T17:59:24Z

2605:BA00:6208:2AB4:18EB:4997:6477:4392: Jerek Kruger/Jerek von Carstein was friendly with a dwarf but only in that he hated Konrad & Mannfred like literally everyone else in the warhammer setting.

[[File:WH Dwarfs Old Art.JPG|thumb|right|500px|A short, sturdy creature fond of drink and revenge.]]
{{topquote|Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.|Confucius}}
{{topquote|The anvil is hard so that it can help shape the blade. If life were easy, we would all be soft and misshapen shards of metal, tossed into a bin.|J.M. Bush}}
{{topquote|Far, far below the deepest delvings of the dwarves, the world is gnawed by nameless things.|J.R.R. Tolkien}}
{{topquote|Revere the ancestors, obey your king, bear your arms with pride, fear no foe, hate the green skins, mistrust the Elf, and you can do no wrong.|Old Dwarf Saying}}
{{topquote|That’s going in the book.|Every Dwarf player ever}}

The '''Dwarfs''' (never "Dwarves", always "Dwarfs", on the same note "Dwarfen" rather than "Dwarven") of [[Warhammer Fantasy]], also know as [[Tomb Kings|''annu-horesh'']], are the typical bearded mining alcoholic grumbling race you'd expect them to be (although in all fairness, Warhammer was the third ever setting to use that archetype after [[Tolkien]] heavily re-invented it and [[Dungeons & Dragons]] was the first to <strike>steal</strike> appropriate it). But Warhammer Dwarfs have a more elaborate culture than the preceding Dwarfs which were based on real life history and a generic template respectively.

Dwarfs are the Roman Empire of the setting in the sense that they were the original masters of the [[Old World]] AKA Warhammer Europe. Having a major Hold in every mountain, the Dwarfs easily repelled any invading race and traded with every friendly one. The language of humanity as well as the scientific progress of the setting all come from the Dwarfs (this is a large chunk of the reason why Fantasy players <strike>sperg out</strike> get angry about words such as "codex" and "materium" when used in reference to Fantasy; there was no Latin, only Khazalid), and although they didn't have anything to do with the first banishing of [[Chaos]] they are responsible for the strength of the forces of Order repelling Chaos for most of the rest of the setting.

Unlike many fantasy settings, Dwarfs in Warhammer are based on blunt spoken Yorkshire men (rather than blunt spoken Scottish men). This is in contrast to the High Elves having a touch of Southern England about them.
==History==
[[File:Dorfz.PNG|thumb|center|600px|NEVAH FUCKIN FORGET IT!]]
NOTE: Many events are listed under different dates depending on your source and edition, which can just be resolved by figuring each Hold kept history separately. Feel free to loudly grumble into your ale about it.

===Prehistory (Golden Age before Chaos)===
In the beginning of the Warhammer World (named "Mallus" in Age of Sigmar for its solid core, because "The Warhammer World" is a cumbersome and rather uncreative name for a planet) a race of beings from another place and/or time called the [[Old Ones]] descended on a primitive world (which as of the [[End Times]] was revealed to already have [[Isha]], [[Asuryan]], [[Kurnous]], and [[Ereth Khial]] among unknown other Elf gods on it thanks to them surviving the end of the preceding universe). The Old Ones discovered there were primitive races on the verge of sapience, and began experimenting on them to create a race capable of defeating Chaos. To achieve this end they created the [[Lizardmen]] as assistants and built the [[Warp Gates]] to draw magic and use as tools (accidentally drawing the very attention of Chaos they were trying to avoid). They first made the races civilized and planted the seeds of their culture, placed them in an environment perfectly formed to aid their development, and put them in proximity to fight Chaos.

First uplifted were the [[High Elves (Warhammer Fantasy)|Elves]], gifted in magic and longevity. But the Elves were too frail, too corruptible. Chaos could tug at their emotions and draw them into conflict with themselves, lure them to its side with promises of power and pride, and were loyal to themselves before their race and their race before anything else.

So the Old Ones took the Dwarfs and uplifted them, tweaking the formula to still have long life but making the Dwarfs entirely unable to be corrupted by Chaos ([[Chaos Dwarfs|in theory because it didn't work in practice]]) by making their bodies resist magic and giving them personalities that Chaos could not twist. While Elves are arrogant and act on emotion, Dwarfs are prideful but act on duty before all else. Inherent loyalty to each other prevents them from being manipulated into infighting easily, but the Dwarfs have a cultural emphasis on Oaths and pursuit of gold which allows them to deal with other races fairly. Refusal to allow insult and sleight lie unavenged make them more than willing to fight any threat, although Dwarfs lack the desire for war and bloodlust that lay deep in the hearts the Elves. Dwarfs were able to improve on the superior techniques of creating objects with their obsessive nature and a race-wide perfect photographic memory. Sadly, the Old Ones rejected the Dwarfs due to their easily predictable nature and the inability to use magic being a disadvantage more than a strength. So the Old Ones moved on, creating the human race next then the Halflings, Giants, and finally Ogres with miscellaneous races inbetween.

Dwarfs remember their history differently however. They claim to have been born from the stone of the first mountains, a story that doesn't involve Elves or Lizardmen or any other race. They believe the first Dwarfs to be their gods, the Ancestor Gods. [[Valaya]] was the first queen, who invented almost all aspects of Dwarf culture. Her husbands were [[Grungni]] and [[Grimnir]], with Grungni taking the language his wife created and inventing the ability to forge them into objects using specific rituals to trap magic inside without the corruption or destruction inherent to magic. Grimnir on the other hand became a war god, destroying the enemies of the Dwarfs. In reality, these three were only the leaders of the first Dwarfs that were given gifts by the Old Ones, guided by the hands of the mysterious beings (its not clear if seen or unseen, although since the [[Slann]] directly taught magic to the Elves its possibly the first three royals were guided by the Old Ones themselves). The three did indeed become gods, possibly through the Old Ones or possibly through other means.
Dwarfs claim that Valaya invented all aspects of Dwarf culture from Grudge-keeping to brewing to the language of the Dwarfs (called "Khazalid"), while the lore that isn't told through the Dwarf perspective claims these were the gifts of the Old Ones meaning that Valaya likely just spread the knowledge and as a goddess was the patron rather than was the inventor. What is true is that Valaya was the one who established the primary Dwarf Holds (called "Karaks" or [[Dwarf Fortress|Fortress]]) including Karaz-a-Karak which became her holy city and the capital of the Dwarf race, although she left her sons in charge of each Karak and Dwarfs consider said sons as the first ruler of each.
[[File:Classic Dwarfs.png|thumb|right|400px|Early Warhammer Dwarfs (meta, not fluff).]]
By Dwarf reckoning the first stone gave birth to the three, then the three created the others from it; thus making the three the "parents" of all Dwarfs. But Valaya gave birth to children of both of her husbands, and the lineage of many Dwarfs can be traced directly to them which lends them legitimacy and credence in society, which is why the same lore can have a Dwarf say they are all sons of Valaya while their king is considered a direct son of Valaya.

Grungni one day made a prophesy that a great disaster would befall the Dwarfs. He and Valaya created a special rune, her own rune, that protected from magic and Chaos while Grimnir prepared for a great war by slaying the monsters already in the world including "Urmskaladrak" AKA the father of all Dragons (according to the Elves, this dragon was a benevolent being killed by one of their own gods who's body formed [[Ulthuan]] meaning which story is true is unknown).

===Chaos (Orphans)===
When the Warp Gates collapsed into portals to the [[Warp]] and the Old Ones vanished, Valaya made a home in Karaz-a-Karak and blessed the first two great pillars within. Both Dwarfs and Elves in Warhammer mark this time as the start of recorded history, with the exact Dwarf calendar beginning in -5500 according to the calendar of the humans of the setting (so the Dwarf 4493 is the human year 0).

One hundred and two years later Grungni created the Throne Of Power which is the property of the High King of the Dwarfs, giving it to his son Snorri Whitebeard. Grimnir met the Elf [[Aenarion]] during his travels as an explorer and the two races began diplomacy as the only other civilized people they had encountered (Dwarfs had met the humans of [[Nehekhara]], but the relations were not exactly friendly and the not-Egyptians were fairly primitive compared to the Dwarfs at the time).

One year after that, Grimnir marched into the Chaos Wastes to defeat the [[Daemon|Daemons]] and [[Warriors of Chaos|human Chaos-worshipers]] and wound up alone in a fortress inside the Warp after closing the Chaos Gate that allowed Daemons to walk straight into the material plane, where he fought the united forces of Chaos for the rest of time. Valaya hid in a forgotten Vault called Valaya's Gate where she could pool her magic and create a magical device to brings Dwarfs back to a golden age if they ever faltered. Grungni's fate is unknown, although he didn't die.

During this time, several Dwarfs got separated and found themselves in an inhospitable wasteland. What happened next is shrouded in mystery, but began when their children started dying of sickness. When they were eventually engulfed by the corrupting influence of Chaos, they turned from the Ancestor Gods to the daemon Hashut and became the [[Chaos Dwarfs]]. The rest of the Dwarfs promptly unpersoned them, declaring them eternal enemies of all Dwarfs who revere the Ancestor Gods, and any relatives they had among the main population committed mass suicide out of shame.

===Snorri Whitebeard===
In the absence of the mother and fathers Snorri became the supreme leader of his siblings, the Dwarf kings. After the sacrifice of Aenarion and the construction of the Vortex by the Elves, Chaos had subsided a great deal and the races began to explore the world again. In the year 404, Aenarion's son [[Malekith]] contacted Snorri and spent time with their race, learning a great deal about them and sending messages about the amiable race he had discovered back to the homeland. The two destroyed the last remaining armies from the first invasion of Chaos and settled the world, Elves creating colonies and Dwarfs new Karaks and even the odd above-ground settlements. Trade between the two created a new golden age vastly different than what came before, with Dwarfs refining their magical runes with the aid of the Elf masters of magic while the Elves learned the secrets of engineering.

Sometime between year 500 and 600 the Dwarfs of a Hold called Zorn Uzkul swore itself to the Chaos entity [[Hashut]] and became [[Chaos Dwarfs]] (Dwarfs cannot be corrupted against their will, but the Old Ones hadn't predicted willingly falling to what has little to offer), called "Uzkul-Dhrazh-Zharr" or just "Dawi Zharr". Chaos Dwarfs became Wizards by forcing magic into their bodies via runes, but thanks to the magic-resisting nature of the Dwarfs the Chaos Dwarf Wizards slowly turn to stone.
Knowledge of how it happened and who exactly Hashut is are lost even to the Chaos Dwarfs themselves, with all that is known for sure being that they felt abandoned by the trinity gods after Chaos isolated them from the rest of the race. Hashut may be an ancestor god, but he could also merely be a Daemon using the Chaos Dwarfs to increase his own power. Either way the knowledge of the Chaos Dwarfs is ignored by most of the rest of the Dwarfs as they are generally unwilling to admit to anything that diminishes them.

In 1684 the second Phoenix King Bel Shanaar visited Karaz-a-Karak, swearing an Oath of eternal friendship with the elderly Snorri. At some point Elf artisans worked on the ceiling of the great hall of Karaz-a-Karak, which had since grown to house nine hundred and ninety two pillars added to Valaya's first two with each belonging to a Dwarf clan upon which each year their history is chronicled. The Elves covered the roof of the Hold in sapphires that glimmer and glow, showing the constellations in the sky above the mountain.

===Gotrek Starbreaker===
Snorri passed the position of High King to his son Gotrek, as well as the Throne Of Power.

In 1654, not long after Malekith began the great civil war between the Elves, letting his mother [[Morathi]] twist him and the more wicked of the Elves to become [[Dark Elves]], Malekith killed Bel Shanaar. Dwarfs heard little of the war and barely understood it as knowledge of the Chaos Dwarfs was either commonplace or covered up and those who were aware chalked it up to Chaos rather than inherent wickedness or anyone having any natural reason for kinslayin and Oathbreaking. The war went on for many years under Phoenix King Caledor I, with the Dwarfs being understanding of the weakened and financially strained Elves and producing more weapons and armor for them.

Elves and Dwarfs have contrasting personalities and some had managed to earn enmity between them even if the races as a whole were still beloved allies and friends. Elves are arrogant and sarcastic, Dwarfs are boisterous and rude, and this harmed the politics of the two when the races spent time in constant contact. [[The Grudge Of Drong]] was an incident in 2493 when a highly traditionalist and highly racist Dwarf clan called Kazad Drong began a war with a far more open (and wealthy) Dwarf clan in Krag Bryn as well as their Elf allies. At the end of a very bitter war both Holds turned against the Elves who had marched to war in defense of their trade partners and all three (far more for the Dwarfs) suffering grievous losses as a result. The rest of the Dwarfs refused to help, leaving the Elves bitter at the betrayal and the two clans of Dwarfs fuming over the loss of their armies. In the same year, a Hold called Karak Zorn established in the mountains south of Nehekhara is destroyed by Lizardmen.

In 2488 Dwarf caravans were found destroyed by Elf arrows. The Dwarfs immediately slaughtered the nearest Elf settlement.
This set the stage for what was to come.

In the year 2518 when the now-evil Malekith used his knowledge of the Dwarf race to manipulate Elves and Dwarfs into being enemies forever. While there are sources that say Malekith was the mastermind of what was about to happen, others (and what is much more likely) suggest his ultimate goal was to prevent the High Elves from seeking help from the Dwarfs against himself, something that could have very well happened with the Dwarfs focus on oaths. Making the alliance between the two races shaky would keep the Dwarfs out of any future conflicts, although his plan to achieve this would work FAR better then he could have predicted. His Dark Elves dressed as the High Elves and attacked Dwarf caravans. Gotrek had difficulty believing the allies of the Dwarfs could ever do such a thing and sent his emissaries for an explanation from the current Phoenix King Caledor II, son of Caledor I. Unlike his father Caledor II was arrogant to a ridiculous degree, and refused to even meet with the "inferior race". Angered by this behavior, Gotrek changed his demand from an explanation to the gold value that would result in forgiveness according to the Dwarf tradition of Grudges. Caledor II responded by shaving the beard of the ambassador, which is the worse thing that can befall a Dwarf short of betraying his Clan and king, and sent him back to them. He took the Slayer Oath in shame and Gotrek declared war on the Elves. This came to be known as the [[The War of the Beard (The War of Vengeance)|War Of The Beard/War Of Vengeance]] (former to the Elves, latter to the Dwarfs).
Due to the shame of the friendship Snorri Whitebeard swore going so wrong, he became unable to leave the world and lived on as an immortal being called [[Grombrindal]] AKA The White Dwarf.

The war was devastating for both sides. The Dwarfs destroyed most of the High Elf colonies that had nothing to do with the conflict, the High Elves wiped out quite a few Holds and the High Elves gave into the savage side that had previously only been seen in the Dark Elves when they began desecrating religious sites and poisoning populations in acts of total war. Both sides were devastated, pooling their resources from fighting Chaos and their evil kin into destroying each other.
In 2519 Snorri Halfhand, Gotrek's son, dueled Caledor II and was killed. In 2525 Snorri is avenged by his cousin Morgrim the Elf Prince Imladrik in the Battle Of Oeragor. In 2545 Morgrim burns down Athel Maraya.

In 3003 the Dwarfs attacked Tor Alessi in the Battle Of The Three Towers where Gotrek and Caledor II dueled. Caledor's head was cut off and the Dwarfs captured the Phoenix Crown, forged by all of their kingdoms for Aenarion and a holy object of supreme importance, which resulted in the Grudge that started the war being avenged (but not the MANY that had occurred during it). The Dwarfs retreated back into their Holds and dared the Elves to attack, and during preparations for that the Dark Elves attacked Ulthuan. The Elves immediately retreated back, accepting the war as a defeat, and scrambled to save their homeland. They demanded the surviving colonists to return to Ulthuan, but they had heard the primal call of the magical woods of [[Athel Loren]] and refused, becoming [[Wood Elves (Warhammer Fantasy)|Wood Elves]] instead.

The end of the war marked the end of the golden age of the Dwarfs, as their armies were devastated and much of their lands lost. But the worst was yet to come.

'''The Time Of Woes''' began only twenty years later. The Slann of the Lizardmen attempted to reshape the geography of the world in order to follow more closely the plans of the Old Ones. At the same time however, the Skaven over at Skavenblight used a giant machine in an attempt to expand their under-empire. The power of Slann magic and Skaven machinery collided and the resulting earthquakes did more damage to the Dwarf civilization than anything else in their history. Nothing is recorded of this time, even in the Book Of Grudges. All Holds were at least partially damaged, while the gigantic underground highway that connected all Dwarf territory called the Underway was blocked with rubble, water, magma, and a gigantic horde of [[Orcs & Goblins|greenskins]] as well as the newly discovered Chaos ratman race called [[Skaven]]. The Goblin Wars began at this time. Karak Ungor fell first, conquered by [[Night Goblins]] and renamed Red Eye Mountain. The Blacktash, Hit-hammer, and Fire-brand Clans are entirely wiped out.

Only one year later Karak Varn fell to Night Goblins and Skaven after partially flooding from earthquakes. The year after that the mines of Ekrund were overrun by Orcs and the Mad Dog Pass watchtowers were taken by a horde of greenskins including Night Goblins from the east. Karak Izor only survived due to reinforcements from Clan Kamerad including steamroller warmachines. In 3066 Gunbad, the richest mines the Dwarfs had and the only source of Brightstone, fell to Night Goblins and Gadron Holheart, greatest Dwarf jeweler, died in the battle. By 3131 all Dwarf Holds east of the World's Edge Mountains are abandoned. In 3136 greenskins began the Silver Road Wars and twenty years later captured Mount Silverspear which was renamed Mount Grimfang after the warboss that took it.

===Morgrim Blackbeard===
Gotrek's tragically disastrous reign ended some time prior to 3268 when Morgrim Blackbeard became his successor as High King and inherited the Throne Of Power.

In 3243 Thunder Mountain erupted, forcing an army of Trolls and greenskins into Dwarf lands. Soon after, Mogrim began the Troll Wars to retake territory around Karaz-a-Karak after the fall of the villages of Valhorn and Budrikhorn. He managed to recapture minor settlements across his territory and, more importantly, was able to retake the tombs of Dwarfen ancestors to restore and reseal them.

In 3248 Morgrim continued south with his army to reclaim Mad Dog Pass while Logazor Brightaxe led an army east to recapture Mount Gunbad but was soon forced out. Dwarf forces attempted to reclaim Mount Silverspear but were repelled and settled for destroying a greenskin army marching on Karaz-a-Karak instead.

In 3292 Karak Izor and Clan Kamerad signed a trade deal of 2k tons of iron for 1k tons of copper.

In 3338 the Runesmith Kadrin Redmane retook Karak Varn from the Skaven and discovered Gromril, causing a massive resettlement of the Hold. Redmane was killed in 3387 by an Orc ambush near the Black Water coast, and according to the story he threw his famous runed hammer into the water to prevent it from falling into Orcish hands; his descendant, the Hammerer Durgrim Redmane, disputes the story and still possesses the hammer to prove his claim.

In 3392 Prince Gumli of Clan Kamerad and Princess Dertain were betrothed to celebrate 100 years of trade. Upon seeing her, he described her as having "the face of a troll chewing a rock" and breaks off the marriage, keeping the dowry for "the wrongs that our eyes had to endure".

In 3397 Karak Varn was retaken by greenskins.

===Nurn Shieldbreaker===
The dates of Nurn Shieldbreaker's rule aren't recorded. He is mentioned in Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd edition in [[Tome Of Salvation]], so his canonicity is dubious.

Nurn was the first Dwarf to meet the human tribals that would later form the Empire. He was initially insulted when his proud delegation of armored warriors was met with the savages fleeing in fear, but in later meetings the humans agreed to sell the Dwarfs gold and cattle in exchange for land and safe passage to it.

===Skorri Morgrimsson===
At some point prior to 3518 Skorri succeeded his father Morgrim (if Nurn Shieldbreaker is still canon, the dates suggest that Nurn was Skorri's elder brother but there is no solid info on this, especially since Skorri succeeded his father so it can be finagled to say that Morgrim went missing and was presumed dead and succeeded by Nurn, who died early but Morgrim was able to find his way back and retake the throne before Skorri was made High King and leaved it to Skorri when he died). His son Prince Furgil is killed trying to reclaim Karak Ungor from Skaven, incidentally leading to the foundation of the Slayer Cult (see below).

In 3548 Skorri lead a massive Dwarf army to retake Karak Ungor in a battle called The Battle Of A Thousand Woes, but were driven back to Karaz-a-Karak and Skorri abdicated the throne to take the Slayer Oath, and died soon after. If you take the finagling above to be canonical as a means to weld the old lore with the established canon then this means that this family had a real bad time.

===Rogni Stonehammer===
Rogni’s reign has no information other than that he was the cousin of Skorri.

===Logan Proudbeard===
The date Logan took the throne isn't recorded like his four predecessors, but occurred sometime between 3548 and 3773.

On 3773 Night Goblins laid siege to Karak Azgal but were driven back, causing them to invade Karak Azul instead where they managed to take part of it. Only in 3783 did the forces of Karal Azul manage to expel them completely. Aid from Clan Kamerad is instrumental in the victory.

In 3803 a dragon named Skaladrak Incarnadine (AKA not-Smaug) destroyed mines near Karak Kadrin.

In 3822 Miners of Karak Eight Peaks tunneled into a Skaven tunnel by mistake, discovering for the first time how ridiculously expansive the Skaven empire is.

In 3873 Baragor became the first Slayer King of Karak Kadrin. Unable to seek death like a proper Slayer due to his responsibility to his people, he dedicated the primary Shrine of Grimnir instead and made Karak Kadrin the center of Slayer culture. He took on the name Ungrim to reflect his duty as Slayer King.

In 4010 Karak Eight Peaks fell due to daily attacks from enemies. Poisoned gas drive the Dwarfs into a retreat from Peak to Peak until King Lunn ordered his people to seal the tombs of the Eight Peak ancestors using impenetrable runes and lead his people into a battle to make their way out and make an exodus away from their home, promising to return and cleanse the depths.

In 4054 Karak Azgal was destroyed by Orcs, which were then destroyed by a Dragon. The survivors of the greenskins attacked Karak Drazh then renamed it Black Crag while the Night Goblins over the course of several years took the lands between the Mad Dog Pass and the Fire Mountains, leaving only Karak Azul in Dwarf hands. The massive amount of Dwarf refugees from fallen Holds across the mountains kept Karal Azul strong. Karak Izril is also destroyed.

In 4143 Orcs lead by Ugrok Beardburner attacked Karaz-a-Karak, destroying many Dwarf settlements and capturing High King Logan Proudbeard himself which broke his spirit. Gozarin Silverhorn lead the force that saved the High King and wiped out the Orcs near Black Water one year later.

In 4273 Dwarfs settle the Grey Mountains and begin trading with the tribals of the human race extensively for the first time.

In 4383 Clan Kamerad sent an expedition lead by their greatest warrior Daled Stormbreaker to reclaim the treasures of Karak Azgal. They are killed by the Dragon Graug The Terrible. In 4473 Karak Izor finally returned their steamrollers, in poor condition resulting in an ending of trade between the two.

===Kurgan Ironbeard===
Kurgan took over as High King for Proudbeard some time around 4500, and in 4508 was ambushed and captured by Orcs. [[Sigmar|Sigmar Unberogen]], head of the Unberogen tribe of humans, fought the Orcs in his crusade against their race for killing his father. This began the (tsundere) respect for humanity by the Dwarfs. Sigmar is gifted with [[Ghal Maraz]], a magic runed warhammer (which gives the setting its name and primary symbol) by Kurgan. Sigmar forms [[The Empire (Warhammer Fantasy)|the Empire]] (the German Holy Roman Empire of the setting). Orcs soon laid siege to the Holds resulting in Kurgan sending Alaric The Mad to request the aid of the humans in repelling them.

In 4511 at Thane Barin's wedding he insulted Thane Godrik's aunt Brodrika resulting in a Grudge.

In 4522 Kurgan and Sigmar lead a force of their people in the Battle Of Black Fire Pass, finishing off the massive Orc presence in the region. The Empire is rewarded when Alaric forges the Runefangs.

In 4780 Miners discover the Dragon Mordrak has nested at Karak Azul.

In 4902 Dwarfs discovered Athel Loren and the Wood Elves. It...didn't go well for the Dwarfs, as the Wood Elves are batshit insane xenophobes.

In 5113 Karak Vrag fell, greatly reducing the Dwarf power of the east in the [[Mountains Of Mourn]].

===Finn Scourscowl===
Scourscowl's date of ascendancy to the position of High King is as most others unrecorded.

In 5155 Dorin Heldour and Katalin Kandoom discover the lost Heartstone of Aldin Getgold in the Dragonback Mountains. In 5157 the pair explore the ruin of Karak Varn and discover then restore the fabled Axe Of Dail, gifting it to Scourscowl. In 5158 Heldour gave skinned hide of a Dragon named Fyrskar to Scourscowl in Karaz-a-Karak where it was enchanted with runes.

In 5180 Gromril is discovered west of Black Water by a Dwarf named Thori Gundrikson. Dwarfs spend several years mining almost all of the Gromril until Skaven destroy the mines.

In 5201 King Fodrin Axegirth insulted the King of Clan Kamerad by saying he is "petty minded", resulting in a break of communication that Axegirth insists he started.

In 5235 Heldour and Kandoom rescue Elmador and Oldor Finnson from Black Crag.

===Elmador Finnson===
Elmador's date of ascension is unknown, and is only stated in the story of his rescue.

In 5415 Kragg the Grimm finishes the first rune, the Rune of Stone, that is taught to apprentice Runesmiths under his tutor Morek Furrowbrow. Kragg became the longest-lived and among the greatest Runesmiths of all time.

In 5555 Skalf Dragonslayer killed Graug The Terrible and became king of Karak Azgal. Night Goblins soon invade and the residents of the Hold are forced out, creating a town in the valley below.

In 5591 a feud between the Grimbul and Drakki clan begins due to two Thanes arguing over a bellows that was borrowed by grandfather Drakki. Grimbul is nicknamed "Everlate".

In 5593 Skaven spread a plague in Clan Kamerad that kills their king. The Skaven are wiped out by 5594.

In 5634 the Black Plague is unleashed by the Skaven, causing Dwarfs to seal their Holds. Skaven attack most Holds and don't capture any, although casualties are terrible for all Dwarfs.

In 5943 the Dragon Skaladrak Incarnadine rampages around Karak Kadrin.

===Kendrak Gottrison===
As with all other High Kings the date of Kendrak's rise isn't recorded. In 6235 he led an attack on [[Gorbad Ironclaw]]'s army and destroyed it as he attempted to retreat back to the Badlands.

In 6503 Dwarf armies allied with the Empire and attempted to wipe out the Vampires of Sylvania, Dwarf cannons playing a major part of the fall of Templehof in the Battle of Hunger Wood against Countess Emmanuelle (no, not [[Emmanuelle von Liebwitz|THAT Countess Emmanuelle]]).

===Alrik Deathdealer===
Alrik took the throne sometime after 6503 and before 6728, when he was killed by the Goblin Warlord Gorkil Eyegouger in the Battle Of Black Falls when Alrik stabbed the Goblin fatally and Gorkil pulled him over the falls. Alrik's son Alriksson massacred the surviving Goblins.

In 6796 Chaos Warriors raid Dwarf lands, killing many.

Some time between the reign of Alrik and Alriksson, a young High Elf nobleman named Finubar toured the world. He met the humans of Bretonnia and was impressed with their culture, the humans of the Empire and was impressed with their development (most Elves were under the impression all humans were tribals that worshiped Chaos). He met the batshit insane Wood Elves and...gave up attempting to build a friendship quite quickly. Finally he met the Dwarfs, being the first non-Wood Elf to encounter them in many years. Finubar made a great deal of progress in repairing the bond between the two races, even going so far as to drink Dwarf ale and not offend them in doing so (likely because the Elf constitution would result in vomit rather than inebriation). When Finubar became Phoenix King he continued his work towards friendship with the Dwarfs and even allowed Dwarfs and humans the unprecedented offer to live in Ulthuan (specifically only in one city, Lothern, which was his birthplace and one of the most magnificent places in the world alongside Karaz-a-Karak).

===Balun Alriksson===
Ascending to the throne of the High King in 6728, Alriksson focused on the Great War Against Chaos in defense of Magnus The Pious of the Empire.

In 6814 Clan Grodrik and Clan Barin end their feud with the marriage of Smakki Brightaxe and Dunhilda The Fair. In the same year Skaven pirates destroy the fleets of mankind and plunder the coasts until The Battle Of Bloodwater Sound in the Black Gulf where Barak Varr Ironclads destroy them.

Alriksson lead a massive army from Karaz-a-Karak to [[Kislev]] in 6825 and finished the Great War Against Chaos. All of his sons perish in the war while he himself suffers wounds that never heal. As the Dwarf Kings had been unDwarfishly stingy with their soldiers and gold during the war Alriksson felt that the Dwarfs were nearing a complete breakdown in centralized order and called for a Council Of Kings, which hadn't happened since the time of Gottrison. He announced that each of the twelve candidates to succeed him would have one year to do great deeds for the Dwarfs with the greatest among them taking the throne, which echoed what kings in ancient myths underwent to take the throne of High King.
Two died in their journeys, and the greatest story of valor during the year was that of Ungrim Ironfist and his dead giant giant (as in "very fucking large giant"). But Alriksson's nephew Thorgrim who had vanished during he War, returned coincidentally during the ceremony having spent the years since his disappearance during the war invading Norsca itself, reforging ties of friendship with the Norse Dwarfs (the ambassadors of which were his traveling companions on the way home) as well as delving into lost Holds and returning sacred artifacts. Thorgrim announced it was only the beginning, that he would spend the rest of his life rebuilding the Dwarf empire and avenging all Grudges. He was made heir almost immediately, and Alriksson, having found a worthy heir in his nephew, finally died of his hidden wounds not long after.

===Thorgrim Grudgebearer===
In 6827 Thorgrim took the position of High King from his uncle Alriksson and immediately set out to begin his '''Age Of Reckoning''' to avenge the Grudges of the Dwarfs and begin a new golden age like that of before the War Of Vengeance. He retook the Mad Dog Pass immediately.

In 6943 [[Grom the Paunch]] rampaged through the lands of the Dwarfs, defeating an army of Dwarfs at the Battle Of Irongate. He turned his attentions to the Empire afterwards. In the same year the Karaz-a-Karak Engineer's Guild Hall was destroyed by Burlok Damminson and Sven Hasselfriesian in a pressure vessel experiment.

In 6992 Clan Grimbul and Clan Drakki reconciled with the return of the bellows.

In 6996 [[Belegar Ironhammer]] managed to retake part of Karak Eight Peaks in the name of his ancestor King Lunn after initially setting forth to reclaim its treasures. Five years later he is granted reinforcements by other Holds after winning a battle called the Battle Of The Jaws. In The Battle Of The East Gate an army lead by Duregar fights through the Goblin-held Peaks and survives.

In 7003 Ungrim Ironfist defeats the warlord Gnashrak in The Battle Of Broken Leg Gulley.

In 7016 [[Storm Of Chaos]] begins. NOTE: this has been rendered non-canonical via retcon when Storm of Chaos failed. Thorgrim orders the Dwarfs to unite and defend their Holds while Alrik Ranulfsson clears the Silver Road of Goblins after [[Grimgor Ironhide]] unites the Orcs and marches them to war elsewhere. Alrik reclaims Mount Gunbad and many treasures as well as settling many Grudges.

In 7026 Orcs lead by [[Gorfang Rotgut]] attack Karak Azul, imprisoning the family of King Kazador in Black Crag while his son Kazrik is shaven and left nailed to the throne.

In 7033 [[Ungrim Ironfist]] lead the armies of Karak Kadrin to defeat the Orcs united under a Warboss named Gnashrak Badtoof. [[Golgfag Maneater]] fights on the side of the Dwarfs in the beginning of the Battle Of Broken Leg Gully but switches sides when the greenskins offer more.

Some time after 7036 King Kazador manages to rescue his family and kill all Orcs responsible other than Gorfang himself.

In 7038 Ungrim captures Golgfag, then releasing him for the sport of hunting and killing him.

In 7042 greenskins attack Zhufbar in the Battle Of A Hundred Cannons. Both Thorgrim Grudgebearer and Ungrim Ironfist lead armies in its defense until the Ogres that had driven the greenskins towards the Dwarfs attack. The three armies unite with an Empire army from Nuln, resulting in the single greatest use of artillery in history.

In 7044 [[Mannfred von Carstein]] attacked the Dwarfs to capture the High Elf diplomat and princess of their race [[Everqueen|Aliathra]], who is greatly loved by the Dwarfs. [[Heinrich Kemmler]] drives a massive force of greenskins to attack the combined Dwarf and High Elf armies before he raises the corpses of the three armies and leads his own into the fray. Aliathra is kidnapped. One year later Thorgrim refuses the demands of nobility to blame the Elves and instead offers aid in rescuing the princess. He leads a massive force to rescue [[Tyrion]], secretly the father of Aliathra who had charged deep into Nagashizzar and retrieved the unconscious girl, but during the battle she is once again kidnapped. Tyrion blames the Dwarfs and demands they leave. Rather than attack them for the insult, Thorgrim leads his army to Karak Eight Peaks to retake the Hold instead.

Non-canonical information ends here.

For the rest of Thorgrim's reign after 7003 (and the end of the world), see [[The End Times]].

===Other Continuities===
* In [[Storm of Chaos]] Garagrim Ironfist, Ungrim's son, died in battle when a Chaos Giant fell on him, according to his plan for fulfilling the Slayer Oath of the Slayer Kings without betraying the position of king. Ungrim immediately takes a new Slayer Oath for the loss of his son making the loss pointless. After Retcon, Garagrim is mentioned to have died decades ago.

* In [[Total War: WARHAMMER]] during the Dwarf campaign Thorgrim Grudgebearer, Belegar Ironhammer, Ungrim Ironfist and THE White Dwarf defeated all united Greenskin and Skaven Clans, and reclaimed every Hold and the rest of Dwarf territory including the Hold in the Chaos Wastes to the north of Kislev, reclaimed and purged the Underway of his foes, cleared the master Dammaz Kron of all Grudges, and destroyed the forces of Chaos and [[Vampire Counts]]. In most other campaigns the Dwarf race is either wiped out or achieves some measure of success towards those goals.

* [[Blood Bowl]] as an alternate universe began when, during a battle between Dwarfs and Goblins in the Underway, the two sides discovered an ancient chest of incomparable power. Dwarfs claimed the chest and put a scholar on translating the mysterious books and scrolls inside. He went mad, but managed to write out the rules for a game which both sides agreed to play. It's not recorded who won (but considering it was between the "OP at low TV" Dwarfs and the "Joke at all levels and hard-countered by Dwarfs" Goblins, it's pretty easy to guess), but it began the craze of Blood Bowl (AKA American Gridiron Football) which in time replaced war in that particular Warhammer world to the degree that even Chaos set aside destroying reality in favor of the game as Khorne trains potential players for Chaos, Slaanesh funds stadiums, Tzeentch gambles on the game, and Nurgle...watches it.

* [[The Ziggurat of Doom]] is when five Dwarfs that are never mentioned anywhere else made a final stand against a swarm of Goblins. This seemingly unimportant event is worth mention because it is the very first Warhammer lore ever written, making Dwarfs officially the first race (Goblins don't count because PISS OFF, YE KRUTTING GROBI!). Can be inserted into the main storyline at any point, if only because it doesn't really contradict anything.

==Technology and Magic==
===Runesmithing===
Dwarfs, as previously mentioned, cannot simply cast magic. Their bodies resist it, their presence weakens and disrupts it, and the mental energy of Dwarfs can outright negate it as if it isn't even present (this is very comparable to a [[Blank]] in [[Warhammer 40000]], although Blanks are described as being soulless and nightmarish on an emotional level to be around whereas Dwarfs simply force magic to sit still and shut the fuck up). While all Elves and certain members of other races can be born with the ability to see magic, and most individuals can feel it to some degree (usually as a feeling of unease or sense that something is different, like Athel Loren feeling primal and sentient), Dwarfs have absolutely no ability to sense magic in any form unless its literally lighting something up or it producing a physical effect. This is a benefit in that morale of Dwarf troops marching through an area simply grumble as they would anywhere else while the landscape would be causing humans to piss themselves in place and flee the moment they heard the wind blow.

Either as the invention of Valaya and Grungni or as a gift from the Old Ones, Dwarfs can smith the letters of their language in different ways into objects to produce magic. This magic is permanent or contains a set amount of charges, being completely transformed into something even safer than High Magic. These vary from the Rune Of Stone, a very basic Rune that is first taught to apprentices in the craft and only requires them to carve it right (which in human terms means perfect) to complex runes requiring a far more complex process. For example: on the last day of the third full moon of the year at midnight at the heart of a mountain the furnace is heated, the ore hammered before dawn and folded seven times while each time singing a song of forging, dipped in dragon blood and cooled in quicksilver from Karak Ungol while praising the ancestor god Haki, tempered in the water of Varn, sharpened with dragon horn. Then on the third moon of winter the Rune is carved on the finished surface, daubed with troll blood that was killed on Grungni's Day, the hilt then bound in dragon hide with the horns on the inside, hafted with gold from Azgal and bound with metal from Azul, given a pommel made from an Orc's fang covered in Grimnir's runes, blessed with ale on an altar of Valaya, and finished by killing a Troll at midnight which finishes the magic and activates the rune.
All runes trap small amounts of magic, making a Dwarf letter to a friend technically infused with magic that races capable of seeing it can discern information beyond the text from. But magic runes trap a large amount of magic, forcing it to behave a specific way without any of its unpredictable or Chaos effects that an unlucky wizard can cause.

Runesmiths are what the Dwarfs who practice runelore are called, their craft handed down from the gods themselves. While not technically the priesthood, they are closely tied to the faiths and the shrines. Absolute perfection is required in their craft as all other aspects of Dwarf society rely on runes, from the simple miners requiring runes allowing them to break through harder rock on a timetable to the machinists who use the runes to give their creations extra security in continuing to function to kings whose runed crowns protect them from assassins.

There are rules to how many and what kind of runes may be placed on an object. Technically this was providing a lore explanation for the crunch rules for runes, back when Games Workshop Army Book designers gave a fuck.

* The Rule Of Three: No object may have more than three runes, as things from the material plane cannot take that much magic.
* The Rule Of Form: Runes are specific to the type of object. Runes for machines cannot be placed on armor, weapons on the mundane. How exactly the rune figures out the difference between a pickaxe used as a weapon and one used for work isn't clear...this may simply be a rule of Runesmithing and not how runes work.
* The Rule Of Pride: Duplicate choices of runes cannot be used in the same army. A Thane may have a Rune Of Stone for example, but then literally no other Dwarf may have a Rune Of Stone. The Thane can have a Rune Of Stone and a Rune Of Protection, allowing any other Dwarf to have a Rune Of Stone OR a Rune Of Protection but not both. This is almost certainly a rule for mechanics, with the lore explanation being that Runesmiths dislike repeating themselves or copying the work of others beyond their apprenticeships (note that since every single rune option is preexisting on top of the basic Dwarf idea of older being better and new being shit, there is a lore contradiction here).
* Jealous Runes: Master runes cannot be used more than once per army, and no more than one master rune can be on any object. They also cannot be combined together and refuse to work if there's more than one on the same battlefield. How this works for two opposing armies is unstated.

Note that unless otherwise stated, runes can be used more than once on the same object to amplify their effect.

Of course this doesn't mean every rune and symbol on an object is a magic rune carved by a Runesmith. Some runes are just good luck symbols, slogans, and decorations (but since all runes are magic, that doesn't necessarily mean that there's no effect at all...).

===Engineering===
By themselves, the Elves invented complex seafaring. Humans invented bronze age technology, seen in the [[Tomb Kings]]. Ogres invented the basics of carts and wheels as well as animal husbandry. Orcs... well, they exist and usually figure out which end of sharp things to stick in other things and eventually learned that you could beat hot iron into something stabby.

But virtually every piece of true technology in the setting comes from Dwarfs. Elves received their crossbows and Bolt Throwers and mankind the secrets of gunpowder, gears, and steam from the Dawi.

Of course, the Dwarfs keep the best tech for themselves, like Gyrocopters and other fun toys. The basics were gifts to protect their allies from the forces of Chaos, things that Dwarfs have long since surpassed that would not be effective if turned against them.

Dwarfs mistrust anything new; something in their eyes must be a blueprint for multiple generations before a prototype is considered, so anything special only ever gets made in times of desperation by young and human-like (or completely fucking insane) Dwarf Engineers. Seriously, the Engineers Guild will normally only consider accepting a design after it's been criticized and picked apart after decades if not centuries of work on it (it's not unheard for a design to be accepted years after the original engineer was expelled and died), though arguably given Dwarf psychology, this saves many lives as not only would a disasterous accident resulting from a piece of equipment's design flaw injure or kill Dwarfs, probably every Dwarf involved in the design and approval process of it would soon take the Slayer oath. As it is, only the desperation after the Time Of Woes has seen such new devices given the 'okay' stamp, and even then only by more liberal "if it works, do it" and "if it kills Grobi and Urk, put some Slayers on it" leaders like Thorgrim and Ungrim.

Revolutionary devices include gigantic zeppelins carrying bombs, cannons, machine guns on a 360 degree swivel, and rockets which can ram other things called [[Thunderbarge|Thunderbarges]]. Even better, in [[Dreadfleet]] the Dwarfs have a gigantic aircraft carrier/submarine that launched Thunderbarges. [[Goblin-hewer]]s are tank-like machines that throw volleys of axes, and [[Deathroller|Deathrollers]] are the unholy combination of motorcycle and steamroller.

Needless to say, this technological conservatism is perhaps the biggest weakness of the dwarfen army; though their head start over races in the technological field gave them a huge edge, with each generation gone past, technological advancement (at least amongst elves, humans and skaven) closes that gap due to the slow, near-stagnant pace that dwarfs continue to innovate and expand upon what they have. Just how much of an issue this actually is varies depending on the edition book. It's also one of the things that marks the [[Skaven]] out as their most hated antithesis; because Skaven embrace innovation and don't give so much of a whisker's twitch for the cost in lives of progress, they are erratically but rapidly catching up to or even surpassing dwarf work, at least in theoretical terms.

No, seriously. Skaven work is shoddily made and won't last for shit, not like dwarf work. But dwarfs have reliable steam power (and, it's implied, alcohol-burning diesel engines) they do very little with (even the Empire makes use of [[Steam Tank]]s), very-well-designed rifled flintlocks, cannons, gyrocopters, and at least the basic principles of clockpunk bionic limbs. Skaven have mastered electricity, cartridge-based gun technology, regularly use bionics on a wide scale, make use of an (admittedly unpredictable) ''giant laser cannon'' on the battlefield, and commonly wield things like flamethrowers and gatling guns. That said, in modern times occasionally an engineer will take some example of non-dwarfish workmanship "for scrap" or "to show the beardlings how not to do it", quietly take notes behind a locked door and produce a TOTALLY ORIGINAL MACHINE similar to those that the Manlings/Ratguys OBVIOUSLY STOLE FROM US!

Dwarfs believe anything worth doing is worth doing right, and in such a way that it lasts as long as possible. Dwarfs of Holds don't write often on paper, as that is the way of Humans and Elves. They inscribe on stone, or better, metal. The most important texts such as Grudges, lineage, contracts, and words of their faith are inscribed on gold (though all depictions of a Book of Grudges in art and models have paper pages). Which aside from being valuable does not rust or tarnish (which is why in real life we use gold for the records and plaques on the Voyager and Pioneer space craft).

In contrast, in real life Engineers don't try to get everything right on the first go. The first cars were slow, fuel inefficient, unreliable, tricky to operate and often death traps and were basically toys for the rich. Never the less, once the basics of "go forward, turn and stop when desired" were met the engineers could move on to solve the various other problems. "Perfect" is the enemy of "Good Enough".

===Smithing===
Of course science and 100% reliable magic aren't the only Dwarf advantages, they still have the standard "better than anyone" smithing.

The most important resource to Dwarfs, beyond even ale, is the magical metal '''[[Gromril]]'''. Gromril is meteoric iron AKA "Starmetal". The typical fantasy trope is that meteoric iron is rare and magical, but in real life it was mundane; today we use telluric iron which is common and occurs naturally on Earth, but in the Bronze Age and earlier, before advanced techniques of mining and smelting, meteoric iron was a rare alternative and indeed was one of the hardest materials for weapons available at the time. Today it is a curiosity only, and a gimmick for mid-price jewelry.
That being said, Warhammer Gromril is different from real life meteoric iron in that Gromril originates in the Warp, crashing down in comets in the time of the Old Ones and even somewhat rarely in the modern day. The more ancient veins of Gromril are found deep below the planet surface and are relatively safe to mine if discovered, while recent fallen Gromril is found in dangerous places due to [[Warpstone]] always accompanying its fall. Of course any time a Skaven spy hears a Dwarf say Gromril, they hear Warpstone and they plan the ruin of yet another Hold.

Gromril is extremely important to Dwarfs and is almost never given to non-Dwarfs. Their most valuable currency is made from it due to its value far surpassing gold, and Gromril is a major component of major Runesmithing. It has little value to any other race other than as a trade good as nobody else can smith using it.

Gromril can be worked into three forms:
* Refined Gromril: Also called Mithril. Used for common items like coins and cheaper armor.
* Adamant: Only the Master Smiths know how to make this, and it is far superior metal for important items.
* Laihtero: Crystalline Gromril, mythical with properties largely unknown. It was able to contain [[Arianka|a Chaos God]] in a sarcophagus.

Many people paint Gromril as bronze, but it is in fact silvery (hence why Eavy Metal paintjobs cover the more important Dwarfs like Hammerers in it).The oldest of Dwarf objects are made of precious metals, while the newest are made of increasingly large amounts of the Elgi material. Dwarfs dislike wood and generally avoid using it when possible, but when they do, they favor wutroth, also called ironbark or stonetrunk. It is a very rare mountain tree, whose forest were all but destroyed during the Time of Woes, that produces extremely hard wood (its nuts were used as sling bullets by dwarfs in ancient times).

==Grudges==
The Warhammer Dwarfs' main distinguishing feature is the extreme fervor with which they pursue Oaths and Grudges. A Dwarf that breaks an Oath or does something otherwise shameful -- ''any'' Oath or offense they feel is unforgivable -- takes an Oath, gets his hair cut into a mohawk, and becomes a Slayer who seeks mighty monsters to kill until he finds one that manages to kill him, or else seeks Dwarfs in conflict to aid and hopefully die in battle.
[[File:A Grudge Too Far.jpg|400px|thumb|right|TOUGH DECISIONS ARE TOUGH]]
Meanwhile, any Grudge that a Dwarf experiences is written in a [[Book of Grudges]] with one for every settlement and some even for individual Dwarfs or clans, and each entry ''will'' be answered for. Every 50 years the Dwarfs send representatives to Karaz-a-Karak on a holiday called "The Grudgement" where all Grudges that have been suffered and all Grudges that have been avenged are told to the rest of the assembled ambassadors which are then recorded in the master copy of the Dammaz Kron that is owned by the High King. The Great Book of Grudges is magical and no matter how many or few entries there are, it looks the same size (explaining why they can make a model of it) so only the High King is aware of how many there are yet unavenged and it is a large part of his responsibility to note which have been avenged while pursuing the others. Oh, and he's gotta record the new Grudges in his blood. So yeah, try not to get too pissed off because you're basically causing stigmata to the king.

Dwarfs don't necessarily need to kill to avenge a Grudge. Gold can be used if the Dwarf most in charge of the Grudge is willing to accept it. For example, at the start of the War Of Vengeance the Dwarfs were unaware of the concept of a civil war and thus assumed that when Elves dressed as High Elves attacked their caravans the Holds affected declared Grudges and demanded Elf blood be spilled. The High King at the time called for calm and sent a representative to ask the High Elves what happened, although the Phoenix King at the time had no respect at all for non-Elves and refused to meet with a "lesser race". So the demand was changed from explanation to gold, equal to what was lost. That earned the diplomat being shaved thus ruining his life as he had to take the Slayer Oath, and at this point the High King finally demanded blood. He earned it as well as gold when he beheaded the Phoenix King and took the Phoenix Crown, for which he struck the Grudge out of the Dammaz Kron.

Revenge is literally seen as a holy mandate in Dwarven culture. One comic has a pair of dwarf thanes decide to settle a long-running inter-clan grudge through a ritual that entails tying their beards together and letting them bash each other with axes; as they fight, each cites older and older grievances against the other until they realize that they've actually forgotten how this whole fight started in the first place. When they declare that this makes the whole grudge thing pointless and stupid, and they decide to call it quits, the stand on which their Book of Grudges sat suddenly falls on them - and because they can't decide which way to run, they get squashed by the hefty tome. Their followers promptly decide this is an omen from the gods and continue the fight until they mutually exterminate each other.

More so than their glacial technological advancement or social conservatism, this obsession with revenge is generally portrayed as the dwarfs' biggest failing, and one of the main reasons that they are going extinct; they constantly fight battles they don't need to fight, as well as getting members of their race killed for the sake of avenging dead dwarves (who were often killed avenging ''their'' predecessors). This constant cycle of endless war is slowly grinding them into nothing, because dwarves simply cannot breed quickly enough to even hope to replenish their losses, thanks to the lethal dearth of fertile females in their ranks.

==Sex And Development==
Dwarfs have very few females; lore from older editions states that one in every ten Dwarfs is female with late lore saying one in three, and political marriages are of far more importance than any emotional attachments. In early times, before Warhammer had much of an established setting (pre-3e), Citadel produced a few pre-slotta (as in "the base is part of the model) female Dwarf villagers and adventurers, although after that point only male Dwarfs saw any releases. The clan of a Dwarf bride receives the bride's weight in gold upon marriage, but in order to marry her the groom must be able to wrap his beard around her waist twice (which, if we assume most grooms are longbeards with ~ 3ft long beards, means most dwarf brides have waists with a circumference of about 1.5 feet, considerably svelte in comparison to the human woman's average of 3.2ft) creating a dynamic where plump women as relatives are good, skinny woman as desired brides good, and in reverse is considered unappealing and undesirable. Female Dwarfs braid their hair into plaits, which are their equivalent to a Dwarf man's beard. Females are rarely found in positions of power, with only the [[Queen Helgar Longplaits]] described in [[The Grudge Of Drong]] confirmed, with her entire rulership being plagued with accusations of illegitimacy due to sex. Women rarely, but more often do, end up as a king's advisor. The 6e Army Book also mentions a female Dwarf as a barmaid serving drinks to male workers and warriors and in Total War: Warhammer you can find "Dwarf Bride" and the superior "Daughter Of Valaya" companions to Characters.

Dwarfs have a coming of age ceremony marking the transition from childhood into adulthood, which we know absolutely nothing about because its one of the most well-guarded secrets of Dwarfs.

When a Dwarf's beard (or plaits) grow so long that they reach the ground, their settlement erupts in celebration over it. This makes them eligible to become a Longbeard (unknown if females have this as an option) although it is not a mandatory task as a narrator in a Dwarf Army Book mentions that he's old enough to join the Longbeards but remains with the Hammerers by his own choice.

==Politics==
* '''Dawi''': Inter-Dwarf relations are the basis of comparison by which you can see Dwarfs at their best. If they don't hate one of your ancestors they are literally the single best allies you can have as they demonstrate a self-destructive degree of Oath fulfillment. But the other side of the same coin is single-minded pursuit of Oaths made unwisely, and of Grudges for even minor infractions. While some leaders such as Thorgrim and Gotrek Starbreaker are more willing to listen to reason or use alternative methods to consider an Oath fulfilled and Grudge settled, other such as the Ungrims and Alrik Ranulfsson are more intent on purging as many Grudges as soon as possible making war inevitable and bloody. In the White Dwarf Warhammer comics, two Dwarf holds that have warred for centuries are all but depleted, with a full-scale WAAAGH of Night Goblins at their doors which, if they break through, threatens extinction for the entirety of both Clans. Unwilling to abandon the Grudge war even then, the armies suit the last of their non-combatants, including the last three women of one of the clans, in armor and charge into a last battle. When in a personal challenge the patriarchs of both clans argued with each blow about who's clan slighted who and realized neither had recorded the original Grudge; only those caused by it. Both clans set to make peace, but at the banquet of celebration Grimnir caused his statue to crush both patriarchs for the dishonor of not avenging Grudges regardless of whether or not they are remembered or even happened at all, resulting in both clans wiping each other completely out and the Goblins claiming two holds without effort. It should be noted however that the sin was in forgiveness, an abhorrent thing in Grudgelore when instead they could have both made some mutual sacrifice such as a gift to another Hold; a Grudge must be settled, though gold or Gromril is a substitute for blood. Dwarf politics are also marred by arrogance; even though all things must be recorded, not everything must be in living memory. Runes created with the Elves for example are known by most Runesmiths, but not the origin of the rune beyond the name of the Dwarf creator. This unwillingness to admit to things that make the race look lesser is a major frustration for man and Elves, not to mention each other.
* '''Dum''': Chaos is abhorrent and, with one exception below that all other Dwarfs pretend doesn't exist, has never been anything but an enemy. The concepts Dwarfs hold dear are alien to it, and the threat it poses to the world is clear, so fuck Chaos.
** '''Gor''': Dwarfs hate Beastmen. A bunch of dumb animals that somehow gained sentience only to do stupid shit, and since they’re tainted by Chaos you can’t even eat them. It is said that before [[The War of the Beard (The War of Vengeance)|war of grudge]] Malekith and Snorri once hunted an entire army of beastmen together, an event that ended with Malekith slaughtering them all. There has never been a recorded circumstance of the two working together, and they are completely inferior to Dwarfs in every way. It is also known that the Dwarf has a special name for Morghur the Shadowgave called "Gor-Dum" (which roughly translates to "Death-beast" or "Doom-beast").
** '''Dawi'zharr''': There are some Dwarfs who have turned to [[Chaos]] and created a separate civilization, creatively called the [[Chaos Dwarfs]], who were formed when they dug too far out into Chaos-infested wastelands. They sell weaponry to those [[Warriors of Chaos|Chaos worshiping Vikings north of them]] and are basically insane Babylonians. Chaos Dwarfs have wizards and brute-force magic through their bodies, which slowly turns them to stone and radically alters their appearance. Other Dwarfs have no love for Chaos Dwarf, not even as things to hate. Dawi like to have a good grumble about the Urks or the Grobi whenever they are brought up. In contrast their official stance to pretend they don't exist (and, if presented with any live specimens, to confirm their nonexistence with axes); in [[Gotrek & Felix]], Dwarfs engage in the time-honored tradition of verbally bashing Elves, and the claim is made that the actions of the Druchii reflect all Elves. When Felix brings up Chaos Dwarfs, the Dwarfs simply glare at him with such ferocity he feels as much fear of his friends as he does Vampires and Daemons elsewhere in their adventures. A similar incident occurred, but with Teclis instead of Felix pointing out the Chaos Dwarfs. Only Teclis' restraint and the fact that Gotrek owed Teclis a life-debt prevented bloodshed. Chaos Dwarfs have strayed from the light of Valaya, Grungni, and Grimnir and are forever cursed for it. But the fact that somewhere and somehow even the stalwart and stoic Dawi could give into the ruinous powers is deeply unsettling.
** '''Daemons''': Dwarfs hate Daemons;. There has never been a recorded instance of the two working together (with the exception of the Chaos Dwarfs), and during the first Chaos invasion of the world, Grimnir ascended to godhood by establishing a one-man hold in the Warp to oppose them making them possibly the worst enemies of the Dwarfs. They are inferior to Dwarfs, regardless of what Chaos cultists say.
** '''Dumal''': The Warriors Of Chaos are a reminder that Umgi are not fully trustworthy (don't bring up Chaos Dwarfs). Evil to the core, to be destroyed whenever encountered. Inferior to even the Elgi.
*** '''The Norscan Tribes''' Chaos worshiping barbarians. They were called Dumi like the Warriors of Chaos most of the time because they are chaos worshiping barbarian, but sometimes referred to as Bakrazdumi (northlander berserker) or Vardumi (northlander berserker or chaos warriors who have been hit in the head). It was known that there were contacts between the human tribes and the Dwarfs long ago in the far north. While the primitive umgi is only capable of using shitty stone/wood weapons/tools, both side had good relations, trading goods and technology to each other until Chaos showed up and corrupted the Norseman. Some Norsemen who wanted to avoid chaos went on an exodus to the (much safer) southern region while the remaining started to sacrifice any living beings they captured to their dark gods, a practice that they continue to this day. The Norse Dwarfs noticed this and broke any contacts and treaties with them, and set up safe routes, defenses and traps to avoid further contact with those barbarians. Sadly, the Norse Dwarfs were eventually overrun and nearly exterminated by the Norseman despite their best efforts. Most of the metal tools/weapons that were carried by the Norseman today are either forged by themselves with the smithing techniques taught by the Norse Dwarfs long ago, remnants of the times before Chaos, or made by the [[Chaos Dwarfs]], their current trade partners. Inferior to even the Elgi and must kill on sight whenever possible.
** '''[[Fimir]]''': Dwarfs have almost no relationship with Fimir other than Norse Dwarfs, who are neutral to them. Most assume they are some variant of Troll and attack them on sight, but due to a lack of any history between the two actual non-violent interaction can go any direction.
* '''Umgi''': Humans are too short-lived to accomplish much or become proficient in anything, straddle the fence between proper Dawi ways and Elgi nonsense, and aren't completely trustworthy. On the other hand, they’re still the closest race to Dwarfs, and they do try to be better than their nature allows, bless their shoddily-made hearts.
** '''Bretonnia''': Dwarfs are respectful of Bretonnians, although their Elvish influence and use of horses are things Dwarfs mistrust greatly and hold against them ("Proper Dawi only trust a pony"). Regardless, Dwarfs see Bretonnians as among the best of mankind due to their rigid gender roles, adherence to tradition, codes of conduct, martial strength, and mistrust of magic. Altogether, still inferior to Dwarfs.
** '''Empire''': Dwarfs have a slightly better relationship with the Empire, as they have age-old oaths of friendship due to the efforts of [[Sigmar]]. They still consider humans inferior, but unlike the Bretonnians, have deigned to share some of their secrets of smithing, stonecraft and gunpowder with the Germanic part of humanity. Inferior to Dwarfs, but they’re seen more as victims of their own nature than universally evil. Some Dwarfs live in the Empire (especially Nuln), much to the chagrin of the more traditionally-minded.
** '''[[Kislev]]''': Dwarfs do recognize the importance of this country as a Shield of Civilization, and helped Kislevites fight Chaos at least once, in a [[Great War Against Chaos]]. Otherwise, Dawi probably see them just as a little-better-than-Dumal bear fuckers.
** '''[[Araby]]''': Arabyans are stuck in that awkward point of lore where they've gotten almost no recent direct lore development and are mostly just mentioned in the stories of other factions, and the older material is largely from the early Warhammer that more closely followed real history (remember Bretonnian cannons?) with silly parts, fantasy, anachronisms, and Moorcock stuck in. Plus some bits that are offensive now and would probably be removed or changed. As a result, canon relations between Araby and Dwarfs can mostly be inferred; they almost certainly trade, either directly or with a go-between. Dwarfs probably don't appreciate the commonality of Chaos devotees and other magic and spirits, nor the slavery.
** '''Other Humans''': Canon Dwarf politics with the other human groups is scarce. Everyone in the Old World other than Bretonnia hires them for work here and there it seems, and Dwarfs aren't given any lore to go on regarding the humans of [[Khuresh]], [[Kingdoms of Ind|Ind]], [[Cathay]], [[Nippon]], [[Albion]], or [[The Southlands]].
* '''Elgi''': Dwarfs and Elves used to be friends. After The Great Betrayal Dwarfs learned from the Elves that other races are not consistently trustworthy. They blame the Time Of Woes mostly on Elves despite it mostly being the result of earthquakes, Lizardmen who caused those earthquakes, greenskins, Skaven. The Grudge against the Elves was fulfilled with the killing of Caledor II and the taking of the Phoenix Crown, but many minor Grudges remain and Dwarfs are far too happy to record "Elf" on a Grudge instead of "Wood Elf" or "Dark Elf". While the Dwarf word for Elf isn't an insult like the Dwarf word for human ("Umgak"=human made=poorly made), Elves are a byword for fickleness, subtlety, manipulation and treachery among Dwarfs (actually, I'm pretty sure that in one of the old army books it showed that the word 'Elgak' meant something on the verge of collapse, so go figure). Of course they are inferior to Dwarfs, and maybe even to Sigmar's Empire.
** '''High Elves''': Dwarfs have no special name for High Elves, representing how the sins of any other group reflect them as well (don't bring up Chaos Dwarfs). But unlike the others, Dwarfs can still ally with them even if it is with a watchful eye.
** '''Elgi'drazh''': Dwarfs HATE Dark Elves. While all Elves are part of the Great Betrayal, Malekith's dishonor to Snorri Whitebeard is unforgivable and the Dark Elves played the Dwarfs for fools. They are inferior even to other Elves. FUCK THOSE MOTHERFUCKERS.
** '''Wutelgi''': Not an open enemy like Chaos and greenskins, but close. Always openly hostile, and attack without warning or discernible motive. Sometimes randomly helpful, cleaning poisoned wells before Dwarfs drink from them and wiping out Skaven marching on Holds. Insane, unpredictable lunatics.
* '''Uzkular''': Undeath is an unnatural state, and nothing good can come of it ("GO FOOK YER AUNTIE, ANCESTOR GHOSTS DINNAE COUNT!"). Dwarfs don't seek out confrontation with the Undead for its own sake, but the Dammaz Kron has enough pages that conflict is very common.
** '''Zangunaz''': Dwarfs hate Vampires. The only contact between the two has been hostile and always began with the Vampires as the aggressor. Dwarf/Vampire history began when Neferata suddenly appeared and wiped out a Hold then reanimated all the Dwarfs as her slaves, a state they remain in. It hasn't gotten better since then, another notable example is the vampire lord Walach Harkon killing one of the Dwarf High Kings in a duel during the war against Konrad von Carstein. The Dwarfs don't distinguish between bloodlines, as the word "zangunaz" literally translates to "blood drinker", which is as good as any alternate name for vampires. Only one Vampire, Ulrika, has been recorded with any friendly interaction between them (or more specifically two Slayers) and she was later killed in self-defense after failing to control her bloodlust. The former knight of the white wolf Jerek von Carstein made a truce with a dwarf in order to slay Konrad von Carstein and Mannfred but he later asked the dwarf to seal him in a ruin to prevent himself from hurting others. [[Genevieve Sandrine du Pointe du Lac Dieudonné|Genevieve]] also clearly gets a pass given everyone knows where she lives, and no armies have shown up at her door for a quick striking out of a Grudge about some Von Carstein raising some Miner's uncle as a Skeleton Warrior. Vampires also threaten the humans of the Empire and Bretonnia. Inferior to Dwarfs because they cannot into engineering.
** '''Uzkuli'gorl''': Dwarfs are not fond of the Tomb Kings. In life they were a primitive and divided people as likely to trade as hunt Dwarfs for sport, and in death they are much more likely to undertake the latter. Unfortunately some Dwarfs saw the long-dead humans buried in massive tombs full of gold as an opportunity for profit, feeling that a dead human deserves none of the reverence of a dead Dawi. Now, many bony Nehekharans seek to reclaim their lost gold, causing many Grudges as some Dwarfs are unaware that their heirlooms and sacred treasures are stolen property and are attacked, slaughtered, then taken as undead slaves or trophies. That being said, some (like [[Queen Khalida]]) and King Behedesh can find common goals with Dwarfs (like killing those fucking Vampires or greenskins). According to the Nagash novel, a high king by the name Morgrim Blackbeard had their finest smith forge a fine looking two-handed Khopesh as a present for Alcadizaar the Conqueror, even wanting to discuss their relationship for the future. It is also mentioned in the same book that the usual Dwarf folks are "slow to warm to the Nehekharans". Superior to Vampires in that they don't have to prey on the living for sustenance, the majority didn't want to become the way they are and they use engineering more than vampires do. Still an inferior, albeit stylish, bronze age race.
* '''Lizardmen''': Gold-hoarding beasts and probably slaves of Chaos (as far as Dwarfs are concerned). Slaughtered many Dwarf expeditions to Lustria. If the Dwarfs knew they caused the Time Of Woe, they would stop at nothing to destroy them (except the Skaven were partly responsible for it as well, but Skaven are already right next to Greenskins in the Dawi's book). But as it is Dwarfs know very little of them and most of what they've done to the race remain unrecorded as no survivors returned to tell the Grudge.
* '''Greenskins''': Literally worse than Chaos. If it came between killing all four Chaos Gods or killing a quarter of the greenskins in the world, most Dawi would pick the greenskins. Being one of the species that can use the underway, meaning they are encountered all lot of times and those encounters often resolves in violence and beard shaving. The Grudges they caused are so numerous that it was decreed only genocide would strike them all out of the Dammaz Kron.
** '''Grobi''': Goblins. Worst of the worst. Thieving shits that infest valuable caves.
** '''Urks''': Orcs. Also the worst of the worst. Big stupid idiots that do nothing but ruin what better races (IE basically everything not an Urk, or Thaggoraki, or anything race that a Dawi hates) built.
** '''Gronti''': Giants. Fuck Giants, they're Grobi pawns and love to steal Dwarf beer.
* '''Ogri''': Ogres. Big dumb oafs, inferior in every way. Close to enemies of the Dwarfs because they usually are, but the rare odd Maneater can be trusted and sometimes even blends into Dwarf culture. Strange is the Ogre that suddenly decides its a Slayer, but is it worth losing the sight of him wrasslin' a Dragon by explaining it to him?
* '''Grombolgi''': [[Halflings (Warhammer)|Halflings ]]. Little lore mentioned the relationship between the Halflings and Dawrfs. The Dwarfs' records had such a line: “beardless Manlings we first thought to be children” to describe the Halflings when they first saw them traveling with a human tribe across the world's edge mountains. It is unknown if the Dwarfs treats Halflings with the same respect as they did to the Manlings since they were tiny (probably shorter than the Dwarfs) and combine their thievery way, they are similar to Grobi, their hated foe. To the Imperial Dwarfs living in urban Manling cities like Altdorf, Halfling is a common sight and the Dwarfs just can't stand them. They always walking in big group, smiling, talking and just so annoying that the Dawi would drive out any Halfling that walked into their shop, with a broom.
* '''Thaggoraki''': Skaven. The other worst of the worst, stole all their technology from Dwarfs (not true, but they certainly do steal quite a bit) and to be killed on sight. Still, most Dwarves would choose Greenskins over the smelly rats due to having some major Grudges (the Dwarf equivalent of the "between a rock and hard place" saying is "Do you kill the squig or the rat wolf first?"). One of the other species capable of using underway except there are A LOT OF THEM, meaning there's gonna be a lot of dead miners, rat shit and a HELL LOT of grudges. Responsible for the Time Of Woe when their tried to expand Skavenblight with some kind of foul device, but was unknowingly combined with the Slann's effort for reshaping the continent to the old one's vision and ruined the poor Dawi's living room. The Dwarfs don’t know this, but the Skaven are worst of the worst anyway.

==Khazalid==
The language of the Dwarfs. Actually the single most elaborated on language in Warhammer (very extensively) despite the lore saying little is known of it due to Dwarfs (usually, looking at you here [[Vermintide|Bardin]]) not speaking it outside their own kind (This is taken from Tolkien, where the Dwarven language of Khuzdul was kept secret from outsiders, to the point that they wouldn't even use their given names in the presence of non-Dwarves). Even beyond that, the language of the Dwarfs is highly complicated and relies more on background knowledge than literal translation; as such, a literal translation of a Dwarf's name may be "Alebelly Cragfist" as given to humans, with the name Gorogbolg Karazdrung translating to a Dwarf into ''"Highly respectable and Noble Dawi of considerable craft, wealth and means, whose clan elder once hammered through rock with his bare fists to save his clan from drowning, whilst simultaneously discovering a new, rich seam of gold."'' Its lexicon is a bit punny.

Khazalid is written in runes, which as previously mentioned are magic and can be made even more magical by Runesmiths.

==Religion==
Dwarfs worship a trinity of gods. Valaya, Grungni, and Grimnir. They are referred to as the Ancestor-Gods, as they are believed to be the deities who created the dwarfs and taught them all they needed to know. They're fairly vanilla in concept, really.
Ancestor gods also include the demigod children of the trinity, and any Dwarf of considerable enough importance to revere is added to the pantheon.

Old lore stated that after death all souls are consumed by Chaos or remain as hateful ghosts on the material plane other than a handful that benevolent gods save as their favored servants. Dwarfs believed ancestors reside in the stone of the earth. End Times retconned the former and seemingly supports the latter as in the final battle Nagash resurrected every Empire soldier who has died to march against Chaos, while the Dwarf race assembled in one gigantic army and were joined by the spirits of every Dwarf that ever lived in the final battle (absent were Gotrek, who took the mantle of Grimnir from the real Grimnir, and Valaya who was drained of power by Nagash, - which he used to shroud Nehekhara in darkness - in his titular End Times splatbook). As such it seems like Dwarfs were right, their souls live on in the ground.

* '''Grungni'''
Your generic patriarch-god; a stern, all-knowing, wise all-father, responsible for teaching dwarfs everything about runes, crafting, mining, smithing, building, whatever. His primary portfolio is mining and stoneworking, although crafting in general is also attributed to him. Basically making anything is a prayer to him, so you make it to the best of your ability.

* '''[[Valaya]]'''
Again a fairly bogstandard matriarch-goddess; a protector, healer and nurturer. Technically tied to the domains of all other Ancestor Gods because she created most Dwarf culture, booze, written language, and established the first Holds, but is subordinate to the male gods for [[-4 Strength|some reason]]. Kingly authority originates with Valaya, strangely making her closer comparatively to Zeus than Hera. Her priests and priestesses (mostly examples of the latter exists in canon) are advisors to kings and nobility as well as healers

* '''Grimnir'''
The dwarf god of war and honor, founder/inspiration (depends on your interpretation) of the [[Slayer]] cult. Attempted to close the northern Warp Gate by himself, somehow wound up in the Warp itself where he's fought a one-Dwarf war against the entirety of Chaos (probably alongside [[Kaldor Draigo]] and [[Oxyotl]]). He’s got the least organized religious representation as far as priesthood goes, but we have more references to shrines of him than the others. Mostly because its WARhammer obviously.

* '''[[Gazul]]'''
The Dwarf god of Death. Lived in the time of the trinity, and created the written version of their names as well as the concept of venerating your ancestors. His faith includes the '''Order Of Guardians''', the Dwarf equivalent of Witch Hunters. Every Hold and most settlements, any place that has a place to honorably bury dead Dwarfs in fact, has a shrine or temple to him. We also have references to them Witch Hunter’ing abroad, including a priestess who puts down undead in Imperial Dwarf hangouts.

* '''[[Morgrim]]'''
God of Engineering. Oldest child of Valaya with Grimnir, personally invented Bolt Throwers and Dwarf Catapults/Stone Throwers (which later became Grudge Throwers). Was Grimnir's companion on the way to close the Warp Gate, but Grimnir forced him to turn back and return home. All Engineers are basically priests of Morgrim, since his teachings are a code of conduct for the craft. Liberal Engineers are considered heretics (but not the kind you shoot, just the kind you shout at) by conservative Dwarfs for their loose interpretations of scripture and in turn conservative engineers are considered grumpy old assholes by the radicals. Interestingly the only example we have of a Dwarf who SHOULD have become a Slayer but refused and accepted exile instead was a radical Engineer.

* '''[[Smednir]]'''
God of smelting and metalworking. Oldest son of Grungni and Valaya. Smednir created the tools that Thungni and Grungni inscribed their rune magic on, and among the greatest creations of the trio of laborers is [[Ghal Maraz]] itself. Smednir's shrines and temples are basically just extensions of those of Grungni's, since the two are inseparable in theme.

* '''[[Thungni]]'''
God of Runesmithing. Youngest son of Grungni and Valaya. During the settling of the first Holds he descended into a mystical realm called "Ankor Byrn (Glittering Realm)" where he discovered the ability to forge his mother's language with magic to create runes, although it was his father who later turned the discovery into a science and art. Only descendants of Grungni like himself were capable of learning Runesmithing. All Runesmiths are basically priests of Thungni, like Morgrim's Engineers. Unlike all the other gods who are friendly with the faiths of the allies of the Dwarf race and enemies of those who are Dwarf enemies, Thungni's cult has an additional enemy; non-Dwarfs who try to learn or succeed at making rune magic. This includes human wizards. Interestingly this taboo didn’t exist for the Elves, who in the days of kinship worked with the Dwarfs to enhance High Magic and Runesmithing together.

==Characters==
===Living===
* [[Thorgrim Grudgebearer|High King Thorgrim Grudgebearer]]
High King, current leader of the Dwarf race. Both more liberal than past High Kings and more conservative than any of the modern ones; Thorgrim seeks to aggressively expand back into long-lost territory, and upon taking the throne declared it to be the "Age Of Reckoning" that marks the beginning of the climb back to a new golden age starting when Dwarfs avenge all Grudges. This has lead Dwarfs to see him the same way they see the kings of old. But Thorgrim is also aware of the current nature of the world, of how the backstabbing Elves are necessary allies even if you can't turn your back on them, of how the humans are not only a means of keeping Chaos in the north but also the most reliable ally the Dwarfs want, and how every threat from Skaven to Vampire must be tackled at once or the others will gain ground. How Grudges should not always be settled with blood when gold or Oath is available.
* [[Ungrim Ironfist|Slayer King Ungrim Ironfist]]
Current Slayer King of Karak Kadrin. Like his ancestors he is bound both to seek death in battle and remain as king of his Karak, which has since become a hub for Slayers. Ungrim, unlike his predecessors, is more Slayer than King and has aggressively fought against any foe he could from charging an army straight into the army of [[Queek Head-Taker]] as he attempted to conquer Karak Eight Peaks to killing a dragon in single combat to killing what can only be described as a "giant giant" to pursuing a game of cat and mouse againse Golgfag Maneater. He wants to find his death as soon as possible to free his son from the burdern of the Slayer Kings.
* [[Thorek Ironbrow]]
The current greatest Runesmith alive. His homeland is Karak Azgal, and he obviously controls their Anvil Of Doom. Known as a massive curmudgeon even among Dwarfs who will demote anyone he sees as unfit to carry on his art straight down to Miner. Thorek leads the Weaponsmiths of the greatest Weaponsmith Hold, and encourages trade and expedition to recover ancient Dwarf artifacts. His study of the old, forgotten ways of Runesmithing along with his own creativity and experimentation have created wonders unprecedented and the rediscovery of old ways. His own hammer, Klad Brakak, bears a Rune he invented and has been testing for a century that destroys the armor of whatever he strikes. Of course every design is based on existing works, as he (allegedly) has said anything good enough for the Dwarfs of Starbreaker's day is good enough for him.
Every Anvil Of Power was inscribed with a special Rune called the Rune Of Doom that summons what appears to be a ghostly army of ancestor Dwarfs but in fact is the visual manifestation of the Dwarfy emotions of bravery, loyalty, grim determination, and most importantly deep hatred that increases the morale of the Dawi and frightens their enemies. Thorek is the only Runesmith alive still capable of using his, and does so with complete mastery any time it is needed rather then as the last-ditch risky move that were used in the later days of the living knowledge of the Anvils. That being said, if he ever fails to use it perfectly the Anvil will be destroyed and a massive backlash will injure or kill him and his team.

In theory, Thorek should be the ultimate Runesmith but his assistant Kraggi isn't as up to the task as he is. Kraggi is quite skilled for a Runesmith, but still an apprentice by Thorek's standards despite being a prodigy (Klad Brakak is about as old as Kraggi's career) and has been known to make mistakes (which Thorek NEVER does). Kraggi speeds up Thorek's work but screws up in that haste from time to time on the battlefield.
* [[Grombrindal]]
The White Dwarf, who became the mascot of Games Workshop on creation ([[White Dwarf|the magazine]] is his namesake). Grombrindal appears randomly throughout the world, dispensing wisdom and slaughtering foes before disappearing; oftentimes before his allies realize his identity. Basically [[The Green Knight]] and [[Alith Anar]] for Dwarfs. He was featured in comics, and before the Time Of Woe (AKA the Times of [[Jack Kirby]]) Games Workshop released White Dwarf dioramas alongside the [[Black Gobbo]] in humorous situations (like wearing a space suit and strangling the Black Gobbo in an alien costume or being a [[Magos]] and turning the Gobbo into a [[Servitor]]).
The identity of Grombrindal was hinted at for most of his history as Dwarfs dressing as him, to the forgotten fourth ancestor god who courted Valaya but never married her, to Snorri Whitebeard who was cursed to wander endlessly after Malekith's betrayal. Snorri was his confirmed identity in End Times, when after the destruction of the Curse Of Khaine the unapologetic Malekith is forgiven by him because GW wasn't interested in resolving plots with more complexity than saying they are resolved (according to 1d4chan Longbeards anyway).
* [[King Kazador]]
King of Karak Azul, a giant among Dwarfs and with Herculean strength to match. He outdrank, outlifted, outfeasted, outsang, outjoked, and in all other ways outmatched his childhood friends. Won countless battles and settled countless Grudges. All greenskins feared him, clearing out when he came around, giving him great sport as he had to actually track and hunt a WAAAGH! rather than just survive it. He bears and blows a great horn, the Thunderhorn, which lets all in the same mountain range know that war has come to them.
Basically Gaston, Brom Bones, and that one jock in your high school who stood up for nerds because he actually gave a fuck.

Unfortunately, Kazador retains none of his youthful enthusiasm for the pleasures of life. While he was hunting Goblins one day, [[Gorfang Rotgut]] lead a small army of greenskins into Karak Azul. They ran amok, killing and looting, desecrating and dishonoring. Kazador's entire family and many of his people were hauled away in chains to Black Crag as Rotgut's living trophies, although Kazador's son was left behind shaved and crucified on Kazador's own throne. Kazador promised half of Azul's treasury to any who return his family, another quarter for the return of any of the dead Azulites, and any possession he has for Gorfang's death. Unable to assail Black Crag, he spent his time hatefully pursuing any army of Destruction in Dwarf lands and pursuing any Grudge.
Thorgrim spent ten years tracking the culprits, killed Gorfang and the other leaders of the army for Kazador, and freed all captives. Its unstated if Thorgrim accepted a reward. Kazador is similar to [[Eltharion]], but with actual plot resolution.
* [[Kragg The Grim]]
The Oldhammer (REALLY Oldhammer, dating back to 3e when Warhammer first got lore at all) Thorek. The closest there is to a named Longbeard model.

Greatest and oldest Runesmith alive, among the oldest Dwarf in general in fact. Kragg is so old he remembers the golden age of the Dwarfs, before the Time Of Woes. Kragg's walking stick bears a special Master Rune invented by him and known only to him, as he has never met a Dwarf he considers a worthy successor (it should be noted that Thorek entirely replaced Kragg in 5e/6e, and being a far more expensive model GW pimped Thorek as much as possible by mostly forgetting that Kragg even existed so players would buy the "greatest Runesmith ever" that costs 5x as much). Kragg will babble on and on about back in his day, but thanks to his age and skill he drops far more useful and inspiring secrets than any beard longer; the greatest of Dwarf Runesmiths and heroes have all made pilgrimages to sit and listen to Kragg grumble.
The greatest works of Karaz-a-Karak since Grungni himself were, are, and will be done under Kragg's supervision and guidance (as well as likely with his Master Rune cane to the creator's backside a few times).
* [[Alrik Ranulfsson]]
King of Karak Hirn. Direct descendant of Kurgaz, his great great great grandfather who founded Karak Hirn after the Time Of Woes and created the Anvils Of Power. Kurgaz's descendants were unable to use his shield themselves since he was a giant of a Dwarf, and instead invented the practice of standing on a shield that is carried by loyal retainers.
Alrik is extremely old fashioned, more so than even his father Ranulf, and refuses any new technology in his armies (players using him can still use them, at double point cost). Warriors, Quarrelers, Ironbreakers, Miners, Hammerers, Grudge Throwers, Bolt Throwers.

Alrik is obsessed with clearing out the Book Of Grudges, more so than even Thorgrim, and demands blood for every entry. As a result he constantly attacks anyone to clear a sleight regardless of current politics or distance. To date he has entirely wiped out an entire Book Of Grudges for Karak Hirn, which has been added to his own personal standard that he carries into battle which inspires hope in the Dwarfs like nothing else.
He and his Shieldbearers are "Hrappi-klad" in golden armor that is traditional for Karak Hirn royalty. He uses a special axe called the Axe Of Retribution which was forged specifically for his Grudge crusade, and the Helm Of Eagles that grants him sight to see all enemies and hidden details so no assassin or ambush can catch him.
* [[Belegar Ironhammer]]
Heir to King Lunn of Karak Eight Peaks. After becoming High King, aiding Belegar was Thorgrim's first task. He called on the entire race to aid in retaking the long lost Hold.
* [[Josef Bugman]]
Master brewer and canonically the greatest brewer to have ever lived. After his brewery, called Bugman's Brewery, was burned down by [[Git Guzzler]] and his greenskins Josef has been on a crusade against their race with his elite force called Bugman's Rangers (real creative types, here). Bugman's force wanders anywhere greenskins are found, arriving to aid an army and to give ale to good little soldiers of Order and axes/quarrels to the brains of the green menace. His most important item is a magical tankard called...you guessed it, Bugman's Tankard, which has magical healing powers in addition to filling the mind of the drinker with images of the golden age of Dwarfs.

Incidentally, Bugman's Brewery is an actual pub in Warhammer World.
* [[Gotrek & Felix|Gotrek Gurnisson]]
Gotrek is Dwarf Jedi Master [[The Elder Scrolls|Dragonborn]] Doomguy Chuck Norris, Primarch of the loyalist Dwarf Marines who can [[Creed]] his axe into your skull. Read his page, as no summary does him justice. Just know he's a Slayer who took a human bard as a companion, killed just about everything he can and was rewarded by becoming Grimnir's replacement after finally achieving death (and resurrection, since the death part freed him from his Oath even if it didn't stick).

* [[Byrrnoth Grundadrakk]]
King of Barak Varr, highly conservative in spite of the relatively (and highly by Dwarf comparison) liberal population which has surprisingly resulted in a positive situation. Son of the old king and more likely to have been a ship engineer in his youth had his older brother and father not been killed by a powerful sea dragon while hunting Dark Elves who had drawn too near to their Hold (ironically the family name meant "Hammer Of Dragons" making the deaths all the more tragic/amusing). Grundadrakk swore an Oath at the Shrine Of Grimnir (though not the Slayer Oath) to kill said dragon with the ancestral family axe Rhymakangaz. He took an Ironclad on a twenty year quest in which he didn't set foot on land once, becoming a worldwide legend but largely believed to be dead by Barak Varrans. Finding the dragon fittingly near the Dragon Isles, he allowed himself to be swallowed then cut his way out from within as his crew watched the ocean grow redder and redder where the dragon had submerged until he swam to the surface and hailed them.

Apparently Barak Varr had gone twenty years without a king because he was elected the moment he returned, now spiritually connected to his ancestors and taking a sharp turn from spending all his time with Engineers and traders to spending all his time with Longbeards and Hammerers, as well as sending the youth of Barak Varr to schooling in Karak Kadrin before becoming adults.

* [[Vermintide|Bardin Gorekkson]]
Bardin is a Dwarf Ranger and one of the Ubersreik Five from [[The End Times: Vermintide]]. Hailing from the small hold of Karak Ziflin in the Grey Mountains, Bardin is a Ranger and kind-of Dawi archeologist searching for the lost hold of Karak Zorn... or that's what he claims, at least. The terrible truth as revealed by the whispering daemon in Castle Drachenfels is that Bardin is a tragic figure haunted by his failure to warn Ziflin Deeps of a Skaven attack which resulted in the deaths of a good number of unfortunate dawi, including Bardin's beardling son Mordin. Rather than take the Slayer oath, Bardin seems to have chosen self-imposed exile as penance, leaving behind a wife and daughter in Karak Norn.
This would go a long way to explaining why Bardin is so unusual among the usually dour and xenophobic Dawi. Bardin is always quick to come out with a good joke or a song (as a coping mechanism for his dark backstory, of course) and he shrugs off insults and mockery, even though much of what comes out of Kerillian's mouth would easily warrant its own entire chapter within the Book of Grudges. He even peppers his speech with Khazalid with humans and an elgi in earshot, something absolutely unthinkable for most Dawi - though Bardin does draw the line at writing around them.
[[Vermintide 2]] sees Bardin return as a Ranger Veteran with a newfound desire to take up axe, hammer, crossbow and gun to protect the Reikland over his "search" for Karak Zorn. Alternatively due to the game's new character class system, Bardin can either return to his roots as an Ironbreaker, or become a Slayer as his terrible experiences in Ubersreik twisted his mind. Canonically, after the events of Castle Drachenfels, Bardin takes cues from his fondly-remembered iconoclast and engineer uncle and develops a [[Awesome|hand-cranked, steam-powered gatling gun]], for dabbing all over thaggoraki ratling gunners and their shoddy umgak.
* [[Burlok Dammison|Master Engineer Burklok Dammison]]
Youngest ever and current Master of the Engineer's Guild. As a young Dawi he was very gifted (inventing a beard-braider, self- lighting pipe, and a double-barreled rifle at the same time the average Engineer was learning the basics) and very liberal, and highly interested many random technologies that he pursued with great enthusiam which included the research of Sven Hasselfriesian into alcohol-powered machines. The two managed to caused a pressure explosion which destroyed the Engineer's Guild Hall. Burlok did a 180 and became a highly conservative Engineer who believes mostly in the old ways. He eventually became Guildmaster despite his disgrace (possibly simply by surviving longest).
Since Burlok's arm was blown off in the explosion, he invented bionics! Specifically "Burlok's Ingenious Offensive New-matic Integrated Constrictor" (that's right, acronyms are canon!)
* [[Grimm Burloksson]]
For some reason, Games Workshop decided to retcon Burlok. They did so in the ingenious manner of creating an almost identical character and calling him Burlok's son, then gave him Burlok's backstory. So...what's the difference? Burlok began liberal and became conservative after a tragic laboratory accident. Grimm went from liberal to mad scientist after an exciting laboratory accident.

That's it. Grimm is just Burlok, wacky inventor. Grimm doesn't have a bionic limb, and instead made a robot arm that fits on his actual arm using the same technology. He also has a telescoping sight that lowers from his helmet, a modified gun (best described as "double-barrel sniper rifle), a hammer that is a weapon-snapping cog, and his personal standard is a fucking furnace strapped to his back. While a more amusing character, one has to wonder why the major retcon when both can exist and the father can remain Guildmaster...
* [[Sven Hasselfriesian]]
Sven is actually a VERY old character, dating back to the Warhammer 2e scenario [[The Magnificent Sven]] (that's right, Sven fucking predates Chaos).

After destroying a large chunk of Karaz-a-Karak, Sven refused to stop experimenting with his insane idea of liquid-powered machines and Burlok was forced to expel him from the Engineer's Guild after the "humiliation ritual" (whatever that is). Rather than taking up the Slayer Oath like a normal Dwarf, Sven booked a ride to Lustria for unknown reasons. He settled at a trading post on the Amoco River and made a substantial amount of money that he invested in his master plan of a boat powered by a combustion engine. After three years, Sven hired non-Chaos Norscans to finish the ship and be his crew. He named her "Voltsvagn" (you read that right, early Warhammer was big on puns) after his mother and began work as a ferryman in Lustria. He has been attacked by Lizardmen so many times he has become completely immune to all poisons they have.
He was later used in Dogs Of War where his ambition has swelled, and he now seeks to conquer all of Lustria and take ALL THE GOLD. So he went from mad scientist to Dorf Cortez.
* [[Long Drong]]r
Dogs Of War character. Nicknamed "Long" due to his massive height. Worked through the ranks from cabin boy to captain of a Barak Varr merchant vessel that delivered Dwarf ale worldwide. After a particularly bad storm caused the ship to wreck all the ale onboard was destroyed, and both Drong and the crew swore the Slayer Oath. They immediately invaded a pirate lair and used his plunder to purchase a Dwarf ship, notably with the mast of an attractive Dwarf woman (but amusingly since literally not a single one of them had ever actually seen a Dwarf woman, having spent their entire lives at sea, they had to guess at what one looked like).
They had the captured pirates teach them everything they knew about piracy, although the Dwarfs got a slightly different lesson than one would expect.

Rather than attacking wealthy merchant ships and robbing them, the Dwarfs set out reclaiming lost treasures from the ocean floor. Mercenaries used their paychests as the mark of station, which they would pay almost anything to have returned. Drong's crew only asked for the contents when they found it plus the same amount as the chest full again, which is very cheap compared to the amount the Merc generals would likely pay. Of course Drong attacked any true pirate he encountered, and soon gained a reputation as an honorable mercenary among the great nations of the world.

* Tarni Ironspike
One of the rare adventurer female Dwarfs. Grew up in the southern Habercrybs. After a mine collapse she became the assistant to a traveling priest of Gazul named Snorri Gravehand, becoming an initiate at Khazid Harkhat. She graduated to a full-fledged priestess and tended to the Dwarfs, and humans when no priest of [[Morr]] was present, of Reikland and Ubersreik until she discovered that her former master had been killed by a Necromancer. Ever since she's lead a one-woman crusade against Necromancers in the regions of the Empire and the Grey Mountains.

* Keela
A female Dwarf Engineer from Zhufbar, introduced in [[Warhammer: Chaosbane]]. Investigated issues at the Imperial Gunnery School in Nuln, she dealt with swarming Nurgle plague victims.

===Dead===
* [[Garagrim Ironfist]]
Ungrim's son. Ungrim seeks death as soon as he can so his son will be free of the Slayer King burden, but Garagrim swore the Oath as soon as he was an adult and also seeks death to free his father of the suicidal part of his duty. Garagrim found his death in Storm Of Chaos as the leader of the Dwarfs in the event, although Ungrim swore the Slayer Oath a second time due to the loss of his son making the entire sacrifice pointless and ensuring the royal line of Karak Kadrin would fall. After Games Workshop retconned Storm Of Chaos (there's no polite answer for why, just know they fucked up royally and got rid of it so they could fuck up even worse but under their own control in End Times) they retconned Garagrim to having died offscreen long ago effectively removing his character as anything but a footnote in continuity.
* '''Kimril Giantslayer'''
A character from the 1985 "Dwarves Of Legend Box". The very first Slayer. Killed the twin Giants Thunderguts and Stormbelly.
* '''Angus'''
Another Dwarves Of Legend, crushed by his dead enemies at Klumti Pass.

===Unknown===
* '''King Gorrin'''
Another Dwarves Of Legend character. Killed the greenskin Gorbad The Gruesome at the Battle Of Drakkaz-snor.
* '''The Baron'''
Another Dwarves Of Legend. Fought Count Horlichs of Averland.
* '''Throbin Death-eye'''
Dwarves Of Legend character. Possibly a Slayer. Polished his axe in blood, and had a frightening stare.
* '''Lastro Lupinthrall'''
Dwarves Of Legend. Cursed by a Norscan Witch, howls at every full moon.
* '''Borax Bloodaxe'''
Dwarves Of Legend. Became so rich he needed five Vaults to store his treasure.

==Regions And Factions==
A summary of factions and locations that can tie into your Dwarf army (or the lore of any group you play who ties into the Dwarfs; if you're a fan of proxies, its not uncommon for them to accompany the Empire and not a far throw for them to fight alongside Bretonnia, or with good reason the High or Wood Elves).

Note that while Dwarfs use specific colors to represent their Hold of origin, the Holds have multiple clans within and individual groups of course may have their own colors. This is on top of many different interpretations by artists over the years in example armies deciding to use vastly different symbols and colors to represent some factions. For example Karak Norn colors are red and white, and they have a large number of Dwarfs from all of the fallen Holds such as the Dragonback clan along with the nearby Bugman's Brewery meaning that while most Nornlings would be displaying the red and white somewhere, their own colors on their clothing or even banners could be from numerous clans or Holds; a Dwarf with Bugman's colors on his cloak, a red and white shield, and his banner in the colors of the Dragonbacks is quite fine and fluffy.

The generic colors of the Dwarfs are blue with white details with bronze and small amounts of silvery metal representing steel and/or Gromril depending on the importance of the Dwarf in question with the symbol of three triangles forming a mountain range.

Slayers break all ties to Hold and Clan, and thus never display any colors but that of other Slayers. They usually wind up in reds, oranges, and white although many use white and blue clothing. Some Eavy Metal schemes used face paint in the colors of the army they are marching in to represent a temporary allegiance to their current comrades.

Although example armies straight from Games Workshop prior to 7e almost always used a matching canon color scheme representing the location the army originates from, these armies were significantly smaller than the armies of today. In 7e the example armies featured a mix of multiple Holds fighting in one army (notably the Karaz-a-Karak army containing one unit from each example Hold), and in 8e most Karaks were given multiple symbols and color schemes along with canon clans/organizations bearing entirely different color schemes despite being from the same Hold. As a result, the most recent GW Dwarf canon means a player looking to distinguish their army as specifically coming from a single Hold can still use whatever colors they want for every individual unit. Raise the rainbow, strike the earth! Generally speaking, its the Battle Standard Bearer colors and symbol that will give your army its identity, possibly the strongest and/or most important unit as well.

===Regions===
[[File:Worlds_Edge_Mountains_Map.jpg|thumb|right|The Worlds Edge Mountains]]
====Karaz Ankor====
The Eternal Realm, and the heart of the Dwarf empire, made up of the oldest Holds. Located in the [[Worlds Edge Mountains]].
* '''Karaz-a-Karak'''
Also called Everpeak, with the name roughly translating to "Pinnacle Of Mountains". The capital of the Dwarf race and home to both the high Kings and the primary shrine of Valaya. One thousand pillars are found in the main hall, each representing a Dwarf clan. Every decade a carver is sent to add more of their story to the column, with many tragically ending long before any of the others making it clear to every visitor who has been wiped out in the Dwarfs gigantic family.
When Elves and Dwarfs were still allies, Elf artisans covered the ceiling of the cavern in diamonds and sapphires forming the same constellations in the sky above, while on the ground the hall lit up by braziers covered in gigantic and identical rubies and the walls covered in reliefs showing the legends of the Dwarfs. The harmonics of the hall are such that even a whisper from the High King carries to every part of the hall. Despite being the largest, richest, and most populated Karak the bulk of Karaz-a-Karak is empty. Only the westernmmost halls are populated, the rest are either sealed or lie vacant. The armies of Karaz-a-Karak occasionally have to clear out any Skaven or Night Goblins that try to gain a foothold and reseal Vaults.

The capital Hold is one of the most well-defended places in the entire Warhammer world. The entire valley leading to the fortress is a giant deathtrap with hundreds, possibly thousands, of defenses and thanks to watch towers and far more mysterious methods of detection the Dwarfs know of any enemy approaching long before they come within sight of the mountains it lies in. The gates themselves are impenetrable, far beyond the capacity of the mightiest army of Elves ever seen to penetrate during the War Of Vengeance.

Karaz-a-Karak armies use gold and greens as colors generally, with blue as an alternative color alongside yellow although it is noted that Karaz-a-Karak has all colors in its armies as all Clans and Holds are tied to the capital of the Dwarf race.

* '''Zhufbar'''
Called the Torrent Gate, perhaps the most important Hold to the overall Warhammer setting. Considered a “twin” Hold to the ill-fated Karak Varn, as both are built into the sides of a chasm beneath a lake called the Black Water, with waterfalls from the lake flowing through water-wheels which power the city. As a result of the cheap power Zhufbar is the site of the capital of the Engineer’s Guild, and the most important shrine to Morgrim. Zhufbar and Karak Varn are both found where the Worlds Edge Mountains meet the Black Mountains, north of Karaz-a-Karak and south of Karak Kadrin. The Black Water region is very rich in Gromril and other precious metals, allowing the Dwarfs to produce and experiment at maximum capacity.
During the Age Of Woe, volcanic eruptions drained Black Water. Karak Varn was conquered by Skaven while Orcs smashed through the water wheels of Zhufbar and laid siege to the Hold. The Zhufbar Dwarfs fought hard and were slowly driven out over centuries until they finally made a stand in the chasm of the canyon but were defeated, with the survivors scattered and seeking aid. The only successful aid came from Alaric The Mad, a famous Runesmith who believed the stories that not only had humanity managed to evolve to a point of mattering, but believed that they had a leader who could destroy any evil. This hero was Sigmar. Alaric promised Sigmar twelve magical swords for Sigmar’s closest followers in exchange for helping liberate Zhufbar (of course Sigmar REALLY hates Orcs, so it was like being paid twice). Once Zhufbar was reclaimed, Alaric went to work and finished the fables blades after Sigmar had left the mortal world. Those swords are now a mark of office for the leaders of the provinces of the Empire, the Elector Counts. Zhufbar was able to be rebuilt quickly as the Black Water had refilled during the Orc occupation. To this day Zhufbar remains one of the friendliest Holds to mankind, from which most of their knowledge of science and technology has derived (its no surprise that Zhufbar is best described as “Dwarf Nuln”). Most Dwarf technology is developed and manufactured in Zhufbar, which boasts a massive fleet of Gyrocopters and Gyrobombers as well as many other technological marvels that no conservative Hold would tolerate the existence of. A group of Dragons managed to build a nest in one of the halls, which was sealed off and renamed “Khaz Drakk”, although in emergencies Dwarfs are sent through it with messages for the Empire that need to arrive ASAP. A human town now exists outside of the gates of Zhufbar which has benefitted both races immensely financially (in case it hasn’t been made clear enough, Zhufbar is basically steampunk Erebor). Its unclear if these humans answer to the Empire or Zhufbar for government.

Colors are mainly blue and white, though the novel Grudgebearer gives them blue and red while Total War: Warhammer gives them blue and yellow. Said blue is sometimes more of a cyan or turquoise than the rich blue used by other Dwarf factions. Though the popular portrayal of armies tends to be ice-covered in the snow the actual artwork of Zhufbar tends to portray it more at the base of the mountains, snowless with vegetation and a small nearby forest. Given its size however there's almost certainly multiple major gates and routes to other locales.

* '''Karak Kadrin'''
The Slayer Keep, among the strongest Dwarf Holds and the largest in its region (north of Karaz-a-karak and east of the Empire). Situated in a location to protect the Peak Pass trade routes which connect the Karaz Ankor with the Old World and the east. Karak Kadrin has never fallen, and sits along an often-attacked invasion route for monsters and eastern armies. Due to the central trade location and collected tribute for protection it provides, Karak Kadrin is fabulously wealthy and beyond even that importance is that it boasts the most important site for Grimnir worship which is where many Slayers choose to swear themselves, and are given free gear and lodging to help them on their way to complete their sacred Oaths. Not all Slayers leave to find death elsewhere, and Karak Kadrin boasts a very large army made up just of Slayers who protect the pass and seek a less immediate death (some may choose this if their sin was a dereliction of duty, or possibly if they aren’t brave enough to chase Daemons across the Chaos Wastes). Not all of Karak Kadrin’s soldiers and citizens are Slayers by any means, in addition to the Slayer forces Karak Kadrin has all the usual soldiery from Hammerers to Gyrocopters.
Karak Kadrin is ruled by the Drakebeard Clan. Five generations ago, King Baragor became the first (known) king to take the Slayer Oath, possibly because his daughter was killed by the dragon Skaladrak while traveling to marry the High King of the time. Baragor was caught between the religious need to find death as Grimnir intended and religious need to lead his people as Valaya intended, finding the solution as creating the major shrine of Grimnir and altering the Dwarf Slayer culture by enabling them to find their death in duty rather than setting out to find it. Ungrim Ironfist is the current Slayer King, five times great grandson of Baragor, each King in the line born to take the Oath but thus far unable to die in battle and free their own sons. In Storm Of Chaos the character Garagrim Ironfist was created as Ungrim’s son who swore the Slayer Oath while still a prince, then set out with an army off to fight the coming Chaos Hordes and die to free his father. Garagrim was crushed by a falling Giant which freed Ungrim from Slayerhood, but in shame Ungrom then swore himself back to the Slayer Oath for the loss of his son in a fantastically epic failure. Despite the entirety of Storm Of Chaos being retconned in 7e, Garagrim’s death was kept as canon (because grimderp) and now Ungrim is sonless and has disregarded his duty to stay alive, constantly leading Karak Kadrin’s armies far and wide and taking the battlefield personally against the armies of the Dwarfs. Karak Kadrin is doomed to be kingless in any continuity, and Dwarfs have no established mechanism of dealing with a succession crisis with no true successor (although to be fair we only know Garagrim was his only son and it isn’t stated that non-heir sons took the Oath, so for anyone looking to make their own canon an OC uncle/aunt, brother/sister, or daughter of Ungrim could take the throne).
The colors of Karak Kadrin are green and red, or any shades of red/orange/white.

* '''Karak Azul'''
Called Iron Peak due to the massive amount of iron in its mines, the largest in the Worlds Edge on top of an abundance in other metals. As a direct result Azul has among the best metalworkers the Dwarfs have and many Clans are directly descended from Grungni. This has enabled Azul to survive the constant onslaught of enemies, being the last southern Hold. The weaponsmiths and Runesmiths don't just make gear for their own; most Dwarf Holds receive their weaponry from Azul, through the Underway to any Dwarfs in need.
Karak Azul was attacked by greenskins some time ago; the family of Thane Kazador was enslaved as living trophies while the son was shaved and nailed to the throne. Thanks to the dedication of Kazador the only surviving Orc from the attack is the Warboss himself, Gorfang Rotgut, who squatted in Black Crag until he was killed and his head was delivered to Kazador.

Karak Azul, as you may have guessed, uses the color blue as well as gold. Their primary symbol is the face of a Dwarf smith.

* '''Karak Ungor'''
Originally the “Delving Hold”, now called “Red Eye Mountain”. During the golden age of the Dwarfs it was the richest Hold in terms of ore extraction found in the entirety of the Ankor. Mines that were depleted were not intentionally collapsed, resulting in massive networks of empty tunnels. It was ruled by the Durazgrund Clan. At the very start of the Time Of Woe the army and King Morek Stonehammer of Karak Ungor was still returning from the War Of Vengeance only to find that Karak Ungor had completely fallen, taken by the Red Eye Night Goblin tribe that had come from below when the earthquakes opened the existing tunnels to many, many others full of nasty foes. The walls and gates were built to be so externally impenetrable that their very own builders couldn’t breech them, and what had once been a triumphant army marching home became scattered groups of refugees to the soon to fall Zhufbar as well as Karaz-a-karak. Another attempt was made 500 years later by High King Skorri Morgrimson. The southern valley and corresponding gate were retaken, but the Dwarfs could not breach the Hold itself. The event is now known as the Battle Of A Thousand Woes. Skorri’s son died in the battle, and Skorri himself abdicated the throne to his cousin Rogni Stonehammer before taking the Slayer Oath and finding his doom not long after. Rogni’s reign details are unknown, but the Durazgrund leadership of the Dwarf race lasted at the maximum a very short 200-ish years. The current Durazgrund heir is Ulther Stonehammer, who is only considered a prince as he refused the title of king upon inheriting it from his father King Ulfar until Karaz Ungor is retaken. He established an elite army called the Dragon Company made up of Imperial Dwarfs which is based in Karaz-a-karak and raids greenskins until the day Ungor is reclaimed, supported by Lord Gomrund Forkbeard of Karak Kadrin. The Dragon Company splits between Stonehammer's yellow and blue colors, the green/blue/yellow of Forkbeard, a trio wearing white and black named Grum, Grom, and Grim, and general red infantry.

* '''Karak Varn'''
Called "Cragmere" now. Sister Hold to Zhufbar, both in the chasm where the mountain lake Black Water flows. The first misery to befall Karak Varn actually came before the Time Of Woe, when the Dwarfs-wait for it-DUG TOO DEEP AND UNLEASHED SOMETHING. That thing was...water. They accidentally tunneled into the underground reservoir that Black Water feeds into, managed to destabilize the foundations enough that when the Time Of Woe earthquakes came the waters swept through and flooded most of the Hold. Soon after the weary Dwarfs were attacked by an allied Skaven/Goblin army, and forced towards the surface. The Warpstone corruption became so terrible that the surviving Varnlings abandoned the Hold willingly, as the mutated horrors below are now the like of nightmares. Expeditions of Engineers using submarines through the underground Black Water as well as tunneling vehicles have enabled Dwarfs to strip the Gromril shaft by shaft, but there are no plans to reclaim Varn itself. Adventurers also plumb into Karak Varn, such as in the [[Heroquest]] expansion.

* '''Mount Silverspear/Karag Agilwutraz'''
Called Mount Grimfang when held by greenskins, which it is currently, after the Orc Warboss Urk Grimfang who first conquered it. It sat at the southern end of the Silver Road, east of Karaz-a-karak. Had the single richest mine after Gunbad, called Karag Agilwutraz. Like Gunbad it was exempt from sending soldiers for the War Of Vengeance, instead funding the war with, you guessed it, silver. It fell later on in the Time Of Woe 1637 years ago, as it was bypassed for richer and less defended Holds by early greenskin invasions but despite the extra time to prepare with watchtower defenses it fell nonetheless during the Silver Wars after successive greenskin armies were thrown at it. Survivors fled to Karaz-a-karak, and greenskins have occupied it ever since although currently Skaven are growing in number beneath.

* '''Karak Vlag'''
“Desolation Hold”. The northernmost part of the Ankor (Karak Kadrin being the northernmost Hold in general), found south of the High Pass between the two parts of Kislev. Founded during the golden age, in one of the few times Dwarfs were on the offensive as the Dwarfs took existing caves by driving out Dragons and taking THEIR homes. The mines expand throughout the Granite Peaks giving a surplus of iron, and the masonry is the rival of Karaz-a-karak for best stonework in the world. It survived the Time Of Woe with ample watchtowers giving warning, allowing the Dwarfs to defend so well that the only time Orcs even managed to enter the upper halls the Vlagians simply dropped giant iron gates which cut invading army into easily overwhelmed small groups. It was finally destroyed during the Great War Against Chaos, although the means are unknown as the Hold simply vanished as if it had never existed at all with scouts from Karaz-a-karak unable to even find rubble. In perhaps a tongue-in-cheek joke about retcons, it is stated that loremasters have opinions on its fate and all other Dwarfs simply don’t talk about it.
Karak Vlag attracted much attention in the online Warhammer fanbase, appearing repeatedly in several fan Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay adventures and as special armies, particularly on the fansite Bugman’s Brewery. In the Vermintide video game the Dwarf Ranger can find a helmet from Karak Vlag, indicating that relics from it still exist. White Dwarf #274 identified its canon fate, as the Dwarfs tunneled into the lair of [[Galrauch]] and the king was summoned, who's caution was ignored in favor of his green as he instructed the laborers to began looting. When Galrauch woke up he assaulted the Dwarfs with his full power, overcoming the magic negating effects of protective Runes and Runesmith powers alike. Survivors managed to flee to other Holds (its unstated how many and who), and the Hold itself now shifts between the physical world and the Warp, returning to the material realm filled with warring Daemons each time. In Total War: Warhammer it appears on the map as a model but has no settlement there.

* '''Vala-Azrilungol ([[Karak Eight-Peaks]])'''
Originally called "Queen of the Silver Depths", one of the oldest Dwarf Holds. The Eight Peaks are: Karag Lhune, Karag Mhonar, Karag Rhyn, Karag Yar, Karag Ziflin (the military district of Karak Eight Peaks, the first to fall to the Skaven), Karagril, Karak Nar, and Kvinn-Wyr.

Skaven discovered the Eight Peaks around 3800 and the Council Of 13 planned its fall within the next ten generations (so 100 years) with [[Clan Mors]] and [[Clan Gritak]] preparing to invade by building their armies and constructing tunnels. [[Clan Skryre]] planted Warpstone in the main fountain of the Hold and the initial plan was to wait for the Dwarfs to have their numbers greatly thinned by poisoning (perhaps not knowing that Dwarfs use water sparingly for anything when there's enough ale) until they were forced to begin their plans immediately with the huge and sudden rush of greenskin invasions. The Dwarf Miners discovered the Skaven tunnels not long before, and shortly afterwards the Skaven staged a mass invasion taking Karag Ziflin and the communities/mines of Varkund, Runkarn, and Undkar. Meanwhile Goblins attacked the East Gate which connected to Death Pass. The Dwarfs tried to blow up their tunnels, but earthquakes opened natural tunnels as soon as the artificial ones were destroyed. Magma flowed up through cracks, destroying not only the equipment that relied on magma for power but also entire sections of the Holds. A slow retreat began until King Lunn was forced to seal the great treasures away and leave in exodus, swearing he would return; he never did, the Eight Peaks have been the target of more reclamation attempts than any other location and every one has failed. The Dwarfs fled to Karak Azul, and while the Skaven and greenskins fought for control of the now fallen Hold Clan Mors blew up the Vault roof which destroyed Clan Gritak and caused the Skaven and greenskin held portions to be largely separated.

After becoming High King, aiding Belegar was Thorgrim's first task. He called on the entire race to aid in retaking the long lost Hold. Every Hold donated to Belegar's army so that even the common Warrior was equipped with rune weapons and resembled an army from the golden age of the Dwarfs ad they marched with ample food and ale. Thorek Ironbrow lead an army of Karak Azul as allies. Regardless he still faced difficult odds. First the ground level of the Eight Peaks was taken, as well as the infamous East Gate and the valley that sits in the middle of the Peaks with a gigantic citadel. Skarsnik of the Night Goblins and Queek Headtaker of the Skaven both prepared their forces to destroy the other two rivals. Belegar sealed off all other parts of the Peaks and focused on holding, slowly pushing forwards while Engineers have to rebuild defenses. Undgrin Ankor, the military quarter of the old Hold, is the newest to be reclaimed although small numbers of Trolls remain. Three times the armies of other Holds have marched to aid Belegar after a devastating attack from his foes, the last lead by Thorgrim himself. The Dwarfs have also gotten aid from Bretonnia, the Empire, Elves, and Ogre mercenaries while the greenskins and Skaven have been bolstered by attacks from Beastmen and the Vampires of Neferata.
As soon as Belegar had established his control back on the Eight Peaks treasure hunters and mercenaries began to arrive, with most given leave by Belegar to do as they will. Very few have returned or had any measure of success but they come regardless. Gotrek & Felix had the most success.

In Total War: Warhammer, Belegar begins in Karak Izor in the Black Mountains and actually has to fight his way cross the greenskin-held Karaz Ankor south on his way to the Eight Peaks while Skarsnik begins north of him in the Grey Mountains and is usually eliminated long before any other foe. Thorgrim is willing to ally with Belegar only after some measure of success against greenskins, the Greylings are willing to ally against Skarnsik, most other Dwarfs take a long time to woo by which point Belegar has probably eradicated Archaon in a blast of cannonfire.

The colors of Karak Eight Peaks are red, white, and blue with a mountain represented by a single triangle split into eight with jagged lines.

* '''Karak Azgal (Karak Izril)'''
Called the Dragon Crag today, the City Of Jewels in the past. The wealthiest Hold in Dwarf history, the extravagance is still more than visible. Izril was one of the many Holds that fell as a result of the loss of Karak Eight Peaks due to the trade routes being lightly defended. When greenskins invaded with the intent on pillaging the fabled treasures the Skaven that lurked in their mines chose to make the Dwarfs face a two front war. Upon realizing that Karak Izril was doomed the warriors made a last stand while the Runesmith Stormbeard and the Clan Engineers carried the treasures of Izril into the primary Vault and sealed it with a special Rune called the Rune Of Hiding so no other being could find the door. The survivors fled, and since then Izril has been called "Karal Azgul" meaning "Hoard Peak". The Dragon Graug The Terrible claimed Azgal from greenskins and Skaven not long after and discovered the Vault, making it his new home and adding to the treasure in order to attract a mate. The Jeweler's Guild sent many expeditions to reclaim Azgal and kill Graug with no success until one day a Dwarf named Skalf, barely an adult, managed the deed. Skald became the King, and used the fabulous treasury to establish a small stronghold in the ruins of the massive city. Azgal has since become a haven for adventurers and treasure-seekers who journey through the depths to kill Grobi and seek fortune. Now that the Eight Peaks are partially reclaimed, the future of Azgal looks bright.

Karak Azgal is the feature and namesake of a [[Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay]] supplement. Its primary claim to fame is being the home of the single greatest Runesmith alive, Thorek Ironbrow. Artwork as well as Thorek's traditional paintjob shows them with a green color scheme with white and yellow details.

* '''Karak Drazh'''
Known now as the Black Crag. Once the third largest Karak in the Ankor after Karaz-a-karak and the Eight Peaks, situated at the western end of Death Pass where there was trade, protection, and rich ore. Managed to survive the Time Of Woe, and was in a trinity known as the Southern Holds with Karak Azgal and Karak Azul that had a higher opinion of themselves than most Holds due to longer and more prestigious lineage. 469 years before the time of Sigmar, an Orc named Dork (we’re not making that up) laid siege to Karak Drazh. The fighting was fierce and went on for some time. Once the ruler King Vikram Ironside decided the war was lost, he used the tried and true Dwarf tactic of leading his forces in a suicide attack to make a gap for the civilians to flee with whatever they could hold.
Since then it has been known as Black Crag, the most powerful Orc stronghold in the Worlds Edge Mountains. Here Gorfang Rotgut rules and he staged his infamous raid on Karak Azul from as well.
Attempts were made over the years to reclaim it, but only Thorgrim Grudgebearer in the modern era has had success, killing Gorfang. Although not fully retaken, the Orc armies were scattered and Thorgrim intends to return to wreak great vengeance on them for the depravity he witnessed.

* '''Karak Raziak'''
Only known as a label on a map of Kislev.

* '''Khazid Irkulaz'''
Only known as a label on a map of Kislev.

* '''The Pillars of Grungni'''
Almost no lore. Nearby Karaz-a-Karak on the Silver Road.

* '''Dringorackaz'''
One of the rare southern Holds to survive. Almost no lore.

* '''Kradtommen'''
Same as Dringorackaz.

* '''Kings way'''
Lost Hold. No other lore.

* '''Axehelm'''
Lost Hold. No other lore.

* '''Karaz-Lumbar'''
Shown on a map in 3e. No other lore.

* '''Kadar Grimm'''
Home of Barim Eisenhauer, a character in a mini-event called Thunder In Blackfire Pass. No other lore.

* '''Karak Angazbar'''
Almost no lore.

* '''Karak Eksfilaz'''
Westernmost part of Karaz Ankor. Almost no lore.

====Badlands====
The settlements of the Badlands.

* '''Ekrund'''
Known now as Mount Bloodhorn, Ekrund was the most wealthy settlement outside of the Ankor, matching the most profitable Holds. It is located in the Dragonback Mountains, on the southeastern shores of the Black Gulf (Warhammer Mediterranean). It had a powerful army, and members of its clans were found among the High King’s council. In the War Of Vengeance the Dwarfs of Ekrund united with the Dwarfs of Barak Varr to destroy all Elf settlements in what would later be Tilea, the ruins of which became Tilean cities. During the Time Of Woe the Dwarfs of Ekrund hastily built defenses designed to defend specifically against greenskins, but the hordes were on them before construction had finished. The defenders made a suicidal push costing thousands of lives, allowing the Dwarfs of Ekrund to flee carrying any valuables they could. The greenskin armies discovered the distillery of the Ekrund mines and became complacent, allowing many civilians a successful escape. Once they arrived at Barak Varr their old friends gave the refugees transport to wherever they needed to go. The surrounding mines also resulted in a trickle of refugees, to Karaz-a-karak where they suffered from constant greenskin raids, or west to the mountains called The Vaults between the Grey and Black Mountain
Ranges to establish new Holds.

* '''Dragonhorn Mines'''
Added in 8e. No lore, south of Ekrund so presumable part of the same rulership.

* '''Mount Gunbad'''
Wealthiest non-Ankor Hold Dwarfs ever had. This is due to it being the only place in the world where the blue gems called Brynduraz (“shining stone”) are known to be found. It also produced massive quantities of gold, and Gunbad’s immense wealth was so crucial to the Dwarf economy during the War Of Vengeance that no Gunbadian soldiers were levied for the conflict. Gunbad itself was located east of the Worlds Edge Mountains, leaving it isolated save for the Underway (so you know where this story is going).
During the Time Of Woe, earthquakes and waves of Orcs from the east both caused Gunbad to be lost. It was retaken 200 years before the current date by Logazor Brightaxe, but the continued isolation from the rest of the Dwarf race as well as the masses of greenskins to the east forced them to abandon it again. Until the Underway is reclaimed and rebuilt, Gunbad is destined to remain in the hands of greenskins.

====Settlements====
The Dwarf communities formed outside of Karaz Ankor that lie between mountain ranges. Few are connected to the Underway.

* '''Karak Zorn'''
The first Dwarf expansion, in the Warhammer equivalent of South Africa in the mountains that separate Nehekhara from the Southlands. Possibly destroyed by the Slanless Lizardmen of the Southlands, or at least the last messages every received indicated that's who was attacking it. Almost nothing is known of it otherwise as it is far beyond living memory and every expedition to reclaim or it simply discover its current state have failed. To be fair it could still exist, since every single edition it was mentioned in (which is to say every edition after Warhammer got actual lore) intentionally makes it vague what happened to it. According to myths it was built into a mountain of gold with gates made of ivory held together by copper with rubies and diamonds so common they were just used as currency internally. Within the video game continuities Vermintide gives the Dwarf Ranger the backstory that he found a map showing its location, while in Total War: Warhammer its an active surviving Dwarf settlement, in campaigns ruling itself and using a red/blue emblem depicting a Skink skull above an anvil whereas in the Mortal Empires campaign it is under the control of Thorek Ironbrow's expedition.

* '''Barak Varr'''
Called "Gate To The Sea". Built into the side of a mountain and only visible from the water. Barak Varr is small but wealthy, and the folk are unusually friendly and cheerful for Dwarfs. Both are due to the safety of the Hold and it never being forced to close its doors to the other races and cease trade, as both the Skull River and Old Dwarf road are still open. All friendly groups on the planet trade in Barak Varr, and almost anything Dwarfs do not prohibit can be bought and sold within. Barak Varr is one of the safest locations in the world, being almost immune to attack by land and with a ridiculous number of the most advanced warships in existence in its harbor while countless cannons line the face of the settlement itself. Barak Varr lies in the territory of the [[Border Princes]] which were settled around it, and it provides them protection by water. Dwarf adventurers ad their non-Dwarf companions often gather in Barak Varr before setting out for parts unknown, and its a common hub for Dwarf refugees from destroyed settlements.
The king Byrrnoth Grundadrakk is noted as a traditionalist with a lore blurb noting that despite his popularity its unknown how long Barak Varr will remain friendly to nonDwarfs and Dwarf outsiders, but his only actions were elevating the Longbeards and Hammerers in station and requiring Dwarf children attend some time in Karak Kadrin before adulthood.

The most notable group in Barak Varr are the Storm Wardens (entirely unrelated to the [[Storm Wardens|40k force of the same name]]), a Dwarf faction of military forces that both act as scouts and heralds to warn all of Karaz Ankor of threats and saving the day at the last minute when those threats manifest. The leader Karnji Ravenbeard is the typical Warhammer master strategist character and relies on non-Dwarfy battle tactics. Barak Varr Rangers generally operate within the Storm Wardens while a large group of Hammerers function both as the backbone of the army and the messengers bearing Storm Warden news sent by Ravenbeard.

Purple with cream highlights is the color scheme of Barak Varr, with their symbols being an open-faced mountain and a roaring beast with red and gold. The colors of the Storm Wardens are not identified, though the model for Karnji Ravenbeard makes his armor, cloth, and even the feathers on his helmet black with gold details.

* '''Oakenhammer'''
It exists, and is on the border between Karaz Ankor and Sylvania. There's almost no lore otherwise.

* '''Karak Azorn'''
Easternmost Hold, in the Mountains Of Mourn. Destroyed by an unending horde of Ogres.

* '''Isle of Zul'''
Island outpost of Barak Varr.

* '''Axehelm'''
Found in the Empire, apparently a Dwarf settlement of some kind that has been destroyed.

* '''Karak Angazbar'''
Has decent metal mining, metalworking, and trade industries. Nearby settlements are a small mine called Grung Tepskaf and a fortress called Migdhal Vongalbvak. Ruled by Duregar Sharpblade.

* '''Habercrybs'''
The hills south of Altdorf, which have mixed Dwarf and human populations in mining communities.

* '''Karak Azorn'''

====Grey Mountains====
During the start of the Time Of Woe, Mount Silverspear and Mad Dog Pass fell to Goblins and caused a massive exodus of refugees. Although the Grey Mountains were always ignored by Dwarfs previously for their lack of gems and metals within the rock, the scattered Dwarfs chose them to settle for their strategic locations and each time a Hold fell the population of the Grey Mountain Dwarfs would swell with their homeless kin. Tall tales that great riches far surpassing that of the east lay undiscovered also played a part in the allure of the Greys. Each is extremely difficult to assail, and are built with defense in mind rather than the elaborate and beautiful Holds from the time that the ancestor gods were kings and queen.

Dwarfs that inhabit this area are called Grey Dwarfs, and are considered a far more modest and far more humble lot than their kin elsewhere. Less prone to find insult in the words of man and Elf as well as less likely to show off gold and gems in displays of Dwarf pride. Dwarfs from other Holds see them as a source of both pity and hope, the valiant post-apocalyptic survivors scrabbling among the ruins with kings that look like low noblemen and peasants dressed like refugees.

The Grey Mountains sit in a precarious location. Although historically the attacks of any foe is rare, it sits nearby [[Drachenfels|Castle Drachenfels]], a hellish domain where the forces of Chaos, the Undead, and greenskins unite under an ancient evil. As if that wasn't bad enough, End Times: Vermintide showed that the nearby Empire town of Ubersriek was the beginning of the Skaven invasion of the Old World, suggesting that Skaven were already a problem for the Greylings. To the south is Athel Loren and the insane Wood Elves with Bretonnia beyond it. To the north are the men of the Imperial province of Wissenland, great allies of the Dwarfs and with the aid of the Greylings their city of Nuln has become the engineering capital of the non-Dwarf world. But Reikwald is not far from there, leading [[Forest Goblins]] and [[Beastmen]] up the trails into the mountains. While the Grey Dwarfs have become hardened and battle-tested, the natural defenses of their home have saved them from the nonstop war that many of the old Holds east in the old Dwarf lands have suffered.

Most Grey Holds have very little in great treasures due to the barren nature of the mountains and the far and few discoveries of ore veins, and as a result some Dwarfs either resign themselves to lives laboring for far less than other Holds can offer and patrolling trade routes for small enemy warbands, or abandon their home and migrate to other Holds to seek riches at the cost of safety and peace. While the younger generations are increasingly leaving Norn for other Holds to the east for riches or glory in battle, those who refuse to leave have become stoic and sardonic even for Dwarfs.

Grey Dwarfs have a great deal of contact with humans and are far more likely to take on names in the human tongue representing their true Dwarf name, such as Olaf Stoutarm or Johan Rockkicker.

* '''Karak Norn'''
Roughly translates to "Barren Earth Hold". Currently ruled by King Brokk Ironpick the Grim and Queen Thurma of the Grintzagaz Clan. Karak Norn was the first Grey Mountain Hold, and has the most riches in its mines despite being the smallest. Karak Norn overlooks the Athel Loren from a very safe position, allowing the Dwarfs to monitor the activities of the Elves for any invasion force to their allies in the Empire or to their kin in other Holds. They control the mountain passes leading to the rest of the Southern Grey Mountain Holds giving them the benefit of taxation, the honor of being the defenders of the Greys, and the responsibility of ensuring that when enemies do eventually invade that the Grey Dwarfs can muster a strong protective army. Norn's defenses possess a great deal of Flame Cannons and Bolt Throwers for the purpose of defending against Wood Elves, while their offensive forces contain many Rangers. Karak Norn also possesses a large airforce.

The most famous claim of Karak Norn is being the Hold most associated with the great hero and brewmaster (aren't they one and the same though?) Josef Bugman. Josef's father Zamnil Bugman was one of the Dragonback Clan of Ekrund, and after it was overrun the family migrated northwest into the foot of the Grey Mountains on the Empire side near Karak Norn. Bugman's Brewery quickly became famous for their specialty of Troll Brew, and more importantly [[Bugman's XXXXX]] AKA Bugman's Brew which became world-famous as (canonically) the greatest alcoholic beverage ever concocted. Unfortunately one day a Goblin named [[Git Guzzler]] attacked the Brewery while Bugman was away delivering ale. While the Brewery was rebuilt and is now defended by the forces of Karak Norn, Bugman himself gathered a small elite army called [[Bugman's Rangers]] who travel the world killing greenskins and/or delivering free ale wherever Dwarfs or greenskins are found.

The armies of Karak Norn use the colors of red and white split in half or quartered along with blue for cloth, although in 8e examples only red and white were used with a small amount of green on banners. Karak Norn forces in Eavy Metal demonstrations of the paint job also use more silver metallic color than bronze. Symbols for Karak Norn tend to be more Celtic and of vague meaning, although simple designs such as tankards and the general Dwarf faces show up as well. Bugman's red and blue split colors with the white "B" rune show up as well even on the shields of Dwarfs otherwise displaying the standard colors.

* '''Karak Ziflin'''

* '''Karak Azgaraz'''
Starting location for Skarsnik and the Crooked Moon in Total War Warhammer. Skarsnik often takes Karak Norn and Karak Ziflin, making him a stubborn enemy to remove in-game.

Also shows up in DLC for the first Vermintide game, and has an outlying hold called Khazid Kro. The main characters go to Khazid Kro to help a stubborn dwarf hold off the Skaven, steal a cursed rune so the Skaven don't have it, warn Karak Azgaraz and any neighboring holds of the impending Skaven invasion via a warning system on top of the mountains.

* '''Grim Duraz'''
Lost Hold. No other lore.

* '''Khazid Harkhat'''

====Black Mountains====
* '''Karak Hirn'''
The Black Mountains that lie between the Empire and Border Princes are full of small Dwarf settlements that cater to the Empire and link the oldest settlements of the Dwarf empire. They are unconnected to the Underway but are relatively difficult to attack due to the danger of the terrain. The largest settlement in the region is Karak Hirn, named "Horn Hold" for a wind that blew through it and produced a noise loud enough to ring through the mountains, scaring the original settlers to the region until they investigated and discovered the source. Generations since have carved doors and fireplaces that turn the entire Hold into a horn that can be sounded to send messages or frighten enemies and monsters.
Founded by the legendary Dwarf Kurgaz, who created the Anvils Of Doom. Kurgaz was a giant of a Dwarf, who's shield was so massive that no other Dwarf has been able to wield it as it was used. Instead, his descendants stood on it while being carried by their loyal soldiers, beginning the tradition of Shieldbearers. A Dragon attacked Karak Hirn at some unknown time, killing many Runesmiths and destroying their forges which caused the secrets of Kurgaz to be lost ensuring that all Anvils of Doom are limited in number.

Karak Hirn is favored by many Eavy Metal team and shows up in most showcases. They utilize dark greens and browns for colors.

* '''Karak Izor'''
Also called Copper Mountain. A wealthy Hold found between the Grey and Black Mountains, with the deepest and richest mines outside of the Worlds Edge Mountains as well as being a popular destination for refugees including the Dragonbacks. Almost impossible to assail, Izor profits with little risk.
Karak Izor was shown in the past to use plenty of bronze metal with dark browns and greens while it was specifically said that they used no blue anywhere, but in 8e they reverted to only a bright shade of blue and gold/yellow (for seemingly no reason). Their symbol is a hammer striking an anvil with an S rune on both.

* '''Karak Bhufdar'''
Shown on the map in 8th edition, hasn't fallen. No other lore.

* '''Zarakzil'''
Lost Hold. No other lore.

====Norse Dwarfs====
Barely touched on and mostly only in Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, the Dwarfs of the furthest north reside in the mountains north of [[Kislev]] in the Chaos Wastes. The proximity to the savage lands has forced them to take on aggressive and wild personalities, although they remain as loyal to the Ancestor Gods as any Dwarf. Not especially fond of humans given they have the choice of rapevikings or Russians for friends. Since the Norse Dwarfs have lost contact with their kin for a LONG time, they didn't receive any technological advances since the Time Of Troubles. No gunpowder, no artillery, no machinery. Just crossbows, catapults, and good ol'fashioned things to stick in people or bash them with. Thorgrim made contact with some of them before he became High King, although which ones is unspecified.

* '''Kraka Drak'''
Known as the Dragon Hold. The primary settlement of Norse Dwarfs, rich in iron, silver, sapphire, and amber. Possibly destroyed according to a 7e story as the "Emperor Of Chaos" [[Valmir Aesling]] wiped out all resistance during the Great War Against Chaos during the time of Emperor Magnus, shortly after the Everchosen of the time was defeated; it is referenced after that date as still existing leading to the possibility of writer not doing their fucking research...or it being reclaimed later.

In Total War: WARHAMMER Kraka Drak is part of a quest for Thorgrim Grudgebearer to investigate the fate of the Norse Dwarfs. He finds they have all been wiped out, and reclaiming them is part of the victory conditions for Dwarfs. Their flag is depicted as teal with a winged white sea serpent as a symbol.

* '''Sjoktraken'''
A Dwarf port.

* '''Kraka Dorden'''
Called the Thunder Hold. Exporter of furs, tin, quartz, iron, and metalwork. Second largest after Kraka Drak.

* '''Kraka Onsmotek'''
Called Eagle's Peak Hold. Northernmost Hold that hasn't yet fallen. The second wealthiest after Kraka Drak. Full of gold, diamonds, and obsidian. Has more Slayers and the Norse Dwarf specific Berserkers than anywhere else in the Norse Holds thanks to the abundance of Giants, Trolls, and other nasty Chaos things.

* '''Kraka Ravnvake'''
Known as Raven's Roost Hold. Full of copper, iron, and silver as well as a blue-gray rock called Okrinaduraz that is used to carve works of art and things of importance.

* '''Karak Dum'''
Literally "Hold Chaos". Northernmost Hold ever established (or at least ever mentioned), it fell during the Great War Against Chaos. It is the main source of the black armor of the Warriors Of Chaos today, and all four Chaos Gods and their factions battle for control of it. Gotrek & Felix rescued the last of the living Dwarfs from it.

* '''Khazid Ravik'''
Almost no lore. Known for gems and metalwork.

====Misc Locations====

* '''Undgrin Ankor'''
The Underway.

* '''Black Fire Pass'''

* '''Varag Kadrin'''
Known as Mad Dog Pass.

* '''Varn Drazh'''
Called Black Water, it is a giant mountain lake created by an ancient asteroid that is full of monsters. Many mines are found around it, since the mountain is very rich in ore.

* '''Gnashrak's Lair'''
An Orc stronghold. Although not stated to be, it is most likely a fallen Dwarf Hold since "fortress" is not something that greenskins are capable of building. Sits at the other end of Peak Pass from Karak Kadrin.

* '''Grom Peak'''
Orc stronghold, likely started as a Dwarf Hold. Almost no lore.

* '''Archway of Valaya'''
Lost holy site, known only to certain Runesmiths. Secretly houses the sleeping Valaya, who is empowering a gate of some kind known as the Gate Of Valaya that will somehow bring back the golden age of the Dwarfs. Implied to have lead the Dwarfs to [[Lileath|Lileath's]] new world in the cycle of worlds in End Times.

* '''Cripple Peak'''
Full of Warpstone. A major site fought over between Nagash, who makes it his home while recovering from his second defeat, and the Skaven. Dwarfs stay away.

* '''Spine of Sotek''': In Total War: Warhammer II a colony of Dwarves have made their own in the Not-Andes of Lustria.

*'''Karak Unfirth''': Lost hold, one of the first places that fell to the Ironstompers Ogre Tribe and their Leadbelchers in one of the first likely uses of the Leadbelchers, location unknown.

====Non-Canon Locations====
Places from outside continuity, either as widespread fan creations, memes, or other continuities.

* '''Kazad Bolg'''
A faction created by [[Paul Sawyer]] AKA “Fat Bloke”, who was the editor of White Dwarf until 2004 (when the magazine became a glorified catalog under his successor [[Guy Haley]]). Although created by an employee and featured in the 6e Dwarfs army book, Kazad Bolg is not considered canon by many.
Little is known of Kazad Bolg lore, only that Sawyer’s army was an Expeditionary Force that brought the maximum amount of non-stone artillery, a Gyrocopter, Miners, Longbeards, Slayers, and was lead by Kragg The Grim. Their colors are yellow and black. Bolg means “fat belly”, a play on his nickname.

* '''Karak Kyme'''
White Dwarf's Nick Kyme's OC Hold, using a burgundy and yellow theme with as many old models as possible.

===Clans===

* '''Royal Clan'''
This generic force represents the clan of the king of any Hold, armed with the best gear while accompanied by mercenaries and a significant force of Hammerers, with the Royal Clan of the High King being the largest and grandest the Dwarfs can muster.

* '''Gunnisson Clan'''
Blackbearded clan that trace themselves to Grimnir's son, King Gunn. They lost their hold to Orcs millenia ago and now are either dead, serve [[Thorgrim Grudgebearer|Thorgrim]] or fanatically hunt Greenskins.

* '''Stonebreakers Clan'''
Miner and mason clan that is primarily located in Zhufbar. Mostly well-known for their Gyrocopters.

* '''Bronzebeards Clan'''
Cannon-maker clan. Once an outcasts from the hold in [[Worlds Edge Mountains]], they now reestablished themselves in Grey Mountains and earned good reputation amongst other Dwarfs.

* '''Helhein Clan'''
[[Lamenters|Unlucky clan]]. After their hold was destroyed, they decided to resettle in [[Karak Eight-Peaks]]... fools. Most have left to seek their fortune in [[Mountains of Mourn]], probably eventually becoming an [[Ogre Kingdoms|Ogre]] snack.

* '''Ulek Clan'''
Also called the "Ullekssons", they are a rather generic warrior clan that loyally supports High King.

* '''Barruk Clan'''
Nicknamed "The Goldshields", they are a greedy clan that left their own hold to Orks and Ogres after exausting its mines. Nowadays they work as mercenaries for other Dwarfs, always in need for gold.

* '''Drakebeard Clan'''
[[Ungrim Ironfist|Ungrim's]] clan, which is full of agressive and grudge-driven [[Slayers|slayers]].

* '''Yinlinsson Clan'''
Drinkers' clan. Most well-known for being the sole ale producers in Karaz-a-Karak.

* '''Norgrimling Clan'''
The Norgrimlings, also known as "The main [[Skaven]] haters". Unlike the constantly weeping Helhein clan, they didn't left King Lunn, and are now a very prominent force of [[Belegar Ironhammer]].

* '''Cragbrow Clan'''
Eccentric engineer clan from Barak Varr, known as the first steampower users in all of Warhammer World. They are also the most progressive clan that likes to travel a lot, even by sea or in air.

* '''Clan Helhein'''
A Dragonback Clan that fought a terrible Grudge war against High King Gorim Ironhammer (but not the entire rest of the Dwarfs apparently), resulting in their founding by Toruk Helhein in exile. Military success in Dragonfire Pass resulted in helping found Ekrund, fleeing to Karak Eight Peaks after its fall and splitting between followers of Belegar and those who went towards Chaos Dwarf territory in the Mountains of Mourn. In Total War: Warhammer they are split in one campaign by occupying the Plain of Bones where Dragons go to die where their settlements plunder abandoned hoards from a home in Mount Greyhag, and the Mortal Empires campaign where they have somehow managed to become trapped in the Warp and occupy Kazad Dum, which was drawn into the Warp within Khorne's realm. Their flag is white and green with the emblem of a serpentine dragon.

===Factions===

* '''Guilds'''
Guilds are an entire organizational entity seperate but part of the concept of Clan and Hold. They even had their own army rules in 6e.
While [[Terry Pratchett|a guild exists for everything]], the most powerful Guild is the Engineer's Guild which has its own armies independant of any other group which control travel between Holds as well as protecting trade caravans. Obviously the Engineer's Guild army, called the Guild Expedition, uses as much black powder weapons and machines as possible.
** No Slayers of any kind may be taken. Thanes become Master Engineers (+35 points, has Artillery Master and Extra Crewman rules) and Lords become Guild Masters (+45 points, has Artillery Master and Extra Crewman rules).
** Warriors, Thunderers are Core. Cannons, Bolt Throwers, and Stone Throwers may be taken as Core, maximum 2 each and for every two artillery core you must have one Unit of Warriors. No other Core may be taken.
** Gyrocopters are Special, and you may have up to two Organ Guns and up to two Flame Cannons as Special. No other Special may be taken.
** Rangers, Longbeards, and Dogs Of War are Rare. No other Rare may be taken.

* '''Slayers (Throng Of Karak Kadrin)'''

* '''Overground Defense'''

* '''War Of Vengeance Dwarfs'''
This faction represents the united Dwarf race back during the War Of Vengeance, used exclusively for games against the High Elves reenacting the war or any skirmishes with greenskins or Chaos prior to that (alongside the Elves possible).

* '''Gnomes'''
Yes, Warhammer has [[Gnomes]]. Or more specifically Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 1e had Gnomes, which were not mentioned in the succeeding supplements (like [[Fimir]]). This doesn't mean Gnomes are retconned since Gnomes are just Dwarfs, only that GW never referred to them by that name again.

Gnomes live in the same regions as Dwarfs, the western World's Edge Mountains and in the Empire. Gnomes are also found in [[Albion]], although as a whole the race suffers the same "dying race" trope as the other civilized non-humans. Gnomes are short-tempered xenophobes even by Dwarf standards; a human saying is "Gnomes are more balanced, they have a chip on each shoulder." Gnomes are oddly also more likely to sell traditionally Dwarfish things to non-Dwarfs, with Gnomish merchants being common to see and skilled laborers working for anyone. Gnomish irritability has also strangely involved the court jester of the Emperor of the Empire always being a Gnome since 1143.
Gnomes are extremely fond of fish, and a Gnomish settlement is always near an above or below-ground source. Gnomish settlements are found underneath much of the Empire, but are unknown to those above (note that this lore predates [[Skaven]] being a thing).
Gnomish customed and social structure is so complex that even Dwarfs find it incomprehensible. In every community there is an Overlord, a religious leader, a master of guilds and mining, and a Loremaster who ensured adherence to protocol. There are Gnome wizards who practice illusion, and Gnome Guard who form the warriors of their race. Gnomes love practical jokes, especially on the Empire using magic.

Gnomes are physically the same as Dwarfs in description. Less than four feet tall usually, large noses and beards, stocky, same skin and hair colors although their skin looks more tanned than Dwarfs. Despite the above, the official Citadel Gnome models mixed those who are identical to Dwarfs with a few with a more skinny look; this gives an advantage to players who wish to use non-Citadel models in their armies since any Dwarf mini out of scale can be called a Gnome or a half-Gnome.
Gnomes can see in the dark and hate Goblins. Gnomish alignments are always on the neutral scale.

The new Roleplay edition reintroduced Gnomes into the setting, severing them from their former dwarfish origin to make them a unique race of their own right.

==Armies==
* '''Warriors'''
Typical soldiers of a Hold, drawn from the clans within and thus usually bearing a secondary color scheme. Most Warriors are young, and move onto other martial careers with experience.

Many Warriors are professional soldiers who own and maintain their own gear as heirlooms, making each somewhat unique. But in times of need Dwarfs of any profession can be a Warrior and use the gear provided by their clan or Hold. Unlike the Elves of Ulthuan who's civilian militias must train frequently, Dwarf culture shapes them into disciplined soldiers while their physiology and psychology are naturally fit for the role. Regardless of their personality in peacetime, every single Dwarf becomes a hateful and unbreakable soldier in war.

* '''Quarrelers'''
In earlier editions just called Crossbowmen as an upgrade to Warriors, 7e made them unique. Invented before Dwarfs settled the Worlds Edge Mountains (so in the time of Grungni, Grimnir, and Valaya and possibly a gift of the Old Ones). Dwarf Bolts are called Quarrels, hence the name. Yes, that means they are called [[Bolter|Bolters]].

Traditionalists prefer them to guns, and the Quarrel is cheaper to maintain and supply although it requires more skill on the part of the user for accuracy. It also has the advantage of range.

The early Dwarf crossbows were made of Ironwood and metal bands while the newest are made of just steel. Dwarfs almost never use bows due to the ineffectiveness of them underground and the Dwarf physiology not favoring the movements and pose required.

The Quarrelers themselves are no different physically than Warriors and carry the same gear and armor, and are as a result more than capable in melee combat.

* '''Thunderers'''
The hot new thing among the youth, only invented a two digit number of generations ago! Created early on by Engineers after the discovery of black powder, but still took a long time to spread by human reckoning. By Dwarf measure though it may as well be The Beatles in terms of a massive and sudden explosion in interest in a radically different thing race-wide amongst the younger generations.

While Quarrelers have to practice range, wind compensation, and marking targets the users of Handguns spend the time maintaining their weapons (sights are a major help). Some Dwarfs build their own, but many are created by the Engineer's Guild and sold to clans and Holds for a very substantial amount of gold and Gromril. Even Dwarfs who have theirs purchased will modify and improve it own, passing along innovations to their fellows and using designs straight off the drafting table of an Engineer halfway across the Old World ("NO PROTOTYPE?! GRUDGESY!!"). Individually Dwarfs try to one-up each other in design and tend to fall into camps on what's the best and what the tiers are (so imagine /tg/ arguing about editions). No word on if a Dwarf equivalent of Popular Mechanics Magazine exists yet, but the implication is there.
As a result not only of the standard Dwarf craftsmanship but also the fact every gun-owner is also an amateur engineer Dwarf guns are more accurate, reliable, and ornate than the equivalent humans have created with mechanisms better than simple flintlocks. Their shot also punches through armor and hide better than a Quarrel can.

Like Quarrelers, Thunderers are basically Warriors armed with a ranged weapon and not afraid to fight in melee against anything that survives their barrage.

* '''Longbeards'''
[[File:Longbeard.png|thumb|200px|right|Old dwarf yells at cloud, ([[Mark Gibbons|MG]])]]
Dwarfs with long beards. More specifically, beards so long they touch the ground. When a Dwarf beard grows that long the entire local community breaks into celebration. Not every such Dwarf actually joins Longbeard ranks and some remain in whatever their field of expertise is, but its a happy time nonetheless.

So why is this a big deal? Dwarf beard fetish?
Well, there actually is a good reason. Dwarfs naturally have a VERY long lifespan, comparable to Elves. Unlike Elves, Dwarfs almost never reach true old age because of the dangers to their race; they don't have a magical floating island to keep them safe from Night Goblins and Skaven tunneling into their fortresses and slitting the throats of everyone useful. Unlike humans, Dwarf population replenishment is low.
This combines with Dwarf culture, possibly their own natural instincts, to look to the oldest as the best. When in doubt Dwarfs always refer to the most elderly among them to determine what to do, following suit. So how do you quickly and reliably determine who is the oldest in a race that can't use magic to grow hair faster? Beard length. A shaven Dwarf is culturally an infant and will never regain the status lost in the shaving which is why many just shave their head to match and seek death as Slayers.

Longbeards aren't just Warriors with status however. They've seen shit that makes Elves and men gouge out their eyes declaring "''HE COMES''".

Daemonette orgy with more cocks than limbs? Lost chastity, survived it.
So many Ogres they blot out the horizon, each wearing a bib made from beards and licking their lips? Lost some toes, survived it.
Only human beer on tap? Entered a Fey Mood and chopped up a kinsman for parts to make a belt buckle, survived it.
Elves rejecting a handcrafted pipe because its made of wood? Killed so many keebs that murder has lost meaning, survived it.
Snot nose beardlings listening to crappy music, disrespecting their elders, swearing, not smoking, adopting liberal attitudes? THAT is the challenge to Longbeards.

If Longbeards are present on the battlefield, they almost certainly will not run. If Longbeards hold firm and complain that Nurgle used to be much grosser and vampires suckier in their day, nobody else will run either. Every young Dwarf wants to impress the Longbeards, and even if they do get sick of hearing about how much they suck for being born at a later date and about tall tales that are almost certainly lies, young Dwarfs still remain in awe of the idea of being so important as well as in gratitude for the centuries of service these heroes have given so they can even be born in the first place.

TL;DR like a unit of the titular subjects of Monty Python's Four Yorkshiremen sketch if they were shorter and had longer beards.

Prior to 8e, the Longbeard model kit was the Warriors kit, just with more gold and grey/white beards. The 8e kit is a dual kit with the Hammerers. Since Warriors cost much less, $35 USD for 20 compared to $50 USD for 20 Hammerers, then its a much better option to simply stick with Warriors painted differently unless the player loves the Hammerers kit looks enough to justify an extra 75 cents a mini.

* '''Miners'''
Mining clans will send out their best to fight alongside the Engineer's Guild, the Baker's Guild, the Potash Maker's Guild, and so on. But Miners spend all day every day wearing their armor, modified to be protective mining equipment, and carrying their weapon, picks. They can go straight from the job to a battle, which when they encounter Skaven, Night Goblins, and the odd Wood Elves is the case anyway.
The older and deeper a mine, the more investment has been put into it meaning the alcohol-powered Dwarfs have access to alcohol-powered steam drills, durable mine carts with hearty ponies, and plenty of explosives. Ironically, the younger a mine the more likely the Miners are to grumble about the newfangled beardling equipment. The most important mines have mining vehicles, air pumps, cart tracks, and elevators.

Other than that, Dwarf Miners are exactly what you would expect.

Of note is that the older Miner models actually came with terrain! Two pony-pulled mining carts, two wheelbarrows, two "mine canary" Goblins in cages, and a fair amount of extra pickaxes, lamps, and satchel charges. Good times.

* '''Rangers'''
[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mATZznY7H_Q You want a thankless job?] Rangers are your pick.

Dwarfs think that Rangers are a bit mental. Why any Dwarf would actually want to be in the sun and in open air, roaming the wilderness and making maps, slinking about as scouts and saboteurs, mingling with Umgi and Elgi or other weirdos from other Holds outside of a proper meet is beyond the ability of non-Rangers to explain. They figure they must be criminals evading the Slayer Oath, insane, or queer in some way (lack of females may mean Dwarfs are less likely to have a gay taboo, but if they do then its most certainly what many think Rangers are hiding).
The lore notes that a few Rangers are hiding something, but most just found it as their calling. Rangers can be sociable or prefer isolation, adventurous or paranoid, sneaky and inventive or staunch traditionalists. Those who dislike the outdoors help scout and clear the Underway. You can always find a Ranger who is a specialist in fighting Skaven, greenskins, men, Elves, other Dwarfs, Dragons, Ogres, Dragon Ogres, Daemons, undead, and anything else you can think of. When trouble strikes a Dwarf ally, a Ranger can appear and offer any kind of aid imaginable (strange is when a Dawi covered in green and leaves appears unheard from seemingly thin air to warn Wutelgi of an attack from the Dum Umgi, but its likely happened).

Its the job of a Ranger to send a message to all nearby Holds, poison the supplies of invaders, burn their maps, collapse their tunnels, ignite their ammunition, assassinate their leaders, and finally ambush the weakened force as they arrive to fight the assembled defending force.

For all this, they get to sit alone in the Hold while the non-Ranger Longbeards grumble openly about how weird they are.

But the perks are knowing they are the primary treasure-hunters of their kind, the first defenders of their homes and kin, the ones non-Dwarfs are most happy to see (after merchants), and do as much (if not more) heroic and direct good as Slayers. Every Hold and expedition relies heavily on its Rangers, from Miners fearing the Skaven to Warriors facing a WAAAGH! of greenskins. Not to mention good ol' Bugman's Rangers are doubtless doing a world of good in endearing them to their kin.

Lorewise Rangers use whatever. Rulewise its a crossbow, hand weapon, throwing weapon, great weapon, and an option for shields.
Note that although GW stopped saying so for some reason after 7e, the Quarrelers/Thunderers kit has Rangers as the third build as Quarrelers with an axe and shield. Some players prefer to use the body with cloaks for Rangers and those without for Quarrelers/Thunderers to make them actually distinguishable from the front.

* '''Slayers'''
Ah, Slayers. About as iconic as Warhammer Dwarfs get. [[Fyreslayers|Knockoffs]] not withstanding.

There's multiple sources on the first Slayer. Some sources say Grimnir was the first after leaving his axe with his kin and setting out for a one-Dwarf war against Chaos for eternity. Another says that according to Garaith Ungrim (retold by Durgrim Redmane, Longbeard Hammerer) Gudrun Morgrimson was the first after allowing the son of his best friend King Skorri Morgrimson, Furgil Morgrimson, be killed and eaten by Trolls on an expedition to the lower levels of Karak Ungor. Gudrun dyed his hair red like the prince's and used Furgil's axe while wandering in the same half-naked state (having been stripped of clothing by Night Goblins who thought he was dead), spending the rest of his life killing any Troll he could, never returning to his home of Karaz-a-Karak out of shame.
The final account is from an old Warhammer boxed set called "Dwarf Lords Of Legend" that came out in 1985. The once-sentence lore for one of the minis was "Kimril Giant Slayer, first slayer and bested the Giant twins Thunderguts and Stormbelly."

Some players have reconciled all three as thus; Grimnir began the tradition of sacrificing oneself for the greater good of Dwarfs. Gudrun was inspired by Grimnir on how to seek redemption, and began the red haired, nearly naked, Holdless, axe-using rule. Kimril was the first to copy Gudrun and be a Slayer, thereby being the founder of the Slayer Cult.

Slayers are regarded as ____slayers based on their accomplishments of killing.
** Trollslayers are the lowest rank of Slayer. They represent the common footplodder Slayers you field as elite infantry.
** Giantslayers are the Unit Champions in Trollslayer Units.
** Dragonslayers are the rank above Giantslayers, and are Hero level Slayers.
** Daemonslayers are Lord Slayers, and the strongest non-named Slayer that can be fielded in Warhammer Fantasy Battles.
Other Slayers such as Elfslayer, Vampireslayer, and Skavenslayers exist since a Slayer is simply named after their greatest foes defeated, but for all intents and purposes they fit into the above categories for the purpose of rules.
All Slayers dye their hair red and spike it with pig grease.

Taking the Slayer Oath is compared to Japanese Seppuku, but there are major differences. Rather than a way to prove honor in the face of a loss of it, Slayer Oaths are a means of restoring lost honor. It has a possible biological function in being a way to deal with a higher population of males, although since the lore reinforces how Dwarfs are generally mentally stable but anything that can really get to them causes a complete break and how Slayers are the way to cope with this loss-wrought insanity (the Slayer Kings are generally described as driven halfway to madness trying to reconcile both Oaths and responsibilities) then it is a way to eliminate those who could fall to Chaos in other races from society in a beneficial way.
Regardless, reasons for becoming one are numerous. Loss of kin, loss of love, loss of goods or money, loss of heirloom, loss of any kind. Anything that really sticks with you, that you cannot get over, would cause you to become a Slayer. (Insert reference to End Times/Age Of Sigmar here.) what would drive a human to become a drunk or an Elf to waste away in mourning causes a Slayer in Dwarfs.

Dwarfs cannot drown themselves in ale forever and they are psychologically incapable of committing suicide. A Slayer may seek death, but they must find it being useful to their race. There are Slayer Engineers who create insane deathtrap weapons, Slayer Runesmiths who work on the weapons of their kin and follow where war goes to ensure the front line always has reliable magic. Slayers with no useful skills just become warriors, constantly improving themselves with training and seeking mentors when not wandering.
Whatever the sin, Slayers are regarded the same; pitiable warriors. Useful, but the hero of a great tragedy that's being written. Holdless, Clanless, loyal to the race as a whole. They migrate to places of conflict, or stay where Dwarfs are needed to protect. Like Rangers, a Slayer can appear from nowhere unexpectedly to help. Unlike Rangers which can be of any temperament, Slayers tend to be in darker dispositions although it is not a rule that they always are (Snorri Nosebiter from Gotrek & Felix for example).

* '''Hammerers'''
Hammerers are the most elite that the Dwarfs have to offer. Equivalent to the White Lions Of Chrace of the High Elves, Hammers are the bodyguards and honor guard forces of Dwarf nobility.

They began in Mount Gunbad, with the great craftsman Kadrin Redmane in the gold mines.
After years of fighting morale was low, resulting in a visit from King Morgrim Blackbeard. Night Goblins attacked during the visit and slaughtered the Dwarf forces protecting the king until the workers, lead by Redmane, took up their hammers for working gold and slaughtered the Goblins until the king was able to escape. The Hammerers were formed then out of seasoned Dwarfs lead by those same craftsmen who were given runehammers as a mark of office. Redmane's descendants followed in his footsteps, becoming Hammerers bearing his own runehammer in turn.

Hammerers since that time exist in all Holds (other than the Norse), and are bodyguards to king and thane. Nowadays they select their own Hammerers however they see fit from any profession, Clan, even Hold. Hammerers are stubborn and unyielding even by Dwarf standards, with absolute devotion to their charge. The hammer they wield is invariably ornate, as it is a personal gift (barring those like the Redmane Hammerers who keep an heirloom one) representing the covenant between lord and servant. They are balanced with a degree of perfection reflecting that of the greatswords of the High Elf Swordmasters and are usually made of Gromril. Note the "usually" there, Gromril is incredibly rare and despite being the king's personal guard and the most respected soldiers in the Hold the Hammerers are not automatically entitled to the best of the best gear; that's for the Ironbreakers below. Hammerers are more likely to be equipped with steel, possibly gilded in gold, although the odd bit of Gromril here and there is fitting for family heirlooms or gifts for particular feats in their career.

Large Holds have many Hammerers, and when not protecting their lords they are assigned to important positions such as guarding gates. Every group of Hammerers is named for what they protect, for example "the Bugman's Brewery Guard".

In battle their blows hit harder than anything that is not supernatural can, and with a rhythm that sounds like the workshops of a Dwarf hold.

* '''Ironbreakers'''
Equal with Hammerers in terms of elite infantry, Ironbreakers were formed after the Time Of Woes. They all wear giant complete suits of Gromril armor (mind you that in Warhammer lore entire wars have been waged over reclaiming lost suits of Gromril armor, and the absolute most legendary equipment a human could ever hope to find in the world is a single piece of Gromril gear) that allow them to survive cave-ins and guard the mines, keeping watch for Skaven, Night Goblins, or the monsters that wake up when Dwarfs dig their mines too deep...
Being an Ironbreaker is a pretty shit job given that they get none of the glory that Hammerers get and none of the freedom of a Ranger. They're hauled out of the deeps to fight on the surface when needed which can be quite often, but simply due to how numerous the rivals that fight for control of the deep spaces are, most of their battles will invariably be done underground regardless of how much or little time they spend there.

Ironbreakers are specialists in underground combat, and immediately form into complex formations designed for subterranean and cramped space warfare as their commanding officers demands.

Ironbreakers take a similar Oath as the Hammerers, although theirs is made to defend the young of their Hold and the halls/remains of their ancestors rather than to a present noble.

A special note on painting Ironbreakers; although they look fairly good dirtied up and banged around, its canon that Gromril never tarnishes and cannot be destroyed with mundane means. As a result, your Ironbreakers should technically be sparkling silver with a polished sheen that would blind an Elf.

* '''Irondrakes'''
Like most armies that got an update in 8th edition, Dwarfs received dual-build kits with new options. Irondrakes were that option, sharing a kit with Ironbreakers. Their lore reflects their meta existence far more than the other 8e additions.

Irondrakes are what happens when shit with the Skaven and Night Goblins goes so badly that prototype technology invented by batshit insane Engineers that are probably heretics against Morgrim is used. Said technology is Drakeguns, <strike>Warpfire Throwers reverse-engineered and powered by alchemy rather than Warpstone </strike> A TOTALLY UNIQUE INVENTION THA' IS THE RESULT OF WEAPONIZING GRUDGES, AN' MAYBE A BIT OF NITROGLYCERINE.

Drakeguns are very large devices with attached fuel (meaning no backpacks) that fire a single blast of flames so hot that the Gromril armor of the initial Ironbreaker testers (Tested on the battlefield?! HERESY!) was insufficient protection, which resulted in even more expense fielding them as the typical Ironbreaker armor had to be modified to show absolutely no skin, cover the beard entirely, and be filled with protective runes. The runes and protective armor were invented for Dwarfs that work in high temperature forges.
That being said, Irondrakes are still basically Ironbreakers with a fuckhuge flare gun. Just better armor on top of that.

It should be noted that the Drakefire technology has been refined to the point that Drakefire Pistols are a thing, having shorter range but can be fired even in melee. These can be seen being carried by many different Dwarfs, including Rangers and Ironbreakers. The pistols are apparently far less dangerous since that means they do not require Irondrake armor to use (Irondrakes with them still use their armor though).

Oh, and if you thought the above was insane the Irondrakes also use Trollhammer Torpedoes, a modification to Drakeguns attached to the end which turns them into '''fucking bazookas'''.

The common use of Irondrakes is standing behind the Ironbreakers until an enemy that would give them trouble appears, whereupon the Ironbreakers move to the sides and allow the Irondrakes to step forwards and incinerate the troublesome opponents before the Ironbreakers move back into formation again.

Irondrakes were a surprisingly popular addition to the army considering how poorly many 8e minis were received by Warhammer Long(neck)beards. They took up the same slot as cannons, and had the game not been summarily executed they may have caused a reduction in the cannon spam that non-Dwarf players hated so much.

* '''Gyrocopters'''
Gyrocopters are surprisingly not a new invention. New enough for Longbeards and Kragg to grumble mind you since they weren't around in the War of Vengeance, but still older than any living Dwarf save Kragg and Grombrindal. They were invented after the loss of the Underway in the Time Of Woe, as a replacement means of communication and supply drops between Holds. They have become so widespread that even small Holds have at least a few. In Dwarf battle tactics the Gyrocopter serves the combined role of dragon, cavalry, and small artillery.

A Gyrocopter is basically a helicopter, capable of taking off straight up (minimizing space needed to land, store, and takeoff) and hovering. They run on a miniaturized steam engine and are piloted by particularly brave/insane (by Dwarf reckoning) Engineers.

They were inspired by dragons flying around a mountain that an unnamed Engineer watched, with parts from Miner drilling machines and grinding machines making the mechanism work. The 6e account of Redmane says that Thane Orgri came up with the idea of sticking a small cannon on one. Since then the Gyrocopters have been armed with rapidfire guns instead, although in 7e this was changed to a steam blast that fired grapeshot like from a cannon, and in 8e this was change to a gun which fired just steam itself. This is on top of an upgrade called the Brimstone Gun, a modified version of a Drakegun. In older editions of the game and in-universe models the pilot would carry bombs to light and throw, although now they have bombs on their stabilizer wings that can be dropped.

* '''Gyrobomber'''
By replacing the steam gun of a Gyrocopter with a Clattergun (just a standard rapidfire gun rather than the shotgun blast of a steam gun) Engineers were able to attach a payload of bombs to an extended body, creating a dedicated bomber. Unfortunately the increased mass despite the same weight caused problems with wind and aerodynamics, preventing the kind of dive and drop that gives Gyrocopter bombs accuracy. To compensate, the Grudgebuster bombs were invented which are designed to create multiple "bouncing" explosions which cover a far larger area and thus are more likely to hit the target.

The most famous Gyrobomber wings are the Skyhammers of Zhufbar and the Blackhammer Bombers of Karaz-a-Karak.

* '''Cannons'''
Its a cannon. Made by Dwarfs.
That's about all there is to know.

Dwarf cannons are smaller than those of other races, and made from pure steel rather than brass and wood (old models showed wood frames and wheels, apparently those are the "newer" cannons while the new models are the "older" ones). They are tested for centuries before being put into use. The first where made by Zhufbar, but now most Holds make their own. Since so much effort goes into them, Dwarf artillerists love their weapons and take good care of them. Saying that Manling powder should be used in them is generally an insult.

Dwarf armies in the meta are known for fielding as many of these low-misfire risk and high accuracy (literally "cannon sniping") guns as they can which basically made big models useless high-point targets for much of the game history. While Dwarfs are already a defensive army, this pushed the tactic to the utmost degree.
Compare to [[Fish of Fury]].

* '''Onager/Catapult/Stone Thrower/Grudge Thrower'''
Its exactly what you think and changed names quite a bit over the years, although 7e put a Dwarfy flavor to it. During the War Of Vengeance the Dwarfs began inscribing non-magical runes naming a specific Grudge being avenged on the rocks they flung at Elves in an effort to clear as many Grudges as possible during the war.

Later on, Dwarfs who's Hold had been lost would use stone from their home with Grudges relating to the fall runed on them.

In the modern day the stone matters more than the device and Grudge Throwing is an important aspect of war.

* '''Gob-Lobber'''
One of the legendary older special models. If you have one, count yourself very lucky.
In a battle for an unknown Hold during the Goblin Wars, an Onager crew ran out of stone to fire and the Goblin army was rapidly advancing. The youngest member of the crew, Gorm Foambeard, offered to be fired instead which inspired his crewmate Gottri Flatnose. Gottri used his mallet to knock out several Goblins that had charged ahead of their force, and the crew tied them up and fired them instead (to the horror of everyone but Gottri).

It should be noted that [[Doom Divers]] were not yet a thing. The idea of being fired caused the entire horde to stop in place, and after a screaming Goblin made a direct hit and splattered on the General and officers the entire army fled. The Dwarfs celebrated the victory to the degree that they would have been unable to defend had the Goblins regrouped. Since then, Gob-Lobbers decorated with Goblin corpses and stocked with struggling Goblins have appeared throughout history.

* '''Organ Gun'''
The organ as a musical instrument which propels steam through pipes was invented by the Engineer Lokri Snarrison. Another Engineer named Durin Kurganssonson (presumably the grandson of a Dwarf named Kurgans) had the idea of using five such pipes (after 7e only four) as small cannons in one iron artillery piece. Inaccurate since they can't be reliably elevated or trained on targets (in real life the ribauldequin is the name of an organ gun, which was useful as anti-personnel artillery between 1300 and 1400 after which point its conceptual successors became inferior to a cannon loaded with grapeshot due to higher expense in production and increased load time) and with a smaller and thus less damaging ammunition.

* '''Bolt Thrower'''
Its a giant crossbow on wheels. Revered by Dwarfs since they were operated when Valaya, Grimnir, and Grungni still walked among their people. Easy to make, cheap to maintain and thus affordable to a ridiculous degree. Produces no smoke and thus does not obscure the vision in a long battle or underground. Highly accurate and reliable, can easily be aimed skywards making ideal defense against Dragons and other beasties. Bolt Throwers are beloved both by traditionalists for their reliability and the fact they date back to the days when the Ancestor Gods sat on the thrones of Holds, as well as reckless liberals who love to innovate and improve new forms of the weapon with ever superior qualities. The Eagle Claw Bolt Thrower the damned Elgi use is derived from Dwarf models, though the elves enhance theirs with magic to make them perform on-par with cannons.

Yes, Bolt Throwers are the Dwarf mainstay artillery. But nobody uses them on the tabletop because FUCKYEAHCANNONS! Oh well.

* '''Flame Cannon'''
Step 1: Fill barrel (in older models literally a barrel) with molten tar and hot oil.
Step 2: Fill barrel with air until full of pressure.
Step 3: Insert a small amount of flaming oil into the nozzle.
Step 4: Release pressure, spray burning oil over the battlefield.
Step 5: Extinguish beards.

No real lore other than how to use them.

* '''[[Thunderbarge]]'''
Because some Dwarfs looked at the Gyrocopter and went "Why can't we throw four to six pieces of artillery on that, carry a small army with cargo space leftover, and ram things?" then got to work.

The Dwarf airships have long been mentioned in lore (as well as Goblin airships, Empire flying towers, and High Elf flying castles) but in 8e it finally got a name and stats...kinda. While it has rules, it was not given a points value and sat in the [[Big Red Book]] as a scenario option.

A Dwarf has to be mad in both meanings of the word to fly one of these. Which makes it none too surprising that the most famous and effective one was built by a mad Slayer Engineer and used extensively by none other than Gotrek and Felix.

Although various companies make Thunderbarge proxies, GW never made an official one and recommended scratchbuilding it.

* '''Flame Thrower'''
Similar concept as the Flame Cannon, but a two-Dwarf weapon team <strike>the same as</strike> COMPLETELY DIFFEREN' THAN a Skaven Warpfire Thrower. Dwarf in the back operates a bellows which projects the flames out of the nozzle the front Dwarf holds.

The models are long Out Of Production.

* '''Goblin-hewer'''
Another unique and beloved set you should count your lucky Gromril to own.

Malakai Makaisson was an Engineer who created numerous ill-fated vessels. The Ironclad he built named the <strike>Titanic</strike> Unsinkable sunk on its maiden voyage, killing most of the crew. His Thunderbarge <strike>the Hindenburg</strike> Undestructable exploded on its maiden voyage, killing most of the crew.
For both disasters he was kicked put of the Engineer's Guild and became an Engineer Slayer. He built a final Thunderbarge, the Spirit Of Grungni, which had an illustrious and successful career. He used it to go on adventures with Gotrek and Felix.

But at some point he decided to invent an artillery piece on treads that fires axes. Yes, you read that right.

That is the Goblin-hewer. It is operated by Slayers who are more than willing to get into melee. It was also a Dogs Of War model, so not just for Dwarfs.

* '''Imperial Dwarves'''
Getting way into Oldhammer on this one, as these originate in the time when Games Workshop models were produced by two companies; Marauder and Citadel (they later merged in 1993 with the release of 4th edition). Marauder Dwarfs resembled what we now know as the Empire, basically Landsknecht Dwarfs. This is before most Warhammer lore (not unfair to say "almost all" in fact).
Today the logic of these models in the community is thus;
** "Imperial Dwarves" are Marauder Empire Dwarfs. They are Dwarfs living in the Empire, expatriates. Canon lore calls them Gazani AKA Flatlanders.
** Imperial Dwarfs are what we know now as modern Citadel Dwarfs. They are the Dwarfs of Ankor, loyal to the High King.

Marauder Dwarfs mainly differ in using spears.

<gallery>
Image:Empire Dwarfs.jpg|The Empire Dwarf range.
</gallery>

* '''Ironclad'''
If you played [[Dreadfleet]] or [[Man O' War]] then you know exactly what this is.

An Ironclad is a giant paddle steamship, basically a small Hold (like a modern aircraft carrier is a small city) that contains an entire Clan. Over the years Ironclads are modified by the crew, every change recorded in the ship's Book Of Armaments that are sporadically shared with the Engineers Guild.

The layers of iron require significant damage to occur before boarding is possible, with tough Dwarf Marines waiting inside. Every hatch is sealed by intricate locks that only a captain can unseal. Every Ironclad is full of Engineers, improving and repairing as needed and causing an already tough ship to be able to be repaired even in battle.

Although all Dwarf ships are called Ironclads, the Ironclad is also the battleship equivalent of the Dwarf navy.

Although High Elves technically have the single strongest navy in the setting and fight with Dark Elves to maintain that status, Dwarfs are the uncontested masters of their own waters.

* '''Dreadnought'''
An Ironclad the size of a full-sized Dwarf Hold. Very few have ever been made, and the primary buyers are the Kings of Barak Varr with each commissioning their own personal one upon taking the throne. Hengist Cragbrow was the inventor of the first Dreadnought. Dreadnoughts boast the ability to launch Gyrocopters and Thunderbarges like an aircraft carrier.

* '''Monitor'''
Named after one of the two famous real life ironclads, this is an Ironclad small enough to sail up rivers and lakes. Rarely seen outside Barak Varr's waters. Equivalent to a Destroyer.

* '''Nautilus'''
Obvious inspiration is obvious. Invented by Mungrun Steelhammer, Cragbrow's apprentice.

A Nautilus is a Dwarf Ironclad submarine. The most famous one known to players is actually owned by Chaos Dwarfs in Dreadfleet, but Ankor Dwarfs use them too. Dwarfs who shame themselves but decide against becoming Slayers sometimes volunteer as crews.

* '''War Balloon'''
A hydrogen-filled balloon which lifts a metal gondola, powered by a steam propeller and fins while using release of gas in and out of the chamber to achieve lift. Capable of flying upwind and far further than Gyrocopters. Armed with bombs similar to the Gyrobomber which are dropped from underneath the gondola, and a gatling cannon turret. Presumably without the bombs they could carry cargo.

* '''Dragonslayer'''
You read that bit about Slayers above, right? Well, the Dragonslayer is what happens when a Slayer manages to survive despite all odds, until mere trolls are no longer considered challenging enough to be a likely Doom for them. Dragonslayers, as the name suggests, compensate by going after much, much bigger quarry. In a nutshell, these are your Hero-tier Slayer characters, and so are considerably fightier than their rank and file kindred. Of course, they can't be a leader or a standard bearer, as no sane dwarf is going to follow where a Slayer leads.

While Trollslayers represent the common Slayer, fielded in groups of 10 or more usually, Dragonslayers are solitary warriors that command the same rules as a Unit.

* '''Daemonslayer'''
Somehow, despite it all, some Dragonslayers don't get themselves killed off and dragons, well, they aren't as common in the Warhammer World as they used to be.
So, what's the one enemy that dwarfs hate more than Dragons, who're equally challenging to kill, ''and'' can be easily found wherever you wanna sling your axe? You guessed it: [[Daemon]]s. With no mortal challenges left to face, these Slayers go wandering northwards, either smashing headfirst into a Chaos incursion or dying somewhere in the Chaos Wastes.

A Daemonslayer is a Slayer Character, who accompanies but cannot lead an army.

* '''Engineer/Master Engineer'''
Engineers are the dwarfs who have joined the Engineer Guilds, learning the fine arts of building all the technology that the dwarfs admire so much, as well as striving to control any dangerous ideas they might have about "innovation" or "invention". Master Engineers are, of course, the most experienced and skillful engineers around, with centuries of study under their belts. On the tabletop, these guys tend to be orientated towards ranged combat, and have special rules that let them buff your war machines.

* '''Runesmith/Runelord'''
Dwarfs don't have conventional wizards, and consider the practice a right load of mucking around. No, they stick with a far safer route. Runesmiths have the most difficult and arduous job in all of Dwarfdom; studying for centuries to master the art of binding magical energy into physical constructs through precisely carved runes. These runes can then have their power tapped for a safe, reliable form of pseudo-spellcasting; each rune may only be capable of doing one thing, but it will ''never'' blow up in the user's face like wizardry would. Runelords are the master Runesmiths; they've been around for a thousand years or more, and so can use runes that ordinary Rune Smiths just aren't tough enough to handle yet. As you might have figured, these guys act like wizards in the dwarf army, but they can't manifest the damage-dealing effects of other casters; instead, they're an anti-magic support unit, specializing in destroying spells cast by enemy wizards. Needless to say, they're not as squishy as Warhammer wizards tend to be. Out of combat, these are the ones that make anything important for Dwarfs from the weapons and armor of elite troops to important components of machines.

* '''Anvil Of Doom'''
Mighty displays of dwarven magical craftsmanship that can no longer be replicated in the degenerate modern age, an Anvil of Doom is a rune-inscribed anvil-cum-altar that essentially lets a Runelord act like a more conventional wizard. By striking on this Anvil, they can draw upon the magic bound within its runes to cause various destructive effects.

Created by the great ancestor Kurgaz in the depths of Thunder Mountain, forged from pure Gromril in the way of the first Dwarfs, sealed with the rune of magic tamed itself, the Rune of Sorcery. A dragon was recorded as attacking Thunder Mountain, killing Kurgaz and most of the Runesmiths which caused many of the most powerful and important runes to be lost.

Each is inscribed with intricate runes that modern Dwarfs can't even read, let alone use. That is on top of the central rune, the Rune Of Doom, which gives the Anvils their name. Even beyond that, every Anvil was dedicated to one of the primary trinity; Grungni's requires and bolsters effort, Grimnir's fury, and Valaya's is based on loyalty.
Knowledge of how to use the Anvils was passed down orally and practically from master to apprentice, so the current users of the Anvils have a very incomplete and often completely different understanding of how to use them with the untimely death of a master resulting in many secrets lost forever. Improper use of an AoD can cause great calamity, the worst of which is the loss of the Anvil itself. Very few remain in the world, each belonging to a major Hold. Their loss is a dark day to never be forgotten by any Dwarf.

Most AoD are left in the depths of each Hold, lost with the homeland and reclaimed on joyous days (because its generally beyond the capacity of greenskins and Skaven to destroy them). Rarely, in times of need, they are hauled into battle. The 4e model had them mounted on wheels with the Runelord riding it, striking the front from the back. The 6e model is sedentary, consisting of the AoD sitting in a magic runed stone circle while an apprentice works a nearby forge. Both versions have Anvil Guards, sworn to loyalty of the Anvil above all else who will never abandon it. How exactly the vibrations and lightning from striking don't shatter the ankles of the Runelord in the old model isn't clear, not is how the fuck they haul the thing to a battle or travel when ambushes are a thing in the new one...as a result many modders put the new AoD on the back or in the hands of a Golem, on a flying chunk of rock, or some other transportation.
[[Total War: WARHAMMER]] actually addressed the issue by having the Anvil Of Power carried by four Runesmiths, similar to the Thorgrim's Throne. The only effects are making Runelords much killier and more durable while increasing the "FUCK YO MAGIC" bubble of your army at the cost of a tad bit of speed.

Thorek Ironbrow is the only Runelord capable of using the Rune Of Doom of his AoD, and not safely (or possibly correctly) either. Its unknown if Kragg could, given Kragg is actually older than the Anvils Of Doom, but he was basically replaced by Thorek in the lore when the bit about nobody knowing how to use them was added; if you consider Kragg canon, he may be the only Dwarf capable of using them properly.

* '''Thane/Lord'''
All dwarf clans have a boss, called a Thane, and the boss of bosses is called a Lord. There's not really much more to it than that; these are your bog-standard character units, with Thanes filling the Hero tier and Lords, well, take a guess.

A Thane may be appointed and come from any part of society; these are the Dwarf nobility.
A Lord may only be of royal descent, with royalty descended from the ancestor gods and thus all children of Valaya. Thanes are promoted into Lords as high nobility.
A Lord may become a King upon the death of the previous king. Unlike in other races, this is not an enviable position; happy ascension only occurs on the very rare time a King lives long enough to step down and even then is more the shouldering of responsibilities rather than gain of wealth and privilege.
All Kings are eligible for High King, seen much like promotion from Lord to King. The High King is the supreme leader of the race, loyal to all Dwarfs as if they are his children.

Rarely, females end up as Thanes. The wife of a King is by default a Queen, but rare is the Queen who truly rules; the current Queen of Karak Norn sharing leadership with her husband is the exception. Very few times in history has a Queen ruled alone, and a High Queen has never existed save as wife of the High King.

Some Dwarf Kings take on the tradition of the son of Kurgaz, and are carried into battle standing on an oversized shield (or the shield of a giant of a Dwarf ancestor) by two beloved Thanes.

Oathstones are another tradition, a piece of the Hold of the King, Lord, or Thane which is inscribed in runes describing the user, lineage, deeds, clan, or other relevant information. These are stood on ceremonially or in battle, and to Dwarfs it is representative of the Hold itself; thus by standing on one, the Dwarf is saying to treat it as the home and defend it or be as truthful and sincere as they would to the entirety of what the Oathstone represents. Whether swearing an Oath, making a greeting, or standing with shield ready in front of it.

* '''Steam Tank'''
While the Empire and their famous twelve [[Riptide|(which somehow are included in almost every Empire army ever fielded by players)]] may be the most well known, Dwarfs did in fact create Steam Tanks at some point. A particular story refers to several Dwarfs stuck while trying to clear the Underway after their tank became inoperable.
They are never mentioned anywhere else, so presumably it was either the only one created by a particularly mad Engineer or they are mostly used in the Underway (which does make the most logical sense given its the Dwarf preferred form of travel between Holds and reclaiming it would solve somewhere around 85% of the problems of the Dwarf race, the bulk of the remaining 15% being the eternal need for more Gromril and gold).

* '''Wizards'''
Yeah, technically modern lore is Dwarfs repel magic and only Chaos Dwarfs can be wizards via rune tattoos that force magic into their bodies, turning them slowly to stone like a cancer as their body tries to fight it.
But in the preslotta days that only players who can call themselves Longbeards remember, there were three Dwarf wizard models with one notably whispering anxiously to a small and confused looking frog.

That's all there is to say really. If you're one who likes to blend all of Warhammer lore into your headcanon or the community FLGS canon, there are at least three Dwarf wizards wandering the world.

* '''Golems'''
Another relic of older editions, but this time not quite as far-fetched. Introduced in a Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay supplement, Golems are basically just robots powered by Runes. They are as complex as the creator designed them to be, with some that are permanently inactive because the Dwarf or Dwarfs it was designed to obey are dead. Some are extremely dangerous, still following orders to guard things with no failsafe programmed or at least known if that ever becomes undesirable (or for example "guard this room" meaning to kill everything that enters it's creator's tomb is followed by a wall collapsing and the "room" now including the entire entrance to the Hold). Golems can also be created to do non-military tasks, and follow the same logic of Fantasia brooms for a simple command becoming a major issue. Other Golems are complex enough to have multiple uses and actually have failsafe measures, meaning that not only should perfection in creating the Golem exist but the Dwarf in question should be the sort to fully think through their actions using knowledge of the success and failure of their predecessors...not that those would be rare qualities among most Dwarf Runesmiths, but mistakes can still be made (and probably result in the Slayer Oath).

* '''Rune Golems'''
As Golems, but exclusively military and created during the time when the gods walked among the Dwarfs under the eye of Grungni himself. Made entirely of pure Gromril. Mothballed during the War of Vengeance/War of Beard when the magic needed to awaken those massive constructs sunk deeper into the earth to the point that the Runelords found it impossible to wake them up. The last one that tried turned into a stone statue.

* '''Rune Guardians'''
Same as Rune Golems, but have more lore. They were created by combining runecraft and engineering, unlike the Rune Golems above who were formed by pure rune magic. Rune Guardians were created as ludicrously complex machines powered by the Master Rune Of Waking, knowledge of which has since been lost and would require study of an intact Guardian to obtain. The instructions for the Guardian’s behavior are written with the Waking Rune on its forehead, and cannot be changed. Their primary use is defending abandoned Holds and tombs.
Their hands end in axes, and they are made to look like a Dwarf the size of an Ogre. They can be inscribed with up to two other Runes.

* '''Juggernaut'''
Similar to the Chaos Dwarf Juggernaut ("THA'S A GRUDGIN' YE PANSY ELF WIKI FUCK!"), although they only existed in 3e Warhammer and had no lore behind them, merely an advert crediting them to [[Tony Ackland]] in design. It appeared to be a type of ornate wooden ship on wheels powered by a boiler and armed with a cannon.

* '''Juggernaut'''
Not the same thing as the above entry, rather it's the same thing as the two that preceded it. Juggernauts were described as giant Golems created by Grungni to guard Karaz-a-Karak, of which only two survive. This lore actually preceded the 2e WFRP lore. Whether this counts as stating that only two Rune Golems exist or if these are just a superior form of Rune Golem is entirely up to any player who wants to take them as canon.

* '''Shard Dragon'''
[[File:Shard Dragon.jpg|thumb|right|A Shard Dragon. The aforementioned murder-ferret.]]
Believe it or not, but even the Dawi got a piece of the monster cake. Introduced in the Monstrous Arcanum supplement, the Shard Dragons are subterranean monsters descended from dragons that ventured underground and mutated into what can be described as a giant serpentine murder-ferret of a mutant dragon. These nightmarish beasts travel under the surface of the Warhammer wold in search of prey and at times they will make contact with Dwarfs, Goblins or Skaven. When that happens the Shard Dragons will cause chaos and destruction, kill and devour as many denizens of an underground settlement as possible before disappearing into the abyssal darkness from which they came from.
Dwarfs, being the grudge-bearing stunties they are, managed to bring these monsters back to the surface. Thinking that death was too good for them, the ancestors of the Dawi learned to forge large rune collars with which they shackled the Shard Dragons and have their Runelords control these murder machines though they aren't purely exclusive to the Dawi. This makes them the equivalent of giant attack dogs as the Runelords point the Shard Dragons at problem that needs to be removed. Preferably with as much violence and collateral damage as it is possible. Every very powerful magic user can take control over one of these beasts, but the Dwarfs seem to be the ones that are the prominent tamers...and most successful it seems, as the runic collars completely eliminate the probability of the monsters to go out of control compared to a magic user who needs to constantly exert his will over them.
In a fight, Shard Dragons live up to their lethal reputation. Being capable of entering a rabid frenzy the moment somebody manages to inflict a flesh wound on them, having razor-sharp scales that can hurt people in contact with them that grow in hardness as time passes, unleashing a breathe that can instill visions so nightmarish people die from heart attacks (even undead and daemons aren't immune to it), having the magic protection of the very collars that bind them to the will of the Dwarfs and having a venom so potent it burns the hardest stone, Shard Dragons are truly one of the most deadliest assets in a throng.

* '''Doomstones'''
More artifact than soldier although they can be wielded in a manner that may as well make them the ultimate warmachines, the Doomstones are a set of four legendary artifacts lost around the area now inhabited by humans called the Border Princes and were introduced in a campaign of five books for Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay named after them.
They are best summarized as when Runesmiths attempted to replicate a High Elf [[Waystone]] using pure Warpstone and instead created superweapons that can shake mountains into pebbles and split continents.

In other words the Dwarfs Elf’d so hard they accidently Skaven’d and as a result the whole thing was Slann’d up.

==Descendant Races==
In the [[Age of Sigmar]], at least three varieties of dwarf have survived the apocalypse, besides the normal dwarfs, and preserve the history of the dawi in some way; the fire-spewing, [[Slayer]]-like [[Fyreslayers]], the actual Slayers known as the Unforged, and the [[Kharadron Overlords]], which are dwarfs who resided in the Chamon-realm and escaped Chaos by building flying cities which now mine gaseous "ur-gold" from the clouds.

In addition, there are the [[Cities of Sigmar]], which house all manner or Order-Aligned races, Dwarfkind included. That said, the Dwarfs are rather under-represented with only the Dispossessed (The basic Dwarf footsloggers and Runelords) and Ironweld Arsenal (Steamtanks and other war machines) being represented while the rest seem to have been forgotten. According to the Ossiarch Bonereapers lore, given their record keeping when they hunt for bones, Dwarfs are outnumbered by humans and elves (or they take care of their dead more than the others).

Passing mention is also made of a [[Ghyran]]-dwelling dwarven race called the Rootkings, who forge their weapons from razor sharp seedpods, dye their hair green, and worship Alarielle.

There are also the Valay, who resemble a Duardin from the waist up and a squid from the waist down, who live in Ghyran's seas, who are fond of hoarding ithilmhair (congealed magic in the seas currents forming over time into a material strong enough to withstand blows from Ghal Maraz) and like to play deadly word games with others. It is unknown if the Valay are related in any way with the Merkaveth, a race of feral beings described as being half-aelf, half-octopus, who are said to be related to the [[Menfish]].

==Interesting facts==
* In 1992 BISP (British Institute of Small People) took Games Workshop to court over the offensive use of the word "Dwarf" as a magical creature predisposed to drink and hoarding gold but [[Fail|came out short]] and failed to win their case. Games Workshop later counter sued BISP (forcing its closure) for alleged theft from the Games Workshop premises and threatening calls. This event was referenced in several of Terry Pratchett's [[Discworld]] novels.
* The video game [[Warhammer: Mark of Chaos|Mark of Chaos]] was marked with scandal after a Games Workshop employee was fired for suggesting the Dwarfs speak with a Scottish accent because "they are greedy overweight alcoholics anyway" in a printed release of Gamesmaster magazine. Games Workshop was forced to issue an apology to the minister of Scotland Andrew MacDonald.
* Dwarfs were the first faction to get lore in any Warhammer setting, as previously mentioned above (not counting the Goblins because fuck Goblins). This bears mentioning again because fuck Chaos and fuck the Elves, Dwarfs were here first and are the eldest sons of the forgotten ancestor god Priestley.
* Games Workshop actually owns a pub decorated like an in-universe inn with shields from various factions, called Bugman's Brewery. Dwarfs also created the setting of [[Blood Bowl]] when they discovered a mysterious treasure chest during a battle with Goblins and their eldest went mad translating the "Amorikan Football" pamphlets and books inside which ended up entirely changing the culture of their world. As a result, Dwarfs in fact have the highest amount of 4th wall breaking with the real world in all Games Workshop properties.
* Lego actually ripped off the Dwarf Slayers in Wave 17 of their blind bag minifigure sets, including a "Battle Dwarf" that is a dead-ringer for a Dwarf Slayer. This Slayer goes with the generic Elves and Dwarves of previous blind bag sets as well as the short-lived Dwarves VS Orcs/Trolls themes of the past. Unfortunately given the strict policy of never glorifying war (outside of Star Wars and Tolkien at any rate) passed down by the founder of the company and still followed today, licensed Lego: Warhammer will never happen.

==See Also==
* [[Warhammer/Tactics/8th Edition/Dwarfs|Tactics/Dwarfs]]
* [[Warhammer/Tactics/6th_Edition/Dwarfs|Dwarven tactics for the glorious 6th edition]]
* [http://www.bugmansbrewery.com/ Bugmans Brewery], the primary Dwarfs fansite.
* [[Squats]]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjHclWPVij0 An average non-violent meeting between a Dwarf and an Elf.]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2UeyhSrewY An audio rendition of the High King getting out his Grudge quill]
* [[Dwarfs Faction Creation Tables]]

{{Template:Dwarf Forces}}
{{Playable Factions in Warhammer Fantasy Battle}}

[[Category:Warhammer Fantasy]][[Category:Dwarfs]]

Bretonnia

2023-05-04T17:04:08Z

2605:BA00:6208:2AB4:18EB:4997:6477:4392: Brettonia is frangland its a parody of British stereotypes + French stereotypes

{{british}}
[[Image:Bretonnia Cover.png|thumb|300px|right|KNIGHTS KNIGHTS CHIVALRY HORSES KNIGHTS]]
{{topquote|Be without fear in the face of your enemies. Be brave and upright, that God may love thee. Speak the truth always, even if it leads to your death. Safeguard the helpless and do no wrong; that is your oath.|Godfrey of Ibelin, ''Kingdom of Heaven''}}
{{topquote|We have political systems like this in the Empire. We call them 'protection rackets'.|Matthias von Pfeildorf, former Imperial Envoy to Couronne.}}
{{topquote|Help! Help! I'm being repressed!|Dennis the Constitutional Peasant, Monty Python and the Holy Grail}}

'''Bretonnia''' is one of the main factions in [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]]. It is a human nation roughly modelled on a combination of medieval France, a tiny pinch of England and every medieval tale of chivalry ever (especially the legends of King Arthur). At a glance, they could easily be [[Games Workshop]]'s least creative race, in any game, ever. And yes, that includes <s>[[Judge Dredd]]</s> [[Adeptus Arbites]]. One of their special characters is called [[The Green Knight]], and their goddess is the Lady of the Lake (later revealed to also be part of the Elven pantheon). Even the name of the kingdom is derived from Britannia (Roman Empire-ruled Britain) and Brittany (part of northwestern France). It's pretty lazy, all things considered.

However, it is still inventive in one way: In Bretonnia, the ideals of medieval chivalry and high honour is presented side-by-side with horrible, almost hilarious black-comedy level of oppressive government. The greatest heroic knights could also at the same time be the sort of charmer who worries about soiling their poulaines while stepping over starving peasant orphans, and your armies will be made of equal parts saintly knightly warriors and wretched peasants who get sent to die in droves in the name of feudal responsibilities. It's gotten to the point where a large part of the charm of Bretonnia is in its black comedy value, in terms of social commentary.

At least for some people anyway, and in a particular edition. Like with most Warhammer lore post-[[shitstorm|End Times]], there's a significant fan divide between which "version" of lore is best, with the main contenders for Bretonnia being 5th edition - written by Nigel Stillman - and 6th edition - written by Anthony Reynolds. Stillman's take on Bretonnia was significantly lighter than that of Reynolds, with a more generic Arthurian kingdom but lacking in what many called [[grimderp]] lore decisions by Reynolds; on the other hand, defenders of the latter say Stillman's was lacking in realism, and Reynolds' is more interesting. Basically, 5th edition fans argue 6th's tone is too dark and that's bad, while 6th edition fans argue 5th's tone is too bright and that's bad. It's an argument that's went on for over 15 years, until [[Fail|the entire army and country was eliminated in]] [[The End Times]], paving the way for [[Age of Sigmar]], where the faction still hasn't come back in any form as of 2023.

Bretonnian armies basically consist of [[knight]]s. Lots and lots of knights. And everyone, from the lowliest Knight Errant to the living-god Grail Knights, rides the same. Damn. Horse. Except for the ones that ride [[Pegasus|Pegasi]]. There are also some lowly, filthy peasants that support the knights (by which we mean they're ''very cost-effective'' meatshields).

The army is currently very old and very out of date, although still readily available, there are some rumours concerning them though. This is unfortunate since WFB 8th edition [[nerf]]ed cavalry pretty hard. They're still workable, but they're hurting pretty badly. Some denizens of /tg/ argue that Bretonnia should just be [[squat]]ted, as they don't have anything over any other army. Seriously, the Empire (ostensibly an infantry-based army) has better cavalry than these guys.

For what it's worth, they're still a major player in the fluff, arguably sharing the "protagonist" stage with the Empire (or at least being the co-star) in the Glottkin End Times book, though the plot material of "Thanquol" seems to have finally done in the nation as an independent entity.

As of March 26th, 2016, the entire Bretonnian range has been added to Games Workshop's 'Last Chance to Buy' section, so it seems like the Brets are finally gone for good. Though due to the aforementioned fading relevance as an army, lack of creativity and stand-out characters, some actually arguing for squatting, and all that even before the End Times and Age of Sigmar, few can honestly say they didn’t see this coming. Compared to [[Tomb Kings]], outrage over the loss seems to be rather lukewarm. But maybe this was because the Tomb Kings were the first to get axed, and one of GW's more creative races to boot, whereas the Bretonnians were designed by watching [[/tv/|Excalibur]] and moulding one horse. Some may say it's also because the Tomb Kings were more popular than the Brets but that's [[Skub|subjective]].

==History==
Long before the land now known as Bretonnia was founded, it was inhabited by the Lizardmen, but they were driven back by Chaos; later, the High Elves from Ulthuan created a vortex to keep the demons at bay, and settled on most of the non-mountainous regions in the Old World. Since the region of soon-to-be-Bretonnian is the only Old World region closest to Ulthuan([[Athel Loren|that and because the Elves' favorite tree friend lives in that region as well]]), it was colonized the most, and its capital city in the Old World: '''Tor Alessi''' (soon to be '''L'Anguille''') was built there for the Elves to govern their other Old World's settlements from there. But then the <s>[[War of the Beard]]</s> War of Vengeance happened, and the land became a major battlefield between the Dwarves and High Elves. The conflict weakened the High Elves so much that '''Caradryel''', the successor Phoenix King, ordered the retreat of all High Elves back to Ulthuan. Some High Elves refused, and moved in to live with their aforementioned tree friends' forest and became the [[Wood Elves (Warhammer Fantasy)|Wood Elves]]. With no Elves in sight, humans began to settle the land. It was first inhabited by some pagan hippies who play with rocks(aka pacifist tribe who worships '''[[Rhya]]'''). Then the Bretonnian's ancestor: The '''Bretonni''' tribe, arrived to their future homeland after fighting through the [[Worlds Edge Mountains]] against a bunch of Greenskins and other rival human tribes, and conquered the aforementioned pansy-pacifist tribe. These Bretonni were of similar martial prowess to the Unberogen (Sigmar's tribe), who fought both humans and orcs on daily basis and managed to avoid going extinct. Like every human tribe, the Bretonni were given an invitation by Sigmar to be [[the Empire|united as a whole]], but they refused and chose to keep to themselves because they were pretty much a mockery of the real-life French stereotype and believed through sheer arrogance that their culture was inherently superior. Seriously, the Bretonni are a backward medieval stasis tribe that couldn't even evolve to use metalwork without consulting Dwarves who lived in nearby mountains.

The Bretonni were later raided by a clusterfuck of nearby Orc WAAARGH, in addition to Tomb kings led by [[Settra the Imperishable|Settra]](who was after the lost shiny bling stolen from his kingdom). Unable to properly unite to face the threats, the Bretonnis were facing annihilation (much thanks to the sheer arrogance towards Sigmar that led to their doom). But an awesome guy named '''Giles Le Breton''' rallied every Bretonni warrior he could find, including his best friends Duke '''Thierulf d'Lyonesse''' and Duke '''Landuin d'Mousillon''', to fight the Orc menace. Still, they failed due to the horde's size and were forced to retreat to a nearby forest. Wandering wearily in the forest, Giles stopped to drink from a lake and found himself watched over by a strange woman of ethereal form: the Lady of the Lake. Le Breton, facing desperation and madness, asked this Lady to bless him with strength and he was fully restored. Duke Thierulf d'Lyonesse and Duke Landuin d'Mousillon did the same thing, and the three of them became <s>Lileath's puppet</s> the first three Grail Knights.

With the power to finally pull some awesome ass-kicking, Giles and his tribe kicked the shit out of the [[Orcs]], returned to their settlement, united the Bretonni tribesmen under one banner, and founded "Bretonnia," with their benefactor the Lady of the Lake as the centre of their newly created society.

After the unification, Breton was dubbed the "Uniter" and became the first Royarch. Unfortunately, Breton was killed (or we thought) by a cunning git with SpearChukas in one of his many campaigns against the Greenskin. His son '''Louis the Rash''' was then crowned the king, and founded the Questing Knight tradition. Many evils like the Tomb Kings and Greenskins were pushed out of the borders of Bretonnia during this time.

There were invasions from Araby where they invaded '''Estalia'''. Estalia were desperate, so they sought help from Bretonnia and many Empire provinces. A combined holy crusade of Bretonnia and the Empire was formed to kick them back to their sandy home.

After that, a joint army of undead led by '''[[Heinrich Kemmler]]''' and '''[[Krell]]''' plus the Skaven invaded but was crushed after the Skaven ran away with their tails between their legs in the middle of the fight.

During the End Times, it was revealed that the Lady of the Lake was indeed the elven goddess [[Lileath]]. The Bretonnians present during this revelation abandoned her, but through some convoluted nonsense <s>all Grail Knights and Damsels are saved in a new World, the "Haven" and probably live untainted from chaos as immortal rulers of a new Bretonnia (HURRAH!). BUT Bel'akor found out and smothered it in its crib, dooming everyone in there (hurroo...).</s> It was later mentioned that they may have simply lost contact with this Haven, as the Warhammer World was becoming increasingly saturated with Chaos.

==Geography==
The Kingdom of Bretonia is located to the West of the Empire with the Grey Mountains acting as a natural border between the two. Located to the East of Bretonia and West of the Grey Mountains lies the forest of Athel Loren, inhabited by the Wood Elves. They enjoy coming and murdering peasants in Quenelles every Springtime. South of Bretonia is [[Estalia]] and the Vaults Mountain Range. To the West of Bretonia is the Great Ocean and Ulthuan. To the North is the Island of Albion and Norsca.

Within the Kingdom itself lie multiple dukedoms. These are each ruled by a Duke, who has to have at least become a Knight of the Realm.

* '''Couronne''' - Located to the North of Bretonia and bordering the Wasteland and the Sea of Claws. Its lands lend themselves to horse-breeding, and has the best horses in all of Bretonia, no mean feat. Due to being more horse crazy than a [[Furry]] at a brony con, even the peasants ride horses, even if they don't own them per se. Currently the ruling Dukedom of Bretonia.
**'''Castle Couronne''' – The ducal capital of Couronne, famous for being the capital and seat of power of Louen Leoncoeur, current Royarch of Bretonnia. Also host to Brettonia's most famous tournament grounds, The Lion Ring, where nobles race their horses and participate in jousts and melee. Also home to the largest temple of Shallya, which houses a healing spring inside.

* '''L'Anguille''' - Bordering Couronne and Lyonesse, it is one of the smallest Dukedoms. Known primarily for coastal trade. There are no cities beyond Castle L'Anguille, as both Castle L'Anguille and Castle Couronne are so close so as to be impossible to compete with.
**'''Castle L'Anguille''' – Originally founded by the High Elves back when they were colonising the Old World, and originally called Tor Alessi. The most impressive and enduring building from this time is the Great Lighthouse, which rises to be 300 feet tall. The main castle itself lies on an island in the middle of the harbour.

* '''Lyonesse''' - This Dukedom lies upon the north-western shores of Bretonnia. One of the larger Dukedoms following its annexation of Mousillon several centuries earlier, the lands of Lyonesse are infamously known for their rivalry with not other Bretonnian realms, but amongst their own nobility. The main divide in Lyonen politics is that between the north and the south. Whilst the southern nobles were happy to be liberated from the rule of the mad and bloodthirsty Dukes of Mousillon, they were less happy when the Lyonen claimed many prime fiefs and proceeded to keep the “Old Mousillese” out of the corridors of power. Any attempts to work as a bloc are undermined by the feuds that exist between the Old Mousillese, but they do believe that they should work together to claim their rightful place.
**'''Castle Lyonnesse''' – One of the smallest Ducal Capitals in Brettonia, it is built into the walls of the very coast itself. According to folk tales, the inhabitants angered Mannan, who proceeded to flood the city leaving only the castle of the virtuous lord intact. Whatever the truth held in the story, adventurers have found ruins and golden items on the surrounding coast.

* '''Mousillon''' - A former Dukedom that has now been mostly absorbed into Lyonesse. It is the smallest and poorest of Brettonia's Dukedoms. It is filled with swamps and bogs, and the inhabitants are mainly inbred mutants. The Dukedom has become a haven for Vampires, witches, and other ne'er-do-wells who prey on the remaining peasantry. Currently unofficially ruled by Mallobaude.

* '''Artois''' - The only Dukedom to be completely covered in forest, Artois has a bit of a [[furry|Beastmen]] problem. It is common for newly anointed Knights of the Realm to be given a large portion of land in Artois. If they succeed in taming it, a new bastion has been established against the chaotic braying hordes. If not, then nothing of value was really lost. As a result, there are large amounts of ruins dotting the forest landscape.
**'''Castle Artois''' – Notable for being the only Ducal Capital without an accompanying city/village surrounding it. The building is simply a large fortress, used as a staging post by the Duke to return to after hunting beastmen.

* '''Gisoreux''' - This Dukedom lies within the treacherous slopes of the Pale Sisters and upon the low woodlands of the Arden Forest. Unlike in other parts of Bretonnia, where much of the land is one type of landscape and one type of people, the diversity in the geography of this Dukedom has also created diversity in cultures and customs. Those living within the arable plains to the south contain the typical farmers and peasants that are universal within all the realms. To the east, the lands are filled with harsh woodlands, where different people live life as expert trappers and wild woodsmen. Finally, to the north, those people that can eke out a living within the Pale Sisters are seasoned mountaineers who can brave harsh conditions.
**'''Castle Gisoreux''' – The city of Gisoreux is a busy place filled with traders and travellers. There are more Imperial merchants in Gisoreux than in any other city in Bretonnia, and it may be the only place in the world where people do not immediately think of sailors when they think of Marienburg; a number of land traders come from the Wasteland through the Gisoreux Gap. The city has fine merchant houses pressed right up against decaying slums, many of which used to be fine merchant houses. For some reason, merchant families in Gisoreux rarely maintain their prosperity for more than one generation. The castle itself is currently almost entirely abandoned, as the ruling Duke spends most of his time in Couronne. Only one wing is currently inhabited by the Duke's Steward.
**''' The Gisoreux Gap''' - One of only three locations within the entire Grey Mountains that allow passage between Bretonnia and the Empire.

* '''Bordeleaux''' - Known as the largest exporter of wines within the entire Kingdom, Bordeleaux is a beautiful land filled with many farms and vineyards. Such is the Dukedom's reputation for wine that even peasants and nobles alike are given the luxury of drinking it on a consistent basis. Being one of the few coastal Dukedoms, Bordeleaux has also a tradition of seafaring similar to L'Anguille. This has resulted in fierce competition over the sea trade and sea routes that link the large port-cities together, such as Marienburg and Erengrad to the north and Barak Varr and the Tilea city-states to the south. Unlike L'Anguille, the coastline is not treacherous to navigate, and as such many small cities and villages also act as trading ports.
**'''Castle Bordeleaux''' – A vast and rich city filled with almost every nationality in the Old World. It contains the First Chapel, the holiest of sites in the cult of the Lady. However, the most important temple to the Bordeliens is that of Manann, which is not exactly in the city. Rather, it is housed in an enormous ship, permanently moored near the entrance to the harbour. It is exposed to storms, but the priests say that Manann protects it, and it has survived for many years. Worshippers travel out by boat, and if possible they are supposed to help row or sail across. Grail Knights, Damsels and Prophetesses of the Lady are forbidden to set foot on board. Duke Alberic, the current Duke, is the first Duke of Bordeleaux in generations to visit the temple.

* '''Aquitaine''' - A pretty peaceful kingdom in the big scheme of things, and actually a pretty nice place to live in the Warhammer world. It is nothing but rolling hills and farms, punctuated with small woods and small castles of the nobility. It hasn't got any internal invaders like Orcs or Beastmen, and as such on the whole is a pretty nice place. This lack of external enemies has caused the leading nobility to turn to internal division, with small battles and wars being constant with the feuding of the leading knights. With no natural defences or trade routes, the dukedom itself doesn't have much in the way of riches or extremely defensible areas.
**'''Castle Aquitaine''' – A fairly small Ducal capital. It is famous for the Lace Tower, a tall spire built with so many windows that it looks as though it is made from stone lace. Uniquely amongst the capitals of Bretonnia, Castle Aquitaine is in fact the second keep to bear its name, standing exactly twelve miles from the ruins of the original fortress. The old castle had been used by the Red Duke, and when he was defeated King Louis the Righteous ordered the old castle razed and a new fortress-city built far away from the original site.

* '''Bastonne''' - Bastonne was at one time the very heart of all Bretonnia, its founding Duke being none other than Gilles le Breton, first Royarch of Bretonnia. It is in many ways the spiritual heart of the Kingdom, for the Cathedral of the Cult of the Lady is situated within the walls of Castle Bastonne. It is also said that the Sacred Lake where Gilles and his Companions first met the Lady, can be found somewhere deep within Bastonne's Forest of Châlons. The Chapel of Bastonne also houses the very codes of chivalry created by Gilles' son, Louis the Rash.
**'''Castle Bastonne''' – The town has the feel of somewhere preserved for the pilgrim trade, and it is a very popular destination. Peasant pilgrims are guided to the outside of a number of significant locations and to the inside of taverns that pay the guide a cut. Nobles can expect a personal tour, including opportunities to pray within most places. At a minimum, visiting nobles go to Gilles' personal Grail Chapel, and almost all Grail Knights have visited it at least once. The largest revered structure is the Water Tower in Castle Bastonne. This was reputedly Gilles' personal residence. Most nobles are not allowed to go beyond the entrance lobby, and peasants can be whipped for looking at it too much.
**'''Black Chasm''' - A giant hole in the ground, from which mysterious vapours rise periodically. Home to the [[Skaven]] of Clan Pestilens, it is here that they released the Red Pox onto the kingdom of Brettonia. Currently, the Skaven are stuck in a war between Clan Pestilens and Clan Flem against Clans Eshin and Moulder for control of the pit and any treasures that lay within.

* '''Montfort''' - the Dukedom of Montfort acts as the central buffer state between the lands of Bretonnia and those within the Empire of Man. Almost all of Montfort lies within the Grey Mountains, with what little arable land being devoted totally to agriculture.
**'''Castle Montfort''' – This Ducal capital guards the Brettonian end of Axe Bite Pass. It displays one of the finest examples of fortification within the Old World, five tiers of stone walls guard the pass at the western-most end, another just slightly smaller fortress-garrison town sits at the pass's eastern end as well. The city is primarily a trade centre charging a toll upon all who enter through the gates of the pass, going both ways, even its own citizens. It is claimed Montfort's original foundation was Dwarfen, abandoned either during or soon after the War of the Beard.
**'''Axe Bite Pass''' – At either end of the sheer-sided valley stands a mighty fortress, spanning the gap. On the Bretonnian side is Castle Montfort; on the Empire side is Helmgart. Countless battles have been fought in the valley between the two castles.

* '''Parravon''' - Forming one of the three ducal barriers between the lands of the Empire and other Ducal lands, Parravon commands the southern territories centred around the Grey Lady Pass, one of three routes that allow trade between Bretonnia and the Empire. Just like the Dukedoms of Montfort and Gisoreux, the Dukedom of Parravon lies almost exclusively upon the rocky peaks of the southern Grey Mountains, with what little flatland being devoted to agriculture. As such, many of Parravon's castles are built upon cliffs and peaks amongst the mountain range. Such a high altitude has ensured that Parravon is particularly noted for having a large number of Pegasi and Pegasus Knights amongst their ranks. In fact, they are known for their founding Duke befriending Glorfinial, lord and sire of all Royal Pegasus.
**'''Castle Parravon''' – Famous for being carved directly from the rock of the mountain, Parravon is the only city in Bretonnia with a substantial population of Dwarfs. There are now some Dwarf families who have lived there for generations, though they still keep themselves somewhat apart from the Human citizens. Bretonnia’s sumptuary laws state only nobles can use stone in buildings. However, the Dukes of Parravon have never wanted wooden buildings messing up their glorious city, so they have long maintained that a peasant living in a carved stone building is no different from a peasant living in a cave. Actually, given the quality of many peasant homes in Parravon, the difference really is minimal.

* '''Quenelles''' - Quenelles is the largest of the dukedoms of Bretonnia, stretching over most of the middle of the land. Between the Massif Orcal and the River Gilleau is a part of the Forest of Châlons. This area seems almost completely free of monsters: one or two small groups of Beastmen or Orcs are seen in a year. Small groups of hunters, charcoal burners, or woodsmen can work in the forest unmolested. All attempts to establish villages have failed, ending in the complete destruction of the village. [[Wood_Elves_(Warhammer_Fantasy)|The village is replaced, overnight, by a bare depression in the soil, as if something had scooped up the entire settlement and taken it away.]] The southwest of Quenelles was once, before the founding of Bretonnia, the land of Cuileux. The knights of Cuileux were wiped out by Goblins and their lands absorbed by Quenelles. However, the courage of the last stand of the Cuilen has made them legendary. A large area is known as the Grave of Cuileux and is not farmed.
**'''Castle Quenlles''' – The City of Quenelles sits right on the border of Athel Loren. Indeed, the walls do not guard the eastern edge of the city: instead, the walls run up to the trees and stop. A broad stone road runs along the border of the forest. This used to be the eastern wall, but it was cut down over a thousand years ago at the command of the Wood Elves.
**'''Massif Orcal''' – A large desolate place that only Greenskins call home. Ruined watchtowers dot the landscape. No mineral wealth or plants grow on this desolate place.

* '''Brionne''' - Being surrounded by powerful allies and far away from major threats, Brionne is famous for its beautiful and tranquil landscape, second only to its brethren within Aquitaine itself. Brionne is famous for its emphasis on making everything, from mighty castles to small towns as clean and beautiful as possible. [[Derp|This beauty comes at the cost of practicality and common sense. They build mighty castles are beautiful in style but horrible at their purpose.]]
**'''Castle Brionne''' – Unlike the rest of Brionne, the architects of this castle combined beauty with functionality, being incredibly aesthetically pleasing whilst also good at its job of being a fort. It also contains the Hall of Minstrels, a building with perfect acoustics that always has minstrels performing no matter the time of day or night.

* '''Carcassone''' - A highly marshalled Dukedom, even in comparison to other Bretonnian Dukedoms, Carcassonne is a heavily militarized land that focuses its efforts on eradication of the Greenskin tribes that infest the Irrana Mountains in its southern border, especially the Iron Orcs, a subspecies of Orc even tougher than Black Orcs but stupider than Savage Orcs, who have iron armor as a part of their body.
**'''Castle Carcassone''' – Castle Carcassonne stands on an island surrounded by the River Songez, the westernmost of the tributaries of the River Brienne that lie wholly within the dukedom. The attached town is small and exists to provide services to a large number of "[[Dogs_of_War|shepherd]]" companies who come to the castle to take jobs with the Duke.

==Culture==
[[Knight|KNIGHTS]]. Want something besides knights? BETTER KNIGHTS. Seriously. If there was a culture in the Old World that was more of a one-trick pony, (HA!) then the Bretonnians would probably declare a crusade for cramping their style. Bretonnian culture is all about fancy soldiers on fancy horses making fancy war. Based on the WHFRPG splatbook on the place, Bretonnia loves horses more than is strictly sane. Even peasants at least know how to ride and there's an entire sub-breed of horses designed to be easily ridden and cheaply fed, like a medieval Honda Civic. One of the most common punishments for nobles who manage to commit a crime serious enough for anyone to care is to be forced to ride in a carriage rather than on a horse like a manly man.

Outside of horses and the people with sharp metal that ride them, pretty much any French stereotype you can think of will probably be accurate aside from and surrendering. They like fancy cheese, they like wine, big on romantic themes and they never use one vowel when five will work. The splatbook also says they like truffles. So much so that they breed a special truffle hound for finding them. There's a highly suspect bit (from the 2e Warhammer RPG sourcebook on Bretonnia) that says that once a Bretonnian truffle hound gets a taste of some, he'll go psycho-territorial and try to bite off the junk of anyone nearby. Sadly no game rules exist (yet) to allow Emperor Karl Franz to lose his Sausage of Sigmar to a horny dog.

Ironically, Bretonnians actually changed quite drastically between editions before being all but abandoned. The original rendition of Bretonnians, before they became the "Chivalric Romance Knights In Shining Armor" faction was basically the French under Louis XVI - incredibly corrupt, self-centred aristocrats (with a massive problem with [[Slaanesh]] cults) ruling over dirty, downtrodden peasants. And, well, the abysmal lot of the peasants remained, but the aristocrats themselves got polished up brighter, to try and present a more sympathetic/heroic interpretation of them. Further, with the introduction of the [[Herrimault]] (aka Merrymen), you essentially have men in <s>tights</s> [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G59JnM4JKNQ&t=1s <s>TIGHT tights</s>]] ''hoodies'' running around fucking the more tyrannical nobles, that is, except when Chaos comes around, at which point Robin Hood fights alongside King Arthur's Knights of the Round Table. Just long enough to avoid execution, presumably by truffle hound.

Aside from being strictly feudal, the biggest difference between Bretonnians and the Empire is that the Bretons worship mainly a single deity; the [[Lady of the Lake]], a mystical woman who gave their first ruler the power to forge the united kingdom of Bretonnia. They do pay homage to other gods and in fact, have the seat of power of the cult of Shallya, it's just that those gods are significantly less important and are only called upon when the Bretonnians need something from them. Editions have insinuated to varying degrees that the Lady of the Lake may, in fact, actually be a Wood Elf mage and that the Wood Elves are secretly manipulating the entire Bretonnian culture to use them as expendable pawns. This is why, for example, they are subtly biased against the higher technologies used in the Empire, which would make them more inclined to cut down [[Athel Loren]] for firewood.

Their honor code has been used against them many times in battle one example is how in contrast to their neighbors they cannot under any circumstances use mercenaries (though Carcassonne nobles in particular are known for hiring entire regiments of "shepherds" to protect a single sheep...). And how promises done in a duel must be kept. One example of the duel rule backfiring on them is the story of Calard of Garamont long story short his fiance was defiled by a Norscan warlord and in arrogance the knights bet on who would keep the half norscan child. The knights lost and they gave away the child to the norscans [[derp|granting the slaves of chaos a claim on bretonnian lands]].

==Knightly Hierarchy==
*'''Knights Errant:''' You thought you started your career as being a squire? Nope. Nobles who are old enough to wear their armour and sit on a horse are designated as Knights Errant and told to go off and earn glory however they can. Usually by dying. Of course, a few Knights Errant manage to survive, which earns them the rank of...
*'''Knights of the Realm:''' Your basic knight. Someone who's gotten some combat experience and respect already, they're given a bit of land to look after and some peasants to work it. This is often as far as anyone will go, unless they're obscenely rich or lucky, in which case they become...
**'''Pegasus Knights''': Though not technically higher in rank than Knights of the Realm, these guys are fuck-off rich/batshit crazy enough to afford/find and tame a giant, bloodthirsty flying horse instead of your garden variety land-bound kind. Bretonnians are not known to be exactly healthy when it comes to their love of horses, but it gets really insane with the winged ones: peasants can't even touch the animals, and one of the dukes actually killed any peasant that looked at his steed. Ferrari's owner bullshit all around, gentlemen!
*'''Questing Knights:''' For any number of reasons, a knight may give up all his lands and titles (like a [[Slayer]]), lay down his lance, vow to seek honour and greatness above all else (like a [[Slayer]]), and become a Questing Knight. These guys spend the next 10 years or so wandering around the world (like a [[Slayer]]), looking for the Lady of the Lake while slaying big, nasty stuff along the way (like a [[Slayer]]). Most die. Horribly, alone, and far from home (like a [[Slayer]]). Fortunately, they all carry giant weapons, mostly greatswords, so their death is guaranteed to have a minimum amount of win (like a [[Slayer]]). But, if they are skilled, heroic, and lucky enough, they can succeed in their quest (''unlike'' a [[Slayer]]); they find the correct Lake and meet the Green Knight. If they manage to defeat him (okay, he's holding back a lot), they get to see the Lady, drink some Powerthirst from the grail, and if they genuinely believe in the knightly ideals they claim to follow (drinking kills you otherwise), become...
*'''Grail Knights:''' The living gods of Bretonnia, they get to live for several hundred years and kick all kinds of ass. All kings have to drink from the grail, which means that unlike in '''other nations''' there is ''always'' a badass in charge. In fluff Grail knights can have all sorts of awesome powers, from killing evil creatures with a touch to healing wounds almost instantly, but on the table, all they get is magical attacks (except for the king, he also gets regeneration). Apparently, even their rotten and dried out corpses keeps some sort of magical powers and divine protection, considering that grail reliquae are a thing.

Questing Knights and Grail Knights are technically outside the usual hierarchy (with the exception of the Grail Knights who decide to regain all their titles after completing their quest, as all kings do) but, especially in the case of the latter, their word carries great weight, because they are closer to the Lady of the Lake than all others (with the exception of damsels and prophetesses of the lady, the magic-users of Bretonnia). Knights also tend to have a superiority complex that would put most high elves to shame, which means that no Questing Knight would allow himself to be directly led by a Knight of the Realm and Grail Knights only accept other Grail Knights as leaders (usually the king or a duke). Knights that actually deign to fight shoulder-to-shoulder with peasants are so rare they are considered exemplars of empathy.

Incidentally, there's only one restriction on being a Duke or lord of Bretonnia: you have to have proved yourself first. That is, you have to be at least a Knight of the Realm, but after that, it really doesn't matter. It's worth mentioning, too, that you don't inherit solely based on your parentage. If you're at least slightly capable, you'll inherit, but if a lord's son is a complete pussy, someone else will take over. This at least prevents the similar issues faced by planetary lords in the Imperium in 40k then, as this acts to weed out at least the worst of the worst (if not all the worst).

==Peasants==
{{Topquote|Thou shalt give unto thine glorious liege the taxes that he requires. Thou shalt labour all but feast days, and no more than a tenth-share shall you keep for kith and kin. Rejoice! For a knight of Bretonia provides your shield...|The Peasant's Duty}}

It's not easy being a [[peasant]] in Bretonnia. Peasants can only ever keep one-tenth of what they earn, which means that either peasants earn a lot or they are all, in fact, undead, which would explain their lack of skill at arms; otherwise they wouldn't have enough to sustain themselves. The other 90% goes to the Knights and Nobles, and any leftovers they have go back to the peasants. The splatbook for playing the first edition of the WHFB RPG in Bretonnia would go on to clarify this a little: as a peasant, your lord does indeed take 90% of your harvest, but then redistributes part of it back to you so you can survive (sort of). It's also said that some lords classify the harvest as 'weeding' meaning the peasants get to keep the 'weeds'. He's probably still going to give you just enough to survive and don't think just because you grew something really nice he's not just going to give you a bag of low-quality grain and some knight spit to cook it in. So basically feudalism with a nice big flavouring of Stalin-era socialism. The reason for this "Giving nine-tenths of everything you grow to your lord" lore error actually comes from a myth of the real-life Medieval peasantry (the reality was closer to one-tenth, and even that still left people mostly starving), which has been perpetuated by [[Games Workshop|people who don't fucking check their sources, or bother to apply logic or reason to anything they read.]]

If you are a peasant, you also live in complete filth with other peasants in disgusting holdings and you can't ever change your miserable position. But hey, things are not so bad, you can always join your Lord's men-at-arms and receive enough shinies to set you for life! Or so they told you at the time, but they forgot to mention that you had to pay for all your equipment, so you were left with squat. Still, if you work hard enough, you might become a yeoman, which may earn you the privilege of riding the retarded/maimed horses no noble would dare to look at.

Naturally, under such conditions, many peasants simply snap. Some become bandits, but those who do not wish to be hunted down for the rest of their likely short lives instead find a ragtag band of other loonies, a dead grail knight and a pointy stick to become pilgrims, hoping to earn the blessing of the Lady (usually reserved only for nobles) by fighting for truth, justice and the Bretonnian way while carrying the dead knight around. If there is no dead grail knight around, I am sure that one over there won't recover from his wounds... (don't confound them for flagellants though. Pilgrims are known to cause unrest and be coward enough to run when things look really bad, so they are not as fanatical as they want for you to believe)

The 2nd edition [[Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay]] splatbook dedicated to Bretonnia, "Knights of the Grail", provides a lot more of a look at the peasant lifestyle, and expands upon the details a lot. In particular, because peasants (often quite rightly) don't trust their local lords not to resolve peasant disputes in the most brutally expedient manner possible, they tend to cover up their problems and try to resolve them purely amongst themselves. This usually works, but it also reinforces the fiction that the peasants actually are a happy, contented lot who live idyllic lives... aka, the complete rubbish that the vast majority of Bretonnian nobles genuinely believe because they've been spoonfed that crap their whole lives. When peasant revolts ''do'' happen, and we're told they're not that rare, this contributes to why the nobles put them down so harshly; because the uprising only happens as a last resort when the peasants just can't take it anymore, the nobles usually have no idea ''why'' it's happening - to them, it just sees to come out of nowhere, and this supports their narrative that peasant uprisings are caused by greed or base ingratitude.

Ironically, although the nobles typically blame foreign agitators for these outbursts of revolutionary sentiment, the truth is that the most common cause (other than just the nobles being assholes) is... nobles stirring up the peasants of a rival noble's land to distract their forces so the agitating noble can more easily conquer their rival. It's actually noted that foreign powers who ''do'' want to weaken Bretonnia have far more effective means than just agitating a bunch of feeble peasants. [[Chaos]] likes to stick a tentacle in when it has the opportunity, and Chaos-backed revolts are noted as extremely dangerous, far more so than usual - ordinary peasants may easily fall before the armoured might of Bretonnian knights, but a vengeful horde of mutants, often supplemented by [[beastmen]] and [[warlock]]s? That's a whole different story! Undead invaders use armies, magic, turn peasants and nobles into vampires or "recruit" dead Bretonnians to fight for them.

Technically the King or the Fay Enchantress, the hot female pope of the Lady, can raise you to nobility, but this has only happened thrice in all history of Bretonnia and your children will still be peasants. The first was a peasant named Huebald who saved a noblewoman from Beastmen; he was killed in his first battle because pretentious nobles will dislike the upstart and arranged him to die. The second was [[Repanse de Lyonesse]] AKA Joan of Ark. The third was a farmer's son named Geg, who avoided Huebald's fate by being the only peasant to ever drink from the Lady’s Grail to become a Grail Knight, making other nobles know when to quit.

==Suddenly, Total War==
{{topquote|When the clarion call is sounded, I will ride out and fight in the name of Liege and Lady. Whilst I draw breath the lands bequeathed unto me will remain untainted by evil. Honor is all, chivalry is all. Rejoice, for we, the Knights of Bretonnia, will be your shield.|Knight's vow}}
{{topquote|I set down my lance, symbol of duty. I spurn those I love. I relinquish all and take up the tools of my quest. No obstacle will stand before me. No plea of help shall find me waiting. No moon will look upon me twice lest I be judged idle. I give my body, heart and soul to the Lady whom I seek.|Questing vow}}
{{topquote|That which is sacrosanct I shall preserve. That which is sublime I will protect. That which threatens I will destroy. For my holy wrath will know no bounds.|Grail vow}}
Damn good writing.

Ahem, although the Bretonnians got [[squat]]ted twice over (first by being removed from the game, and then by [[Age of Sigmar | the entire game being removed from the game]]), they've recently got a new lease on life from their appearance in [[Total War: WARHAMMER]], where they're not only playable, but also get entirely new units that they never had in tabletop, including Hippogryph Knights, Blessed Trebuchets loaded with holy water, and Foot Squires. Even better, they have an awesome campaign that discourages mindless empire-building and instead rewards you with points of Chivalry for being a gallant Lady-fearing crusader. Every non-legendary lord must take up one by one all the aforementioned vows if they want the Grail. Want immortality, perfect vigor and your nifty divine powers? Earn it.

==UNSQUATTED AND IT FEELS SO GOOD==
[[File:New Bretonnia.jpg|thumb|300px|right|FOR ZE LADY WE RIDE AGAIN!]]
After an update, it has been confirmed that Bretonnia will be making its glorious return in [[Warhammer: The Old World]]. The setting will be taking place during the time of King Louen Orc Slayer, who ruled around the time of The Age of Three Emperors. Knights and dirty peasantry rejoice for the lands of Bretonnia are making their glorious comeback!

In a recent (and long overdue) update for The Old World some pieces of art were shown off, and among them was a picture of a dirty peasant bowman and a less dirty Knight of the Realm, both wearing the heraldry of Lord Gastille who seems to have been duke of Brionne at some point during the last 100(ish) years of the Age of the Three Emperors (you can see his heraldry on the Bretonnia map). The artwork looks pretty good and shows that Bretonnia is staying true to it's chivalrous roots and aesthetic.

==Of Knights, Lore, And Major Retcons==
For all that recent lore has Bretonnia as a place where being a peasant means you exist at the pleasure of the local nobility and can never hope to rise higher in life, this wasn't always the case. The 5th Edition Army Book, in addition to introducing the Lady Of The Lake, described becoming a knight as something that ''anyone'' could do provided they followed the ancient Bretonnian custom by which they earned it. Any area that needed a knight to protect it would designate a "perilous task" that the would-be knight had to complete, most likely involving the death of some local monster that had been eating people and causing a ruckus.

This task was traditionally chosen by "the fairest maiden in the village", who was destined to marry the one who succeeded at her task. Any brave or reckless youth was allowed to attempt it, with the volunteer being dubbed a Knight Errant and equipping themselves as best they can with whatever arms and armour they can beg, borrow, or scrounge. If they succeeded they were made a Knight of the Realm, gifted with the best armour and finest warhorse the village could afford (which, judging by the models, would make any Brettonian village ridiculously rich by real-life Medieval standards), along with lordship over the village itself and whatever lands and castle were considered part of it to defend as their own property.

There are several interesting details about this system, such as how Knights Errant are not technically knights; a Knight Errant is not a true knight, but an aspirant, the title meaning they're trying to become a knight by accepting an errand to complete. This leads directly to the tradition of the Errantry War when the king declares open season on a particular enemy and the war itself becomes an errand. Because you usually only get the chance to become a knight when your village doesn't currently have a knight, an Errantry War is a great opportunity for ambitious peasants and noble scions alike to seek knighthood, as well as a good way to raise a big army very quickly.

Of course, this also makes an Errantry War into a double-edged sword, because you have to give out the knighthoods afterwards. [[Roman Empire|If you haven't conquered enough land to go around...well, you're in a lot of trouble.]] So kings don't declare Errantry Wars very often. And, of course, to make sure there are “openings” for knighthood the peasants aren’t going to miss the fact there are too many knights already...

Another interesting detail is that the Bretonnian system of knighthood was functionally meritocratic, with knighthood something you achieved by completing an errand rather than inheriting the position. A lord's sons start out as Knights Errant and have an advantage over most peasants because they probably have access to much better training and equipment, but even so, they still have to follow the rule. No errand means no knighthood and no domain.

The system essentially worked from the bottom up, with the village as the basic unit of social organisation, and in many ways, you became a knight through social consensus. The person who succeeds at the errand is probably going to be the person with community support because the village provided the weapons, equipment, and other essential aid he needed to complete his errand. A knight was essentially a village champion, with the next level up being a champion chosen from among the knights, then you build another champion on top of them, and so on until you reached the King.

In this sense it would probably be fair to characterise 5th edition Bretonnia as a meritocratic aristocracy. You ascend to the aristocracy by performing errands, and if you were born to a noble family but fail to complete an errand then sorry, son, you're not a noble. While not perfect, the close association of the knight with the village probably helped to safeguard against abusive knights as well.

After all, who sets the errand? Who decides who the 'fairest maiden' is, and how does she decide what to do? What stops a village from agreeing to set a suicidal task if they hated the foremost candidates for knighthood, waited for those candidates to get killed and then set an easier one for the guy they liked?

Even the identification of a particular maiden as 'the fairest' had to do with social consensus. It's entirely possible that the potential knight and the maiden are already a couple and the system is gamed ahead of time. You don't get knighted by an existing knight, a lord, or the king, the whole system hinged on the local community.

Lastly, the knightly errand system made Bretonnia into what is essentially a land of D&D adventurers with a culture that puts a strong emphasis on individual heroism, serving as a nice contrast to the Empire. If you want social success, then you just had to go kill a monster! There were also no rules about how the errand is completed or any judges watching you, so it's entirely possible to complete the errand through cleverness.

Of course, [[Games Workshop]] didn't think that was [[grimdark]] enough, and for Sixth Edition decided to flip the system on its head so that instead of rising from the bottom up, it hangs down and drips faeces all over everyone unlucky enough to live at the bottom. [[Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay]]'s [[Splatbook | Knights of the Grail]] follows the 6th edition model and provided a strict legal definition of nobility codified by Louis the Rash, the second king of Bretonnia. He made a big list of names called the Peer List: if your family name was on the list you were noble, and if all your ancestors in three generations were nobles then you were a noble, [[Nazi|but even one peasant would disqualify you.]] That means that even if ennobled peasant marries a noble, their children would still be peasants.
In theory, all Bretonnian nobles should be able to trace their lineage back to the List, and while the king has the power to add a name to the List, he has only done so three times in all of Bretonnia's recorded history. No word on how exactly Bretonnia has even survived to this day considering how dangerous a life of a knight is.
In stark opposition to the egalitarian system of 5E based on deeds, 6E Bretonnian nobility is purely a matter of ancestry. Nobles then claim fiefs and rule over villages, but are not required to interact with them in any way, and the village has no power over them.

In 5E, the knight springs from the people. In 6E, the knight dominates the people. Aren't [[retcon]]s [[Rage | nice]]?

As things stand, it mostly depends on whoever is the Lord who holds suzerainty over the village in question and in most cases it's somewhere in-between. It's also very likely that at least some people dodged the Peer List requirement over the years (it's not like anyone can tell perfectly after all the time that has passed) and got nobility and it just doesn't get exposed because not everyone is inclined to become a Questing Knight (Grail Knighthood cannot be loopholed, the Lady knows whether you are a true noble son of Bretonnia or not).

That said, looking at the 2e supplement for the RPG shows a more nuanced take. While greedy or corrupt nobles absolutely exist, most Duke are fairly reasonable, and anyone that completed the Grail Vow is a nice person who genuinly wants what's best for the peasantry... but cannot relate to them and treat them with paternalistic condescending compassion.

==Oldhammer Oddities==
Bretonnia debuted for the very first time in the 3rd edition of [[Warhammer Fantasy Battles]], making them one of the youngest [[human]] factions - for comparion's sake, the [[Amazon]]s and [[Cathay]] debuted in 2nd edition, whilst [[Norsca]], [[Araby]] and [[Nippon]] all hailed back to 1st edition. The only other human factions to debut this late in the game where [[Tilea]] and [[Estalia]].

At this point, Bretonnia had something of a dichotomy. The lore presented in the corebook presents them as something of a pre-French Revolution hellhole, where a spoiled and vainglorious king rules over decadent aristocrats whilst the benighted peasantry struggles to survive - this is the lore that [[Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay]] 1st edition would also include, though it never visited the region.

The Grand Army of Bretonnia in ''Warhammer Armies'', on the other hand, is almost like something out of the [[Arthurian Mythos]], being made up of [[knight]]s and peasants. A female Bretonnian hero could ride a [[Unicorn]] and any Bretonnian hero could ride a [[dragon]] (either flightless or winged), but apart from those and the presence of war altars and cannons, it was basically just knights and peasants with very, ''very'' French names. They could supplement their armies by taking [[Halflings (Warhammer)|Halflings]], [[The Empire (Warhammer Fantasy)|Old Worlders]] and [[Wood Elves (Warhammer Fantasy)|Wood Elves]] as allies and [[Dwarfs (Warhammer Fantasy)|Dwarfs]], [[Half-Orc]]s, [[Norsca|Norse]], [[Ogre Kingdoms|Ogres]] and [[The Empire (Warhammer Fantasy)|Old Worlders]] as mercenaries, as well as take a monstrous host containing a [[dragon]], giant frogs, giant leeches, giant snails, and swarms of frogs and toads, though. though.

This interpretation didn't last long. Bretonnia went unvisited in 4th edition, but when it returned in 5th edition, it abandoned its corrupt and jaded lore for something far closer to the [[Arthurian Mythos]] its army had been built around. Whilst 6th edition would grimdark it back up, it'd still build from the 5e version of the lore, rather than the 3e version.

==Special Characters==
Whilst Bretonnia was introduced with a fairly sizable list of special characters in its 5th edition sourcebook, most of them didn't make it into subsequent editions.

* [[Louen Leoncoeur]], the Lionhearted
* [[Repanse de Lyonesse]]
* [[Baron Odo d'Outremer]], avec Suliman le Saracen
* [[Roland le Marechal]]
* [[Tancred]], Duc De Quenelles
* [[Betrand the Brigand]] and the Bowmen of Bergerac
* [[The Knight of the Perilous Lance]]
* [[Tristran le Troubadour]] avec Jules le Joungleur
* [[Reynard le Chasseur]]
* [[Armand D'Aquitaine]]
* [[Jasperre le Beau]], Dragonslayer
* [[Bohemond Beastslayer]], Duke of Bastonne
* [[The Green Knight]]
* [[Morgiana le Fay]], Fay Enchantress of Bretonnia

==Unique Fauna and Flora==
* [[Hagranym]]s
* [[Derelich]]
* [[Preyton]]
* [[Giant Snail]]
* [[Dracoleech]]
* [[Chasm Spawn]]
* [[Lakemen]]
* [[Iron Orcs]]

== Gallery ==
<gallery>
Games Workshop Hates France.jpeg|RIP Bretonnia, the Sisters shall never Forget
Part Deux.jpg|SUDDENLY
Britoinian Undead.jpg| SUDDENLY alternate
Map Bretonnia 6.jpg|You Are Here
Grail Reliquae Party.png|one of those Grail Pilgrims looks scruffier than the rest...It's the one holding the Lance.
File:TOW Bretonnian Knight.jpg
File:TOW Bretonnian Archer.jpg
</gallery>

==See Also==
* [[Warhammer/Tactics/Bretonnia|Tactics/Bretonnia]], in which we explain to you how to best bash skulls in, chaos warrior style, only from a horse.
* [[Warhammer/Tactics/6th_Edition/Bretonnia|Bretonnian tactics for the glorious 6th edition]]

== Links ==
* [https://courtofbretonnia.tumblr.com Court of Bretonnia] - a tumblrfaggot with a new, but good blog on Bretonnia.
* [http://fuckyeahbretonnia.tumblr.com FUCK YEAH BRETONNIA] - tumblrfaggot redeems self with a decent topical blog about Bretonnia.
* [http://www.roundtable-bretonnia.org/index.php The Roundtable of Bretonnia]
* [https://warhammerfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Bretonnia Warhammer Wiki - Bretonnia] - Dah Wikis
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60WQUG3XW3M Total War: Warhammer Bretonnia Trailer]

{{Regions and areas of the Old World}}
{{Playable Factions in Warhammer Fantasy Battle}}

[[Category:Warhammer Fantasy]]
[[Category:Bretonnia]][[Category:France]]