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Looks like Eike has the potential to thrive in the Grey Collage. And we now have a new and unique alternative Dwarf culture.
 
Huh. If this happened with Vlag, now I'm wondering about the changes within Karag Dum's society and culture when they were stuck in the middle of nowhere.
 
Azrildrekked. Waaaghdrengi. Karag Zangunaz Vengryni
Eeeee! More titles!
"Ah," you say carefully. He did say that the culture of the Karak had changed over the generations, and you're starting to get an idea of what he means. Those that knew the Karaz Ankor may have once despaired at the judgement that awaited them when they returned to it, but it seems their children and grandchildren are less willing to embrace self-abasement at the measures they had to take.
Matty really has a thing for returning uncomfortably radical Karags to the Karaz Ankor.
Oh, and alcohol. The Elders do go on about it, though they've never been able to properly explain why."

"It's an acquired taste."

"I've got plenty of tastes without having to acquire more," he says with a shrug.
I never expected to agree with a dwarf on matters of alcohol.
You come away from Karak Vlag thoughtful. It's changed quite a bit, as you suppose would be inevitable after almost two centuries of complete isolation in such trying circumstances. They're something of a makeshift republic, they've splintered from the Runesmithing traditions of the Cult of Thungni, their culture seems, erm, markedly different from the Dwarves you're familiar with. They've had to rebuild their entire society around necessity. No brewers if there's barely enough grain to feed everyone. No smelters and very few miners if you can only mine in a single direction, and that upriver. No traders, no hunters, no rangers. Just farmers, and fighters, and those reworking and maintaining their dwindling and irreplaceable metals as best they can over several generations.

And yet they survived. No, more than that, they thrived. Their nadir was over a century ago, Brokkr said, and their population has been climbing since. Well, you suppose that makes sense, on both sides of the equation. The Daemons had reason to allow that as a renewable source of their new variety of shock troop, and as a self-maintaining toy for them to turn their attention to when they fancied. And on the Dwarven side, well, you're familiar with Dwarven fatalists, those that dwell on the decline of their race. But Karak Vlag's fatalists died in the first decade, leaving only those that embraced life as an act of defiance. You consider that for a moment, then draw a comparison to Karak Azul, isolated for millennia and constantly surrounded by greenskins but still strong despite it. Perhaps Dwarves with an immediate enemy to spite are ones more mentally healthy than those with no immediate threats, who have sufficient safety and freedom to despair at how much greater they used to be.

For a moment you feel that same tinge of despair, as you wonder if the Karaz Ankor will learn from this and immediately feel that they probably won't. But Karak Vlag has a lesson for you too. Those that embrace despair will die, and leave only those that still know hope to inherit. The arch-conservatives of Karaz-a-Karak may continue to wither, but they are not the be-all and end-all of the Karaz Ankor. The Young Holds continue to grow, Zhufbar continues to invent, Barak Varr continues to trade, and Karak Kadrin continues to deepen its relationship with Ostermark. And Karak Eight Peaks lives once more.
So, this part got me thinking: Dwarfs can be quite adaptable (Vlag, the Ancestors, probably Azul, the chaos dwarfs in a less nice way). They just need a lot of pressure to force it (after all, even rock flows under enough heat). So the reason the Karaz Ankor hasn't been adapting well is that things didn't get bad enough. Which is both kind of impressive and a little stupid.

Also, Cython would like these dwarfs.

Most importantly, Karag Vlag is badass. Just, wow. "I wish there was another Everchosen so I could fuck him up" is not a common sentiment.
 
Imagine being so spiteful that you cultivate much free-er sexual relations and then keep them on the edge of not falling to excess just to fuck over Slaanesh (edging slaanesh lol). Here is to hoping that the Dwarfs who now can finally live won't lose themselves to hedonism that empowers their arch-enemy.
 
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Those dwarves gonna have a hard time adjusting to this new world.

The K8U apocrypha was awesome and makes want to read all the stuff we have on the Liber Mortis, does anyone know where all the Liber Mortis stuff is? I'm unsure where in the thread it is, threads 10000 pages long sue me.
 
Huh. If this happened with Vlag, now I'm wondering about the changes within Karag Dum's society and culture when they were stuck in the middle of nowhere.
Karag Dum's desperation was not an "Adapt or Die" thing, but a slow, grinding thing that happened over seven thousand years.

Their royal line is probably still alive, as Borek was a descendant of the king. So, the government system is likely the same.
 
You know these dwarfs were basically harnessing the fact that they were in the domain of Slaanesh, their culture was changed by it, but not warped, not corrupted. If you ever wondered what the cultists of a saner Slaanesh would look like well there they are... :V
 
The only thing cult of thungni can do is study their rune tradition and decide if they're worthy of more.
The Aprentices took Slayer oath and got their dooms they are beyond the cults judgement.
 
The Apprentices in the context are the first Apprentices that tought basic Runesmithing to others, right? Those new Runepokers are not bound by Thungni law am I correct?
 
The Apprentices in the context are the first Apprentices that tought basic Runesmithing to others, right? Those new Runepokers are not bound by Thungni law am I correct?

The Rhunkit are not part of the Cult of Thungni or the Guild of Runesmiths, but the Cult of Thungni argues that all practitioners of Runesmithing are under their jurisdiction. Karak Vlag seems to disagree.
 
I suspect Cult of Thngi may have opinions about that, we'll see if they can enforce it (they can't).
Wonder what Cragg will have to say about all of this.
 
There's a seemingly bottomless warehouse of old and battered but well-made furniture and privacy screens for each Apprentice to customize the portion of the room available to them,
New headcanon: the seemingly bottomless warehouse is constantly kept as such by Masters sending their Apprentices on missions to steal old furniture from Altdorf citizens as part of their training.

Some corrections:
the soul adapting to the presence of Ulgi.
Ulgu.
All would kill or die to thwart her,
Should probably capitalize 'her' to make it Her.
 
The Rhunkit are not part of the Cult of Thungni or the Guild of Runesmiths, but the Cult of Thungni argues that all practitioners of Runesmithing are under their jurisdiction. Karak Vlag seems to disagree.

And Karak Vlag has an army and a willingness to use it. If Thorgrim thought Belegar was a headache I imagine this must have made him drink himself unconscious from sheer stress when he realized what he was dealing with. Like we told the Chancellor a lot of the reason there is so little obvious strife among the dwarfs is that an angry dwarf will turn his feelings inwards thinking they are unworthy. Not so the dwarfs of Karak Vlag, they know what they are and what they have endured.
 
So, this part got me thinking: Dwarfs can be quite adaptable (Vlag, the Ancestors, probably Azul, the chaos dwarfs in a less nice way). They just need a lot of pressure to force it (after all, even rock flows under enough heat). So the reason the Karaz Ankor hasn't been adapting well is that things didn't get bad enough. Which is both kind of impressive and a little stupid.
I don't agree. To keep to the metaphor, too much force will smash a rock into pieces, too much wear will rub it into sand, and too much heat will vaporize it. Mama isn't exactly a narrow range of heat and pressure, but it's much easier to destroy a rock than it is to transform it from one state to another.

And the Karaz Ankor has changed regardless. The old hold's current "conservative" attitude isn't an ancient thing but a relatively recent political shift. Plus the new holds have been making their own cultural changes for quite a while too.
 
"Oh aye, we've had a veritable landslide of nobles and dignitaries very cautiously asking about the contents of this vault or the other. Been tricky to properly confirm that each is the proper descendent of the manlings that left this, that, and the other in our protection all those years ago, but they seem quite astonished that we went to the trouble and returned every jot of it. That seems to have confirmed for them that we're not meaningfully different than the Dwarves their ancestors knew, which makes our return easier.
The vaults are the last part of a dwarf hold to fall. If they ever do.
 
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