TimEd
Meteor maker
"Truth seeking" and "truth finding" urge is the seed from which most if not all Revolutions start from.
Warhammer Fantasy: Divided Loyalties - an Advisor's Quest
- Thread starter Boney
- Start date
- Fantasy Users' Choice!
Voted best in category in the Users' Choice awards.
- Location
- Europa, Jupiter Orbit
My prior understanding was that Karaz Ankor and Clan/Guild/Cult of Thungni policy was to keep as close of a monopoly to Runic production as possible. And that's not a given when the Dwarf in question can become a full citizen of a human polity, grow up there and maybe inherit some of their ways of doing things and/or a local understanding of loyalty, service, honesty and adherence to tradition. And next you know you have Tilean mercenary Runesmiths doing Tilean mercenary things with Runesmithing.
But evidently I was wrong.
Fake edit: I was thinking of Runesmiths that are Imperial Dwarfs and officially not members of the Karaz Ankor anymore, thus being Clanless according to the Karaz Ankor legal system. I was not thinking of a Runesmith who merely decided to set up shop somewhere in the Empire due to an overflow of radicality.
That is something the Clan-Guild-Cult wants, but they don't have the sledgehammer that would be a stricture of the Cult of Thungni to wield, so they're limited to minimizing it happening instead of being empowered to go out there and manifest their truth with violence.
The Clans of a Hold don't stop existing just because that Hold falls. There's no legal mechanism for their status as part of the Karaz Ankor to be stripped from them. The Clan-Guild-Cult tries to encourage the Runesmithing Guilds of fallen Holds to be reabsorbed, like the Drazh and Izril Runesmiths got absorbed into Karak Azul's and the Gunbad ones did into Karaz-a-Karak's, but they can't actually force that to happen.
fictionfan
Please sir, may I have some Meows?
- Location
- Tempe, AZ
So King Belegar is trying to tempt some of those Imperial Runesmiths Dwarfs to come settle in K8P.
Incidentally Belegar really should get married soon and get busy. His political situation would become far easier if he had a bunch of children to arrange marriages with.
Incidentally Belegar really should get married soon and get busy. His political situation would become far easier if he had a bunch of children to arrange marriages with.
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notanautomaton
I've got 99 quests, I've finished one
Some are, but there are also the descendants of the Hill Dwarfs who have been living alongside humanity since before Sigmar, dwarfs who just happen to emigrate without being kicked out, and dwarfs from fallen holds. To outsiders they tend to get lumped together, and intermarriage has likely eased these differences over the generations as well.
I can just imagine a hill dwarf making that argument to the Mountain dwarfs, should be a hilarious reaction
Both 'Imperial Dwarf' and 'Expatriate Dwarf' once had specific meanings but later got used to mean 'Dwarves that live in the Empire / among humans'.
- Location
- Washington
Hell, you could even have dwarves whose ancestors were from the same hill dwarf settlement, and know that, both viciously deriding each other for "abandoning the ways of their ancestors"
- Pronouns
- He/Him
In fairness to Batman as a character and concept, in most of the better continuities, he actually does stuff about the underlying causes of crime, doesn't actually cripple them, and has long-term plans for derailing the larger organizations involved. He has a plan beyond just 'punch criminals'...again, in the better continuities.
But none of that really changes that 'beat up criminals', on its own, in this setting, is probably not a super productive activity in a vacuum, it's just noting that even Batman doesn't usually do that and only that.
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- Location
- Australia
Chapter 3 of the Dwarf Player's Guide! It starts with a very good amount of lore regarding dwarf names, with quite a lot more interesting/new lore than I was expecting. Honestly, when I started writing all this, I didn't think I'd do it chapter by chapter, I thought I'd do it in one or two posts like with Lustria. Turns out there's a lot more to talk about than I expected. Makes sense though given the subject matter.
Page 38 tells us how dwarves are addressed.
Page 38 also tells us that surname is based on who raised them. If the father was present (men die more since they go to war more often than women), they're named after him. Otherwise, after the mother even if she remarries. If both die, after the aunt or uncle who raises them.
Two brand new kinds of surname are introduced in page 40.
Page 41 has some holds where a dwarf could hail from. Some of these are unfamiliar to me.
Page 42 tells us more about dwarf biology, and I'll post an image from the WFRP core rulebook for reference.
Page 43 brings forth a favoured subject: linguistics.
And now we have what appears to be a lore inconsistency.
Pages 44-47 are a large glossary of Khazalid words, some of them new. I want to mention two.
"Gnoll-engrom" was previously spelled in the book as "Gnollen-grom". I don't know which is the correct spelling.
Interesting description here. Page 8 calls Karak Zorn the first karak and describes it as "a city both above and below ground". It sounds like it wasn't a mountain hold at all, but a place built on flat ground. I guess that's why it's so difficult to find - it's not as easy as just looking for whatever mountain happens to stand out.
The situation is interesting. Dwarf legend says the gods were "carved by time from the rocks of the mountains", so they were definitely mountain-folk to begin with, but it also says that Zorn was founded under Valaya and Grungni's guidance. Why set up a surface city instead of a mountain hold? Was it essentially a tutorial island, a place to build up skills, tools, and stockpiles needed for mountain colonisation to be possible?
Moving on to pages 48 and 49, we have the skills and talents for PC dwarves from Karak Azul Karak Eight Peaks. I imagine there'd be differences compared to the DL versions of those holds.
Page 49's description of Izor dwarves has something a little interesting.
Page 50 also has something interesting, in the description of Norse dwarves.
Page 54
Page 55, Common Folk
Page 56, Dwarf Engineer career, art of a prosthetic leg
Page 57, Dwarf Artforms
Page 58, Runebearer career level of the Messenger career
Page 59, Dwarf Slayer career
Page 60, the War-mourner career level of the Slayer career
<Garagrim Ironfist>
Page 64 introduces the Doom Priest career, Grimnir's priests. They aren't slayers, however page 65 does give us this quote:
Page 66, Forge Priest career
Page 67, Hearth Priest career
Page 74 gives the Runescribe career access to Toughness at level 1, same as Scholar. I wonder sometimes why that is.
Page 76 has the Runesmith career and names level 3 'Runemaster', in between Runesmith (level 2) and Runelord (level 4). So guess the Dum guys were just calling themselves apprentice-taking runesmiths, no drama at all. Page 76 also has this:
Page 77
Page 77 also has this gem:
Page 78 gives us the Thane career, and contrasting with Divided Loyalties, in the DPG it's a clan head rather than a military rank.
Page 79
Page 83 has this unusual and neato image:
Pages 84-86 cover Grudges as an actual gameplay mechanic. Instead of gaining bonus XP through Ambitions, which are character/party goals, you can choose to instead gain bonus XP through resolving Grudges (including Party Grudges if the party's mostly dwarves). Formal support for grudges - whether mechanical or not - is absolutely vital for a dwarf player's guide and I'm glad that Cubicle 7 fulfilled that need. Page 84 says this:
Page 84 also has this:
Page 85
Page 86 describes the dwarf afterlife.
There's also a mechanical effect to unresolved Grudges:
And that's chapter 3! 86/144 pages done. I anticipate the next chapter will result in a shorter post, both because this one was the longest chapter in the book, and because the next chapter is just engineering stuff. The two after that - on runesmithing and religion, respectively - may be longer though, given the subject matters.
Page 38 tells us how dwarves are addressed.
I don't think we've seen the Khazalid word 'kuni' before, and I'm wondering if it's gendered or not like 'niz/nev' is. (Also yeah, this page spells 'niz' wrong.)
Page 38 also tells us that surname is based on who raised them. If the father was present (men die more since they go to war more often than women), they're named after him. Otherwise, after the mother even if she remarries. If both die, after the aunt or uncle who raises them.
Two brand new kinds of surname are introduced in page 40.
Interesting to see that something in dwarf society can fall out of favour simply by being over-used. Their love of the old is grand but not quite all-encompassing.
We have the origin of clan names. I think this is something that could've been inferred, but nice to see it outright said.
Splinter clans are a thing that can happen, and 'Elder Loremaster' is a title that exists.
Humans have mass production.
Page 41 has some holds where a dwarf could hail from. Some of these are unfamiliar to me.
Page 42 tells us more about dwarf biology, and I'll post an image from the WFRP core rulebook for reference.
Page 43 brings forth a favoured subject: linguistics.
Dark Tongue is the language used by daemons, so how'd Khazalid influence it? I'd been presuming DT was a kind of primordial tongue similar to the Old Ones' and thus already has words for all concepts, so I'm not sure how Khazalid would be contributing anything new. Maybe DT isn't so primordial a tongue as I'd thought.
And now we have what appears to be a lore inconsistency.
Dwarfs making parchment-thin paper for tomes is fine, makes sense for them, but the Great Book of Grudges is written in the blood of High Kings. That doesn't work if its pages are made of metal.
Looks like usage of Khazalid script changed over time. I wonder what spurred this change.
Good to know.
Also good to know. I think you can see a little of this linguistic drift in how the Norse use 'Kraka' while the rest use 'Karak'.
Pages 44-47 are a large glossary of Khazalid words, some of them new. I want to mention two.
The situation is interesting. Dwarf legend says the gods were "carved by time from the rocks of the mountains", so they were definitely mountain-folk to begin with, but it also says that Zorn was founded under Valaya and Grungni's guidance. Why set up a surface city instead of a mountain hold? Was it essentially a tutorial island, a place to build up skills, tools, and stockpiles needed for mountain colonisation to be possible?
Moving on to pages 48 and 49, we have the skills and talents for PC dwarves from Karak Azul Karak Eight Peaks. I imagine there'd be differences compared to the DL versions of those holds.
Page 49's description of Izor dwarves has something a little interesting.
An Underway project.
Page 50 also has something interesting, in the description of Norse dwarves.
So on the one hand, it's neat to see cultural exchange leading them to figure out how to build boats. On the other hand, this makes dwarven maritime history more confusing. I thought human boatmanship was primitive?
Page 54
Gender roles exist in the Karaz Ankor.
Page 55, Common Folk
Beard groomers exist, and dwarf peasant status varies depending on how far away from the sun they are.
Page 56, Dwarf Engineer career, art of a prosthetic leg
Page 57, Dwarf Artforms
Beard weaving is an art, and begrudging admiration is a form of humour.
Bad, but not the worst. Page 57, Reckoner level of the Dwarf Lawyer career
Page 58, Runebearer career level of the Messenger career
Hehe.
Page 59, Dwarf Slayer career
New Khazalid word in the form of Drengidumar - a google search only turns up two results. Also, seems that slayer hair colour isn't exclusive to bright orange.
Turns out there's a sizeable number of clanless, guildless, holdless dwarves. Not sure if they count as cultless though.
Discord message said:
Page 60, the War-mourner career level of the Slayer career
This is quite a lot different from what the wiki says a war-mourner does. For reference:
<Garagrim Ironfist>
Page 64 introduces the Doom Priest career, Grimnir's priests. They aren't slayers, however page 65 does give us this quote:
It seems that slayers can be priests. Also, we've got some information there on dwarf beliefs on the afterlife.
Page 66, Forge Priest career
Forge Priests are about honouring these relics and restoring them if they're damaged by enemies or time.
Page 67, Hearth Priest career
Looks like not all holds worship Gazul.
Page 74 gives the Runescribe career access to Toughness at level 1, same as Scholar. I wonder sometimes why that is.
Page 76 has the Runesmith career and names level 3 'Runemaster', in between Runesmith (level 2) and Runelord (level 4). So guess the Dum guys were just calling themselves apprentice-taking runesmiths, no drama at all. Page 76 also has this:
Rune invention is a thing, Kragg the Grim is still canon, and there's a runesmith seeking out human and elven rune power. Neat!
Page 77
Page 77 also has this gem:
This is a reference to an old White Dwarf battle report called The Battle of Grimdal's Doom, which you can read here.
Page 78 gives us the Thane career, and contrasting with Divided Loyalties, in the DPG it's a clan head rather than a military rank.
Page 79
I wonder if this'd mean that Mathilde is a legal candidate to be a queen. Though perhaps not; even if Air Bud doesn't specifically prohibit humans, it might have something like only a true heir of Grungni or whatever being able to count.
Page 83 has this unusual and neato image:
Pages 84-86 cover Grudges as an actual gameplay mechanic. Instead of gaining bonus XP through Ambitions, which are character/party goals, you can choose to instead gain bonus XP through resolving Grudges (including Party Grudges if the party's mostly dwarves). Formal support for grudges - whether mechanical or not - is absolutely vital for a dwarf player's guide and I'm glad that Cubicle 7 fulfilled that need. Page 84 says this:
Honestly, of all the things a company could sell, a book of grudges for you to use with a dwarf PC is really neat in concept.
Page 84 also has this:
I love Warhammer.
Page 85
Relieving to see that it's closest adult relative. Be a bit sick if you'd had to transfer the grudge to an infant or something.
Page 86 describes the dwarf afterlife.
There's also a mechanical effect to unresolved Grudges:
This is like the Doomed Talent, where if you die in a way similar to your doom, you start your next character with half XP. I do not like this mechanic. I have literally not met a single person who's ever professed to liking this mechanic; universal practice as far as I've encountered is to let new characters start at the same XP as what the other characters are at. I guess we're stuck with it for however many years this edition of WFRP lasts.
And that's chapter 3! 86/144 pages done. I anticipate the next chapter will result in a shorter post, both because this one was the longest chapter in the book, and because the next chapter is just engineering stuff. The two after that - on runesmithing and religion, respectively - may be longer though, given the subject matters.
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- Location
- Washington
You're thinking of Daemonic. Dark tongue is the one that's one step removed from that.