Warhammer Fantasy: Thirteen Tolls - An Apocalypse Quest

So my understanding is that when the fire dwarves came around Skavor fought against them, failed, and then instead of dying like the Karaz Ankor thought he should have he fled and earned a grudge for himself and his descendants as oath breakers?
Not quite.


BAR GAZUL NUBUNGKI OKED RINK – THAGI



ELGRAM, KRUK, SKAVOR DARED FRUNDAR THAGZHARR
"But Gazul's deformity took (false) command- murderous traitor. Weak, a disappointment, Skavor wagered on the Traitorous Fire".

One of Skavor's big things in lore is that he was a weak, disappointment of a son who failed when it came to learning any of the "traditional" dawi skills(for a given value of traditional considering it was his own family(of Ancestor Gods) that were creating the traditions), with this quest going with the idea that instead Skavor simply preferred learning magic(the traitorous fire) to smithing or stonework. He seems to have tried to prove himself by taking command of someplace(the rest of the "grudge" hints where) in order to try and prove his methods successful during the era where Chaos was flooding the world.


BAR DUM KAZAKED EK DRUNGED WAZZOCKI



IZED GRIM MALOK GNOLED A BAR GROMTHARR



DUM GUZZENED UM BAR SKAVOR GIRD DRENGIAR



EK UN SKAVORAL UNBARAKAR GROBED



DRONGEN KARAZ ANKOR, UT DAWI UTAR



BIN DRUNG, DUM ADSKED FRURNDAR – SAR UT DRENGED!
"But when Chaos attacked his foolishness was Defeated. True Evil's touch shows the Reliability of but the Ancestors Ways. Doom came to them but Skavor did not die well. He and his Oathbreaking children fled. Breaking the Everlasting Realm, we Dawi's Eternal pain. In Defeat Chaos stole the Tainted- may we be slain!"

I think what this passage says is that Skavor actually led the colonialization of the future "Dark Lands", and against orders as well. Then the Warp Gates broke, Chaos flooded the world but where the works of the Ancestor Gods proved able to defend the Dawi sheltering under them, Skavor's efforts to use magic to defend his followers in the Dark Lands failed and he was forced to flee back to the Worlds Edge Mountains with only those he could shelter, leaving the rest to eventually become the Chaos Dwarfs(and twist his tradition of dwarf magic use into the Lore of Hashut).


SKAVOR, KURAZ, KRONED DRENG, BAR SKAVORI KRUKED



UM GARAZDRED, NU GORAK GAZUL BARAZED



UT VENGRYN – UM UZKULAZ NUF RINK ANKOR BYRN



NAI DAL DRUNG; DUM BIN UT DURAZ MHONARYN
"Skavor the Cursed was told to Die, but he and his children Disappointed. They went into distant exile, so the Great Gazul swore. Our Vengeance; their deaths would not lead to the Glittering Realm. But no Good End; Doom in Stone and Shadow".

Instead of giving aid and shelter to the little nonconformist, they cursed him and told him and his surviving followers to kill themselves(either directly or by taking a Slayers Oath, it doesn't specify), only for Skavor and his followers to once again buck the trend that his asshole family had established and simply went into exile. And so Gazul cursed not just him and his living magic using followers but all their decedents that they will never be allowed into the Dawi afterlife(the Curse of Stone that afflicts the Chaos Dwarfs in canon and in this quest, all the magic using dwarves living in Kazvar under Tylos.
 
[X] All you know of the Sons, and your support against them.
[X] Some of what you know, and a plea for subtlety.
 
[X] All you know of the Sons, and your support against them.
-[X] Runic weaponry.

Let's throw a big stone in the pond and see how the Princeps likes it. If the war goes bad enough, he may even be forced to go fight the KA himself. Conscription and wartime privations may also lead to more unrest and give new recruits to the rebels.
 
Well I'm not exactly thrilled with this revelation. I'm definitely not going to suggest going to the Skavorites, I have a good deal of sympathy for them but I see their path going nowhere good. I do agree with the people saying no half measures though, and lying to the Dawi would come back to bite us considering we're working with one of them in the League.

So, truth, however bad it winds up being, and Runic weapons. The other two options are things we can organise ourselves, but the weaponry is something that is functionally irreplaceable.

Plan votes people.

[X] Plan: War and Craft
-[X] All you know of the Sons, and your support against them.
-[X] Runic weaponry.
 
Last edited:
Honestly I mostly just think that starting a war between Tylos and the Karaz Ankor is going to produce a rally around the flag that makes our job a million times harder
 
[X] Plan: War and Craft
-[X] All you know of the Sons, and your support against them.
-[X] Runic weaponry.

Honestly I mostly just think that starting a war between Tylos and the Karaz Ankor is going to produce a rally around the flag that makes our job a million times harder
On the other hand, it's going to be a massive distraction for everyone, including the Princeps. He's the head of state, and running the war will likely take a good deal of his attention and energy. It is even better if the war goes badly for Tylos, because wartime privations will only make the temper of the populace burn hotter.
 
[X] Comforting lies, and some blackmail.

Tylos is absolutely formidable, using magic in place of technology. And the Karaz Ankor is busy and damaged by the War against the Elves. Do we really want to give the Princeps a (short :tongue:) victorious war?

As much as the Skavorites have done abominable things, it's desperation that brought them to extreme steps, not malice. I am inclined to set up a meeting and try to convince the Skavorites that yes, Morr can take them in.
 
On the other hand, it's going to be a massive distraction for everyone, including the Princeps. He's the head of state, and running the war will likely take a good deal of his attention and energy. It is even better if the war goes badly for Tylos, because wartime privations will only make the temper of the populace burn hotter.
I mean, thinking on that train of argument. Warpstone Nukes could enter the fray.
 
On the other hand, it's going to be a massive distraction for everyone, including the Princeps. He's the head of state, and running the war will likely take a good deal of his attention and energy. It is even better if the war goes badly for Tylos, because wartime privations will only make the temper of the populace burn hotter.
I mean, this is if the war actually gets going to that degree before things around here reach their peak, pre-modern wars are not quick moving events.
 
I mean, thinking on that train of argument. Warpstone Nukes could enter the fray.
Does Tylos has access to such things? Because the Skavens developed their quite late in their history.

I mean, this is if the war actually gets going to that degree before things around here reach their peak, pre-modern wars are not quick moving events.
That's a good point concerning the risks of revolt, but it's going to distract the Princeps not matter what.
 
Does Tylos has access to such things? Because the Skavens developed their quite late in their history.
*Shrug*

At the very least Tylos as presented is NotRoman Empire and a Peer to Nehekhara and Cathay among human nations so who knows what the fuck they have.

Even without nukes, the "City Beloved by the Gods" turning into "the City that Devours Gods" is probably not an easy nut.
 
Last edited:
*Shrug*

At the very least Tylos as presented is NotRoman Empire and a Peer to Nehekhara and Cathay among human nations so who knows what the fuck they have.

Even without nukes, the "City Beloved by the Gods" turning into "the City that Devours Gods" is probably not an easy nut.
Oh, I agree the dwarves won't just walk over Tylos. But they'll still distract them a lot.
 
You've heard in rumour of the Fire Dwarves. You realize now from whence they came. It does not seem quite righteous to you – endless damnation for a refusal to commit suicide – but there is a reason you have never been a military man, and turned to Morr, who promises all, without fear or favour, a peaceful ending.
I think our protagonist is missing a lot of what we know out of universe, but I think this sets up why these Dwarfs stay 'isolated' instead of swearing to Hashut: They wanted to prove that magic was a valid addition to Dwarf society. This lot just happened to stay south, closer to where the Dwarfs originally expanded from, whereas Skavor's original location was where Hashut now reigns.
Then why were you trying to recruit them?" you ask, per the ad in the Pall Gazette.

Another grinding, a crack, the Prince spits out a bloody broken tooth. "Karaz Ankor must live. You pan gold in dank water."
Hm. I have some reservations about what they can do here, and that's even considering how soon they can actually drop an entire army on the problem, as opposed to just marching into the ruins and start hacking at everything that moves. But my main problem is… this can't be fully sanctioned. Snorri Whitebeard would absolutely not agree to this. I don't think this is the High King's position. I think this is a Hold that's suffering significant attrition and loss of knowledge grasping at straws. They're trying to use the Sons of Skavor like Slayers, and then go die themselves to expunge the shame after reaped a bloody toll on the Elves.

That tells me, more than the state of their gear, that the army being sent may not be as full a commitment as they want.
If you agree to tell him, you are also probably entitled to a famous Dwarfish boon. What might you ask for, for the favour of starting a war?
I think I'd want to know how soon said war can kick off, and what timeframe it is. If it's not something able to suitably buff the revolution in the days we have until the election, then I'd say just go for making a humanitarian corridor. Dwarfs understand the value of preserving knowledge and kin when the walls come tumbling down. If we can get our people out of here, move as much texts and technology that's safe as we can, that'd lead to a better result than walking an army into the cradle of a god.
 
We can't tell him of the design of the Princeps, as in "he has a forming God ready to rise"?

Having the boon be "help me get people out of the impending catastrophe, don't feed your army to the mouth of a God" could be... an extreme straining of things, though.
 
Can Morr even take dwarfs in?
Nothing Xenophon knows about Morrite funeral ritual restricts the rite to species, though of course he's never actually tried on a Dwarf. He also has no idea of any of the Sons have ever asked - there's no record in the Roost of them doing so. That being said, Kakram did trust him enough to sanctify the boundary of a Dwarven tomb...
Snorri Whitebeard would absolutely not agree to this. I don't think this is the High King's position.
Not to comment whether your analysis of whether the wider Karaz Ankor supports Stonehammer, but to note - the High King is Gotrek Starbreaker.
 
Last edited:
Instead of giving aid and shelter to the little nonconformist, they cursed him and told him and his surviving followers to kill themselves(either directly or by taking a Slayers Oath, it doesn't specify), only for Skavor and his followers to once again buck the trend that his asshole family had established and simply went into exile. And so Gazul cursed not just him and his living magic using followers but all their decedents that they will never be allowed into the Dawi afterlife(the Curse of Stone that afflicts the Chaos Dwarfs in canon and in this quest, all the magic using dwarves living in Kazvar under Tylos.
In their limited defense Skavor was basically going "I can revolutionize the world with this engine powered by crack cocaine and orphan blood" and them going "no, that's a stupid idea" and him doubling down on it every time the crack engine blows up in his face.

Now he's trying to break into his old house because Gazkul kicked him out the last time it blew up and changed the locks on the doors.
 
In their limited defense Skavor was basically going "I can revolutionize the world with this engine powered by crack cocaine and orphan blood" and them going "no, that's a stupid idea" and him doubling down on it every time the crack engine blows up in his face.

Now he's trying to break into his old house because Gazkul kicked him out the last time it blew up and changed the locks on the doors.
From what I see, the reason that Skavor's attempts "blow up" is mainly due to lack of support more than anything else. He had to leave the protections of the Worlds Edge Mountains Karaks to prove his ideas the first time, which left him and his followers vulnerable when Chaos started flooding the world. And here, the only reason his decedents attempted to bore a hole into the dwarven afterlife was because for Gazul, mere exile wasn't enough of a "punishment" for Skavor going against reigns of the society the other Ancestor Gods were creating and refusing "redemption via suicidal martyring"(especially since in Skavor's eyes, he did nothing wrong and refuses to accept the idea that magic is something that "proper" dwarves have no truck in).
 
Not much better. On all three occasions of how to prosecute a war of extreme dishonor from the Elves, Gotrek took only what was necessary and in equal measure to what Caledor II had taunted him with. When the book itself originally called for genocide, Gotrek took the extreme casualties of the war and the death of the Phoenix King as satisfying the entry. Going to the extremes of utilizing a traitor to the Ancestors is not likely in his wheelhouse.
From what I see, the reason that Skavor's attempts "blow up" is mainly due to lack of support more than anything else. He had to leave the protections of the Worlds Edge Mountains Karaks to prove his ideas the first time, which left him and his followers vulnerable when Chaos started flooding the world. And here, the only reason his decedents attempted to bore a hole into the dwarven afterlife was because for Gazul, mere exile wasn't enough of a "punishment" for Skavor going against reigns of the society the other Ancestor Gods were creating and refusing "redemption via suicidal martyring"(especially since in Skavor's eyes, he did nothing wrong and refuses to accept the idea that magic is something that "proper" dwarves have no truck in).
This is leaning into the whole Old Ones and Divided Loyalties continuity a tad, but Skavor wasn't just going against his father, uncles, and aunt.

He's going against what his teachers told him.

Dwarfs are extremely less likely to have Magic/Radiation related mutations. But they also transmute into stone when exposed to magic. Only the Master Rune of Valya is what keeps the Dwarf species even in their stronghold of Karaz-A-Karak alive. Leaving the Southlands and coming north of Tilea and Estalia is close enough to the Winds blowing from the Polar Gates to start this process.

And here's the real nasty bit that may or may not be the case: In Divided Loyalties, we know that Morgur is actually a twice-broken God made by the Dwarves to replace the Old Ones. That god was brought during their migration north to this exact place. And the birth of Skavenblight and the Horned Rat is what takes a broken teacher and makes them truly and utterly mad, into the near-deity of unkillable power worshipped by the Beastmen seen in Warhammer Fantasy proper. Skavor would have been told his idea was impossible. So maybe his sons are trying to use that link, connected with the Glittering Realm, to change what they are.
 
[X] Comforting lies, and some blackmail.
-[X] Offer to ley the 'rejected by Ghazul within Morr's gardens
[X] Runic weaponry.

We must try to grant peace and rest to those whom seek it.
Hopefully we can make a good case for Scavorites to seek better ends than just grudge.

Or should we trust the possibility to have a meeting between the factions, eventually giving back the afterlife to the Sons of Skavor?
The emphasis this very chapter on Morr accepting all equally makes me wonder if he couldn't 'take in' the dwarves denied an afterlife. Probably not good enough for all of them, since some would want the one that they feel they have a right to. But it would beat the cursed existence.
This could also tie-in to a move of getting the Skavorites to move on from trying to get back to the glittering realm and instead turn to Morr?
As much as the Skavorites have done abominable things, it's desperation that brought them to extreme steps, not malice. I am inclined to set up a meeting and try to convince the Skavorites that yes, Morr can take them in.

Dear God, Morr is going to have a lot of work ahead.
Hopefully we can just get them out of the city, mayby to Lucii where Morr is strongest?
would be nice to have them break apart as a organization and essenitially became hill dwarfs .
Let's not set the City on fire just yet... still would be wise to prepare for such, mayby.
 
Last edited:
Wait, if Gazul was why dwarf sorcerors turned to stone, then why do Runesmiths sometimes turn to stone when they try to reactivate gronti too hard?

Not that Xenophon would know about such a phenomena, of course.
 
Wait, if Gazul was why dwarf sorcerors turned to stone, then why do Runesmiths sometimes turn to stone when they try to reactivate gronti too hard?

Not that Xenophon would know about such a phenomena, of course.
Gazul has nothing to do with turning to stone. That's just how the Old Ones work came out, Dwarfs turn to stone when exposed to magic for long enough. It's Valaya's own Rune that protects against Magic which stops all Dwarfs from dying out. A rune that the local brand of nutcases have decided to ignore because they think they know better than the people who taught the Ancestors.

All Gazul did is forbid them from entering the afterlife. The Sons' souls are now trapped inside their dead stone bodies.

As for re-activating Gronti, that's what's causing it: The Runesmiths wind up exposing themselves to Magic.
 
Gazul has nothing to do with turning to stone. That's just how the Old Ones work came out, Dwarfs turn to stone when exposed to magic for long enough. It's Valaya's own Rune that protects against Magic which stops all Dwarfs from dying out. A rune that the local brand of nutcases have decided to ignore because they think they know better than the people who taught the Ancestors.

All Gazul did is forbid them from entering the afterlife. The Sons' souls are now trapped inside their dead stone bodies.

As for re-activating Gronti, that's what's causing it: The Runesmiths wind up exposing themselves to Magic.
I thought that the Valaya Rune thing stopping all Dawn from turning to stone was a Divided Loyalties thing, and that this quest's author has a different take on why dwarfs do/don't turn to stone.
 
I thought that the Valaya Rune thing stopping all Dawn from turning to stone was a Divided Loyalties thing, and that this quest's author has a different take on why dwarfs do/don't turn to stone.
It's on the Fantasy Wikia, quoted verbatim.
Warhammer Fantasy RPG 1st Edition: Stone & Steel. pg. 71 said:
When Grungni prophesied the coming of Chaos, Valaya devised a special rune to protect the Dwarfs and their underground shelters from the hostile magic inherent in the warp matter.
As for things being different than Divided Loyalties, that's one of the big open series questions for me, especially since this quest was inspired by it and the whole crux is one of the major original revelations from DL. It'd kinda spoil alot of things if it was listed, but maybe I missed a post somewhere?
 
Back
Top