T9A: Fantasy Culture Concepts

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Khuralshki Dwarves

Ladies and gentlemen, it's time to go weird! To the hilt. It's time to inject OIdhammer into the Warhammer Fantasy legacy setting the Ninth Age:

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As you can see here (and as Oldhammer people are well aware of), the first Chaos Dwarf concepts of the 1980s had a distinctly twisted bend, and this style has been followed up by many different miniature manufacturers who have all given their very own interpretation of this evil Dwarf aesthetic, first pioneered by Citadel Miniatures. Such as:

Darkling Games

Clam's Ewal Dvergar

Four A Miniatures

Macrocosm

Oldhammer Miniatures by Andrew Taylor

Ral Partha

Wood Axe

Oldschool Miniatures

This style is only loosely based on historical armour suits and weapons, and is not founded on any particular culture. This won't do for the Ninth Age, and so here is a proposal from me: But much more from Uther the unhinged over on Chaos Dwarfs Online, who is a true fantasy visionary that can imagine whole bizarre armies filled with strange units at sweeping pace, and moreover have the writing skills to describe them in a thrilling manner. We both would like to see Oldhammer style Infernal Dwarves given a place of their own in the rich Ninth Age setting, and so we have gripped a crowbar to get one in on the map, in the hopes that T9A background developers picks up on it.

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The basic concept is one of a tragic post-apocalyptic landscape in the heart of the Wasteland, and of a mountain range that has been all but forgotten it existed by other races than Dwarves. The historical basis is loosely that of Udmurts and the Chuvash people of the Urals, and of Russia in general, though truly Dwarven in possessing full plate armour and other technologies. I will let Uther describe the strangeness:


Uther the unhinged":1eki7bvk said:
There have been Dwarves in the Khuralsh peaks for as long as anyone can remember. They were never renowned for their riches or their technological advancement. Instead they were renowned for their stubbornness and alcohol tolerance. Interestingly attributes valued equally or even slightly more than the others by Dwarves. Indeed it was said that only a Khuralshki dwarf would be drunk enough to start a starinrg contest with a statue. And only a Kuralshki Dwarf would be stubborn enough to win it!

As such it was no surprise to anyone that the infernal dwarves made no progress whatsoever in their attempts to move northward through the mountains. Implacable resistance met every attempt. In the end the Infernal Dwarves turned their attention to easier prey.

However all that was before catastrophe that led to the waste. The Infernal Dwarves disastrous meddling with infernal powers devastated the land around, creating the wasteland. Sadly that was not all. The magical energies infused the great roiling dust clouds that formed. Some of these settled on the wastelands. Fine dust particles coated the Khuralsh peaks. Indeed for years afterwards the winds would sweep across the wastelands. The air would climb the the Khuralsh slopes and deposit the dust in the regular rains that watered those high peaks.

The catastrophe and the devastation it caused cut links from the outside world to the Khuralshki dwarf holds. Indeed it was well over two centuries before traders began to tread the old roads into the Khuralsh mountains from the north. What they found shocked them.

When the dust had first started to fall the Khuralshki locked their holds and huddled safe inside. Trusting to the stone and tuned to protect them. They were right to. The infernal energies saturating the dust poisoned thousands of creatures, devastating the gains of the area. Over the following months much of the flora was affected too. The weaker annual plants just died. The hardier ones either failed to thrive or became twisted parodies of their former selves. Safe within their walls the Khuralshki ran down their stores and waited.

Eventually the dust clouds passed and life began to return to a semblance of normal. Still many of the weaker plants would not grow, or grew and died rapidly. Animals from the northern peaks and eastern slopes repopulated the area. The Khuralshki emerged unscathed. At first. Dwarves are a resistant race, but they are long lived. Over the long years that followed the Khuralshki could not avoid the poisons that had sunk into the earth, entered the water and built up in the tissues of the animals of the Khuralsh. Even their precious ‘water of life’ (the terrifyingly strong liquor the drank from childhood) was affected. A less hardy race would have perished. A less stubborn race, left. The Khuralshki did neither. But they did change. Confidence became arrogance. Grudges became hatreds. Independence became rebellion. The great holds were riven first by factions, then by war. Kingdoms split into territories of rival warlords. What had been a disdain for other races became a disregard. The focus of their culture became war and violence. Age was no longer revered, just strength, and alcohol tolerance of course (they were still Khuralshki after all).

Their technological advance halted as civilised society collapsed. Then the mutations began to be noticed. At first small changes, often hidden by parents. Sometimes the child was killed or abandoned in the wilds. Some changes were merely cosmetic. Others not compatible with life. Others were useful! Khuralshki arose who could master magic. Others with abnormal strength, or speed or healing. But always with the mutation came lust for power.

The collapse of order amongst the Khuralshki should have made them weak. It should have left them ripe for conquest by their infernal brethren. Easily beaten or co opted to their cause. Such ran the arguments in Zalaman Tekash. Such was the logic that drove the invasion. Their organisation, their technology, their power would crush the opposition they told their legions. Unfortunately they failed to tell the Khuralshki.

Unlike their southerly cousins the Khuralshki did not seek infernal power. They gloried neither in its evil nor the effects it wrought upon them. The hate that seeped into their souls they directed outwards in all directions, elf, man, greenskins or dwarf, it made no difference. Yet a special hatred was reserved for the architects of their downfall. The Infernal Dwarves would find no allies in the Khuralsh mountains. True, they abandoned their old gods, much as they themselves had been abandoned. Yet though their new deities gloried in warfare and bloodshed they were Khuralshki to their core. They would bow to no other. They sought not just the destruction of their traditional enemies. They sought the destruction of all powers and dominions, divine or infernal. All must be brought to glorious ruin. An eternal hate (and alcohol) fuelled storm of violence. A beautiful combat where only the strongest of will would dominate. Where the Kuralshki would stride through the chaos, masters of the revels. It was into this culture the infernal dwarfs marched so confidently.

The catastrophe that created the wasteland virtually cut off the Khuralsh mountains. As the world reeled from the disaster the Khuralshki Dwarves were forgotten. Indeed the younger races even began to leave the mountains off their maps. Soon only the Dwarves remembered their kin (there were grudges to settle after all). Even their cousins did not think the Khuralshki could survive. Surrounded by the wasteland. Assailed by daemons. Cut off by the followers of the Dark Gods. Surely they could not survive. Surely even the Khuralshki would have to leave their homeland or perish. When no Khuralshki came out the worst was assumed. But as Wartrob Iron Tooth (the legendary Orc big boss) once remarked after a failed Waaaargh against the Khuralshki: “Dem stunties is too stoopid to no wen dey is ded.”

The Khuralshki did not flee. They did not die. But they did change.

The fate of the Khuralshki was unknown until fairly recently. Traders seeking a northerly route to the east (avoiding the Infernal Dwarves) came across the northernmost Khuralsh peaks. These seemed to be spared from the devastation of the wasteland to the South. Explorers began entering them to see if the could provide a route south and east into Augea. Few came out. Those that did spike of the change wrought in the Khuralski and shivered at the thought of a return. This was no safe route to Augea and Tsuandan.

Thus it was that their infernal cousins learned of the Khuralskis' survival. Surely theses Dwarves could be cajoled or forced to join the empire. A bastion of Infernal Dwarves in the Khuralsh could make the Wasteland passable. The lure of access to the sea of storms and the possibilities that it raised were tempting.

The plan was long in formenting. Access through various Ogre Khans' territory needed to be negotiated. Favours offered, bribes paid. Similarly deals were struck with various warlords sworn to the Dark Gods. This did not prevent all skirmishing or indeed Daemon assaults. Yet it was enough to allow the army access across the narrow stretch of Wasteland and the relative sanctuary of the lower Khuralsh slopes.

Their first objective reached, the Infernal force paused. Earthwork fortresses were constructed. Their Daemonic machines repaired and stores established. All the while the higher peaks overlooked them in inscrutable silence.



To be continued.


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Great Eagle Assaults Khuralshki Dwarf

Uther the unhinged":1eki7bvk said:
Couple more thoughts on Khuralski sorcerers:

They Khuralshki refused the daemon binding route taken by the ID. Instead they chose a different route. The Sorcerors developed tunic collars, placed round a slaves neck they provided control. The simplest constrict on a command word and are made by the acolytes to control and train the great bears, trolls and skin wolves. The more complex made by the Soulbinder sorcerors are linked to golden runic bracelets. These allow construction but also a degree of direct control telepathically. These are used for the ogres and captured sorcerors of the dark gods. This enables Khuralshki Soulbinder sorcerors to wield great power and avoid the sorcerors curse. Of course only lesser sorcerors can be so controlled and only one per Khuralski lord. Death of the lord frees the bound souls but they are too damaged by the trauma and are driven mad lashing out at friend or foe or just sitting stuporose.

What do you think?

Please share your thoughts, ideas and criticism for this corrupted Dwarf proposal! We'd love to hear it.

I have neither time nor intention of turning this into a Homebrew army book, though others are of course more than welcome to do so! :)

And now, get thinkin', and get thinkin' in weird ways...

Cheers


Reference Images:

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See also:
Dwarven Holds of the Maidens (T9A Celts)
Dwarven Holds of the Crimson Peaks (T9A Celtiberians)
Nekoshim: Dwarven Holds of the Copper Mountains (T9A Nabateans)
Dwarven Holds of the Sky Foothills (T9A Akha)
Dwarven Holds of Aseadal Peaks (T9A Gaya Confederacy)
Dwarven Holds of the Wrathful Mountains (T9A Inca)
Lost Islander Dwarves (T9A Rapa Nui)
Karuits: Polar Dwarves of Remotest Silexia (T9A Inuits)
Cave Dwarves of the Mountains of Gold (T9A Prehistorical)
Infernal Dwarves of the Torture Valleys (T9A Moche)
Infernal Dwarves of the Barren Mountains (T9A Hittites)
Borean Elves (T9A Finno-Ugrians)
Saurian Ancients of Aotarakoa (T9A Indonesia)
 

Plaiecivile

Member
Re: T9A: Khuralshki Dwarves

Your love for chaos dwarves leaves me speechless... ;)

Keep up the quality work and keep feeding us!
 
OK, you asked for it, Plaiecivile. ;)

I'm turning this thread into a long-running thread on all new fantasy culture & faction concepts I'm involved in over on the Ninth Age!

All Warhammer spirit; historically based fantasy smörgåsbord, much like in the '80s. You might want to subscribe. Strap in tight!

It's on. 8-)


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Infernal Dwarves of the Barren Mountains

Ladies and gentlemen, can you sense the smell of the Inferno in the air? What weird, wonderful and horrible realms and peoples could be found in the benighted east? Enter, if you dare trek across the Barren Mountains on your way to reach the infamous city of Zalaman Tekash...

Let's give spice to the setting with a reverse image of the Nekoshim Dwarven Holds of the Copper Mountains: Where the Nekoshim are descended from the same stock as the benighted Infernal Dwarves in the east, and speak a cousin of the same language, they are uncorrupted, or so they claim.

As such, in the Barren Mountains could be found Dwarves of the same language family as those of Vetia, but corrupted to the core. These highland Infernal Dwarves would be a reference to the ancient Hittites of Anatolia, famous for their monolithic stone architecture, early smithing of iron, larger chariots, and being the Egyptian's great imperial enemy in the Battle of Kadesh. The Vetian Dwarf language of these Infernal Dwarves of the Barren Mountains would be a reference to the Hittites speaking an Indoeuropean language.

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The cursed Dwarrows of the Barren Mountains could have had a golden age of mighty empire long ago, which they remember with longing and festering hunger for power. Yet this Infernal Dwarf people of the highlands and their distinct culture remain for all their losses and and disasters, while the bite of their steel weapons tend to be directed by their suzerain overlords in Zalaman Tekash. They have sworn to reconquer the entire Barren Mountains range, which is now largely infested with barbarian Orc and Goblin tribes. While peripheral to the juggernaut power centre and hub of invention that is Zalaman Tekash, the benighted Dwarrows of the Barren Mountains still partake fully in the shared technology, science and forbidden lores of the Infernal Dwarves; sporting essentially the same arsenal and much the same ways of war. The Infernal Dwarves of the Barren Mountains still build in an archaic style of monolithic stones true to their ancestors of dark glory, and they have likewise preserved bull chariots for more than just ceremonial and luxury usage. For occasionally their hosts will field mighty trundling bull chariots, side by side with smoke-belching Infernal Engines and other modern mechanical contraptions.

It has been remarked, by nasty people, that Dwarves are a pest impossible to exterminate. And so the world of the Ninth Age sport an intoxicating myriad of wildly different Dwarf cultures, whose penchant for preserving ancient traditions is only matched by their innovative craftsman minds and hands. The hard-bitten Infernal Dwarves of the Barren Mountains are living proof of this.

Please share your ideas, comments and criticism for this quick background proposal, folks. :)

Reference images:

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"My reverend lord, did you bring a straw? Or how on earth will you consume the blood with that nose ornament in the way?"

"I'll drink to that!"


Infernal Dwarves of the Torture Valleys

Ladies and gentlemen, I invite you all to participate in a brainstorming for this new concept, courtesy of Uther the Unhinged: Fantasy South American evil Dwarves!

I'd like to scoop up all wild ideas you have. Let's have some fun! :)

You don't have to know anything about the Ninth Age (T9A) to participate. Just assume it's the Warhammer world, with different names and lots of more stuff in it. It's a dark fantasy smörgåsbord based on history. I'll sift through ideas here and present them oo T9A, due credit and quoting given. In this instance, we're concerned with a cousin of Lustria, but with something more than Lizardmen to speak of on the continent. There's gotta be Dwarves...

Ready? Then let's travel to faraway Virentia, over whipping seas, steaming jungles and Wrathful Mountains, and emerge onto a desert coast beyond the edge of the mapmaker's knowledge...

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This concept was spawned as the fallen brother culture to these proposed Inca Dwarves. Uther the Unhinged had lots of fertile ideas:

Cool concept. I think you could have standard and infernal dwarves in the continent. It is a big place and mines would have been well separated leading to multiple revolutionary movement. Infernal dwarves obviously utilizing fire sorcery/daemons (sorry not T9A literate) and playing up the sacrifice aspect of Incan/Aztec culture. Possibly binding daemons into animals. The standard dwarves animating statues. Again to differ from other pld world dwarves the statues could be animal/totem based snake like caymen panther jaguar etc. Longer association with saurians might have led to more magic/rune binding. You could go down the lack of iron route with rune encrusted war clubs. Obsidian daggers, obsidian encrusted clubs (for both types). As for artillery again standard torsion engines with animal totemic themes fir standard dwarves but enslaved/mutated/daemon bound animals for infernal dwarves. Like tortured bloated snakes spitting incendiary venom as counts as firearms. Sort of twisted Lizardmen technology, which would fit fluff wize.

The uprising of the dwarves would have been sporadic and disunited due to geography and a clampdown by the saurian masters. Each mine (future hold) would develop differently. All paying religious homage to ?? Queznir (I know Quetzacoatl was aztec but he was famously bearded). However secet symbols and signs were used often utilizing local animals. Over the years these took on totemiic status rising as quasi-deities themselves. The defeat of the saurians was piecemeal each hold achieving independence at different times and often facing several attmpts to retake it. Thus it was years before the dwarves (the Quezcuz as they call themselves) started to contact each other.

Magic stolen /learned from the saurians is used to infuse stone statues of their totemic animals. Arcuballistae, bows spears atlatlt stone headed tomahawk like axes and mauls. Armour rune/totem bound leather or padded cloth. Iron usage is unknown. Shields wicker?. But gold and silver adornment common. All totems are bird, mammal or fish. Reptillian and amphibian totems are taboo given the link to their hated saurian oppressors. Now contactbetween holds maintained by giant condor.

However not all mines followed the same path. Some came across knowledge of the infernal (again not sure of T9A fluff so this needs work). This great mine too eventually won its freedom using the infernal skills they had developed under the guidance of their infernal god (Haztet? Gotto reference the father of darkness somewhere). The dwarves of this mine (the Hazcuz) used magic to bind deamons into anomals to fight for them (rather than statues). With the overthrow of the saurians they used the reptiles of their previous masters as beasts of war and burden (twisting them with their infernal magic). Far from avoiding reptillian iconography the Hazcuz subverted it. Thus it was that when the Hazcuz made contact with other freed dwarves they were not greeted as long lost cousins but as evil blasphemers. Several Quezcuz holds united against these heretics and besieged them. Faced with overwhelming odds and the threat of extinction they broke out from the suege and embarked on ‘the long trek’. Effectively a running battle with pursuing Quezcuz, Saurians seeking to recapture them, grenskins and others. The trek lasted over 2 years. It did not end till the Hazcuz were driven from their mountain home to the lowland and escaped the pursuing Quezcuz in the jungle. Eventually they reached a land where they felt safe (unsure if this should be far south Terra del Fuego or Mexico). a hot forbidding land. Here they built their step puramids in memory of their lost mountain home. If you go with the Mexico option you can go full aztec.

Magic is using runes/reptillian totems to bind infernal spirits into creatures thus empowering them ?twisting? them but seriously reducing their life span (they literally! Burn out) runes/totems branded on (fire dwarves yay). Weaponry bucklers of alligator hide. Armour of toughened reptile skin. Wooden Warclubs (see plains indian warclubs) with obsidian studs/shards. ?slings? Spears. Animals adapted as weapons eg venom spitting reptile held as hand arms etc.
There that is me done. It was a long drive today.

...Anyway if we don’t do something our hated vanilla cousins will steal all the glory!

Now, there is a prime candidate among ancient cultures in South America that fit the bill perfectly: The Moche culture (100-700 AD). The Moche lived by the coast of what is today Peru, inhabiting nine river valleys with arid desert in between. The Moche are an archaeological culture, meaning they left no written documents behind, but they sure left behind monumental architecture, eyecatching craft objects and proof of ritual cruelty!

The Moche were fine craftsmen who produced works of art in gold for the highly elaborate dress of their elite, and they likewise have become famous for their erotic pottery. The Moche built stepped pyramid temples and practiced a warfare reminiscent of the Aztecs: They fought wars to capture enemy warriors, whom they stripped naked, bound, tortured and sacrificed to their gods. Sounds like Infernal Dwarf material?

Now let's pool all our ideas! :cheers

Here are some video/audio links for those who want to listen and learn while working or driving. Documentaries:

Moche Tombs of Sipan

Treasure and Secrets of a Moche Tomb


Lectures:

Warfare and Human Sacrifice in the Moche World: New Discoveries and Continuing Debates, by John Verano

Recent Research on the Moche, by Richard Stutter

Tales of the Moche Kings and Queens: Elite Burials from the North Coast of Peru, by Jeffrey Quilter


Reference images, primarily of Moche and of various coastal Peruvian cultures, mainly drawn from the master artist Coricancha's gallery:

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Igor Levchenko over on Deviantart had an idea for our Infernal Dwarves of the Torture Valleys:

Igor Levchenko":15clvxld said:
Gigantic andean condor will make a good mount for infernal dwarf.

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While Uther the Unhinged on CDO had some evocative writings to share:


Uther the Unhinged":15clvxld said:
I like the idea of separate city states against imperialist power. Yet I still yearn for one god (my Hashut complex). How about the Quezcuz Unite as an imperialist power and move against the various independent Hazcuz city states. These fall one by one survivors fleeing to the greatest city fortress Hazcu Pizcu. When the Hazcuz retreat from here they go as one nation. On finally reaching the safety of the Torture valleys they split into their original groupings. Each representing one of the founding rebellions.

If you did this then you could develop their mythology along the following lines:
One of the many rituals of Haztec . This excerpt is from the ritual performed at the first new moon after the Spring solstice.


Priest of Haztec:
Hearken one, hearken all! Know that the words I speak are the truth: hotter than fire, sharper than flint and harder than stone. So it is recorded. So it is written.

Devoted of Haztec:
So it is written!

Priest of Haztec:
In the beginning there were the two who were one. Haztec and Queznir, the brothers. Together they spoke. Together they ruled. All the other powers bowed to them.

Devoted of Haztec:
All bowed to them!

Priest of Haztec:
Yet Queznir grew jealous of his brother. He coveted his greater strength and his wisdom. He plotted with the lesser powers and turned them from their true master.

Devoted of Haztec:
They turned from their true master!

Priest of Haztec:
Lo, they came in friendship. False smiles upon their faces and treachery in their hearts.

Devoted of Haztec:
Treachery in their hearts!

Priest of Haztec:
Unknowing Great Haztec opened his arms. They seized him. They bound him. They cast him out from the realm beyond the stars. In fire and pain He fell!

Devoted of Haztec:
In pain he fell!

Priest of Haztec:
In flame He fell. In anguish He fell. Yet even in His fall he brought succour to His children.

Devoted of Haztec:
All praise His name!

Priest of Haztec:
Like a thunderbolt He hit and His fall shocked the world. Like fire He hit and His fall burned the world. Like a fist He hit and His fall shook the world.

Devoted of Haztec:
His fall shook the world!

Priest of Haztec:
His fall shook the world. His fall shook the temples of the oppressors. His fall shook their false gods. His fall shook their empire. All felt His fall.

Devoted of Haztec:
All felt His fall.

Priest of Haztec:
Through the earth He fell in fire and anguish. Through the earth He fell and the earth closed above him.

Devoted of Haztec:
The earth closed above him.

Priest of Haztec:
In darkness and in fire He lay. In darkness and in fire He nursed His anger. In darkness and in fire He grew strong again.

Devoted of Haztec:
He grew strong again!

Priest of Haztec:
In the depths of the mountains His children heard His voice. In the depths of the mines His children heard His voice. In the depths of their despair His children heard His voice.

Devoted of Haztec:
We heard His voice!

Priest of Haztec:
Of fire and stone he spoke. Of blood and runes He spoke. Of power and Freedom He spoke.

Devoted of Haztec:
Of power and freedom he spoke!

Priest of Haztec:
We learned of magic from Him. We learned of strength from Him! We learned of vengeance from Him!

Devoted of Haztec:
We learned of vengeance from him!

Priest of Haztec:
Thus with His help we rose against the oppressors and drove them from our homes. With fire and stone, we drove them from our homes. With blood we won our freedom.

Devoted of Haztec:
With blood we won our freedom!

Priest of Haztec:
With blood we won our freedom. With blood we praised His name! With blood we show our thanks.

Devoted of Haztec:
With blood we show our Thanks.

Priest of Haztec:
With blood we show our thanks.
With blood we praise His name.
With blood we will set Him free!

Devoted of Haztec:
With blood we will set Him free!

The sacrificial offering is ritually opened and his heart removed and shown to the devoted.

Priest of Haztec:
All tremble at his name!

Devoted of Haztec:
All tremble at His name!

Priest of Haztec:
With fire we won our freedom.
With fire we praise His name.
With fire we show our thanks.

Devoted of Haztec:
With fire we show our thanks!

Priest of Haztec:
With fire we show our thanks.
With fire we praise His name.
With fire we will set Him free.

Devoted of Haztec:
With fire we will set Him free!

The sacrificial heart is ritually cast into the fires of Haztec that burn in idol cauldrons atop the step pyramid.

Priest of Haztec:
All tremble at His name.

Devoted of Haztec:
All tremble at His name!

Priest of Haztec:
Remember the treachery of Queznir!

Devoted of Haztec:
We remember!

Priest of Haztec:
Remember the whips of the oppressors.

Devoted of Haztec:
We remember!

Priest of Haztec:
Remember the voice of Haztec.

Devoted of Haztec:
We remember!

Priest of Haztec:
Obey the will of Haztec.

Devoted of Haztec:
We obey!

Priest of Haztec:
Obey the law of Haztec.

Devoted of Haztec:
We obey!

Priest of Haztec:
Obey the chosen of Haztec.

Devoted of Haztec:
We obey!

Priest of Haztec:
Go in the Blood of Haztec.
Go int the Fire of Haztec .
Go in the Will of Haztec.

Devoted of Haztec:
All tremble at His name!

Priest of Haztec:
All tremble at His name!

Devoted of Haztec:
All tremble at His name!
Uther the Unhinged":15clvxld said:
I see
Vanilla dwarfs (Quezcuz in my head) riding giant condors, with smaller(!) giant humming birds (as fighters to the bomber) supporting them (got to leave our hated cousins something). The Hazcuz (evil stunted) could ride giant feather winged serpents (Aztec mythos ) to fit with more arid climate where they have been driven. Possibly giant two headed ones as the bigger version.


Wonderful ideas from Ghiznuk over on T9A. We're on a roll:

Ghiznuk":15clvxld said:
Condor is such an overused trope, it seemed pretty obvious for me from the beginning lol

Yeah, let's go for a full flying army for those dwarves.
See them how they carved fortresses out of the flanks of the mightiest peaks, with wide openings on the side. In that enormous cave that is actually the entrance to the hidden fortress, countless preying birds are perched.
The dwarves routinely ride them for any errand they are sent to.

We can have full condor dwarves unit, much like Equitan pegasus knights.

Local Infernals on the other hand use a mightier technology, such as magic-propelled zeppelins, to ride between the sharp needle-like peaks.

All this, because those mountains are so high and sharp, that the valleys below are extremely narrow and dark, some of them full of strange water and slime, and scary monsters without a name, much like the fish from the deepest abyss.

You know, mountains like this :
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On such heights, not much rain, but our dwarves grow food on terrasses on the very mountain top, catching the humidity from the clouds by ingeniously crafted « fog nets ».
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For Infernal zeppelins (without steam-power), get some cues from comic series Thorgal. The country named « Qa » is more Aztec in style, fighting against the local Pueblo indians, but you get the idea ;)
(scenario by Jean Van Hamme drawings by Grzegorz Rosiński)
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Energic brainstorming is taking place on Chaos Dwarfs Online:

Uther the Unhinged hooked onto the flying Dwarf concept:

Uther the Unhinged":15clvxld said:
Flying dwarves are cool and yes condor squadrons of ‘bombers’ protected by giant humming bird ‘fighters’ with the hero’s on huge Harpy eagles.

Zeppelins are a nice idea but a bit close to old world tech and would be ripped to pieces without protection from guns or ‘fighters’ . Therefore you could have zeppelin bombers ?pulled by flocks of flying foxes/bats and protected by ‘fighters’ . I like to think of dwarves on cockatrices (coz I love the figure from GW) the feathered nature and chaos would fit well. Oh and I have still not given up on feather winged snakes. Oh Oh Oh can we have flying monkeys???? Pleeese I want flying monkeys then we can get the vanilla dwarfs and their little llamas too!


While Gargolock had a lot of fertile ideas:

Gargolock":15clvxld said:
The Moche made a lot of pottery. I can imagine infernal dwarves bearing saurian equipment with vast bags of pottery. They could use them like Molotov’s filled with fiery daemonic fluid then then shatters on the enemies heads. A sort of infernal grenadiers.
The Moche also made lots of fine golden things. These could be reflected as magical artefacts of power, these infernal dwarfs of the torture valleys could be very adept sorcerers and have a heavy reliance on sorcery and artefacts in their military. They could have a Totem Of Adamant stone which could improve the armour of the wielded or something of the like.

I like the idea of tons of independence in these infernal dwarfs of the toture valleys. I think the idea of many city states possibly constantly at civil war could work or them united under a religious task like bringing pain to everyone. I think I prefer them being completely united under the cultural mechanic that they all must serve a higher purpose to a god.

Another wacky idea is that the sorcerers shouldn’t be in charge as rulers. To mix it up a bit the torture valleys could have cruel “Painbringers” as their rulers and government and have tons of adept sorcerers leading campaigns in the name of these lords of suffering. They could reverse the thinking of traditional infernal dwarfs and alter it to create a more unique society.

I think armies reliant on a magic and artefacts with very elite, glass cannons without much armour is a nice divergence and suits the Moche theme. Possibly having a society were strength and ability to inflict torment upon others dominates is fitting for the cruel inhabitants that live in the area. I also think the idea of sorcerers being born to serve as special chosen to try to advance the pain brought to everything rather than chosen leaders sounds interesting and could work.

They could worship an aspect or a divergent god that is more focused upon pure pain and torture than anything else, they could have a philosophy that believes that something bad happened (there is tons of events that could possibly fill this role, maybe the torture valleys had a mighty capital that the saurians burned, maybe a few saurians used to worship this pain god then revolted and decided to burn the capital. Maybe these dwarfs and some saurians lived in relative peace a long while ago.) only because the world resisted worshipping their god and now them as the sole worshippers of this god believe the must punish the world for abadoning him. They could have a complex built into their culture were they all serve to make the entire world suffer. Maybe the sorcerers could be chosen to ensure this happens? I am just spattering on here but there is tons that could be done. This is an excellent idea for infernal dwarfs.

As for the airship idea, I think the sorcerers could be given fleets by the Painbringers. Maybe it is a birth right of a sorcerer to be given the tools of war to inflict pain upon everyone by his Painbringer. I think these airships could be covered in painful weapons, like chains that get shot down with blades on the end (triangle shaped, barbed blades to cause maximum devastation). Or maybe fiery oil to sear the enemies. I am just thinking of war crimes now.


And finally Uther the Unhinged have some more ideas (he is explicitly giving reference homage to WHFB's Hashut, which is fine for his good headcanon but not advisable for T9A, so please look instead to what materials are of good use for our purposes and don't catch on quirks), and the first ever miniature conversion for the Torture Valleys!

Uther the Unhinged":15clvxld said:
The Hazcuz are known to be a very devout culture. This combined with their worship of a single ruling Deity would be expected to provide a strong unifying force. Little could be further from the truth. During the age of awakenings (rebellions against the saurian) Each mine developed in a fair degree of isolation from the other. Different dialects, different customs and different rituals arose. There was a brief joining and cross-fertilization of cultures during the 'Long Trek'. Since then the different groups split up and settled their own city states. These have been regularly at war almost ever since. Conflicts driven by competition for land, resources, slave and such doctrinal issues as the correct spelling of their deities name. Much blood has been spilt over whether it is Haztet, Haztec, Haztek, Hazteq or Hazteg. Such is the fervor and violence of the Hazcuz and their Painbringer priests. Indeed it is known that the only thing that can unite these warring cities is the Quezcuz.




Like all Dawi societies the Hazcuz are obsessed with Hierarchy. However where as usually it is beard length ard greyness, or in the case of thequezcuz gold ornamentation, the Hazcuz are different. The practice of curling and dyeing their beards means this is not an option. Thus the Hazcuz demonstrate hierarchy by their Headgear. The bigger the headpiece the more important the individual. Of course being a cult of pain blood fire and death many cities have skull themened Headgear either with 'naked' skulls or gold plated skulls dependent upon the individual caste and city.

Had a bleb of greenstuff left over soooo.....
Here is a very VERY roughmock up of a kigh caste Hazcuz warrior

PS Sorry Skink

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Uther the Unhinged over on Chaos Dwarfs Online continues with his grand vision for the Infernal Dwarves of the Torture Valleys. Check it out!

Uther the Unhinged":15clvxld said:
The Hazcuz outlook is similar in many ways to other dwarf cultures. Their defining outlook is one of bitter grudges, the overthrow of the rightful ruler Haztec, their oppression by the saurians and their persecution by the Quezcuz. Indeed their seminal national myth is the heroic ‘long trek’ from their mountain home to the Torture Valleys. This gruelling march assailed by the Quezcuz and harried by saurians, greenskins and beasts is the defining moment for them. It is seen as a trial survived by grim determination, stoicism, strength and ruthless dedication. There is however only partial truth to this. The survival of the Hazcuz actually owes much to their saurian enemies (though they would never admit this). The Quezcuz only called off their pursuit of the Hazcuz when faced with a massive assault by their former masters. The subsequent war lasted nearly two centuries. Finally exhausted by war the two sides ceased hostilities and the Quezcuz concentrated on rebuilding their shattered cities. The Hazcuz were forgotten, a footnote in the history of the war. So it would remain, but not forever.
The Quezcuz resemble the Hazcuz in many ways. They too believe in brother gods Queznir and Haztec. However in their telling Queznir was the elder brother. Haztec jealous of his brothers power rebelled against him. Queznir quelled his treacherous brothers rebellion and bound him. Then he sent forth his servants to find a prison to hold him. Thus it was that Queznir learned of the world. Incandescent with rage at the treatment of the dwarfs by the saurians Queznir smote the saurians with fire and rock. Having shattered their empire he sent his servants forth in secret to aid the dwarfs and bring them the knowledge oh his glory. Haztec he buried deep beneath the earth in his eternal prison.
Like the Hazcuz the cultures of the Quezcuz arose separately in their isolated mines. Like the Hazcuz they would unite against common foes. However between these brief respites the Quezcuz return to low level hostilities between the cities. That is they did until Dakhaztutek Hinkha. Dakhaztutek was the priest king of Khazkho a powerful Quezcuz city. Yet Dakhaztutek was not satisfied. It was he who first learned to tame the great condors that roosted in the high peaks. It was he who stole the eggs of the giant hummingbirds and raised the chicks bent his will. It was he who used these great beats to bring war to the other cities and bind them to him. Thus it was that Dakhaztutek became the first Hinkhan emperor. The cult of Queznir in his incarnation as the sky father spread through the wrathful mountains and drove the other sects out. The priest kings of Khazkho tolerated no deviation from their strict interpretation of the Quezcuz religion and used it to bind the satellite cities tightly to them. In only a few generations the Hincans had United all the wrathfull mountains and began to look further afield. They Braganza to look west to the Torture valleys....
To be continued

Some great brainstorming from Uther the Unhinged over at CDO. To Uther, the Hazcuz are the Infernal Dwarves of the Torture Valleys, while the Quezquz are the Dwarven Holds of the Wrathful Mountains. The Hinkha are the imperial expansionary DH of said range:

Uther the unhinged":15clvxld said:
Ok a bit more. Tried to assimilate Gargolocks ideas in as well. Hope you like.

The great condors of the Wrathful mountains have long dominated the skies there. Indeed their very presence had long benefitted the Quezcuz as the flying reptiles of the saurians avoid the territories of these great birds assiduously. However it was the taming of the great condors by the Hinkhan Quezcuz that proved decisive in their development. The condors provided control of the skies allowing the Hinkhan Quezcuz to project power. They could outmanoeuvre their enemies on the field of battle and when the other Quezcuz retreated to their cities they allowed the Hinkhan to control the terraces that produced their food eventually forcing them to come to terms. The condors also allowed the Hinkhan to control their vast empire once it was established. Only the great condors could travel easily between the isolated Quezcuz cities situated high on their mountain peaks.

It was under the young priest emperor Khuaynir Khapaz that the Hinkhan began to look beyond their traditional mountain territory. The great condors soared high scouting the land below. So it was that the Quezcuz discovered the lands of their despised cousins once more. Their scouts watched the Hazcuz cities from afar not wanting to alert them to their peri. Confident in their power the Hinkhans prepared for war.

The Hinkhan army approached slowly from the North east. Above it squadrons of the great condors circled ready to swoop over the enemy troops to spread fear and panic. However the lands they advanced over were eerily deserted. As the force approached the great city the infantry found itself increasingly confined to the wide roadways that converged on the city and its great stepped pyramid, by the numerous irrigation channels and canals that criss crossed the wide valley.
The Hinkhan had split the infantry into three columns that aimed to converge on the city itself. The foremost of the columns was still 5 miles out from the city when it came across the first signs of life. The Hazcuz had lined the roadway with stakes on either side. ImpLed upon each stake was the still writhing form of a slave. Human, green skin even dwarf prisoners moaned they final agonies, forming a grisly honour guard for the advancing Hinkhans. The groans of the dying and the foul buzzing of flies accompanied the final advance of the Hinkhan infantry upon the forbidding city.

The three columns were still a mile out from the gates when the first sign of opposition was seen. In silence the three great gates opened an ranks of Hazcuz warriors field out in silent phalanxes to block the roadways. The Hinkhans pounded their war drums in challenge but not counter challenge came. The Hazcuz stood in eerie silence. Inexorably the Hinkhans advanced stopping 300 yards short of their foe. The traditional challenges were made, the ritual insults hurled, the Great War drums sounded. Yet no answer came. The Hazcuz ranks stood in silence, their reptile skin shields locked and their war clubs readied.

The Great War drum of the Hinkhan general Akhuwalka started a slow beat. This was picked up by the drums throughout the three armies. Then the elite warriors of the Hinkhan vanguards began to beat their shields in unison to the drums. Slowly but surely the tempo of the drums picked up following the generals war drums’ beat. Then the Hinkhan Vanguard began their advance. In perfect lockstep to the beat of the drums. Each step echoed by the clash of war gear. Slowly the beat picked up. Slowly the advance quickened. At 300 yards they stepped. At 250 yards the vanguard started to chant. At 200 yards the were marching. At 100 yards they were trotting. At 50 yards the roared and charged. The drums beat a mad tempo and a thousand elite warriors raced upon the Hazcuz. Who never moved. Who never spoke. Who never flinched.

The Hinkhan charged the last 100 yards. They never noticed the small lines of stones stretched across the roadway. Each stone daubed in colour on the side facing the Hazcuz, each line a different colour. At 40 yards the saw the strange darts rise from the 3rd and 4th ranks of Hazcuz. Squat javelins 2ft in length, with feathered canes and flint points. They saw the bulbous pottery weights set on the shaft back from the points. But their wicker shields were strong and they raised them as they ran and roared their defiance. The darts struck the shields. Their points stuck futilely in the wicker. Very few found their mark. Many crashed to the floor harmlessly. The impact of the darts barely slowed the charge as the pottery weights slid down the shafts and smashed. At 25 yards the front ranks of the Hinkhan vanguard erupted in a sheet of flame. It was the first time the Honkhan has come into contact with the sticky combustible fluid known as Zanghazteg (the’blood of Haztec’). It would not be their last.

The swooping five of the condors has been timed to perfection. Aiming to hit the rear ranks of the Hazcuz just after the vanguard hit. The wall of flame that burst upward spooked the great birds. Most banked away but several were caught either by the updraught or stray darts. Suddenly aflame they panicked desperately seeking to escape their own immolation and disrupting the careful formations of their riders. Amidst this chaos hundreds of diminutive winged forms rose like gnats from their cages hidden behind the city walls. Strange stunted creatures, greenskins but tailed like monkeys with wings like bats. In swarms they assailed the great birds. Though tiny and feeble compared to these masters of the skies their sheer numbers proved decisive. Overwhelmed several birds wheeled from the city only to crash into the wide grasslands that surrounded it, great lions overwhelmed by termites. Other birds sought height fleeing their tormenting enemies.

On the ground the Hinkhan advance was in chaos. Pressed forward by the masses bodies behind them the vanguard was forced into the burns he’ll in front. Wave after wave of the dreaded darts (Tuskhazteg ‘teeth of Haztec) rose and fell. The great drums rapidly began to beat the retreat.

From the city walls great balls of twisting daemon in flames rose at the behest of the priest sorcerers of the Hazcuz. Many vanished harmlessly as the spell eaters of the Hinkhan battled this foul magic. Yet enough found their mark, burning and twisting the Hinkhan warriors they touched.

Focussed on the disaster unfolding in front the Hinkhan generals did not see the threat from the rear. Far out across the grassland strange shapes sprang from hidden ditches. Great flightless birds ( Hreaz) streaked across the ground to the Hinkhan rearguard. Leaping the irrigation ditches and narrow canals that watered the lad with ease the giant birds closed on the Hinkhan. Atop each bird sat a Hazcuz warrior. The nobles of their race. Too late the Hinkhan realised their danger. Yet the rear ranks turned well and locked their shields. The ranks behind the readied their javelins. But the shock of the charge never came. 30 yards out the Hazcuz released their Tuskhazteg and wheeled away. Carried by the momentum of their steeds the darts rose and fell with a terrible inevitability engulfing the rear ranks in flame. Again and again the Hreaz charged and their riders released their deadly gifts just out of javelin range.

Assailed from front and rear, their great condors harried and in disarray and with flames spreading to either side through the grasslands, the Hinkhan broke. Their famed discipline gone they fled. Many died in the fires that raged around the roadways. Others trampled by their comrades and drowned in the irrigation ditches. Others still hunted down and clubbed to death by the Hazcuz nobles on their great Hreaz. Few escaped save those condor riders that had survived the initial assault above the city walls. Great Alhuwalka was led in ropes from the field. The priest king of the Hazcuz city is said to have used him bound as a mounting block for his Hreaz for years afterwards.

The disaster of the torture valleys shook the Hinkhan empire. The myth of their invincibility was shattered. The empire was convulsed by rebellions and civil war for decades after. Eventually order was returned and the Hinkhans ventured once more to the Torture valleys. This time there were to be no easy victories for either side. A state of perpetual low grade war has existed ever since

The great victory of Mokhe field is celebrated by all Hazcuz city state for all sent troops. The Quezcuz may have forgotten the Hazcuz in their struggles against the saurians And long wars of empire. The Hazcuz never forgot. For years they had watched the eastern approaches. The first scouting flights of the condors had been marked and plans laid. Hreaz from all city states had been gathered. As had the strange Ghordhuz, the Simi Yate vicious winged greenskins that had surprised the great condors. These are bred in great numbers by the Hazcuz and used as slaves messengers and scouts.


The great birds are based on South American Rheas

The teeth of Haztec are based on roman plumbata with pottery weights carrying Greek fire
 
Highborn Elf Concepts

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Eagleshaven Elven city map concept (2017)

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Elf Heavy Archer (2016)

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Face of a Killer (2016)


Humans, being a sickly lot with much more to gain from living in cleared-out plains near rivers and coasts, are not great fans of wetlands. Apart from some sacrifices, particularly in Celtic cultures, marshlands are generally an unproductive wasteland and den of unsavoury wildlife, disease and parasites. A place to hide out in during times of war, and something best drained (at great effort and cost) and made better use of during times of prosperous peace.

Elves, being resistant to disease and of an artistic mindset to admire nature in its manifold shapes, would not necessarily share this view of wetlands. On the contrary, Elves since the dawn of time would have observed that marshes and bogs are soft watery places where nature is particularly bountiful in its sprout of bringing forth vegetation and wildlife (including mosquitoes, flies and even Orcs and Goblins, but not all life is pleasant). How could these wetlands be anything else than expressions of the feminine force, the euphemistic wells of Mother Nature, the most female of landscapes on Earth?

Elves would be particularly prone to appreciate the rich bird life of swamps, not least swans, and this include for purposes of egg-snatching wherever and if such is done by Elven youths.

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As such, there may be taboos persisting even in urban Elven cultures against draining marshlands, dumping rubble into swamps (but perhaps not organic waste?), and building them over with rude causeways. In Elven lands, wetlands may well be left alone even in breadbasket plains, with city walls skirting marshes at some length (not too shabby part of the defense, see Ravenna) and with roads curving around marshlands or, if need be, travelling above them on elegantly arched viaducts. While marshes are not the most aesthetically pleasing features of the natural world, Elves would nevertheless see a value, that Humans do not do, in preserving bogs to a large extent. You may well find some respectfully placed half-overgrown Elven-crafted stone statues or sleek stelae out in a marshy nowhere, at some spot where some Elf thought that this artwork would decorate the surroundings like a gemstone adorns armour.

Dread Elves or even Sylvan Elves, if prone to sacrifices, could very well sport traditions running after the cycle of the seasons, where they lead and prod a male animal (e.g. stallion or slave) into a deep bog where the screaming victim sinks into the swamp and drowns in the embrace of Mother Nature: A union between male and female to re-energize life itself in the world.

Conversely, Orcs and Goblins would have a much ruder view on swamps, but still connect them to bodily nature. You could well hear marsh Orcs exclaim, when declaring their home: "I grew up in my armpit!"


Shared some tips for T9A team, since art informs miniatures. There are lots of things to improve upon with the GW Elves, if one is willing to tap into more Lotrish reference sources as well. Copy-pasted just in case it is of interest for anyone around here.

Anyone with ideas for improving artwork designs or suchlike in fantasy, with GW Warhammer designs as a starting point, should share their ideas over on the Ninth Age. They're still in early steps. Many factions, many opportunities to influence the future course of the ship...

Use of Different Shield Designs for Highborn Elves

Scalemail Highborn Elf Design

Use of Swans and Dolphins in Highborn Elf Designs

Use of Abstract Symmetric Heraldry Devices for Highborn Elves
 
Frost Elves: Northern Sylvan Elves Based on Finnic Tribes

Frost Elf Kantelist

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Light torso armour is meant to be some sort of multi-layer enchanted birch bark treated tough.

Ladies and gentlemen, it is time to go full circle where the Aurora Borealis dances across the sky.

JRR Tolkien, the inventor of the classic historically-based fantasy genre (that Warhammer Fantasy and the Ninth Age are both part of), was profoundly inspired by Finnish folklore and language. The epic of Kalevala (whose 1990s Don Rosa comic adaptation is, by the way, warmly recommended) was an important basis for Tolkien's own tales in Middle Earth, and his Elven languages were in no small part inspired by his studies of Finnish. Let us as such be the first fantasy setting to complete the circle, and introduce northern Elves based on Finno-Ugrians. The working name here will be Frost Elves to get the ball rolling, obviously to be changed for something better.

The basic concept is a plethora of different Elven tribes, sprinkled across the frigid lands north of Vetia and Augea. By the Ninth Age, these various peoples are the remnants from ancient days of much greater spread, but never great population density. They live sparsely, eking out semi-nomadic lives primarily as hunters, gatherers, fishers and herdsmen, moving like ghosts upon waterways and snow alike. They know these bleak forests and remote tundras and highlands better than anyone living, and they know well both how to avoid outsiders, and how to lay ambushes for intruders. To have the famous White Death (Simo Häyhä) and ski-based Finnish winter warfare during the Second World War (based upon a 16th Century Swedish captain's assault on a Russian marching column during winter) at the back of one's mind is for once not a modern burden for this particular brainstorming, but an aid. Think sisu.

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Tolkien's own tales present us with two elements that may inspire this concept: First, his Avari Elves, who remained in the east of Middle-Earth and expanded across these mortal lands, until humans emerged, grew and gradually displaced the Avari natives. Second, the dead-set exodus of Fingolfin with the majority of the exiled Noldor Elves across the Grinding Ice, or Helcaraxë, in the north. Especially the latter has inspired numerous artists to depict Elves on the ice, see below.

I have no intention of turning this into a Homebrew army book, though anyone who wish to is of course welcome to do so.

Now imagine the vast expanses up in the cold north, where water and dark forests aplenty brood, home to hardy wildlife, savage tribes from various races, and not least bleak Elves, glimpsed through morning mist and snowstorms. These are the most silent and sullen Elves in all the wide world, yet they are also the living keepers of an oral culture of beautiful songs, cunning and crafty and handy with skis, boats, knives and sleds alike. They ken the ancient spirits of the harsh woods, and they share these spirits' deadly wish for solitude from a hostile world. Theirs is a cold and wind-blown life, wandering the sparse expanses, yet ancient legends tell of paths not chosen, of civilization rejected, of bonds to the Northern Dwarves broken, and of magical gold and smith's craft cast aside. The corruption of the Wasteland and the roaming followers of the Dark Gods have both taken a heavy toll on these Elves of the north, and likewise they are pressed upon by Orcs, Goblins and Trolls alike, and snorting Beast Herds can be heard stomping in the woods these wayward Sylvan Elves call home.

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Captivity, by Michael Rechlin.

But these, the original tribes of the northlands, will never lay down their knives and bows, and they will never cease their fight, no matter come what may, for theirs is an unbending will, and theirs is a lethal determination to see their kin and songs live on, flushed with lifeblood, even if all the lakes and forests have to be carpeted thick with the corpses of foes. And as long as their grit and cunning win through, the magical songs of strange Elves will continue to sound among the mists and the snowfalls.

Such are the Sylvan Elves in the frozen north of the Ninth Age.


Avari Elves & Related Reference Images, by assorted artists, including Steamey

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Finnic & Related Reference Images, by assorted artists, including Tuomas Koiruvinnen

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Hercalaxë Reference Images, by assorted artists

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Kalevala Reference Images, by assorted artists

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Ideas, feedback and criticism are of course welcome!
 
Dread Elves of Maphria Island

We are developing Dark Elves based on the slaving Sultanate of Zanzibar and colonial safari.

Matthew Klaas de Witte accepted a commission from me to design a Dread Elf from Maphria, with a leopard skin and an enslaved Pygmy Halfling. Gut feeling told me he was the right man to pioneer this field. Be welcome to leave a comment for him under the artwork on Deviantart. Master de Witte has a deft hand at playing with historical styles in fantasy artwork, as can be seen in his gallery!

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Please share ideas of your own for this exotic colony faction!
 
Koghi Empire of Gold

There has been a lot of brainstorming and homebrew development for the Ninth Age's version of the rich empires of Ghana, Mali and Songhai in West Africa, all ruled from the saddle by mighty warriors and slavers. This is one example of something that might have chafed for a community project to introduce into Warhammer Fantasy.

If you like the sounds of salt, gold, slaves and lordly riders, then check out the link above!

Some laidback smalltalk somewhere in western Taphria, in lands under the imperial reign of the Koghi, with a handy armrest for the brave warrior and dauntless slaver to lean on.

Entry in T9A's Art Contest II.

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Please share ideas of your own for this great Southron power!
 
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Conversion Ideas For Byzantine Vermin

The Vermin Swarm of the Ninth Age is based on the Eastern Roman Empire, also known as Byzantines or Rûm, the surviving Roman state in the east which centered on the nigh-impregnable crossroads city of Constantinople and which survived century upon century of battering attacks from foes assailing it from every direction, in a mind-boggling display of grand strategy clawing the city-state empire back from the brink to great power again and again. While still a formidable foe for much of its history, the mediaeval Romans were no longer the unstoppable force that had once steamrolled the entire Mediterranean after conquering its only true lethal rival in ancient times: Carthage. The well-organized Byzantine military in its heyday won renown with its Theme system (local garrison troops of farmer-soldiers), mounted Thagmata elite regiments (mobile field army), use of mercenaries, Greek fire, siege engineering, strong navy, Varangian Guard and network of fortified cities to fend off often superior foes at more fronts than the empire could usually handle. Yet ultimately, treachery from within would undermine the army in battle again and again (for Byzantium was rife with vicious power struggles), and cowardice would rear its ugly head all too often: It was not easy to be a soft and rich urban realm confronted by a wide range of hardier and less sophisticated enemies who were out for your lands and riches, in a cutthroat world that was a pale shadow of the Roman Empire at its absolute height, centuries before.

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Sounds like an interesting historical basis for the dastardly ratmen? Hungry for retaking Avras? Fancy a different aesthetic to your Skaven models? Then let's dive right into it!

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By Eldan

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The most distinctive feature of Byzantine soldierly gear were the common pteruges: Leather flaps hanging over the upper arms at the shoulders, and from the waist, forming a kilt. An obvious hark-back to ancient Greek and Roman styles, the pteruges grounded this mediaeval army with an aesthetic piece from out of antiquity. For the most part, one would keep it simple and go up to step 3 below, perhaps adding some waviness, wrinkles and fraying. To emphasize the Vermin's decaying ways, perhaps many flaps could be torn, gnawed or missing altogether? Note that all below tutorials show stuff that are intended to be sculpted directly on the model:

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Reference:

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Next up is scale armour and lamellar. The latter is difficult to sculpt, so one may want to go for a simplified look with scales instead. Just do the scales with rounded edges instead of angular, and perhaps have them pointing upward instead of downward. You can also sculpt gambeson (no tutorial at the moment):

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Reference:
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Likewise, some frayed chainmail can be attempted, including trying out some weird chainmail veil/face cover on some ratmen. A tip would be to leave tears and holes in the mail. Rats don't do things too tidy. If doing chainmail over the torso, then why not chuck in the Byzantine "bra", or rather leather harness to keep armour in place, on some models? Probably borrowed from Persians:

Reference:

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A minor detail for some rabble troops could be to add a few wickerwork shields:

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Reference:
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And finally, some opulent pearls and large gemstones (painted sickly green?) add such an ostentatious finish to the leaders. Here's a simple tutorial, but more complicated things can obviously be tackled:

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Reference:
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And here is a random idea for some Vermin Swarm symbol: The last human Emperor of Avras quartered by four Vermin Hulks:

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Do you have more ideas to share here? Or modelling attempts to show? Then please do so! :)

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Didn't have time to make a wicker shield, but here are some conversions for the heck of it. Attacking cloth and leather surfaces with a needle can help give a frayed look, and is quick work:

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We all know that Skaven was an original invention by Games Workshop, one which gained a lasting popular life unlike their Zoats and Fimir. Before Warhammer, there were no elaborately developed fantasy ratmen to speak of. After Warhammer, they are a new archetype.

The Ninth Age, being the spiritual successor of Warhammer Fantasy with its historically based model, did manage to find a real life historical culture to base their Vermin Swarm upon, one which sports flamethrowers, treachery, cowardice, cunning and brutality alike: The mediaeval (Eastern) Roman Empire, known as Byzantium after its fall. In case anyone is interested in getting their hands on more knowledge about this nigh-forgotten Roman realm, to get more resonance out of their reading of future Vermin Swarm background, you will get some tips below. Mainly documentaries, lectures and podcasts, since rat players can be expected to have their hands and eyes busy with painting hordes of Vermin miniatures.

Please share your own, whatever finds you can recommend!

Intro 1: The Rise & Fall of the Byzantine Empire (5 minutes)

Intro 2: Engineering an Empire - Byzantium

If one truly wants to start from the beginning, then Mike Duncans podcast, the History of Rome, can be recommended. It ends with the fall of the Western Roman Empire, which is to say roughly around the start of what is usually coined Byzantine history. (Youtube videos which compile the many episodes.)

John Romer did great documentaries, and his production on the Byzantine Empire is warmly recommended.

As to reading, the blog Byzantine Military is a nice one. Jumps between various topics.

Lecture series on the Byzantines.

Video series on Byzantine Emperors & Varangian Guard


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Vetian Vermin Guard

Concept art of guard unit for the Vermin Swarm of Avras in Vetia. Heavily inspired by the artwork of Simulayton, who mix in extra elements of ancient styles (inspired by the Macedonian renaissance) to aesthetically underline that Byzantium is nothing but Rome.

Guesswork: These Ratmen overthrew the strongest Human empire to ever emerge in temperate Vetia during ancient times, and then proceeded to lord over a shrinking realm where they tried to maintain the captive high culture and material achievements (such as architecture and engineering) of ancient Avras through a bitter cycle of ruination, repair, setbacks and decay. Through ages of struggle this mighty people lost their dominion bit by bit as they had to battle against foes beyond counting on more fronts simultaneously than could be managed. As such their history beat to a pulse of slow, drawn-out yet inexorable decline, where dips into dark ages may be followed be resurgent might and reconquest, and even brief golden ages of blossoming population, wealth and culture, only to see corruption, decadence, disease, treachery and fell fortune topple their restored ascendancy and cast the Vermin Swarm anew into a maelstrom of struggles against overwhelming odds. Diplomatic sowing of divisions abroad, choice assassinations of enemy leaders, and baffling grand strategy (centered upon their capital of Avras) all allowed the Ratmen to carry their beset empire through ages of chaos and destruction. For it was cunning, more so than raw strength, which saw them win through to survive for yet more ages of war and disasters.

Yet nothing lasts forever. Avras of the Vermin Swarm is fallen, for the fabled crossroad city is once again in Human hands for the first time in many millennia. Yet the Ratmen will never accept this loss, for theirs is the power and glory...

The overarching story of Avras in the Ninth Age is a parody of a parody. For it taps into the commonplace way in which the long history of the Roman realm, ever since the Enlightenment and Gibbons in particular, is unthinkingly wrought into a parody of the past, with half of Roman history (the mediaeval half) being artificially separated from its own antiquity by the label of Byzantine - a name which still has a good ring to it. These Byzantines then have their scandalous parts and failings highlighted, while skipping over the fact that this declining realm managed to hold on for an astounding number of centuries in the face of way too many enemies beating down upon it from too many fronts at once. The reality of the mediaeval Roman Empire is a fascinating and bitter story of a realm and culture that had long since passed its peak, yet still refused to lie down and die where greater powers of its era went under the bus. The parody version casts the Byzantine Empire as little more than a tiresome parade of monks, eunuchs, craven defeats, stupendous titles, and incessant palace murders and civil wars: And so what can be more fitting than to take hold of the parody, and run it to the hilt in fantasy fiction through Byzantine Ratmen?

After all, both Warhammer Fantasy's Skaven (the most original of Games Workshop's major WHFB armies, and one not based upon any historical culture) and the historical Romans/Byzantines do have mediaeval flamethrowers and treachery in common.

Enter, the Vermin Swarm of the Ninth Age.

Please share feedback and ideas of your own!



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Catarat

In honour of a nascent tabletop scourge that brooks no challengers - namely, the infamous cowboy of Eisenhans - with a Byzantine twist: Behold the heavily armoured Catarat monstrous cavalry!

Cataphract pun. Note draco rat standard and X-shaped amulets with the symbol of the Last Human Ruler of Avras Quartered by Four Vermin Hulks hanging from the rat and human skulls beneath the ostentatious saddle. Note also rivetted metal plates strapped to the undersides of the mount's paws, to protect against caltrops. Note also rivetted metal plates strapped to the undersides of the mount's paws, to protect against caltrops. The lamellar armour of the Monstrous Rat is bedecked with a rope harness sporting tiny bells, ringing out to the enemy general or head wizard, for whom the bells toll...
 
Over on the Ninth Age, there is a different homebrew ratman army book brewing: Vermin Anteaters.

As a homage to that intuitive image of bipedal anteater-men, here's an African cousin of the anteater family, an aardvak. I hope there's space enough for all manner of mammals-turned-humanoids in this shunned horde of mound-dwellers and anteaters? Dress from Dogon ceremonial warrior attire (you gotta love how less-is-more didn't count back in the day when these styles where developed). Being fantasy, the below concept takes the over-the-top step of turning ceremonial stiltwalking into a tool used by anteater monster hunters, for you need to reach high to slay those big beasties:

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Reference board:

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Aotarakoa Saurian

The Ninth Age (T9A) concept art for fantasy Indonesian Saurian armed with copper klewang, based upon Nias warrior garb. The Nias tribe were famous headhunters and warriors who carved wooden figures and small stone monuments for their houses. Saurian inspired by the sterling sculpting work of Rikard.

The Saurian Ancients are Reptile peoples of the equatorial tropics who once ruled the entire world during the long First Age, yet their dominion was rent asunder by a giant comet followed by massive slave rebellions. The ascendant thralls of many different species went their own ways and founded civilizations and nomad hordes whose turbulent development have dominated all subsequent eight Ages. The Saurian Ancients are still great regional powers to be feared, however, for theirs is the pulsating might and olden glory of rich resources, and their claws and fangs are sharp even against foes bedecked in steel. As Vetian countries start to explore and colonize distant parts of the world during the Ninth Age, they come into frontal collision with the Saurian Ancients of Virentia, Taphria and southeastern Augea.

And this struggle between man and lizard is by no means a foregone conclusion...

Reference images:

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Virentian Dwarves of the Wrathful Mountains

Ladies and gentlemen, the historically based fantasy world of Warhammer, beyond naval expeditions, found one way of pitting Dwarfs against Lizardmen. This was by the means of the lost hold of Karak Zorn in the Southlands, having Lizardmen in their southern vicinity. (Karak Zorn always had a vibe of Prester John about it, but it was ultimately not meant as a realm of Ethiopian fantasy Dwarves.) However, a brief glance at history will make it instantly clear that Warhammer (for all its brilliance) missed an open goal for pitting Dwarfs against Lizardmen, and thus missed a chance of making Lustria itself into something more than an almost purely Lizardmen continent.

We're of course speaking about the Andean civlizations, of which the Inca Empire with its well-organized army is the most famous, but which also include such cultures as the Moche, Caral and Nazca, to name a few. Lord-Triceratops on Deviantart has already dabbled some with the concept of Incan fantasy Dwarves, including their use of domesticated Glyptodons. Let the Ninth Age be the first major fantasy setting to sport Incan fantasy Dwarves: Mountain dwellers, miners and skilled metal workers who build terraces, roads and towns in stone on altitudes few other peoples would even consider to climb.

Sounds Dwarven enough? Then let's head for the Wrathful Mountains in faraway Virentia, and follow the rumours of gold!

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Just to get the ball rolling, here are some proposals: The Virentian Dwarves of the Wrathful Mountains have been isolated from all others of their kin since the most ancient ages. Originally imported as mining slaves for the Saurian Ancients during the distant First Age, these Dwarrows endured a longer slavery than others of their kind, for they lived close to the Saurian power centers of tropical Virentia, and were among the few peoples who still endured the Saurian yoke for many centuries after the Heavenly Mace set others free. Nevertheless, the great comet still set in motion a long and arduous struggle for freedom, for the bands of escaped rebel slaves waged a long guerilla campaign in the mountains and in the mining tunnels.

After a long and bloody struggle, the Dwarves of the Wrathful Mountains drove out their former Saurian overlords. Freed at long last, these Dwarves peopled the long mountain chain and heavily fortified their nigh-inaccessible dwellings, building kingdoms and city-states that battled Goblins, Saurian Ancients and each other alike. Slowly, and through many blood-soaked setbacks, the Dwarves spread throughout the great Virentian mountainss, and emerged from the highlands to colonize some of the coastal lowlands to the west. And to this day they will make any Saurian intruders come to regret their quest for regaining lost glory, for the Wrathful Mountains were thus named for a reason.

The Dwarves of the Wrathful Mountains are little known outside their towering homeland, yet legends speak of great realms of strong armies and finely carved stones laid upon stones, of giant mines, of master smiths toiling with copper and gold, and of great builders of roads, farming terraces and rope bridges that defy the soaring landscape. And most of all, the rumours speak of treasures beyond the dreams of mortals...

There are lots of questions, if you buy into the idea of Andean Dwarves in the first place:

Are these Dwarven Holds, or Infernal Dwarves?

Should T9A go for an all-encompassing empire like the Inca, or go for a smattering of independent Dwarven Holds?

The former conform to the Renaissance reality, the latter to the older historical reality of the Andes, and may open up for more local variation and opportunities for rowdy infighting.

How advanced are these Virentian Dwarves?

Given the Inca's comparatively sophisticated grasp of technology, torsion war machines could possibly suit their fantasy counterparts, since Dwarves are more mechanically minded than humans, and live longer thus not wasting all that accumulating knowledge and skills on an early grave, resulting in higher levels of technology. What do you think?

What about slings, spear-throwers and bows instead of crossbows as infantry ranged weapons to underline the lower level of technology compared to Dwarves of all kinds found in Vetia, Augea and Taphria?

There are many fields of opportunity to the ardent thinker here, so please contribute your ideas and criticisms to this brainstorming!

This is a natural extension of Northern Dwarves, Kegiz Gavem and Dwarves of the Copper Mountains. There can be no such thing as too many Dwarfs. ;)

Roll out your thoughts on these potato-eating Dwarves and let's make the world of the Ninth Age distinct also in this quarter!

Cheers

Reference images:

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Chicha-Brewing Dwarf Womenfolk of the Wrathful Mountains

Everyday scene from the Virentian western highlands: Dwarven womenfolk brew chicha in the Wrathful Mountains, taking care to chew and spit out the raw corn drink in order for the saliva to improve the fermentation.

Reference images, including this artwork by Lord Triceratops:

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Incan Dwarf Warrior, by Lord-Triceratops

Recently one of my watchers suggested that I do more work on the Incan dwarves project of mine so he can show them to his Warhammer friends. My knowledge of Warhammer could barely fill a Post-it note (there's a bunch of people at war. Hammers are involved. The [lexicon]40K[/lexicon] version is in space, with big dudes in big armor, and there's an Emperor). The important thing is I get to draw more cultural dwarf pictures, so I said okey-dokey.

Admittedly I took this guy's uniform from a quick Google search for "Incan warriors." From what I could tell, most of the uniform was made of cloth even though the Incans had access to bronze, gold, and leather goods. There had to be more protective gear out there. The big gold (probably bronze) disc in the middle could protect the heart and vitals, but the [lexicon]shield[/lexicon] I saw looked downright puny, and the helmet even seemed to have a bullseye in the middle! Still, these guys would be climbing up and down the Andes mountains all day, so there is some merit to wearing something light and warm. The only thing I added were the leather shoulder pads and chest protection behind the disc. I'm thinking of adding a heavier armor to a new picture, but right now I leaned more towards the cultural accuracy. One last thought, I think the reference picture I used showed an Incan officer, because that hat/helmet is way too flamboyant to just be for the front-line grunts. You'd wear that hat to be seen, and when you're commanding a thousand dudes with nothing but your voice and the way you're pointing your axe, being seen is important.

Here's my reference: https://thelosttreasurechest.wordpr...stration-series-part-lx/inca-warrior-with-ax/



Uther the Unhinged over on CDO have shared some great design thoughts for Virentian Dwarves:

Cool concept. I think you could have standard and infernal dwarves in the continent. It is a big place and mines would have been well separated leading to multiple revolutionary movement. Infernal dwarves obviously utilizing fire sorcery/daemons (sorry not T9A literate) and playing up the sacrifice aspect of Incan/Aztec culture. Possibly binding daemons into animals. The standard dwarves animating statues. Again to differ from other pld world dwarves the statues could be animal/totem based snake like caymen panther jaguar etc. Longer association with saurians might have led to more magic/rune binding. You could go down the lack of iron route with rune encrusted war clubs. Obsidian daggers, obsidian encrusted clubs (for both types). As for artillery again standard torsion engines with animal totemic themes fir standard dwarves but enslaved/mutated/daemon bound animals for infernal dwarves. Like tortured bloated snakes spitting incendiary venom as counts as firearms. Sort of twisted Lizardmen technology, which would fit fluff wize.

I hope you all agree that these are ideas well worth picking up on.

So now we need a name for the Virentian Dwarven Holds, and Infernal Dwarves, respectively. Proposals are most welcome!

One could of course base the Dwarven Holds more on e.g. Inca, and the Infernal Dwarves more on Moche or some other Andean culture. By the way, I warmly recommend everyone to check out coricancha's astounding Pre-Columbian tropical American gallery, filled to the brim with colourful illustrations and marvellous designs based on meticulous studies of archaeological finds in particular.

Uther the Unhinged had some further thoughts:

The uprising of the dwarves would have been sporadic and disunited due to geography and a clampdown by the saurian masters. Each mine (future hold) would develop differently. All paying religious homage to ?? Queznir (I know Quetzacoatl was aztec but he was famously bearded). However secet symbols and signs were used often utilizing local animals. Over the years these took on totemiic status rising as quasi-deities themselves. The defeat of the saurians was piecemeal each hold achieving independence at different times and often facing several attmpts to retake it. Thus it was years before the dwarves (the Quezcuz as they call themselves) started to contact each other.
Magic stolen /learned from the saurians is used to infuse stone statues of their totemic animals. Arcuballistae, bows spears atlatlt stone headed tomahawk like axes and mauls. Armour rune/totem bound leather or padded cloth. Iron usage is unknown. Shields wicker?. But gold and silver adornment common. All totems are bird, mammal or fish. Reptillian and amphibian totems are taboo given the link to their hated saurian oppressors. Now contactbetween holds maintained by giant condor.


However not all mines followed the same path. Some came across knowledge of the infernal (again not sure of T9A fluff so this needs work). This great mine too eventually won its freedom using the infernal skills they had developed under the guidance of their infernal god (Haztet? Gotto reference the father of darkness somewhere). The dwarves of this mine (the Hazcuz) used magic to bind deamons into anomals to fight for them (rather than statues). With the overthrow of the saurians they used the reptiles of their previous masters as beasts of war and burden (twisting them with their infernal magic). Far from avoiding reptillian iconography the Hazcuz subverted it. Thus it was that when the Hazcuz made contact with other freed dwarves they were not greeted as long lost cousins but as evil blasphemers. Several Quezcuz holds united against these heretics and besieged them. Faced with overwhelming odds and the threat of extinction they broke out from the suege and embarked on ‘the long trek’. Effectively a running battle with pursuing Quezcuz, Saurians seeking to recapture them, grenskins and others.
The trek lasted over 2 years. It did not end till the Hazcuz were driven from their mountain home to the lowland and escaped the pursuing Quezcuz in the jungle. Eventually they reached a land where they felt safe (unsure if this should be far south Terra del Fuego or Mexico). a hot forbidding land. Here they built their step puramids in memory of their lost mountain home. If you go with the Mexico option you can go full aztec.
Magic is using runes/reptillian totems to bind infernal spirits into creatures thus empowering them ?twisting? them but seriously reducing their life span (they literally! Burn out) runes/totems branded on (fire dwarves yay). Weaponry bucklers of alligator hide. Armour of toughened reptile skin. Wooden Warclubs (see plains indian warclubs) with obsidian studs/shards. ?slings? Spears. Animals adapted as weapons eg venom spitting reptile held as hand arms etc.
There that is me done. It was a long drive today.

Warden over on Lustria Online had this idea for Nazca line-styles carving to tie in with aircraft:

Warden":80dpgo7c said:
Hey I really like the Inca Dwarf concept! That would fit the dwarfs into the "lizardmen" realm really easily.

I think the colossal stone/golem structure in the bottom of this picture would make a great inca-dwarf contraption:

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I also like the idea of the dwarfs being behind some kind of "Nazca Lines" construction. Maybe they were able to engineers these marvels by using a gyrocopter-like device? Or hot air balloons?

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Polar Dwarf Warrior

Ladies and gentlemen, do you agree that we gotta have Inuit Dwarves for the Ninth Age?

Thickly built Dwarves are well suited to survive in extreme environments, not least by the craftiness of their hands and minds. Polar Dwarves are to be found in the inhospitable climate of remotest Silexia to the far north. They are great hunters and fabled traders of ivory who seldom encounter people from the outside world. This warrior is armoured in bone lamellar with laminar back "wings" for rear protection. Note snow goggles.

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Inspired by the Stiffbeard in Sergio Artigas' Lotr Dwarf masterwork. His description for the Middle-Earth Dwarrows, for inspirational reference:

Stiffbeards: Renowned Craftsman, they make their homes in ice caves on the vast frozen lands up north, starting around the ice bay of Forochel and all the way down in between the mountains of Angmar and the grey mountains (Ered Mithrim). Very secretive and peaceful, they avoid taking part in any troubles from the outside world at any costs. Despite their secretive ways, they are also accomplished merchants, and regularly travel vast spans of the frozen lands to trade with many diverse cultures. The items they create from exotic materials such as Ivory and bones from sea monsters are very sought after, in particular their fabled toys. Stiffbeards are ultimately free spirits, lovers of music, stories and the tribe above everything else.

I'll have to be brief for the moment being. Please share your thoughts, ideas and criticism. There are a lot of fertile historical and mythological material to tap into for brainstorming about Eskimo Dwarves, and of course wacky fantasy potential in general for the Arctic region.

Let's make this happen! :)

A few reference images:

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Inuit Polar Dwarf by DracrysDrekkar7

Artwork by DracarysDrekkar7, being an Inuit fantasy Dwarf concept for the Karuits of Remotest Silexia of the Ninth Age. This artist has a deft hand at illustrating fantasy, capturing both an impression of rugged life and craft refinement in fine detail.

Check out his Deviantart gallery and leave him a comment! :)


Here we have a possible sidetrack of development for our Polar Dwarves: They remain an open question.

When I first shared this Arctic Dwarven Holds concept on Chaos Dwarfs Online, Uther the unhinged was fired up with visions of Infernal Dwarves in the cold north:

Uther the unhinged":2zma0az8 said:
"Ooooh can we have polar bears with tusks, pleeeeese!

.........and ice golems......giant scary walrus ice golems........ and penguins (I know they are southern hemisphere, but I like them), giant penguins er just because. Tiny hairy snotling slaves riding giant artic foxes as scouts, messengers, cleaners, cooks and food if it gets too cold. Sleds pulled by white wolves (with bony spikes all over it). More penguins. I think I should go to work before I get too excited."

Now there seem to be a slight chance that Uther's unhinged vision may come to life! See saint_barbara's comment beneath DracarysDrekkar7's Inuit Dwarf concept art (my emboldening):

saint_barbara":2zma0az8 said:
If we use it for the ID, I'll try to remember to thank all the "external contributors". If not - remind me :razz:

Which encouraged this two-part evocative brainstorming on Uther's part. We hadn't yet named the Polar Dwarves Karuits when I shared the concept on CDO, so he made up his own name (and a good one I'd like to add) which I'd very much like to share for T9A considerations. We could talk about the DH Polar Dwarf concept as Karuit, and the likewise ID concept as Khinqwit. Well worth the read, regardless of whether you subscribe to the idea or not:

Uther the unhinged":2zma0az8 said:
I’d only just finished this fluff for the polar ones.

The Khinqwit dwarves of the far north claim to be the oldest of the free races. They are certainly one of the hardest. They call themselves ‘the people’ and regard all others as enemies and slave races. Their myths go back to a time long before the sky hammer, hen their saurian slavemasters first took them to the mountains of the north to toil for the metals and gems they coveted. Stories tell of repeated slave breaks. How bands of desperate dwarves would force or tunnel their way to freedom. How the saurians would hunt them down, drag them back and butcher them in front of their comrades.
The myths also speak of Hakhawazharr of the Hard Path. Their first leader and founder of their race. They tell of his great escape with a large part of his people. They tell of how he planned it for mid winter when the saurians would be at their most sluggish. Hakhawazharr led his people north hoping to escape the pursuit. He chose the highest passes, the coldest tracks, the hardest paths.

The saurians disabled by the cold sent their hunters, trusted slaves trained in the recapture and execution of escapees. Bartered by the weather, harried by the hunters Hakhawazharr led his people ever northward, seeking for the Shackleless Land. The Shackeless Land where they would be free. The Shackleless Land where their enemies would not, could not follow. The Shackleless Land where only the hardiest, only the hardest could survive.

Hakhawazharr was never to see his promised land. He died saving his people and avenging his wife, squeezing the life from the last of the hunting packs that had followed them. In his passing he urged them ever northwards and taught them the mantra of trust:

Trust not the Lizard, he will enslave you.
Trust not the Elf, he will ensnare you.
Trust not the Green of Skin he will savage you.
Trust not the Manning, he will betray you.
Trust not your weakling brethren, they will seek to profit from you.
Trust only in the people, they will save you.

The people of Hakhawazharr took his words as stone and turned their faces from the sun. Northwards they went till they reached the Shackleless Land of ice and snow where no Lizard could and no Hunter would follow them. Into the white desert they went trusting to the words of Hakhawazharr. Builders that they were they cut blocks from the ice and snow and huddled inside whilst hunters searched for sustenance in that white desert. Yet even with the meagre food they would have perished were it not for the first Shaman, Azthrogeh. It was he who went into the blizzard that night. He went to sacrifice himself. He went so there would be more food for the others. He went to find peace. He found fire! None know the truth of it. Or none will tell, for it is one of the great mysteries of ‘the people’. Yet it is said that Azthrogeh found the ‘Eternal Flame’, and that this entity that the people revere as a god taught Azthrogeh the secrets of sorcery so he might bring warmth to ‘the people’s side they might live.

Little is known of the religion of the Khinqwit, for it is taboo to write the truths down and punishable by death to reveal them to others. That they worship fire in some form is known. Yet unlike other races they do not use it in warfare. Fire is regarded as a sacred thing and to knowingly extinguish a flame is a great sin. That they have magics to create and maintain fire is also known but they would never ‘bless’ an enemy by bestowing this gift upon them. That their god requires blood is also known only too well by those unfortunates who have the misfortune to fall into their grasp, The north is a hard place and it breeds a hard people. Weakness is death, pity is weakness, only the strong survive up there.

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By reason of their geographical position and self imposed isolation the Khinqwit dwarves of the North developed separately from others of their kin. This and the sheer lack of mineral resources mean their technological level is far behind most races. This has led many to foolishly and indeed fatally underestimate them. Their animal skin clothes serve not only to keep them warm but provide remarkable protection. This is thought to come from the many small symbol carved ivory and bone charms stitched carefully into them. These are thought to provide both increased warmth but also magical protection. Similarly the long ivory knives and short bone spears should by all rights shatter against the armour of more modern cultures. Yet just as water can be hard as iron when frozen so these symbol carved weapons have a strength and sharpness well beyond that which they should. Woe betide the foe who comes across one of their leaders with bartered or stolen metal weapons! These are bedecked with charms and symbols rendering them truly terrifying in combat. Many Khinqwit carry short bows of surprising power. These symbol carved bone and sinew creations fire barbed shafts of bone with deadly accuracy over short distances. Worse still the tips are coated with some unknown poison which chills the blood of the victim. This will often kill smaller victims with just a scratch and several hits will slow even the great giant walruses that frequent the icy shores.
These ‘backward’ dwarves have been forced to find other ways than technology to survive and as such are possibly the most accomplished of all their kin in the mtstic arts. Each group of warriors or hunters will contain a shamatheh, a lesser shaman. These shamatheh draw on the combined power of the charms in the group to weave a storm of ice and snow round them to hide them from missiles and chill their enemies. With enough warriors gathered together the shamatheh can direct blasts of icy shards at their enemies. The full shamen, the shamanatheh can whip up blinding snows or devastating ice storms, where lumps of ice as big as a helmet can crash to the ground pulverise their enemies.
However the greatest weapon of the Khinqwit is their ferocity. Warriors have been known to fight on with horrific wounds driven by a frenzy of hate.

Most contact with the Khinqwit is by the few hardy traders that travel to the edge of the Shackleless land. There they will barter metal goods for the ivory and skins the Khinqwit hunters bring. Few ever see the scattered settlements of the Khinqwit that dot the ice. Yet stories abound of great settlements far to the north of great ice carved walls and terrible rituals. Few scholars credit these wild tales. How could that desolate waste support a large population? They are only a few scattered tribes, they say. But spend time in the north among the people’s who live close to the ice and you will hear tales. Tales of the darkest winters, when the wind blows from the north and the trees burst with cold. Tales of Khinqwit marching in dreadful silence. Led by Shamanatheh atop huge tusked white bears. Tales of hunting packs of great white wolves. Tales of Khwinqqigo. Terrifying creatures of snow ice and hate. Khwinqwigo, said to be the daemonic souls of Khinqwit driven to cannibalism in life called back to serve the shamanatheh. You will hear the names of settlements that were thriving before the winter snows cut them off and were found in Spring shattered empty shells, lifeless and silent. It is a tribute demanded by their god the eternal flame some say. There is nothing to be done. It is just the way of things. Anyway it is only in the coldest of winters......

It seems there are mysteries up there in the cold, dark north... :grin:
 
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Dwarf of the Maidens


The Maidens mountain range in Equitaine may be a reference to the Massif Central of France, moved up northwest and stretching into the equivalent of Brittany. At a guess, the Maidens from foothills to mountain tops may harbour settled Equitainians and human brigands alike, as well as monsters in general, Greenskin highlanders and some minor Dwarven Holds (because it would be a wasted opportunity to not have some living Dwarven presence here, aside from ruined overrun Holds). As to Dwarves, let's take these mountains as an open invitation to propose that the most Celtic-based of Vetian Dwarves live in the Maidens, and possibly the Dwarves of the Maidens could be the closest link in the occassional and fragile contact between Vetian and the Northern Dwarves. The Dwarves of the Maidens, being peripheral compared to the Dwarrows of the White Mountains, would not be a particularly strong driving force in the Vetian Dwarves' innovations and scientific discoveries, though they would fully partake of this culture of shared knowledge and technology, and their arsenal would essentially be the same. The aesthetic style and dialect, however, would be distinct.


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As of present, Westwind Productions' Dwarf Wars range (both Shaven and Scots) contain some kits that could be of interest for anyone wishing to inject even more Celtic styles into their Dwarves, and there are probably other models in a similar vein from other companies.

Please share your ideas, comments and criticism for this quick Dwarven culture proposal. :)


Reference images (concept drawing partially inspired by Sergio Artigas' Lotr artwork of Firebeards):

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Some interesting input for this concept:

Ghiznuk":1uy71axk said:
I'm a quarter Auvergnat and I totally confirm that my grandma was very Dwarvish. Although a well-educated one.
Auvergnat people traditionally were coal-sellers in all French major cities. Although my grandma's family moved to Belgium in the 1920s to sell pots and kitchenwares.
They have big moustaches and a special « sh » accent.
Their cows look pretty dwarvish, too.

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C-P Models' Celtic Dwarfs:

infamousme":1uy71axk said:
Just gonna unload these here.
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Of possible interest, although some may need shortening: Highly interesting new bitz: Ancient shield sprues from Victrix now available separately. See Celtic shields.

Gallic shield pack

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Some salty sea thoughts from Zygmund over on Warhammer Empire:

Zygmund":1uy71axk said:
Since the NW Maidens essentially create a mountainous peninsula similar to Brittany, with a long shoreline and abundant protected harbours, how about Dwarf sailors?

Would these Dwarfs have a trading relationship with the High Elf sea empire? How would that have influenced their culture? Did the Elfs perhaps force them away from the coasts?

Not that the Dwarfs of the Maidens couldn't have their own oldschool cow-herding highlanders. But the main aspects of their culture, visible to outsiders, probably has a different outlook.

About Dwarf port towns and sailors: There is trade connecting The Empire with Destria, convoys of big ships, which circumvent the Maidens peninsula. They would need rather advanced port facilities if they dock. And dwarven engineering probably can provide such. So the Dwarfs of the Maidens could actually be quite good port/docks engineers. Also they might be regularly enlisted as ship craftsmen. I would imagine their physique wouldn't make them good sailors, climbing the masts and such, but where strength and stamina are needed, a Dwarf could earn more than a deck hand.
 
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Dwarf of the Crimson Peaks

The Crimson Peaks of southwestern Vetia in the Ninth Age, corresponding to the Pyrenees mountain range, is a chance to once and for all correct Warhammer Fantasy's error of having virtually no Dwarf presence at all in the mountains of their version of Iberia, namely Estalia. These wild mountains could be filled with Human highlanders, monsters, Orcs & Goblins, and minor Dwarven Holds. The Dwarrows of the Crimson Peaks could be based on the ancient Celtiberians (connecting to the Celtic basis of many Vetian Dwarves), whose lengthy resistance to Rome finally ended with the great siege of the oppidum Numantia. Like the Dwarven Holds of the Maidens mountain range, the Crimson Peak Dwarves would be on the periphery of Vetian Dwarfkind, yet fully part of this region's culture of shared Dwarven technology, having thus essentially the same equipment for war. The aeshtetic style and dialect of the Crimson Peak Dwarves would however be distinct.


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Just remember that relentless Dwarves do not even know what siesta is!


Please share your ideas, comments and criticism for this quick Dwarven culture proposal. :)


Reference images:

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See also:
Dwarven Holds of the Maidens (T9A Celts)
Dwarven Holds of the Crimson Peaks (T9A Celtiberians)
Nekoshim: Dwarven Holds of the Copper Mountains (T9A Nabateans)
Dwarven Holds of the Wrathful Mountains (T9A Inca)
Lost Islander Dwarves (T9A Rapa Nui)
Karuits: Polar Dwarves of Remotest Silexia (T9A Inuits)
Cave Dwarves of the Mountains of Gold (T9A Prehistorical)
Infernal Dwarves of the Torture Valleys (T9A Moche)
Borean Elves (T9A Finno-Ugrians)
Saurian Ancients of Aotarakoa (T9A Indonesia)
 
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Dwarven Holds of the Sky Foothills

Ladies and gentlemen, let us better not leave eastern Augea without some Dwarven presence: That would be all too predictable run-of-the-mill poor form for a fantasy setting. Although the equivalent of Korea could work well as a basis given their history of innovation (most famously with the turtle ships employed during two 1590s Japanese invasions of Korea), the lack of mountains there on the world map would seem to advise to leave Korea be for fantasy Human duty (and likewise we cannot infringe upon the equivalent of Japan/Nippon, wa or not). As such, let us instead turn to the highlands of Southeast Asia with its hill tribes, who can serve well as basis both for Human, Dwarf and Greenskin peoples in this region of the Ninth Age World. In the case of the above concept drawing, the Akha has been used for aesthetic inspiration, along with the bronze age Dong Son culture and the distinct Shan Wei Kai type of armour from Song dynasty China.

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Here is a background proposal to get the ball rolling:

During the long First Age, the Saurian Ancients of great Aotarakoa imported and bred Dwarf Slaves, whom they drove by whip and claw to mine the southern Sky Mountains for valuable minerals. The Skyhammer that set all slaves free did likewise in these parts of Augea, and these easterly Dwarves eastblished kingdoms all along the range of the southern Sky Mountains, and very slowly their prospectors and settlers began to work their way northward, under this massive mountain range. However, the ages of chaos anad barbarity that followed, took a heavy toll on the Dwarrows of the Sky Mountains, and through many millennia of ceaseless back-and-forth warfare (filled with setbacks and temporary reconquests) they were eventually driven out of almost all their ancestral holdings. Refugees fled east, away from the overrun Holds and into the Sky Foothills that extended in a southeastern spur from the mountains, and bolstered the small and humble mining and hunting colonies which settlers had already established in these highlands. What had once been their backwater periphery, now became their living homeland, and the Dwarves of the Sky Foothills fought tooth and nail to defend their kin and survive out in these harsh environs. At length, their industrious work and relentless warfare halted their long and steep decline, and at last these easterly Dwarves were reasonably secure in their fortified foothill Holds.

Their legends abound with the great and lost splendour of the southern Sky Mountains which their ancestors once peopled, though in truth the Dwarves of the Sky Foothills have managed to carve out respectable Holds in their own right, filled with the brilliance and ingenuity which Dwarven hands have wrought, and sporting large underground halls and tunnel networks. Despite their living glory, these Dwarves consider themselves petty for having been forced out of the soaring Sky Mountains and forced to live in their shadow. In their hearts smoulder a desire to reclaim their lost kingdoms or at least find their lost treasures, and occassionally small bands of adventurers set out westward during times of strength, plenty and booming population. Most such expeditions do not return, but disappear amid the fabled peaks that spear the underbelly of the sky, brought low by much the same savages that conquered their original homeland.

The most northerly of the Sky Foothill Dwarves have been pulled strongly into the orbit of Longjing. Although their instinct to resist the Human expansion at all costs was strong and initially resulted in some fierce highland wars against Tsuandan frontier armies, the bitter wisdom learnt from the humiliation and catastrophic loss of their ancestors contributed greatly to these northern hill Dwarves eventually kowtowing to the Emperor, accepting the suzerainty of a Human overlord, with some retained autonomy of their own. Occassionally, heavily armoured contingents of vassal Sky Foothill Dwarves can be seen marching with the Imperial Banners of Grand Tsuandan, and more than one host of foes at distant fronties have been annihilated amid their surprise at facing the pent-up wrath of these warlike and unexpected Dwarf auxiliaries.

Many centuries of constant warfare have shaped the culture of these highlander Dwarves into a martial one. Their boys and menfolk practice violent forms of wrestling and boxing to build up strength and better overcome enemies in a tight struggle, and their heavily fortified Holds and clan outposts resound to the weapon practice of young and old alike. For the Dwarves of the Sky Foothills know all too well that war may utterly ruin the losing party. And so they fight to live and live to fight, and harbour hateful grudges indeed against those filthy hordes that overran their ancestral mountain homes.

As of late, these old scars have been opened raw anew. For the Dwarven Holds of the Sky Foothills were outraged at finding their benighted cousins from the west construct the Steel Road right through the heart of their lost homeland. As the Steel Road gnawed closer to their highlands, many Holds (both independent ones and those under the formal yoke of Tsuandan) have repeatedly sent money, arms and contingents of vengeful warriors, who band together in the westmost Sky Foothills and set out to attack the Infernal Dwarves that build and guard the infamous Steel Road. The slavemasters have found themselves bogged down in this area, being forced multiple times to repair sabotaged sections of track, replace lost slave labour and send out armies to safeguard the Steel Road and strike preemptively at the tenacious Dwarrows of the Sky Foothills.

Please share your ideas, comments and criticism for this quick Dwarven culture proposal. :)

Reference images:

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Uther the unhinged over on Chaos Dwarfs Online had ideas to share (yaks are not southeast Asian creatures, but poetical fantasy license could have yaks brought down from the Sky Mountains, and maybe bred for shorthaired versions):

Uther the unhinged":xle40gim said:
Their peak weapon could be a mechanical Chinese dragon. Could be a golem pr part armoured personnel carrier, winding across the battle field breathing fire then disgorging dwarves to assault the enemy.

If you want a a less tNot sure of the History and geography here but would they have Yaks? Armoured Yaks would be awesome. Certainly mountain goats could provide cavalry with crossbow wielding dwarves on their back. These would be perfect for the hit and run warfare against the infernal dwarves. The repeating crossbow was a Chinese inventing so might be appropriate too.

Gunpowder would fit. To distinguish them from their infernal cousins no fire arms or steampunk but how about hand held bombs, the old cartoon round things with fizzing fuses. Rockets too, but small scale easily portable. Maybe mortars but again small scale. I am thinking of the old ?3rd ed chaos dwarf 2 man(dwarf) mortar team.

The thinking behind this (other than the dragon) is that their traditional homelands do not lend themselves to large scale open warfare. Similarly any attempt to hold back the massive imperial armies from the Easton open battle would have been catastrophic. Therefore these mountain dwarves would have developed a style of warfare(above ground) of rapid hit and run guerrila style. Think of the wars in Afghanistan over the centuries. So you would have fixed phalanxes of heavy armoured dwarves for below ground warfare but rapid moving/mobile forces above. Goat riding cavalry, hopefully an excuse for yak residing heavy cavalry. Grenadiers, small 2dwarf mortar or rocket teams, maybe with a goat or yak attached so the could fire and move rapidly to new positions

What do you think? I could be biased in my thinking coz I want yaks!
 
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Dwarven Holds of Aseadal Peaks

As was discussed here, let's propose T9A to have both a fantasy Human Korea (quite much a given, to be expected) with a few Dwarven Holds in its numerous mountains (not a given). Let's pick Aseadal as a working name for this land, for the moment being; by taking Asadal (the name for the mythical first Korean city, founded by [url='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dangun]Dangun[/url], a God-King descended to Earth) and inserting "ea" from the end of Korea for a mash-up. In the concept drawing above, the Dwarves of Aseadal Peaks take aesthetic cues from both Korean bronze age culture (especially the Liaoning type dagger), and the ironworking Gaya confederacy (42-562 A.D.) of the Three Kingdoms era, with its famous plate armour suits. The hexagonal shield shape is borrowed from Baekje, contemporary of the Gaya in the peninsula.

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To distinguish the more heavily armoured Dwarrows of T9A's fantasy Korea from the proposed Sky Foothill Dwarves, all Dwarven Holds within Aseadal ought to be independent of the Human kingdom surrounding them, as is the norm for isolated Dwarven Holds elsewhere in the world. Having Dwarven Holds within the borders of Grand Tsuandan be subject to the Human Emperor is one way to play up the sheer exceptional power of Tsuandan (able to cow even Dwarves bunkered up in their heavily fortified highland Holds, and thus field some Dwarven auxiliaries in her armies), while the Aseadal Dwarves face a normal separated situation visavi the Humans around them.

Please share your ideas, comments and criticism for this background proposal, folks. :)


Uther the unhinged on CDO had these ideas to share:

Uther the unhinged":erbmqp6d said:
The Korean’s famed for archery therefore the dwarves would need to counter this. One way is heavy plate armour. Another would be wall shields (stretched hexagonal). They would need missile weapons too. To distinguish them from other dwarves maybe no set firearms but hand held miniature rockets launched along a wooden track like a cross bow without the bow. You could have a series of these ranging all the way up to large rocket batteries. Crossbows too could be used but stylistically with Korean heavily recurved bows. Maybe phalanxes of spear wielding heavy infantry protecting rocket batteries and lines of heavy armed half held rocketeers. You could convert crossbowmen with removing the bows adding a rocket and a backplate behind it. These guys would need beard plates and face armour. Possibly the stylised face plate of late shogun era. They would need protection from the air... what about leaders on winged Kirin? Magical horned winged goats of the Mountains.
The independence of these holds could be maintained similar to the Swiss of the 16th century. Too much effort to conquer and happy to be hired as mercenaries by the empire to the west. Whilst acting as a barrier to that empires expansion into the human lands of the peninsula to the east
 
Nekoshim of the Copper Mountains

Copied from over here, as a glimpse into T9A background brainstorming. Feel free to join in that thread as well.

As originally proposed here, let's spice up the map with more Dwarves! Namely, Dwarves in the Copper Mountains (Atlas Mountains equivalent). Not Vetian Dwarves, but descending from ancient Infernal Dwarf colonists fleeing ravages during gone ages and seeking wealth, who settled in the distant Copper Mountains and lost close contact with their eastern kin in the following ages of chaos. During these eras of war, the Infernal Dwarf main body to the east turned toward heinous methods to survive and even prosper in an vicious world of savage hordes and marauding tribes battering their fortified cities: They started to enslave Daemons and mortals alike, dabbling in forbidden arts and pursuing power at any cost. Power to survive, to fight back, to dominate those who once beset them with superior force.

Not so the westerly cousins of the Infernal Dwarves, who developed in isolation and claims to have never turned to arts Daemonic. While a Dwarven folk apart from Gavemites, Vetians and Northern Dwarves alike, the mysterious Copper Dwarves have also become a tribe separate from their original kinsmen in the Infernal east, an uncorrupted branch of the benighted Infernal Dwarf tree.

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I've got neither intention nor time of turning this into Homebrew army book with hopes of something making it into an official Dwarven Holds army variant, but if anyone wants to do so, then be more than welcome to move this to the Homebrew section! Just want to plant this seed firmly in the minds of T9A fluff writers and readers, and advance Dwarven interests in a milieu which is usually not associated at all with Dwarves in fantasy. Hopefully this gets the ball rolling enough for the Ninth Age team to pick up on the concept.

How does their culture look like? Any defining characteristics? Would a potential Copper Dwarf army list variant sport any unique things? Got ideas of your own? Please share!

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As something of a reference, we've got Nabatean Petra's rock-cut buildings. Much of the largest is in Graeco-Roman style, while other parts sport local styles familiar from Mesopotamia in particular, with a local twist (stepped ornaments).

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Below is a proposal on how Copper Mountain dwellers would fit into the wider world. Amharaq in particular could hold sway over many vassal Copper Mountain Dwarven Holds by long-standing treaties realizing Amharaq's military dominance into political influence and mutual economical benefit for both parties.

The southwest could be more rowdy, with only some Holds occassionally swearing allegiance to Al-Hisn (when forced or when it suits them), but mainly staying independent or acting independently under Amharaq's umbrella. Conflicts over land and water with local human highlanders and towns repeatedly flare up in the southwest, breaking an uneasy peace of occasional raiding. Copper Mountain Holds as a whole are not a united force with anything resembling a confederation, but a scattering of mainly subterranean settlements cleaving to their own interests and doing what it takes to survive and prosper. However, a gaggle of southeasterly Holds share a long-standing alliance against incursions from Hakim Nomads (dwelling on the desert frontier of the Copper Mountains), and will often unite their forces to exert control over key points along the eastern caravan route through the Great Desert, leading on to fabled Kegiz Gavem. Fortified oasis towns with date palms serve as resupply points for desert-trekking caravans, yet rule over the oasis towns have shifted many times from Copper Dwarven to Human hands. These towns sport a predominantly Human population, yet often with Copper Dwarven garrisons and overlords.

Note that the southern-most fork of the eastern route take a long detour around Rift Daemonic lands, while the northern fork to Kegiz Gavem is in eternal danger from Orcs & Goblin raiding from out of the northern Mountains of the Moon.

The ancient sea migration is obviously a reference to Sea People resettling to the west, and more particularly to Phoenician colonies in the Mediterranean.

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MM90 "Pilsner" by Clam


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Nekoshim Dwarf

Nekoshim Dwarf of the Copper Mountains with axe based on tabars and angular ornaments based on Persian patterns famous from Isfahan. This Dwarf's overall shape and pose is a reference to an MM90 miniature (as best seen here; "Pilsner" painted by Clam), while his helmet design is inspired by this artwork of DracarysDrekkar7.

The Nekoshim of the Copper Mountains are a proposed Nabatean fantasy Dwarven culture of ancient cousins to the Infernal Dwarves, speaking a brother tongue of the Blasted Plains language. In ancient times, the Nekoshim migrated west across the seas to the Copper Mountains, and thus never experienced the dreadful plight which befell the Infernal Dwarves and led them to embrace dark forces in desperation and ruthless hunger for power and vengeance. While the Nekoshim have experienced their share of setback and loss, they have never become corrupted, or so they claim, and their numerous, disunited Holds remain a living part of the landscape. In the wider world of Dwarfkind, the Nekoshim are the link between the Vetian and Gavemite Dwarves.

Reference images:

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Artwork by DracarysDrekkar7, being a Nabatean fantasy Dwarf concept for the Copper Mountains of the Ninth Age. This artist has a deft hand at illustrating fantasy, capturing both an impression of rugged life and craft refinement in fine detail.

Check out his Deviantart gallery and leave him a comment! :)
 
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Lost Islander Dwarf

My colleague Tjub (of the Tjublings) wanted me to draw a south sea dwarf, and so here it is! The islands of the Pacific Ocean is not the first place one would think of Dwarves for, when converting real world history to fantasy, yet the famous Rapa Nui of Easter Island did carve (and transport) Moai statues out of stone, so they, if anyone, will serve for Dwarf duty. A good distance to the west of Easter Island lie the Kiribati islands, of which the warriors of Gilbert Islands were famous for their armour (overall and cuirass) woven out of coconut fibres, which protected the warrior elite against sharp tooth weaponry during ritualized combats which were not supposed to end in the death of the enemy (which would incur a fine of lost land for the killer). The warriors also wore porcupinefish headgear to top it all off. This exotic wargear required some skilled craftsmanship to produce, which is ever a must with Dwarves. And so I present to you this concept of the Dwarves of the Lost Islands, stranded out at sea to the west of Virentia:

While by far the most of the scattered islands of the giant ocea between Augea and Virentia-Silexia are inhabited by Humans (or other sentients), a corner of this vast sea harbour a pecularity which will surprise any explorer that ever happens to come upon it. For thrown out far from land and far from other isles are to be found the Lost Islands, formed in bygone eons by volcanoes. These volcanoes deposited some rich mineral deposits on some of the islands, which the world-dominant Saurian Ancients sought to exploit during the long First Age. As such the reptilian overlords imported Dwarves from their breeding pens and silver mines in Virentia's Wrathful Mountains, and set about strip-mining the ores and gemstones. This mining operation was carried out with great investments and vigourous slavedriving, and as the skyhammer fell, the underground of the islands were all but empty of minerals. The thunderous impact of the distant comet reverberated the world over, and under the Lost Islands it pulled out reinforced masonry that held back the sea.

Enormous quantities of water crashed into the mining tunnels and devoured almost everything and everyone left down there, drowning both master and slave and dashing their corpses against the rock. Yet some Dwarven slaves survived above ground, and some others managed to find shelter in underground caves into which the water could not rise, and then succeeded in swimming out from these pockets of air. The lucky divers emerged and set their brethren above ground free, and together they drove the remaining Saurians to extinction in a vicious series of running battles. Yet this celebrated victory was also the beginning of everlasting woes, for these wayward Dwarves were lost far out at sea, with no mountains in sight and no metal to mine and forge. Thus began their long isolation, during which the Lost Islanders made do with the materials at hand, and after a fashion they crafted their items with such raw materials as coconut fibre, wood, stone, shells and shark teeth.

Although the sun warms well, in their Dwarven hearts lurks an eternal yearning for mountains, and their songs tell of their longing and plight, and their stories are filled with wondrous lands beyond the horizon, which they however cannot in reality reach.


Reference images:

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See also:
Dwarven Holds of the Copper Mountains (T9A Nabateans)
Dwarven Holds of the Wrathful Mountains (T9A Inca)
Polar Dwarves of Remotest Silexia (T9A Inuits)
Infernal Dwarves of the Torture Valleys (T9A Moche)
Frost Elves (T9A Finno-Ugrians)
Saurian Ancients of Aotarakoa (T9A Indonesia-Malaysia)


Prince of Spires over on Ulthuan.net had this idea to share:

Prince of Spires":2i9h615u said:
These dwarves are just crying out to be using Rai stones as their currency.
Wikipedia":2i9h615u said:
The Micronesian island of Yap is known for its stone money, known as Rai, or Fei: large doughnut-shaped, carved disks of (usually) calcite, up to 4 m (12 ft) in diameter (most are much smaller). The smallest can be as little as 3.5 centimetres (1.4 in) in diameter.[1] Rai, or stone money (Yapese: raay[2]), are more than 6,000[3] large, circular stone disks carved out of limestone formed from aragonite and calcite crystals.[4] Rai stones were quarried on several of the Micronesian islands, mainly Palau,[5] but briefly on Guam as well, and transported to Yap for use as money. They have been used in trade by the Yapese as a form of currency.
The monetary system of Yap relies on an oral history of ownership. Because these stones are too large to move, buying an item with one simply involves agreeing that the ownership has changed. As long as the transaction is recorded in the oral history, it will now be owned by the person to whom it is passed and no physical movement of the stone is required.
Everything about it just fits dwarves. Made of stone. Based on tradition and history. Impractical.

It feels very Dwarfish to use a stone sunk to the bottom of the sea somewhere as a piece of currency, where it is used by orally passing it along without moving it.

Then again, thinking about it. This could of course be used as money for all dwarves everywhere.

Rod

W1siZiIsInVwbG9hZHMvcGxhY2VfaW1hZ2VzL2FkYWVhMmZjNDQyNTFlMTEzMV9QMTAxMDU5My5qcGciXSxbInAiLCJ0aHVtYiIsIngzOTA-Il0sWyJwIiwiY29udmVydCIsIi1xdWFsaXR5IDgxIC1hdXRvLW9yaWVudCJdXQ




Warhammer-Fan over on Deviantart had an idea for this corner of the equivalent of the Pacific Ocean:

Warhammer-Fan":2i9h615u said:
I can't draw for crap, but I can brainstorm. Remember the Pacific Islander Dwarves? Well, what about making the Goblins they fight like the Coconut-wearing creatures in Moana? Goblins wearing purple-painted coconut armor, who sail in massive ramshackle boats?
 
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