- "Where was Grimnir when our warriors were dying? Where was Valaya when our children sickened? When we called out for aid in the deep places where we delved, it was not Grungni who answered our call, but mighty Hashut who delivered us in our time of need. Who are the real traitors here? Our kin who abandoned us to madness and death or we who only sought to survive against the forces of Chaos? One day there will be a reckoning and it will be the Sons of the Father of Darkness who will have the victory, not the weak willed spawn of the pathetic Ancestor Gods."
- —Mordian Slagfist, Chaos Dwarf Warrior.[2a]
A Chaos Dwarf warrior in full battle-armour.
Chaos Dwarf Warriors are the black-iron clad footsoldiers of the Industrial Empire of the Dark Lands.
Contents
Overview
Each of these Chaos Dwarfs, in addition to being a craftsman or artificer, is also a highly trained and disciplined warrior, often with scores of years of battle to draw upon. This martial skill is matched only by their cruel desire to utterly crush anything that would dare oppose them and grind it under their heels. There are relatively few Chaos Dwarfs, and each and every one of them belongs to one of the Chaos Dwarf Sorcerers' body and soul.[1a]
Chaos Dwarfs are an unnerving sight in battle. They are brutish, grotesque figures plated in black or burnished armour of heavy plate and jagged scales, crowned with tall helms mounted with flame tongue spiked coronas or sharpened horns. Their livery is bright and bloody, and their distorted faces, if they are seen at all, are bestial and filled with malice. Their presence is intended to inspire fear in their foes, and they have lost none of the toughness or skill-at-arms of their western Dwarf kin. To them there are few greater pleasures than the bloody sundering of a foe be it by crushing axe-blow or the flesh-shredding volley of blunderbuss fire.[1a]
The acquisition of slaves is of paramount importance to the Chaos Dwarfs. Their warriors are at the forefront of any major raid to achieve this goal, and most forays they undertake beyond the borders of the Dark Lands are in furtherance of this, rather than for conquest. War bands and expeditionary armies of Chaos Dwarfs will often travel hundreds of miles in search of suitable living plunder, and while it is the Orcs and Goblins of the Worlds Edge Mountains that most often are subjected to their wrath, realms as far as Kislev and the Border Princes have both been subject to such attacks in living memory. The more captives a raid brings back, the more successful it is judged, and the greater prestige and honour is accorded, not only on the raid's leaders, but to each Chaos Dwarf warrior in measure to their station. Only by such vile endeavours can advancement be gained and ambition satiated.[1a]
