"Fools all. They know nothing of our great work, of what we have accomplished. Our kin will never progress while they continue to look to a meaningless past for guidance. The old Dwarf empires all fell, doesn’t that seem like a significant sign of their weakness? Their adherence to ‘tradition’ will be their downfall. I have accomplished feats with cannons, steam, and magic that they can only dream of. My people are prepared for the coming times, aligned with those who will be the final victors. We will have slaves in abundance for our aid to the forces of Chaos and that is well for it is blood that greases the cogs of Hashut’s sacred machines."
- —Vikram Flametongue, Chaos Dwarf Sorcerer[3a]
A Chaos Dwarf Daemonsmith forging a new, fell weapon.
Daemonsmiths, also known as Hell-Workers or simply Chaos Dwarf Sorcerers, are the sorcerers, priests and artificers of their society, ruling over the desolate Chaos Dwarf empire of Zharr-Naggrund in the Dark Lands with iron-fisted malice.[2a]
Their magical lore is terrible and ancient, and involves the study of machines, and the mastery of forge-craft, weapon-making and the terrible Chaos magics gifted to them by Hashut, the minor Chaos God of fire, greed and tyranny who is their divine patron. Combined, these create terrifying weapons and arcane machines of great power and destructive potential.[2a]
Role
"Part-mechanical engineer, part-black sorcerer. The very definition of heartless evil."
- —Description of a Daemonsmith from Total War: Warhammer III.
A Chaos Dwarf sorcerer-prophet, the oldest and most powerful of the Daemonsmiths, who accompanied the Chaos Dwarf allies that marched with the Warriors of Chaos horde of the Champion of Nurgle Tamurkhan the Maggot Lord during his invasion of the Empire in 2510 IC.
To survive the first eruption of the Realm of Chaos into the mortal world during the ancient Great Catastrophe, the Chaos Dwarfs turned to the service of the evil bull deity, Hashut, the minor Chaos God of fire, greed and tyranny, whom they call the "Father of Darkness." Hashut laid his "blessings" upon them and for the first time, true magic-users arose among the Dwarf race. The Chaos Dwarf Sorcerers now rule the rest of their people with absolute authority, for they are not only powerful sorcerers, they also serve as the ruling priesthood of Hashut.
The Daemonsmiths of the Dawi-Zharr are few in number, with perhaps no more than several hundred amongst the whole Chaos Dwarf race capable of wielding their savagely powerful combination of science and Chaos Sorcery. They possess no absolute hierarchy or single leader, although form and tradition dictates many layers and ranks of fealty and loyalty amid the great conclave of evil that is Hashut's Daemonsmith priesthood. Each is a political power in their own right, controlling sections of the great city of Zharr-Naggrund itself or one of the outer citadels, and each has their own workshops, forges, strongholds, slaves and soldiers who owe fealty directly to them.[2a]
The strongest voice among their kind, however, belongs to the oldest and most powerful of the Daemonsmiths, the high priests of Hashut known as "sorcerer-prophets," as well as to those special individuals on whom Hashut's blessings are bestowed. Age and knowledge are respected by the Chaos Dwarfs just as much as by the Dwarfs of the west, but tied up with this is a merciless intolerance of weakness common among those who serve Chaos, and favour and respect with them is only maintained through strength, wealth and sorcerous might which makes the politics of the priesthood of the Father of Darkness deadly at all turns.[2a]
In battle the Daemonsmiths of Hashut are terrifying and unpredictable opponents, their dark magics able to draw upon the fires of the earth and transmute the air to ash and choking smoke as well as fan the flames of hatred in the hearts of their followers. They are each also master artisans of war and may lend their skills to war machine crews or themselves bear savage and potent examples of their craft such as blackpowder weapons, mighty armour, flasks of burning alchemical oil, Daemon-bound blades and ensorcelled weapons. Each however must display great caution when they wield their occult power, for each spell they wield could also be their last.[2b]
Curse of Stone
A Daemonsmith as depicted in Total War: Warhammer III.
Daemonsmiths are strange and tortured beings, greatly skilled at the blending of magic into their ingenious engineering, science and craft, but cursed. Dwarfs were never meant to wield the Winds of Magic outside the strict confines and limitations imposed by Rune Magic, and the cost they must pay for such power is known as the "Curse of Stone."[3b]
Each Chaos Dwarf Sorcerer will, inevitably, one day slowly transform into an immobile, stone statue. The change starts with their feet, which turn grey and useless, before progressing throughout the rest of their body. Many of them, such as Astragoth Ironhand, the greatest and oldest of the Daemonsmiths, use their sorcerous engineering to construct new steam-driven bodies for a time, but they too eventually succumb to the curse. Their immobile forms now line the road leading to the capital of their mighty empire, Zharr-Naggrund, the City of Fire and Desolation.[3b]
However, there does exist a way for Daemonsmiths to escape the curse that hangs over them through the use of an incredibly rare alchemical substance, a form of liquified magical energy known as the Blood of Hashut. Using a refined recipe of this infernal mercury, the Daemonsmiths can induce petrification by proxy, circumventing the affliction by transposing it onto their enemies, allowing them to indulge in their sorcery without the penalty of certain death.[4]
Lore of Hashut
The Lore of Hashut is the unique lore of Divine Magic taught by Hashut only to his Daemonsmiths among the Chaos Dwarfs. It is a potent magical lore which expresses Hashut's command over the power of fire, tyranny and technology. The flame of the Father of Darkness kindles best in living flesh, and hungers to destroy.[2c][4a]
Notable Spells
A
- Ash Cloud - The sorcerer summons up a cloud of hot volcanic ash which appears under any unit.[1e]
- Ash Storm - Choking, scolding, blinding, superheated ash streams across the battlefield whenever this nasty little spell is cast by a Chaos Dwarf Sorcerer, scalding and blinding anything unfortunate enough to be caught in its path.[2c][4a]
B
- Breath of Hatred - The sorcerer's malice infects his chosen allies like an insidious malady, spurring them on to ever-greater depths of cruelty and savagery.[2c]
- Burning Wrath - The Daemonsmith calls forth the fires of the deep earth to send a torrent of white hot molten lava to immolate the foe.[4a]
C
- Curse of Hashut - Channelling the malediction that inflicts his own twisted body, slowly transforming it into stone, the Chaos Dwarf Sorcerer turns the dark curse of Hashut on others, causing their bones to petrify and their flesh to grow brittle and crumble to dust.[2c][4a]
D
- Dark Subjugation - The Father of Darkness is the god of fire, greed and tyranny, whose malignant force utterly crushes the will of his adepts' enemies, eroding their will to fight and their ability to defend themselves from the assaults of Hashut's Dawi-Zharr worshippers.[2c][4a]
- Doomroar - The sorcerer's eyes blaze with power and their head slowly begins to transform, taking on the aspect of the mighty Bull-God Hashut. Massive, twisted horns spout from their temples and large, flared nostrils belch forth smoke and fire. The transformed sorcerer lifts their bull-head and bellows forth a deafening roar across the battlefield. Friends hearing it are filled with courage, while enemies suffer a feeling of doom and dread.[1c]
E
- Eruption - The sorcerer chants words of power and smashes their staff on the ground. There is a low rumbling, then the ground erupts, spewing forth molten lava and clouds of hot ash.[1e]
F
- Fist of Fire - The sorcerer's hands are enwrapped with glowing bands of magical fire that snake out and envelope hand-to-hand-combat opponents.[1d]
- Flames of Azgorh - Fire leaps from the sorcerer's eyes and mouth as they call upon the most terrible incantations of fire and destruction, the ground cracking open and boiling magma exploding forth in a devastating eruption beneath the very feet of the Daemonsmith's foes at their word.[1c][2c][4a]
- Flaming Hide - The sorcerer may cast this spell upon themself or a single, nearby person. The skin of the afflicted begins to glow red hot and flickers with sparks, limiting the effectiveness of wounding the afflicted.[1e]
H
- Hell Hammer - The sorcerer manifests the power of Hashut as a thunderous ram of roiling energy in the shape of an immense, burning, black warhammer or a monstrous bull's head, which they can unleash across the battlefield with crushing force. Needless to say, anyone in its path is going to be flattened and reduced to ash.[2c][4a]
L
- Lava Storm - With a sweep of the sorcerer's arm the air fills with balls of molten lava.[1d]
K
- Killing Fire - Practicioners of the Lore of Hashut are always able to unleash a nimbus of flame around themselves at will that can burn any nearby foes to ash.[4a]
M
- Magma Pool - The sorcerer begins to melt into molten lava which flows away into the ground. The sorcerer reappears in another part of the battlefield, slowly seeping through the ground, then gradually re-forming and solidifying.[1e]
S
- Shadows of Hashut - The air around the sorcerer grows cold and a shadowy form begins to coalesce next to them. It forms into a visage of Hashut, the mighty Chaos God of the Chaos Dwarfs. With a deafening roar, the shadow bull charges forward, smashing everything out of its way.[1c]
- Sorcerer's Curse - The sorcerer motions towards an enemy and instils them with the curse that afflicts all Chaos Dwarf sorcerers. The victim slowly begins to turn to stone from the feet upwards.[1d]
Notable Daemonsmiths
- Astragoth Ironhand - Astragoth is the oldest living sorcerer-prophet, the current High Priest of Hashut and leader of the Daemonsmiths. Astragoth is encased within a frame-like mechanism that enables him to walk despite his increasingly petrified limbs, as well as providing him with additional armoured protection from attacks and enhancing his own combat prowess. The transport's steam-driven pistons, which have replaced Astragoth's muscles and sinews, allow him to strike his enemies with mechanical force.
- Ghorth the Cruel - Ghorth is the strongest living sorcerer-prophet.
- Drazhoath the Ashen - Drazhoath is the sorcerer-prophet who is the Lord of the Black Fortress in the Dark Lands and the commander of its Legion of Azgorh.
Miniatures
