Dieter IV, formally Dieter IV Unfähiger, self-styled as "Dieter the Golden, [3a] was the last Emperor of Man of the Unfähiger dynasty. He is best known for the scandalous affair in which he sold the great commercial city-state of Marienburg and its province of the Westerland its independence from the Empire in return for vast amounts of gold. After this scandal came to light, he was swiftly replaced as emperor by Wilhelm the Wise, Prince of Altdorf. After his deposition, Dieter was made Grand Duke of Talabecland.[1a]
History[]
Dieter IV was the grandson of Leopold Unfähiger, the Grand Count of Stirland and a former emperor. A vain ruler, Dieter neglected the defence of the Empire, diverting funds from the Imperial military towards his extravagant building plans which were meant to only bolster his own ego.[1a] His main focus was the reconstruction of Nuln, the Imperial capital at the time, as a grandiose and beautiful metropolis, as well as other construction work. Nearly half of Nuln was demolished to create space for the Palace of Gold, and he also oversaw the creation of the Imperial Zoo in Altdorf.[2a] Having no love for his home province, Dieter IV instead named his cousin Neder von Krieglitz as Lord Protector of Stirland, to rule it in his stead while the emperor himself resided in Nuln.[3a]
During the Fourth Parravon War in 2402-2405 IC, the Bretonnian Duke of Parravon invaded the Reikland, capturing the Grey Lady Pass and laying siege to Ubersreik. Dieter ended the conflict by paying the Parravonese an extortionate sum of money to retreat, drawing much criticism at court.[10a]
In 2415 IC, Dieter, resentful of the Colleges of Magic's Supreme Patriarch Alric, had stoked resentment among the wizards of the Colleges in Altdorf. When a Storm of Magic broke lose after High Luminary Horx of the Light Order opened the Book of Volans, the event known as the Night of a Thousand Arcane Duels took place which devastated large parts of the city. Only when Grand Theogonist Viktor Helmgart of the Cult of Sigmar destroyed Horx did the chaos end, although most of the city's wizards lost their lives in the resulting backlash. Facing pressure from the Cult of Sigmar, Dieter IV dissolved the Colleges of Magic.[7a]
In 2420 IC, Dieter refused to come to the aid of Dwarf King Bragarik at the Battle of Iron Gate against the Goblin warlord Grom the Paunch. After this, the news was brought to Karaz-a-Karak and Dieter IV's name was entered into the Great Book of Grudges.[2a] When Grom invaded the Empire through Peak Pass in 2424 IC, Dieter disgraced the role of the emperor and his own family's blood-line by shamefully running away from the Greenskin invaders, allowing the capital of Nuln and the Palace of Gold to be ransacked and plundered for all its treasures.[2a] Dieter IV's cousin, Wilhelm the Wise, the Prince of Altdorf, relocated his residence to Kemperbad while the emperor took up residence in Altdorf. When the Elector Counts requested the raising of a united Imperial army to face the horde, Dieter denied them the troops, stating that the provinces would need to look to their own defence.[3a]
For nearly a year, the Empire stood on the brink of total starvation as the entire countryside was lost to the Greenskins whilst the decadent and cowardly Dieter languished within Altdorf with his beautiful courtiers. Only the efforts of Wilhelm the Wise allowed the fertile farmlands of the Reikland to survive the onslaught of the invasion and provide what little food remained for the rest of the Empire's people.[2b] Wilhelm's popularity soared after he narrowly survived an assassination following his retreat to Wurtbad. While many blamed Dieter IV for the assassination attempt as an effort to eliminate his more popular relative, the truth was that these failed assassinations were orchestrated in secret by Wilhelm's own spymaster Adolphus Ledner in order to discredit the emperor.[3b]
In 2429 IC, Dieter IV, in a bid to earn enough quick coin to fill his ravaged treasury, accepted a bribe from the burgomeisters of the great commercial city-state of Marienburg in exchange for granting the independence of its province of the Westerland from the Empire.[1a] Grand Theogonist Hedrich Lutzenschlager excoriated him for selling a part of the Empire, and the guilds of Altdorf reacted with economic sanctions.[6a]
The ensuing scandal led to Dieter IV's deposition by the Electors, who drew upon ancient anti-corruption laws put in place by Emperor Magnus the Pious almost a hundred years earlier.[10a] In his place, they appointed his cousin Wilhelm the Wise, the Prince of Altdorf and Elector Count of the Reikland, who became Emperor Wilhelm III. The civil war that resulted between the new emperor's forces and the loyalists of Dieter, who refused to accept his deposition, was called the "War of Succession."[8a]
To save his cousin's reputation and spare the Empire a prolonged civil war, Wilhelm III detached the city-state of Talabheim from the larger Electoral Province of Talabecland and appointed Dieter as the new Grand Duke of Talabecland. This gambit proved successful in ending the conflict.[1a][6a]
Canon Conflict[]
Dieter IV's dynasty was named "Krieglitz" in early installments of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 1st Edition,[5a] but was later changed to Unfähiger in the same edition.[4a] As head of the Krieglitz dynasty, Dieter's legacy lived on in the ruling houses of Talabheim and Talabecland, House Krieglitz and House Krieglitz-Untermenschen, respectively.[5b] Krieglitzes have been known to rule over Talabheim, such as Elise Krieglitz, but it remains uncertain if they still claim descent from Dieter IV.
In the first iteration of the character, Dieter IV didn't sell Marienburg and the Westerland their independence. Rather, the Stadsraad of Marienburg declared their independence from the Empire on their own, while the emperor was deposed in favour of Wilhelm III because of his heavy-handed taxes and his invasion of the Border Princes.[4a]
Trivia[]
Dieter's family name, Unfähiger, comically means "incapable" or "incompetent" in real-world German.
Sources[]
- 1: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd Edition: Sigmar's Heirs (RPG)
- 1a: pg. 18
- 2: Warhammer Armies: Orcs & Goblins (8th Edition)
- 3: Grimblades (Novel) by Nick Kyme
- 4: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 1st Edition: Marienburg - Sold down the River (RPG)
- 4a: pg. 19
- 5: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 1st Edition: Enemy Within - Shadows over Bögenhafen (RPG)
- 6: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4th Edition: Altdorf - Crown of the Empire (RPG)
- 6a: pg. 12
- 7: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4th Edition: Winds of Magic (RPG)
- 7a: pg. 17
- 8: Beasts in Velvet (Novel) by Jack Yeovil
- 8a: Part 1, Ch. 1
- 9: Warhammer Armies: The Empire (7th Edition)
- 9a: pg. 15
- 10: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4th Edition: Core Rulebook (RPG)
- 10a: pg. 275