The Exalted Lord of Change Sheerargetru
Sheerargetru was an Exalted Lord of Change of Tzeentch, the Chaos God of change and intrigue, who tried to influence the creation of Sigmar's warhammer Ghal Maraz and who held a grudge against any of its possessors after Sigmar defeated it and imprisoned the Daemon for millennia.
This Greater Daemon of Tzeentch was ultimately responsible for the events of the Turmoil of 2512 IC, which saw it freed from its imprisonment to once more afflict the Empire, but also its defeat.
History[]
Sheerargetru first entered the Known World during the Great Catastrophe. During this event, the Dwarfs under the leadership of their Ancestor Gods retreated to their mountain holds, which came under the assault of the Daemonic legions. One of them, Smednir, decided to create powerful magical rune weapons, including the warhammer that would later be named Ghal Maraz.[1a]
The Exalted Lord of Change Sheerargetru, through his command of the art of prognostication, saw that the warhammer would be the doom of Chaos and tried to influence its creation, tempting Smednir with knowledge and materials, but being rebuffed and forced to flee. He took up residence in the lands of Nehekhara, until the Desert Gods under the leadership of Ptra drove him into the Far North in -3000 IC. The Daemon foresaw the eventual end of Nehekhara and laughed.[1a]
When Sigmar wielded Ghal Maraz and united the tribes of Men who inhabited the central Old World to form the Empire, Sheerargetru became fearful that this man would be his doom. Sending prophetic dreams to Sigmar, some truthful, some false, the Lord of Change lured him far from his allies. Whether Sigmar knew he was being drawn into a trap is debatable, but regardless, even in his later years, the first emperor proved to be the Daemon's match. They battled deep beneath the earth near Black Fire Pass, and Sheerargetru was sealed away by the magic of the runehammer and the might of the one who had wielded it.[1a]
The Daemon would linger on imprisoned for millenia, tended only by his sole remaining cultist, the Nehekharan Sadikur, who had been his servant in life and had been called to his side to serve again in undeath. As the magic of the runehammer grew weaker, the Lord of Change was able to send dreams, prophecies and temptations to vulnerable citizens of the Empire. Daemons began to be drawn to his prison and while they were unable to free him, they took up residence around it.[1b]
After the Great War Against Chaos in the early 24th century IC, Sheerargetru recognised the opportunity Emperor Magnus the Pious's reformation of the Empire afforded. The creation of the Imperial Colleges of Magic would make Altdorf a focus of magical power, the perfect place for the Greater Daemon to ultimately manifest once more in the mortal world. As Imperial political power centralised in Altdorf to a degree not seen in centuries, Sheeragetru again rejoiced. A single powerful leader was all the easier to weaken or corrupt, an idea that would go on to inform the ethos of the Chaos Cult known as the Purple Hand.[1b]
The Daemon's schemes culminated in the Turmoil of 2512 IC, which saw Sheerargetru's liberation, but also its defeat.
Canon Conflict[]
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This article may contain older content that is now considered non-canon.
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In the adventure Empire in Flames which served as the original concluding chapter of the The Enemy Within roleplaying campaign for Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 1st Edition, Sheerargetru had been summoned into the mortal realm in the early days of the Empire by the Dwarf smiths of Kadar-Khalizad when Loremaster Wulfan Merglord attempted to bind the Daemon to a magical blade. Unable to defeat it, they imprisoned it in the lower levels of the Dwarf hold and begged Emperor Sigmar, who was travelling to Karaz-a-Karak, to help them.[2a]
Sigmar agreed to help the Dwarfs and ventured into the halls alone. He battled the Daemon until the creature attempted to flee through the warpgate the loremaster had created. In an act of heroism, Sigmar followed Sherargeetru through the gate, but couldn't take his warhammer Ghal Maraz with him. The warhammer sealed both Sigmar and Sheerargetru beyond the gate, with the Daemon being imprisoned within its confines, while Sigmar ascended to become a deity.[2a]
When a group of heroes retrieved Ghal Maraz, the Daemon was freed. Flying to Altdorf in the form of a Dragon, he let himself be defeated by Grand Theogonist Yorri XV, only to take possession of him. With his new position of authority, Sheerargetru removed many Sigmarite clerics and replaced them with Chaos Cultists. Only the two Arch Lectors were kept alive, yet they were drugged and "gifted"with mutations. With the death of Heinrich Todbringer and the exposure of Yorri XV as the puppet of a Daemon, the clerics of Sigmar thoroughly infiltrated by Tzeentchian cultists and the public display of the Arch Lectors Kaslain and Aglim as mutants, the Daemon believed that the Cult of Sigmar would be completely discredited and destroyed as a force to oppose Chaos within the Empire.[2b]
However, this plan failed to come to fruition when Sheerargetru was defeated during the attempted assassination of Heinrich Todbringer and was banished back to the Realm of Chaos with Ghal Maraz, which followed it into the Aethyr to keep the Lord of Change from returning to plague to the mortal world once more.[2c]