Guide to Dwarf Grudges

This is an excerpt of Pendrako's guide to Dwarf Grudges. One thing that is understood about Dwarfs is their ability to hold onto a grudge for generations. While some events pass with little notice, the recent events and the taking of Karak Eight Peaks renews many an old Grudge in every Dwarf in the Kingdom.

Of all the creatures in the world, none are more loathsome or worthy of hate than the Grobi. They are a wicked, treacherous race without morality, conscience or honour, the cause of endless woe for our people. No Karak bears a Book of Grudges that does not have many a line devoted to the actions of those foul creatures, and no Dwarf would hesitate before burying his axe in the neck of a Grobi. Every day which passes while these creatures still draw breath brings shame to us all.

Dwarfs are defined by their reverence for their past. They tirelessly construct monumental tombs in order to worship and venerate their ancestors, and great value is placed upon their oldest artefacts in order to respect the long dead craftsmen who originally fashioned them and to help preserve ancient Dwarf traditions. It is said that when Dwarfs are in any doubt as to how to proceed they look to the Dwarf with the longest beard to tell them what to do. This is invariably the wisest solution.

Dwarfs have exceedingly good memories, and live to a very great age. It is the task of any self respecting Dwarf to memorize the names of every Dwarf in their extended family going back many generations to the time their Clan was first founded by a common ancestor. Should a wrong be done to a Dwarf, it is considered to be dealt equally to their Clan and to their ancestors and their unborn descendants, and every other member of the Clan will be duty bound to avenge them. Dwarfs are a proud, stubborn race, who rarely compromise and are never seen to intentionally back down from a fight. This aspect of their character is epitomised by Dammaz Kron - the Great Book of Grudges ? a massive tome written in the blood of the High Kings which recounts all the great wrongs, unpaid debts and deeds of treachery perpetrated against the Dwarf race. Although the grudges listed in the book are occasionally avenged, Dwarfs on the whole tend to prefer to hold a grudge rather than let bygones be bygones. Indeed, the Dwarf language has no word for forgiveness, but many subtle variations on revenge, recompense and retribution.

The Ruinous Powers

The Dwarfs have been fighting the forces of Chaos since the very first page of the Great Book of Grudges. Despite the strength of their mountain strongholds, when the power of Chaos grows strong and the followers of the dark gods sweep down from the north the Dwarfs inevitably suffer. Many are the grudges against the Ruinous Powers, but the greatest must surely be that held for the loss of Karak Vlag. During the first Great War against Chaos when the Dwarfs fought side by side with the elves in a desperate struggle for survival the hold of Karak Vlag in the north of the Worlds Edge mountains was enveloped by the warping influence of Chaos, cutting it off from the outside world. After the Chaotic hordes had finally been driven back to their own realm, the Dwarfs returned to the site of Karak Vlag to find that the stronghold and its entire garrison had vanished into the aethyr, as if it had never existed.

The Great Betrayal

The event that may have originally sparked the Great Betrayal is recorded in Dammaz Kron as a relatively minor grudge concerning the theft of a caravan of gold and other goods being transported across the Old World. The attackers were described merely as Elgi - Khazalid for Elves - since at the time the Dwarfs did not distinguish between High Elves and Dark Elves. The Sundering of the Elves had not concerned the Dwarfs in their mountain kingdoms since the concept of a war of kin against kin was totally incomprehensible to them, and they had maintained good relations with the elves of Ulthuan. In fact the Druchii had been secretly raiding Dwarf caravans disguised as Asur warriors, and as the raids continued the Dwarf king, Gotrek Starbreaker, issued strong protests to the Phoenix King demanding compensation. Caledor the Second, the Phoenix King at the time, was considered arrogant even by elf standards, and he ignored all demands made against him, saying only that the Phoenix King did not answer demands but granted pleas.

Relations between the two races became increasingly acrimonious, and things reached a head when the ambassador sent to Ulthuan by an infuriated King Gotrek in a final attempt to prevent a war was sent home with his beard shaved off, causing the ambassador to take the slayer oath in shame. The inevitable war that followed is recorded as the War of Vengeance, although the High Elves refer to it as the War of the Beard. For the next four centuries the two races slaughtered each other on battlefields across the Old World and many great and powerful grudges were added to the pages of Dammaz Kron, until the Battle of Three Towers at the gates of Tor Alessi, where King Gotrek slew Caledor and took the Phoenix crown from his corpse as payment for the many wrongs suffered by his people. The Dwarf army marched back to Karaz-a-Karak and placed the crown among the treasure hoard of the High Kings, where it remains locked away to this day.

The Grobi Wars

By far the greatest and most vengeful of the grudges held in Dammaz Kron are against the Grobi ? Khazalid for Goblins - and those who aided them. Page after page of the tome records in grim detail the events of the thousand year long period of Dwarven history when tribes of Goblins swarmed over the Worlds Edge Mountains inflicting unthinkable suffering on the Dwarf kingdoms. Earthquakes, eruptions and floods weakened the impregnable defences of their strongholds, and when the Goblins attacked not even the unbreakable axes and hammers of the Dwarfs were able to stop the never ending tide of greenskins from overrunning their holds. The Everlasting Realm was shattered as countless beleaguered outposts, settlements, mines and temples were destroyed and occupied by their enemies.

Among all the grudges recorded in Dammaz Kron, the most grievous losses ever suffered occurred at the hands of Goblins, Orcs, and Skaven as entire Clans were killed to the last Dwarf and mighty kingdoms were utterly destroyed. Karak Ungor the delving hold, now known as Red Eye Mountain. Karak Varn and its gromril-rich mines by the shores of Black Water. Ekrund, home to the Dragonback clans, now known as Mount Bloodhorn. Gunbad, the largest and richest mine in the Worlds Edge Mountains and home to the blue crystal Brynduraz. Mount Silverspear, seized by the Orc Warlord Urk Grimfang and renamed Mount Grimfang. Karak Eight Peaks, Karak Azgal and Karak Drazh, all taken in the space of fifty years. The loss of these treasured holds is still felt by every living Dwarf as though it happened yesterday, and all Dwarfs dream of the day when they can purge the greenskin filth from their ancient halls forever.

Karak Eight Peaks

When the Greenskin horde approached Karak Eight Peaks, the Dwarfs gathered within its walls, confident the impregnable fortress was in no real danger. When the Orcs used their amplified magic to blast a hole in the impossibly thick wall surrounding the city, the Dwarfs were dumbstruck. The idea of an invading army breaking through the perimeter of Karak Eight Peaks was unthinkable. As a wave of snarling, bellowing greenskins pours through the breach, the dour but determined defenders of the doomed city make a last stand.

The news spreads like a shockwave. How could one tribe of greenskins capture the seemingly impenetrable fortress? High King Thorgrim Grudgebearer vowed revenge, the grudge against the Orcs is perhaps the third oldest in in the book of Dwarf grudges. Thorgrim rallied the Dwarf masses and has commanded every Dwarf in the city to make preparations for the war now underway. This seemingly impossible defeat has awoken the primal nature of many a Dwarf. Even those Dwarfs only concerned with their own business dealings soon found themselves rekindling the hostility felt towards the Orcs. The taking of Karak Eight Peaks will not go unrevenged.

No axe or hammer shall rest until the taint of the grobi has been wiped from the face of the earth. We shall not rest when our ancient halls have been reclaimed, we shall not rest when the Everlasting Realm has been rebuilt, for we are oathbound to rest only when we have driven the grobi from the mountains and the dark places of the world for ever. Only then shall the spirits of the ancestors be truly avenged.