Stubborn Hammerer
UK
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THE FALL OF HASHUT
My studies into the earliest records of the period the Dwarfs refer to as the ‘Time of the Ancestor Gods’ has proven largely in vain. From what I gather no records exist about any events in the Dwarf history before the coming of Chaos. So much of what I have been able to discover has mostly been from piecing together various legends in the Krondras. Praise Sigmar for this tome of information, scant as it is!
Unfortunately though, legends are often embellished with elements that make certain characters appear more favourable or terrible than they actually were. In the case of the Krondras legends this is almost certainly the case, for Runelord Stonefist may have always been inclined to portray Hashut as evil incarnate because of the millennia of hatred his race have against him whilst writing as his Ancestor Gods as beyond reproach and paragons of virtue. Still, I shall attempt to remain impartial in how I explain such matters.
Despite what Dwarf lore may have to say about the entire Dwarf race being born from their three primary deities; Grungni, Grimnir and Valaya, my scholarly research into the divine nature of demi gods tell me that even though these beings may have lived extraordinarily long lives for mortal Dwarfs, they could not have been born until at least two thousand years after the Dwarf race began.
For thousands of years before the coming of Chaos, the primitive Dwarf race flourished in the mountains of the Southlands. Their crude ways developed into a civilised culture, their stone weapons eventually being replaced with iron, their leather armour with chainmail. Their efforts were simple, but millennia ahead of where the prehistoric men were at this time in history.
If the Dwarfs believe they had a god or gods at this point in time, I can only presume that they were praying to the elements.
Many years later as their race grew, the Dwarf known as Hashut rose to prominence and became an important leader. I can only theorise at this point that in these early centuries Grungni, Grimnir and Valaya were still in their infancy and had no part to play in the events that were unfolding.
There are no mentions of the appearance of Hashut from this time, but from the legends it seems that he was demanding and arrogant, very aware of his own self importance. He surrounded himself with all the trappings of power and wealth, simple as they were in those times.
But for all the wealth Hashut gained, he was never satisfied. His greed was legendary, but he also knew how to reward those around him for their loyalty. He made the pursuit of wealth, the love of gold and jewels not only acceptable, but desirable and sufficiently engrained it into the Dwarf psyche to make it part of their racial identity for all time. At first what was mere adolation for Hashut and what he stood for eventually turned into a form of religion, with priests and formal prayers.
Hashut, in his greed and selfishness, chose to organise the mining efforts of the clans under his control to spread northwards into the World’s Edge Mountains instead of leading the Dwarf race into further prosperity.
As the centuries past, edging ever closer to the coming of Chaos, Grungni, Grimnir and Valaya arose to become great leaders of their people in Hashut’s absence, somewhat resentful perhaps of his religious status despite his apparent lack leadership and sense of responsibility.
In part Grungni’s objection to the worship of Hashut was due to the diametric opposition of the core values and traditions that he stood for. Where Grungni represented the knowledge of mining and the meticulous skills of gem crafting, Hashut only represented the satisfaction of material gain. Where Grungni represented the collective efforts of the race, Hashut favoured only the pursuit of individual accomplishment at the expense of all others.
Grungni’s power of foresight had seen the shadow of Chaos building on the horizon, even thought it was still many years away. He could sense the devastation that power was going to bring to the world and the Dwarf race.
Grungni also saw the affect that greed worship was having on his people. Those seeking wealth and power at the expense of unity were proving disloyal to the values he held so dear. They were dividing their race and distracting them from all they needed to accomplish for their race to survive.
Many Dwarfs were coveting the belongings of others instead of working for the common good, those in positions of power were focused on gathering wealth instead of preparing for the unimaginable war of destruction he knew was coming.
In his wisdom Grungni spoke out against the worship of Hashut, pleading with the Dwarf Priests to outlaw the religion amongst all the Dwarf people. For the most part his will was adhered to, for who were the Dwarfs to go against the advice of one such as Grungni? Far to the north of the Dwarf empire, worship in Hashut and the pursuit of wealth had never faltered. Why should it, when his worshipers had been gathering greater wealth than ever in their history?
Indeed, hundreds of thousands of Dwarfs had already gathered for a great migration across the Great Skull Land to colonise the Mountains of Mourn in their quest for riches.
THE COMING OF CHAOS
With the collapse of the gates of the Old Ones, the coming of Chaos rent the sky and mountains apart. The strongest of these gods extended their willpower into the world of mortals, creating vast legions of daemons.
Deep within the Worlds Edge Mountains, the collective belief in Hashut, Grungni, Grimnir and Valaya and all they had done for the Dwarf people formed a connection in the Aethyr, a connection unique to demi gods. The mere mortal forms of these beings became a conduit through which their weak Aethyric forms could bring supernatural powers into the world.
With the world collapsing around them, it perhaps would have been expected of Hashut to realise his impending doom and take up arms against the Great Enemy. Grimnir had already done so and Grungni had been overseeing the production of runic weapons and armour on a huge scale.
Hashut however was blinded by his greed. I can only surmise that Hashut questioned why he should go to war and risk losing everything when there were others that were willing to fight.
The clans that migrated east had already been lost, surrounded by an impenetrable magical storm. A storm I can only imagine must have occurred because of some gateway or connection to the Aethyr around Zharr Naggrund.
Whether he realised it or not Hashut now presented a great threat to the survival of the Dwarf race. A schism that could destroy the unity between those that wanted to fight and those that were happy to let others fight in their place and pursue their own ambitions.
In the months of war with the daemonic legions, Grungni had become acutely aware of the danger of this. All he could achieve was being undermined by the efforts of the growing number of people following Hashut.
After confronting Hashut for the last time, Grungni had no other option. He sent word to the armies fighting in the north for Grimnir to locate Hashut and kill him, to destroy all vestiges of support and to unite the Dwarf race.
At this point my scholarly articles begin to differ wildly on the final clash between these demi gods, but as Grimnir went on to fight further battles against Chaos it can only be presumed that Hashut was killed. A mistake which would indirectly return in later millennia to wreak havoc on the race of Dwarfs
Having already discussed in these texts the nature of how Aethyric beings gain sentience, I will only summarise that once Hashut died his soul was reborn as that of a sentient god within the swirling Aethyr. At this point, unlike the uniquely divine nature of how Sigmar became a god, Hashut became that which his dwindling number of followers worshiped him as, whatever it may be.
Hashut had been damned by Grungni, who saw the corrupting influence of greed as a dark route to evil; to the Dwarfs he would be forever known as the Father of Darkness. A belief that would ultimately define Hashut as such.
But unlike his fellow Ancestor Gods, Hashut was no longer empowered by being directly venerated as a god, the religion had been banned and the Dwarfs for the most part had turned to the worship of Grungni, Grimnir and Valaya, their divine protectors against the daemonic legions.
As time passed and the war waged on, Hashut was quickly being forgotten and as an entity was in danger of simply being subsumed into that of another Aethyric being, to be utterly annihilated.
Fortunately for Hashut however he had already subconsciously ensured his own survival centuries earlier because he had engrained greed into Dwarfs. No matter how they may fight against it, their emotions and memories of greed would continue to empower Hashut, allowing him to fight away the Aethyric predators.
THE RISE OF HASHUT
In the mindless expanse of eternity, Hashut is always aware of his weakness, something that is as infuriating as anything could possibly be for a god of greed.
By chance however, the Dwarfs that had ventured east had survived somehow, huddling together underground against the incessant magical storms raging above. Their minds were warped and their bodies wracked by mutating energy, but they were alive.
As I already mentioned, it is my belief that Zharr Naggrund has some sort of connection to the Aethyr that allows limited spontaneous projections of willpower, in much the same way as the Greater Gods can create Daemonic legions outside the Realm of Chaos if there is a portal.
Sensing their cries for help, Hashut projected his willpower to form a golden bull statue near the huddling Dwarfs. Perhaps the shape of the bull was intended to warn against the worship of false idols; the other Ancestor Gods, but because it was golden the terrible irony of the message was lost on those who looked upon it. There was no question in their minds of who it was helping them.
Many of the Dwarfs had been worshipers of Hashut whilst he was alive, but whilst he was still mortal they would have had no connection to him from this distance. Now that he was a God however, his divine will could connect directly to his worshipers, providing them with revelation, rewards and magical abilities beyond all imagining.
By having mortals to worship him once more Hashut was greatly empowered by their soul energy, enabling him to create a domain within the Realm of Chaos. This however was not enough Hashut is a demanding god of greed and requires sacrifices in his name.
THE GREATER POWERS OF CHAOS
The Greater Gods of Chaos are constantly at war, as befitting the negative emotions empowering them, mainly against each other.
As an extension of the will of those that worship him, Hashut is always seeking power. The desire to control everything for no other reason. In order to achieve this within the Realm of Chaos he creates weapons and armour by exerting his willpower over the four Great Gods, a mutual belief that they exist. Whilst the greed of these Gods in possessing such metaphysical artefacts may not empower him directly as an emotion, their insatiable desires to obtain them do, by a transfer of energy.
As a result, it is my belief that Hashut’s empire has been constantly growing, becoming greater the more mortals empower the Great Gods of Chaos.
Hashut, as a reflection of Chaos Dwarf values, does not need to create Daemons to fight other Gods in the Realm of Chaos. The stubborn part of the Dwarf nature naturally resists having something force it’s willpower upon it, something that is reflected in all their Ancestor Gods.
At the same time however, because of this special connection Hashut has to the four Great Gods, is my belief that he could not be attacked by them in a metaphysical sense. If one power were to attempt to gain control of Hashut and swallow him as an Aethyric entity, the others would undoubtedly try and stop them. Thus the powers have already been stopped before they ever started.
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