Duardin

Renowned for their mastery of metal and stone, the Duardin are doughty warriors and skilled builders.

From their subterranean halls, the Duardin of the Dispossessed clans brood over the ruins of the once-great Khazalid Empire, doing things as they have always been done and fighting to regain every scrap of land and treasure that had once been theirs. It is said that they would sooner be poor in the lands of their ancestors than prosper elsewhere.

The Kharadron long ago left their failing mountain kingdoms behind them, instead constructing great airborne realms above the clouds. The Kharadron are highly mercantile and meritocratic, devoted solely to the accumulation of wealth, and their reputation as hard bargaining misers is well known across the Mortal Realms. Like all Duardin, the Kharadron pay homage to Grungni the Maker, but most prefer to depend on their own science and ingenuity than lean on any god. Many still hold a grudge against Grungni for forsaking them during the Age of Chaos.

The Fyreslayers are the heirs of the Duardin’s warrior-god Grimnir, and each is a fanatical warrior, devoted to their dead god. Their fury in combat and unbreakable oaths are legendary; a Fyreslayer will famously never accept a single coin in payment for an oath unfulfilled. For a Fyreslayer, the accrual of gold is a spiritual act, one for which they must first prove themselves worthy.

In free cities throughout the Mortal Realms, there are descendants of the Khazalid Empires — those who fled to Azyrheim during the Age of Chaos — who keep to their traditions in their own ways. These Duardin built new homes alongside Humans, Aelves, and others. Their skills as artisans and toughness in battle serves them well as Freeguild auxiliaries and in the Ironweld Arsenal.

Duardin are stoutly built, typically standing no taller than the average Human’s chest, but are considerably broader through the shoulders and heavily muscled. The Dispossessed and the Fyreslayers appreciate the importance of a full and voluminous beard, and will never voluntarily cut it during their lives. Correspondingly, they hold that a beard’s length is directly representative of the wearer’s age and wisdom (both highly respected in many Duardin traditions), and its bearing is similarly reflective of character. Bearded Kharadron, ever practical, regularly trim their beards to more readily fit within their suits of Arkanaut armour and place more value on a Duardin’s known accomplishments that their grooming. This is, of course, a bone of some contention between the subcultures.

All Duardin value wealth, venerate their ancestors, and have lengthy memories, particularly when pertaining to unpaid debts and old grudges. The difference between the Duardin factions lies largely in the details, for while a Fyreslayer will die by the spirit of their oath, a Kharadron relies on meticulously drafted written contracts and will likely feel no qualms about exploiting any loophole in an agreement that is anything less than watertight.

### **SPECIES BONUS: TOO STUBBORN TO DIE**

The dedication, stubbornness, and grit of the Duardin is known throughout the realms. Whether in the skies high above Barak-Nar or the molten stone beneath Vorstargi Mont, something within the Duardin refuses to give up. The other species chuckle that even the Undying King Nagash is not foolish enough to claim a Duardin soul before they decide they are good and ready to die.

* Your maximum Wounds increases by 2, giving you two additional spaces on your Wound Track.

### **CULTURES**

#### **Kharadron Overlords**

Bold Duardin who took to the air at the onset of the Age of Chaos to escape the depredations of the Dark Gods, the Kharadron Overlords are famously pragmatic privateers, ploughing the skies in wondrous airships born aloft by humming ‘endrins’. They live by the Kharadron Code, a document describing the rules of war, commerce, and proper behaviour among ship’s crews. The Code is firmly based in meritocracy, for the Kharadron state that both gods and kings failed them in the past, and now believe only in experience and proven success.

The Kharadron are of a scientific mind, believing in their technology over arcane forces. All of their tech, from their weapons, to the endrins that grant their ships invisible wings, are based on aether-gold, a near-miraculous gas they ‘mine’ from the sky. Kharadron airships set out from their six major sky-ports, seeking new opportunities for trade and wealth.

The Kharadron are honourable trade partners, but known for exploiting loopholes in their meticulous contracts in order to increase their profits, and are infamous for abandoning former allies once they can see no profit in defending them.

#### **Fyreslayers**

The fiery sons of Grimnir, the fallen Duardin god of battle, Fyreslayers are mercenaries without peer, famed throughout the realms for their willingness to take on any foe, so long as their price in gold is paid. They are not fickle in their allegiances, however. To a Fyreslayer, sworn oaths are unbreakable, and they would rather die than fail to keep a vow.

Fyreslayers eschew armour, trusting rather in blazing runes of eldritch power formed from ur-gold that are literally hammered into their skin. The secret of ur-gold is one the Fyreslayers have kept for millennia, but they seek it always and acquiring more drives many of their actions.

Fyreslayers gather in lodges led by a Runefather. The exploits of the eldest lodges are renowned even far beyond the ranks of the Fyreslayers. Though they have lodges in every realm, the Fyreslayers are native to Aqshy, and seemingly no fire, not even magma, can burn their blazing forms.