The civilization of the Dwarves is built on a rigid and unyielding code of honor.
Oaths and promises must be kept, no matter the personal cost.
To the Dwarves, a promise does not die with an oath-maker, nor treachery die with an oath-breaker.
Across the remains of their empire, millions commit themselves to the fulfillment of the
words of their ancestors, lest they bring disgrace upon their clan.
A broken oath is a great shame that few Dwarves can live with and there is but one source
of redemption.
Those with no hope left for an honorable life must take a solemn vow to seek out an honorable
death.
They will forswear the fellowship and comforts of family, clan, and hold, and instead pursue
a life of self-imposed exile, a life within the Slayer Cult.
Any who wish to take the Slayer Vow must travel to the stronghold of Karak Kadrin, located
in the northernmost reaches of the World’s Edge Mountains.
Within lies the Shrine of Grimnir, Dwarven Ancestor god of war and courage.
All Slayers must dedicate themselves to Grimnir, vowing to seek out a mighty doom so that their
dishonor might be erased.
To mark their commitment, they shave their hair into a great crest made stiff by animal
fat and dye it a bright orange or red.
They forsake all their possessions, even armor, save an axe, the weapon of a Slayer.
Their bodies are adorned by intricate tattoos thought to invoke the favor of Grimnir and
ensure an honorable death.
Before they depart, they carve a name upon a pillar within the Shrine, where it will
rest beside the names of all the Slayers that have come before.
A Slayer will never speak of what act of terrible shame led them to make their vow, for to do
so would only bring further dishonor.
They are reclusive lonors, even amongst their own kin, not given to song and feasting as
is traditional across their race.
They roam the world in search of increasingly dangerous foes shunned and despised by all
but a few.
Only within Karak Kadrin will a Slayer be always welcomed.
Often called the “Slayer’s Keep,” Karak Kadrin guards an important trading route through
the World’s Edge Mountains.
It has grown to become a wealthy trading center, the largest and most powerful Dwarf kingdom
in the region.
It has been besieged countless times across the millennia and any Slayer within its halls
will receive lodging, food, hospitality, and perhaps the chance at a mighty death.
Following the tradition of his ancestors, the King of Karak Kadrin must take the Slayer’s
Oath himself.
Bound by his duties as a monarch however, the Slayer King will rarely be afforded the
chance to die in combat and will instead fulfill his oath by providing for other Slayers.
It was the first Slayer King, Baragor who founded the Shrine of Grimnir and welcomed
all Slayers to his realm.
So respected by his people was Baragor, that whatever shame drove him to take the oath
has been forgotten, passed down instead in secret from one Slayer King to the next, until
one can finally make atonement.
The current Slayer King, Ungrim Ironfist, has left much of the governance of Karak Kadrin
to Queen Alrika, instead waging an almost constant war against the Dwarves’ many enemies.
His campaigns have made Ironfist one of the greatest Dwarven generals in memory, but his
mighty death still eludes him.
While the nature of the Slayer Cult precludes any type of strict hierarchy, an informal
ranking system exists across its members.
The status of a Slayer is dictated by deed, the larger or more deadly the foe they have
slain, the greater the respect afforded by their peers.
Slayer ranks, such as they are, take the names of the creatures they have vanquished.
Troll Slayers are the most common form of Slayer, for to die at the hands of anything
less than a Troll might be considered a form of suicide rather than a heroic death.
Should a Slayer have the misfortune of defeating one or more trolls, then it is believed that
Grimir has decreed his shame too great to be atoned for so easily.
Giant Slayers set their sights on larger, more dangerous prey, seeking out the greatest
monsters of the world.
Should they be unlucky enough to survive these encounters, Giantslayers will often become
prone to depression, mood swings, and bouts of alcoholism.
When the stress of being continually denied a death at the hands of lesser creatures becomes
too much, a Slayer will engage in a ritual involving self-inflicted scarring.
This gives expression to the Slayer’s growing sense of self-loathing, but also symbolises
their dedication to following the mythical exploits of Grimnir, through this, they become
Dragon Slayers.
Not all who hunt dragons find death, either because most dragons are too rare to easily
find, or because their martial skill has been honed to a razor’s edge and even a dragon
cannot kill them.
Convinced more than ever that the Ancestor Gods have denied them the release of death,
they will follow the final steps of Grimnir, travelling into the Chaos Wastes to embark
upon the path of a Daemon Slayer.
Fully enveloped by madness, most believe they have been selected by Grimnir to help seal
the Polar Gate, the Wound Within Reality from which all Chaos spouts.
Of those who travel north, none return, save one.
Gotrek Gurnisson is the greatest failure of a Slayer to have ever lived.
His travels have taken him across the known world and despite the record number of foes
that have died upon his axe, none have given him the release of death.
His axe may be the cause of his repeated failures.
Recovered during an excursion into the Chaos Wastes, it supposedly once belonged to Grimnir
himself.
An Elven mage given the chance to examine the weapon and its bearer is said to have
determined that the axe is slowly changing Gotrek into something greater than an ordinary
Dwarf, although what that might be, and for what terrible purpose, remains unknown.
The Templin Institute investigates alternate worlds both here on Youtube, and on Twitch.
Join us tonight where Marc and myself will be fighting beneath the Empire of Man against
cultists of the ruinous powers in Warhammer Chaosbane.
If you missed it, or want to catch any of our other streams, you can find them all in
the Templin Archives.
Links to both the Archives and our Twitch channel can be found in the description.