In my search for a cool background (and color scheme !) of my yet to be painted Chaos Dwarf, I spent some time trying to get a grasp of what the Chaos Dwarf Civilization is. I usually like to start with the fluff but in that case it is very limited.
There are mentions of:
- centralized city (Zhar Naggrund)
- few fortress/Stronghold (Black Fortress, Uzdulak)
- architectural comparison with the Ziggurat
- emphasis on their mining and metal crafting culture
- mention of steam (train ?), oil and of course Lava.
- slavery and trading with Ogre Kingdom and Orcs mainly
Now, knowing how GW usually base their race’s background on human history reality, I looked into what could be the civilization that “inspired” the CD (please note the quote, I don’t mean to say they are the same).
After digging a bit, and based on the Dark Land location compared to the rest of the “Old World”, it seems to me that inspiration for CD was drown from the Summerian civilization (Babylon).
I’ve found some artwork about what a “Fantasy” Babylon could look like and wondered if you thought this could make good inspiration for Chaos Dwarf scenery ?
City & Building
This is the closest to what I think CD civilization look like. Of course, the city layout would differ and it needs to be “dirtied/polluted” a bit (not decadent enough) but architecture seems “flamboyant” enough to be dwarfy, rather horizontal, and also includes the ziggurat of CD.
This one is a good example of Ziggurat but seems too “dead” to be dwarfy.
This is all I have for today but I’d be glad to get your opinion on Chaos Dwarf architecture.
I’ll keep updating that post to add more findings !
Yes, they are good inspirational pictures for Chaos Dwarf architecture, since they seem to collect most if not all the useful elements from Mesopotamian architecture.
Note, Kera’s pic would not be in the main city, more likely on the outskirts or even outside the walls…
Even more so, it looks like a ‘dig’ area rather than a city. It would not be inconceivable to think that work is done away from the main city - hence the whole locomotion network…
poor is poor!! gnobler and Hobgoblin must use what they have. Being that they are true pack rat or scrapers… Living Between two big groups Cds and Ogre you must hide your city or become a slave
Since Chaos Dwarf architecture more or less equals Mesopotamian ziggurats, it might be of interest for us to review other cases of historical step architecture, such as these:
This is actually quite an interesting thread, especially since my college degree was in architecture (with an emphasis on MesoAmerican, Sumerian and subsequent Art Deco architectural styles). I have always been fascinated by stepwell architecture, but this is the first time I have seen it suggested for Chaos Dwarf cities…a very interesting spin on it…I can easily imagine a stepwell design being the entrance to a Chaos Dwarf mine with row upon row of slaves descending into the depths of it.
