Dînadan:
Just come across this video on YouTube:
The People Who Slowly Turn to Bone - YouTube
It�?Ts not directly related to Chaos Dwarfs, but the similarity to the Sorcerer�?Ts Curse means it�?Ts probably worth posting here for food for thought.
Abecedar:
Interesting from my medical view point. Thanks for sharing
Dînadan:
Has some close parallels considering the ossification can be set off by trauma which is what can happen to Chaos Dwarfs casters, except instead of physical trauma, for them it�?Ts the trauma of magical overload from miscasting.
The fluff has the Curse start at the feet, but what if throughout a Sorcerer�?Ts life it�?Ts occurring all throughout his body and for whatever reason it�?Ts just more focused at the lower extremities?
Hashut’s Blessing:
Continuing on from your thought there, Dinadan, what if the sorcerers of the Chaos Dwarfs use magic to keep moving themselves (something that has been discussed in years past - also leads onto the idea that Astragoth’s suit allows him to focus on using the magic for more powerful spells since it’s not also being used for mobility’s sake). The reason it tends to work up from the feet is that feet are going through constant trauma through walking - each footfall causing minor damage (unnoticed by all animals), leading to the ossification mentioned in the video starting there. It would continue to travel up the legs etc as they started to take the brunt of the force of movement and the heavy footfalls of the already weighty Chaos Dwarfs, now laden with bone, plus their armour, etc.
Also worth noting that bones are largely calcium - so if the ossified soft tissues calcify, that is a starting point for being referred to as stone as well. I’m not sure if there’s something canonical that has stated they turn to granite or basalt or some other hard stone, but it could be logical that they are the soft calcium-based rocks or maybe there’s a chemical/molecular reaction (even if caused by the alchemy of magic use) that would transform the chalky stuff into harder stones?
Dînadan:
Might not necessarily have to be calcium; is there anything saying that dwarf bones are calcium based? Maybe they have a different chemical composition that uses a harder substance in place of calcium?
Hashut’s Blessing:
Entirely true, of course Dînadan. It was more just me mentioning it on the basis of what I know of human-based physiology. But there’s nothing to say that the ossification of Dwarfs’ bones wouldn’t be due to obsidian content or basaltification or something otherwise igneous/volcanic 