[Archive] The Sacred Fuel of the Altar's Sacrificial Fire

Admiral:

[align=center]The Sacred Fuel of the Altar’s Sacrificial Fire[/align]

The Father of Darkness is the one, malignant god of the vicious Chaos Dwarfs, and a common aspect of Hashut is the mighty bull, corresponding to the species of the fiery Taurus, once found in the Zorn Uzkul in the northernmost Dark Lands. These bat-winged monster bulls are not Daemons, but mortal creatures of flesh and Chaotic power held sacred by the Dawi Zharr.

Stabled in the Temple of Hashut at the top of Zharr-Naggrund, the Tauruses and their fell Lammasu offspring are revered as living incarnations of Hashut himself, as well as revered for their destructive might in battle. However, as creatures of flesh and blood the same sacred Tauruses both consume the living and produce excrement, as do other creatures. The disposal of the latter matter is handled by lowly Acolytes in the Temple Priesthood of Hashut, yet it is not discarded out of hand as impure waste.

Rather, since the ashen and coal-like Taurus dung originated from a sacred creature and thus carry some religious value in and of itself, it is laid out to dry on slag fields beyond the shadow of towering Mingol Zharr-Naggrund. Once sufficiently desiccated, it is then stored in the Temple vaults and distributed to the Temple itself as well as to all its daughter shrines throughout the Chaos Dwarf empire’s oppressive strongholds. Rations of dried Taurus dung are likewise carried by the steaming fleets and campaigning hosts of the Dawi Zharr.

This respected waste-product of the Taurus race is then used as igniting fuel for the sacrificial altars of Hashut to elevate the flames’ sacred nature. It is rarely used as the sole fuel before the sacrifices begin, for such excess is only reserved for the most significant and dire rituals in the Temple itself. Rather, the dried dung is usually mixed with coal, wood and the ragged clothes of defeated foes, as well as dessicated corpses, looted olive oil, bone, animal fat, brimstone and similar sources of fuel for the ignition of the altar fire.

Strange though it might seem, in the mystical Chaos Dwarf mindset any gift from the sacred Tauruses and Lammasus is to be treasured and treated with due veneration; perfect hoof marks set in stone and metal, the ever-burning wildfires started by these holy creatures, dislodged horns impaled in the body of a rival and more besides; thus even the waste product is regarded an evident link to their terrifying and ravenous deity: Hashut, the Bull God of fire, heinous crafts and ruthless domination.

Admiral:

Now, this might seem like an idiot idea. In fact it might be, but it’s worth a shot discussing if this is a suitable piece of background for the Chaos Dwarfs.

It’s very simple. Anything associated with sacred creatures/saints/whatever bears a small degree of that holiness in the minds of religious people. Add this to the fact that desiccated cattle dung is used as fuel in southern climes, plus the importance of sacrificial fire for the Chaos Dwarfs, and you arrive at sacred Taurus and Lammasu dung used to fuel the altar flames.

Yay or nay? :slight_smile:

Dînadan:

Sounds like an interesting idea, although I think veneration may be going a tad too far; I think it’d be more on par with Holy Water than say, a piece of the true cross.

I also think venerating all hoof marks left by Taurii and Lammasu would be a bit of a headache for CDs as it’d mean doing things such as after every battle scouring the battlefield and digging up every bit of ground they landed on and putting it in a reliquary. I could see some prints being regarded as sacred such as if they were imprinted in solid stone/metal and it was a perfect print that otherwise didn’t damage the stone/metal, but not all.

Admiral:

Good input! I’m somewhat unused to the English terminology of these matters, so if you could perhaps please supply me with a different word (or formulation) than veneration I’ll update the first post.

Dînadan:

Hmm, not to sure. Maybe respect? It still denotes that it is viewed in a positive light without overstating how important it is.

Or how about something like:

Strange though it might seem, in the mystical Chaos Dwarf mindset any gift from the sacred Tauruses and Lammasus is to be treasured and treated with due veneration; perfect hoof marks set in stone and metal, the ever-burning wildfires started by these holy creatures, dislodged horns impaled in the body of a rival and more besides; thus even the waste product is regarded an evident link to their terrifying and ravenous deity: Hashut, the Bull God of fire, heinous crafts and ruthless domination.

Probably still not quite right, but I think rewording it like this might show the religious connotation without making it a full blown relic like the other things mentioned.

Admiral:

@Herby: But Chaos Dwarf religion is based on ancient Pagan Mediterranean ones, although twisted and also monotheistic. One thing which strikes the modern observer is the sheer colourfulness and closeness to nature which those religions exhibited. Not only were the statuary idols of god thought to posses part of that god’s power, but streams, mountains and forests were also believed to be inhabited by spirits/touched by deities. One… colourful, though to modern eyes revolting part of it was the worship of generative powers (fertility and all that). The biggest gods had sacred creatures of their own, thought to be linked to that god or goddess. One of the most religiously potent creatures was the bull.

One thing which modern people who aren’t farmers rarely realize, is how important the waste products of big cattle was in ancient times. It wasn’t only the milk and meat that were valued and seen as pretty much gifts from the gods, but also the dung. It could be used as manure to fertilize the fields, or dried to be used as fuel or even building material for houses. All very important, and not a ridiculous or childish matter for the ancient peasants. It’s still like that in rural India, by the way.

So, yes thanks, but there’d be no reason to bring up this thing for Chaos Dwarf fluff if we weren’t attempting a deeper dive into the CD mindset and culture. This isn’t really stuff for an army book’s background section. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

@Dînadan: Thank you! That’s perfect. :cheers

Admiral:

Haha, I can admittedly see why. After all, this topic is bullsh- :slight_smile:

Poll added to thread.

As you might be able to tell from this and the Cow Herd thread, the aim is to flesh out what it means for the Chaos Dwarfs to worship a bull god. With the most important of Hashut’s aspects being an animal, that is sure to have consequences on their religious beliefs and practices.