TwilightCo:
I guess it would be entirely possible that those strong enough i.e. Astragoth could keep themselves alive indefinitely.Well, not to my reckoning. Once his heads petrified he's done... sure he/they could exist as spirits trapped in stone (like the Eldar soul stones) but without a means to direct/manifest their magical powers... or communicate with others for that matter... what's the point?
Willmark
Stormcrow:
The fact that it is a curse, to me, is one of the most appealing aspects of the army. Magic is such a bane to dwarfs that their bodies turn to the stone, yet they still pursue it. Every sorcerer reaffirms his race’s quest for power and rejection of the natural order by taking up the study. The bitterness they feel over their predicament is so strong that they accept this temporary power despite the obvious, and inevitable, consequences.
Tarrakk Blackhand:
Ahhh…but what happens if a CD Sorcerer decides to abandon his magical practices and returnto the side of the Good Dwarfs?
Would he stave of the curse of stone?
Willmark:
Why not magic is the sole reason for chaos dwarf sorcerers to exist.I guess it would be entirely possible that those strong enough i.e. Astragoth could keep themselves alive indefinitely.Well, not to my reckoning. Once his heads petrified he's done... sure he/they could exist as spirits trapped in stone (like the Eldar soul stones) but without a means to direct/manifest their magical powers... or communicate with others for that matter... what's the point?
Willmark
TwilightCo
TwilightCo:
Why not magic is the sole reason for chaos dwarf sorcerers to exist.Why not... :D?
Willmark
Willmark:
Sure if they are powertful enough like Astragoth perhaps they are powerful enough to fend off rivals stone or not.
TwilightCo:
I suppose, but even an extremely powerful “evil super character” will eventually be overthrown… unless the fan base is big enough.
I’ve always been opposed to special characters primarily because someone somewhere decided that they don’t have to follow the same rules everyone else does. I don’t mind being beaten by another player, but hate being beaten by a games development team’s pet project. That being said, this is just my opinion and no one should take umbrage at it. 
But I digress yet again…
I guess my bottom line would be that curses are bad, evil is bad, chaos is unpredictable by nature but ultimately any combination of the three will bite you in the butt!
Willmark:
Agreed. I’m sure it’s not the most fun thing becoming a statue, maybe that’s why they are cranky.
Tarrakk Blackhand:
You guys missed my post about “could a CD loose the cures if he gave up magic?”
TwilightCo:
No way… didn’t miss it, just didn’t think it would ever happen. They are slaves to darkness and as the fluff supports, greedy and self serving. Additionally, we’re dealing with daemons here rather than “the force”. So, no backsies!
Tarrakk Blackhand:
Ok, I guess. Caqn’t really see any Cd’s going back to the “Good” ways either.
Grimstonefire:
After the first wave of converts I assumed all CD were born and not turned from regular dwarfs. Although they show slightly different characteristics, they are still of the dwarf race. That’s as far as the link goes IMO.
So a chaos dwarf could go renegade and become ‘good’, growing flowers and looking after the environment ;). But they cannot lose their racial characteristics so easily (despite the Lost and Damned fluff). Dwarfs could tell a CD a mile away.
I would think it’s impossible to reverse the stone curse and turn stone back to flesh.
cornixt:
I like the idea of a sorcerer being made entirely from stone, but using magic to move himself around
TwilightCo:
So a chaos dwarf could go renegade and become 'good', growing flowers and looking after the environment ;). But they cannot lose their racial characteristics so easily (despite the Lost and Damned fluff). Dwarfs could tell a CD a mile away.Agreed, but that's just nature vs. nurture. When you consider that the CDs as a society are essentially undeveloped it can't be ruled out.
Grimstonefire
Kera foehunter:
i just though that chaos dwarf tusk where just clip ons.
they only use them to find mates !!
Revlid:
It is a curious facet of the Stone Curse that allows Sorcerers to remain alive and coherent up until the final petrification of their head is complete. By all logic, with their lungs turned to rock and blood frozen in its stone veins, they should die or at least fall dormant - yet most Sorcerer-Lords seem no more inconvenienced by their state than any other cripple, able to move freely around with the aid of walking engines or finely-gilded palanquins. Until the brain itself ossifies, it seems, the Sorcerers are sustained by their own magical energies and the favour of Hashut.
The Sorcerer-Lord who has taken this blessing-within-the-curse to its most extreme is the current High Prophet of Hashut, Astragoth. When last the assembled Sorcerer-Lords looked upon him, his petrification extended as far as his cheekbones, and maneuvers were already being made to become his successor. That was several centuries ago, and yet the great Prophet shows no signs of joining his predessors on the road of statues. His followers claim that it is the favour of the Father of Darkness that sustains him, while some whisper behind closed doors that his longevity is due to nothing of the sort.
The latter assertions are given some merit by the fact that, with the possible exception of his personal Ziggurat Guard, Astragoth has not been seen in person since before Magnus the Pious reformed his Sigmarite Empire. In all matters of religion, doctrine and state he has spoken through the head of his Guard, or, more frequently as of late, Ghorth the Cruel, a Sorcerer-Lord who has been pegged as a potential successor for some time now. Some would doubt Astragoth were even alive at all, were it not for his occasional appearances on the battlefield. Encased in a gigantic Kolossus forged from the metal of a hundred melted-down statues of Hashut, Astragoth’s lack of physical appearance is made up for by the potent magic he unleashes at the enemy, his mighty stone hammer-fists, and the religious fervour he instills in every devout Chaos Dwarf warrior.
It is claimed, in an otherwise obscure and irrelevant tablet of Hashut’s words, that at some unspecified date in the future (speculated by more doomsaying Chaos Dwarfs to be the End Times of Chaos) the “statues” of former Sorcerers that line the way to the great temple of Hashut will step off their pedestals, reinvigorated by the power of the dark master, a legion of stone spell-casters that will form a ring of indomitable power around Zharr Naggrund. Some believe that Astragoth, in the wisdom of Hashut, has already been elevated to such a state, able to move freely despite his undoubted petrification. Others blasphemously speculate that some darker blend of sorcery and machinery has led to his continued animation, the High Prophet having sacrified his final reward at Hashut’s side in return for a few more centuries of life in this mortal realm.
jolpis:
i don’t belive astroghth is blessed by the gods he’s just afraid of dying.
but all the status walking around is pretty awsome. the question is will they be able to cast spells or does their magic weaken with their bodies?
Zaramuskharaz:
Revlid just brought up an interesting idea.
Imagine if, on the Dawi Zharr doomsday, ALL the turned-to-stone sorcerers just start walking and casting spells! To help Hashut in bringing the world to it’s knees, so Hashut and his children shall rule undisputed!:o
Somehow, it reminds me from the last The Mummy film…
Revlid:
Imagine if, on the Dawi Zharr doomsday, ALL the turned-to-stone sorcerers just start walking and casting spells! To help Hashut in bringing the world to it's knees, so Hashut and his children shall rule undisputed!:oThe catch here, of course, being that by that point it's already doomsday. Ragnarok, the Apocalypse, Judgement Day, the Age of Reckoning, the Teatime of the Gods, etc. So not only will every other nasty prophecised event be happening around the same time, but it won't matter in a little while anyway. :D Depressing, no?
Somehow, it reminds me from the last The Mummy film...:)
Zaramuskharaz
Grimstonefire:
Nice fluff Revlid, though why would he melt down statues to Hashut? I know it would seem to make it holy, but it seems disrespectful. I would melt down captured dwarf warmachines!