The Helsmiths of Hashut have set their sights on the Mortal Realms, viewing its people and resources as nothing more than fuel for their furnaces. To expand and control all the lands around them is nothing short of their right, as delivered to them by Hashut, Father of Darkness.
From him, they learned how to draw upon the raw stuff of Chaos itself and trap daemons in their devastating weapons. Nearly all of the Zharrdron who studied under Hashut and learned the difficult art of inscribing the runes required to bind daemons are long since dead – piled into furnaces or sealed in tombs whose palpable aura of malice speaks loudly of their transgressions.
Not Urak Taar. As leader of the Forge Anathema, Taar has an overwhelming sense of superiority compared to even the rest of his tyrannical fellows. If he is to be believed, then he was right there in Ur-Zorn with the Bullfather himself, and helped his divine master wrest the knowledge required for daemonsmithing from deep within the Realm of Chaos.
By our reckoning, this puts him in the running for the oldest mortal still living in all of the realms. Now this is a contentious claim. What of the slann? They precede the formation of the Mortal Realms, so can it even be said that they are of the realms? We think not. Out on a technicality. Sorry Old Ones, your Great Plan didn’t account for this level of pedantry.*
But what of Krondys and his twin brother Karazai? The Draconith lived in the Mortal Realms long before the humans, duardin, and aelves. Well… how mortal are you if you’re descended from an omniscient draconid god? We’re leaning towards “at least a little divine”. Kragnos? Apotheosis. Next. Let’s settle on the fact that Urak Taar is certainly one of the oldest mortals, though we think he’d continue to argue the point further. He is very patient.
Regardless of the leaderboards, Taar’s age is reflected in the magical petrification that has claimed most of his body, the inevitable cost of practicing Hashut’s infernal craft. Many other sorcerers have fallen foul of this curse, the reach of their ambition falling short of their ability to hold their just deserts at bay, but Taar persists. Only through pride and willpower does he hold back the inevitable… that and a lifetime dedicated to unearthing arcane secrets. Amazing what you can put your mind to when you can see your own flesh turning to stone.
As an expert smith, Taar created some of the weapons and armour of the Varanguard in exchange for secrets that helped stem the change. In battle he wields the arcane staff Dumakaz, an artefact said to be forged by Hashut’s own hand. He proclaims that the transmutative magic roiling around it provides a minor salve to his affliction, but, in truth, turning his enemies and unfortunate servants into obsidian just to shatter them satiates only his grim sense of humour.
His Infernal Taurus steed, Ghorrakos, is unique amongst these great constructs. The souls of the bullsires of Korrok were rendered down and poured into its creation, and the great bronze beast often moves on its own, a display of wilful insubordination which Taar would find highly unseemly if not for the dark secrets it occasionally rumbles to him.
The only route he can perceive that will let him escape the curse is to simply outdo Hashut and become a god himself – the logical conclusion of the arrogance the Father of Darkness imbued within his followers, and for Taar simply one more step in the centuries-long search for superiority in all things. With command of the forces of the Forge Anathema, he wields the greatest and vastest military force available to all of the Zharrdron, with war machines rescued from the bowels of Ur-Zorn itself, using them to pursue his selfish desires.
Perhaps it was one of Ghorrakos’ mysterious whispers that caused Taar to personally lead an assault against Grimnir’s Firehold, stealing something from its vaults that even the First Daemonsmith finds interesting enough to keep a closely guarded secret. Whatever the reason, as long as he can hold the curse back, he’s here to stay.
You can pre-order Urak Taar on Saturday, along with the rest of the Helsmiths of Hashut range, and lay claim to the Mortal Realms – which we all know are rightfully yours.
* This also puts Gotrek out of the running.
