Your war hammer is too fake

……

PS: The transitional plot is finally almost finished, but I have to write it... (paralyzed

Chapter 58 Ancestors, Grandfather, Lineage, Father (Part 1)

In the throne hall of Black Rock Castle, Oakley Phillipson was crowned king in front of thousands of people.

The ceremonies of the dwarves were generally not complicated. When An Jiyue, who was invited to watch the ceremony, was still in a trance, the coronation ceremony was over, and deafening cheers rang out throughout the throne hall, which had not yet been repaired and still had cracks and damage in many places.

Not many people attended the coronation ceremony. In addition to the 5,000 garrisons left at the Sea Gate, there were already four clans and about a thousand dwarves living in Black Crag, including the Bronze Hoe Clan, and a group of dwarf rangers set up camps outside the fortress. When they learned that Black Crag was liberated and Thorgrim called on the clans that had historically belonged to Black Crag to return to their true homeland, almost all of the target objects chose to respond to the High King's initiative and embarked on a long journey home with their families.

According to the estimates of Eternal Peak, after all the clans have migrated to their locations, Black Rock Castle will have a population of approximately three to four thousand.

In this process, there were naturally all kinds of disputes and doubts. More than one clan doubted the legal legitimacy of Oakley's coronation as king. An Jiyue was worried that Oakley might not be able to cope with this situation. After all, given the character of the dwarves, they raised such doubts not for political reasons such as interests, but because they really felt that Oakley's becoming king was not in line with the rules, at least not legitimate enough.

As far as objective facts are concerned, Oakley really couldn't handle this situation, but fortunately, there was Dagna. As the only remaining high-ranking priest of Valaya in the Mountain Kingdom, Dagna's prestige and fame were actually much higher than An Jiyue had imagined. In order to resolve the matter, the old lady personally summoned all the clans that had doubts about the matter and persuaded them one by one.

To be honest, An Jiyue was very curious about how the old lady did it. Dwarves were not human beings, and the exchange of interests and bribery would not work in the Mountain Kingdom at all, and would even have the opposite effect. Presenting facts and reasoning might not be useful either, as the stubbornness of the dwarves made it difficult for them to be persuaded - in dwarven society, most of the time, "correctness" must give way to "tradition".

"My method is actually very simple," Dagna said to An Jiuyue with a smile as Oakley sat on his throne and accepted the cheers of his subjects with a stiff expression, "I will ask them if anyone among them wants to be king. If so, I can adopt him as my son and then declare him my first heir."

"If someone tells me in the future that dwarves don't understand politics, I will tell them your story," An Jiyue raised her head and glanced at Oakley not far away, "Your rank is not low even if you put it in Weijing."

Dwarves attach great importance to their ancestors, because the clan exists based on them. For dwarves, losing their homes and having to live under someone else's roof has greatly damaged the honor of their ancestors; taking the initiative to be adopted by someone else is even more unthinkable. According to the dwarves' concept, this is no different from abandoning their ancestors, and it is a terrible act that orthodox dwarves dare not even think about.

As the last descendant of the Black Crag royal family, Dagna is the only legitimate heir to the Black Crag. It is impossible to set up a new royal family without her while she is still alive. According to the conventions of the dwarven society, usually at this time, Dagna will be crowned as queen, temporarily acting as regent, and then a suitable husband will be found for her. This husband will become the new king.

But this is impossible... Dagna has been married before, so if we really want to talk about tradition, does Oakley's grandfather conform to tradition? If so, then Oakley can naturally be the heir.

"In my life, I have raised three sons and two daughters. My sons have brought me seven grandsons and three granddaughters, and Oakley is my only living male descendant." The old lady pulled the wool blanket covering her lower body. Her legs, which were broken in the middle of the thighs, always made the blanket slide down. "This is the dwarf. We shed our last drop of blood to defend our homeland. It was so in the past, it is so now, and it will be so in the future."

On the high platform used to place the throne, Oakley finally accepted everyone's congratulations and the oath of allegiance from the clan leaders. The newly-minted dwarf king wore a heavy crown, raised the oak wine glass high, and announced the start of the banquet in a loud voice.

This was probably the quietest dwarf banquet she had ever experienced, An Jiyue thought. Around her and Dagna, female dwarves from four clans gathered and occupied a separate area in the throne room. In front of the Kweens (Kazarid for "ladies"), the usually bold and unrestrained male dwarves paid attention to their image and did not behave as unrestrainedly as usual. They even lowered their voices by several decibels.

As soon as the banquet started, An Jiyue was surrounded by a group of female dwarves. Almost every female dwarf who saw An Jiyue couldn't help but touch her silver hair and ask how she maintained it.

All the female dwarves were very envious of the girl's hair quality, and all agreed that if a female dwarf could have such beautiful hair, then she would even be qualified to call herself the most beautiful woman in the Mountain Kingdom!

The banquet lasted until the late night, and ended in a cloud of smoke. Before the time travel, An Jiyue hated smoking. When she saw that the dwarves had almost finished eating and drinking and began to take out their pipes, the girl quickly slipped away and ran to the city wall to see the scenery. In addition to the sentinels on duty, there were only some dwarf rangers patrolling on the city wall. Under the hazy moonlight, An Jiyue noticed that the armor and weapons used by these rangers were all brand new.

"Are you from the Shadowbeard Brotherhood?" It had only been a short time since he proposed the regularization of rangers. Isn't this action too fast?

Seeing An Jiyue, especially recognizing her identity through her silver hair, the rangers all bent down and saluted the somewhat bewildered girl. "You must be the Little Moon they are talking about," a drunken dwarf ranger parted the crowd and came to the girl, "Nice to meet you, I am Joseph Bergman, you can call me Joseph."

An Jiyue raised her eyebrows when she heard this. "You guys are much quicker than I thought," the girl also touched her chest in return, "Why don't you go to the party? From what I know about Oakley, he must have invited you."

"My people and I have more important things to do than feast at a banquet," said the legendary brewmaster and most famous ranger leader of the Mountain Kingdom. "I must thank you for all you have done for my brothers, my lady. Dwarves have never been a people that change easily, but you have certainly helped to bring about change."

"I just can't tolerate soldiers shedding blood and sacrificing their lives to defend their homeland, but in the end they don't even get the most basic respect," An Jiyue shook her head, "I noticed your equipment. It looks like it's all newly made?"

"His Majesty Thorgrim has provided great help," Joseph replied. "I was ordered to train the first batch of warriors for the Shadowbeard Brotherhood. Black Rock Castle has just been recaptured and there is a serious shortage of manpower, so I brought these rookies here to see the world."

"What's the situation nearby?" An Jiyue asked.

"It's too peaceful. Those tall goblins have cleaned up the area. But this won't last long. Before long, the greenskins and rats will fill every valley and tunnel again." The brewmaster held the mottled wall with one hand and looked at the mountains in the distance, "and we will kill them all again."

"It's useless to just kill them all," the girl thought. She might not even be able to kill them all. "If we want to truly eradicate the greenskins and rats from an area, especially the former, the only way is to completely occupy their living space, leaving no space at all. Military means are just auxiliary."

Joseph Bergman turned his head to look at the girl's face, silently waiting for what would happen next.

"I actually have a plan, but I'm sure it's too radical for the dwarves," An Jiyue heard footsteps behind her, but she didn't turn around, "It's so radical that even I think it's better not to bring it up."

"If your suggestion can improve the situation of the dwarves, then you should not hesitate, Little Moon." Oakley walked up the steps step by step, followed by two heavy hammer warriors. "Speak, my friend. I am listening."

"If we want to occupy the living space of the greenskins, we must have enough manpower. Natural reproduction alone is definitely not enough." After all, the fertility rate of the dwarves has always been a tragedy. What's more terrible is that the dwarves also have the problem of a naturally unbalanced gender ratio. "Oakley, I was thinking, if there are not enough living people, then... what about the dead?"

The night wind blew through the mountain peaks, making a shrill roar. The torches flickered, illuminating the faces that were almost lost in the shadows.

"...If someone else had said that to me," Oakley said, "my axe would have split his head open by now."

"You seem to have misunderstood something, Oakley Phillipson. In our place, necromancers are just like rats in the gutter. We kill them if we find one. The attitude of the Heavenly Court towards these bastards is no different from that of the Mountain Kingdom." An Jiyue turned around and looked at Oakley's eyes that were shining in the light of the torch. "We have an ancient spell, a real forbidden knowledge, which can transform living people into undead spirits with clay bodies on the premise of their own willingness. We call this kind of existence 'Terracotta Warriors'. The Terracotta Warriors are not the dead enslaved by the necromancy spell. They just have sacred responsibilities to fulfill, and this responsibility requires them to transcend life and death."

The scene was quiet for a while. Before Oakley spoke, Joseph Bergman said, "The long sleep of our ancestors should not be disturbed... unless they want to get up and get some fresh air."

"Joseph!" The dwarf king stamped his feet hard, and his iron boots scraped sparks on the rocky ground. "Do you know what you are saying?!"

"I don't think we have the power to make decisions on behalf of our ancestors," the brewmaster calmly faced the Lord of Black Rock Castle, whose gaze was half angry and the other half was something indescribable. "Only the ancestors themselves can decide whether this matter is right or wrong. If the identity of the undead is a sin, then what is the soul of the ancestors?"

"This is different!"

"It is the same, my king. At least, I think we can ask the opinions of our ancestors first."

Chapter 59 Ancestors, Grandfather, Lineage, Father (Part 2)

Late that night, in Black Rock Castle, in the temple of Gazul (the dwarf god of death).

"I brought three Huangquan sedan chairs in total," An Jiyue said, pointing to the three sedan chairs lined up in the corner, "I will definitely go there myself, so I can only bring two people at most."

If you only look at the appearance, the shape of the Huangquan sedan is no different from that of an ordinary sedan carried by two people, except that the bearers are not real people, but two hollow paper figures made of talisman paper. The two real paper figures, one in front and one behind, carry the sedan made of peach wood as the frame and locust wood as the cover. The curtain of the sedan is not cloth, but a long string of old copper coins.

"This thing looks like some kind of transportation," Oakley said, suppressing his instinctive disgust and discomfort, and trying to look away from the paper figure carrying the sedan chair. "What exactly does it do?"

"According to our magic theory, the world of the living and the world of the dead are separated. The boundary between the two is clear, and trespassing into a territory that does not belong to you is a very dangerous behavior." At this point, An Jiyue yawned, "However, fate is unpredictable, and sometimes you have to violate taboos... and the Yellow Springs Sedan was created by ancient alchemists to protect your life in such situations. Well, I don't really care, but you really need this."

"As long as you sit on the Huangquan sedan and strictly follow the requirements of the ritual, the living can temporarily visit the realm of the dead without suffering any harm. This sedan can take people to Gazul or some other realm of the god of death, but please pay attention and listen carefully to every word I am going to say next. When we set off, I will give you a lit incense stick. No matter what happens, you must come back before the incense stick burns out. Remember, you must hold it all the time during the whole process and never let go."

Since there is no corresponding word in Khazarid German, "Sign Incense" An Jiyue directly used her native language.

"So how long can this 'incense stick' burn?" asked Dagna.

"Look at the specifications. The incense sticks I prepared for you can burn for about two hours," An Jiyue clapped her hands, "Okay, so who's going to go with me? Get the job done quickly so I can go rest. I'm so sleepy..."

"Oakley," Dagna said before her grandson could speak, "You are the king, and you have the king's duties to perform. I'll go."

"No, I don't think so, Grandma," Oakley retorted immediately, "Little Moon said that as long as the ritual is strictly followed, there will be no safety problems. I believe her. This matter is too important, so important that I must go in person."

"Count me in," said Joseph Bergman, picking up his glass and taking a long sip. "Since I agree with this crazy idea, I have to see with my own eyes what I agree with."

Dagna obviously didn't want Oakley to go. The old lady looked at An Jiyue, who nodded slightly. The old lady sighed, and a sad expression appeared on her wrinkled face: "Why is it that no one, whether it's my son or my grandson, has ever been willing to understand my feelings?"

"grandmother……"

"As a king, since you have made your decision, don't hesitate," Dagna said firmly, "Go and see with your own eyes whether we have embraced the end of the world or chosen the future!"

……

The three of them got into the Huangquan sedan one after another.

"Wait, why aren't you holding this?" Oakley poked his head out from behind the curtain and questioned loudly.

The dwarf king held a burning incense stick in his hand, and a wisp of green smoke rose up, entwining around the holder's body and refusing to dissipate. Compared with ordinary incense sticks, this incense stick has no smell when burning - to be more precise, living people cannot smell it.

"Because I don't need this thing anyway," An Jiyue rolled her eyes at Oakley, who had originally planned to do it tomorrow but was forced to start work today after being pestered by him for a long time. "Forget about this thing. If I want to go to the underworld, I don't even need a Huangquan sedan... But that would be too rude and inappropriate."

A Taoist priest with a high enough level of cultivation did not need to use any external objects to travel between Yin and Yang, and An Jiyue naturally met the requirement of "high enough level of cultivation". After confirming that the two companions had boarded the sedan chair and were holding the incense sticks he gave them tightly, An Jiyue's mind moved, and the six paper sedan bearers exerted their strength at the same time, steadily lifting the three Huangquan sedan chairs off the ground.

The paper sedan bearers walked steadily, and the sedan was not shaken at all. After the bottom of the sedan left the ground, the three Huangquan sedans began to circle around a spirit-calling banner.

Oakley twisted his body uncomfortably in his seat. The sedan designed for human body was a bit crowded for a dwarf. Through the swaying curtains made of copper coins, Oakley could vaguely see An Jiyue's sedan walking in the front, and Joseph Bergman's sedan following behind him.

He must be crazy, the dwarf king thought. He was relying on witchcraft to solve the problems facing his fortress and the entire mountain kingdom. What was even more terrifying was that he had no idea whether An Jiyue's magic would work.

The sedan chair traveled silently through the deserted wilderness. The Dwarf King seemed to be able to see more and more spirits. Some translucent figures that were obviously dwarves appeared on both sides of the road, looking like they were... wait, wilderness?

Oakley's eyes widened. He tried hard to recall the precautions that An Jiyue had given him before departure, and whether there was a rule that said he couldn't lift the curtain. After coming to a negative conclusion, Oakley swallowed hard. He stood up from the sedan seat, tried to tiptoe, and looked out through the sedan window -

There was no doubt that he was no longer at Black Rock.

The place where the sedan chair was boarded was the Gazul Temple in Black Rock Castle, which was located in the deepest part of the fortress. Behind the temple was the resting place of the ancestors. Oakley clearly remembered that the sedan chair did not leave the temple at all, but circled around a strange flag that An Jiyue called the "Soul-Calling Banner", circling around and around.

When they went around forty-ninth time, the three Huangquan sedan chairs stopped at the same time.

"Come down, both of you," An Jiyue's voice came from outside the sedan chair, "We've arrived."

Oakley got out of the sedan and had a clear view of the environment he was in. There were no clouds in the sky, it was gray and gloomy, exuding an atmosphere of both depression and tranquility; the surroundings were not a neatly planned fortress with stone buildings, but an open wilderness with few plants in sight, and the few trees that were there had long since died.

Black, grey, and white, these are the only three colours in the Dwarf King's vision, nothing else.

Hundreds or more figures gathered around the three people. They were all dwarves, and their translucent bodies revealed their spiritual identity.

All the dwarven spirits stood more than ten meters away, forming a circle without saying a word, surrounding the living who suddenly broke into this land. For a moment, both Oakley and Joseph completely forgot to speak.

"Hello," An Jiyue waved to the dwarven spirits in front of her in a friendly manner, "Can you speak?"

Oakley frowned and glared at the female alchemist. Just as he was about to speak, he saw the dwarf spirits all separated to both sides. A dwarf spirit that Oakley felt inexplicably familiar with stood out from the crowd.

"Welcome... to the kingdom of Gazul." Perhaps because he had not spoken for a long time, the dwarf spirit's voice was hoarse, and he paused after each syllable. "I am Gotrek. Gotrek Oshatterstar."

The two dwarves exclaimed at the same time, and even An Jiyue raised his eyebrows.

"Ancestor, we have been waiting for a long time." Gotrek Oshatterstar's words became a little more fluent: "Gazul, I want to see you, the human witch. Just you and her. As for these two short-bearded boys, they can stay here."

The author says:

Author's words: Reply to reader "Lieutenant Colonel Liu Peiqie":

First of all, this practice of binding souls to certain objects already exists in Warhammer, otherwise how did the Tomb Kings' constructs come about? Although the specific methods vary, the basic manufacturing process of the Tomb Kings' constructs is that the Mortuary Cult summons the souls of ancient warriors from the underworld and then binds them to the constructs.

In order to ensure that it is indeed the soul of an ancient warrior bound to the construct, rather than something else, the Tomb Kings' constructs are engraved with special protective spells. You see, their security awareness is quite good.

Do you think this thing is a "demon engine"? To be called a demon engine, you must be bound to a demon. In Warhammer, the only things that really meet the definition of a demon engine are some of the Chaos Dwarfs' war machines, which really stuff demons into the machines. And please note that even if it is a bad A-Dun, not all war machines will have demons stuffed into them.

Finally, and most importantly, although I personally hate spoilers, it seems impossible not to say it at all: there will be no dwarven terracotta warriors in this book, and this is not the dwarves' solution to the problem of insufficient manpower.

I added this after seeing your latest reply. The Nehekhara people do not use necromancy, no! It is! Death! Spirit! Magic! The Nehekhara people's magic is a magical divine magic, closely related to the gods of Nehekhara, and in principle it is different from the necromancy invented by Nagash. Nagash did refer to this thing when he created the necromancy, but the root is still derived from the dark magic of black bean sprouts. Before you speak, can you please understand the setting first? Even if you don't understand the setting, you have played Warhammer Total War, right? Vampires have vampire corruption, where does Tomb Kings have this thing? Don't mention Arkhan, that guy is not normal.

Chapter 60 Gazul

Gazul is the dwarven god of death and the younger brother of Grungni and Grimnir.

As the most mysterious of the seven dwarf ancestors, Gazul did not leave countless legends for future generations like his two brothers. He was like a guardian hiding behind history, silently watching over the souls of the deceased dwarves, and fulfilling his sacred duty as the protector of the dead in the long years after he ascended to the gods.

"Hello, young Outer God," this was the first sentence Gazul said after seeing An Jiyue, "Welcome to my kingdom."

At first glance, Gazul looked nothing special. He was wearing a very old-fashioned black armor, a black cloak with a hood, and no helmet. Under the brim of the hood was a tough face that looked like it had been chiseled by a knife. Seeing An Jiyue, the Dwarf Death God stood up from his Star Iron Throne and signaled Gotrek O Brokenstar to step down.

This meeting was not in An Jiyue's plan, but the girl was not too surprised. Rather, she had always been looking forward to having a direct conversation with a certain dwarven ancestor god, because only in this way could certain plans be put on the agenda, rather than being constrained by the dwarves' stubborn temper and unable to be implemented... It would even be better not to mention it to the dwarves.

"Good morning, good afternoon, good evening," the girl maintained a proper smile, "I am An Jiyue."

"My lady, I have waited for this day for seven thousand years." Gazul said without any nonsense. As a dwarf, he got straight to the point after saying hello. "In the era when my brothers and I were still mortals, Granni foresaw the arrival of you and other Outer Gods. Of course, it is also possible that you took the initiative to reveal the future to him. Granni told me that he had a dream in which he witnessed the rise and fall, betrayal and betrayal, blood and revenge of the dwarves--"

"—and saw the end of the world."

"This is just a possibility, a possible future," An Jiuyue said, "Since I have come to this world, I will do my best to prevent the end of the world. There are other people, many people who will lend me a hand."

"But we can't leave the responsibility of saving the world entirely to outsiders and just sit back and enjoy the fruits of their labor." Gazul put away his hood, revealing a tired but determined face underneath. "This idea is too shameless and cowardly, and no dwarf should have such an idea. We will seek allies, but we prefer to try to save ourselves. To this end, we have made many preparations. Valaya's plan is one of them, and Granni has more complicated ideas."

"Appreciate further details."

"Dwarves are not as fertile as elves or humans (Note 1). If we suffer a series of severe blows, it will be difficult for our population to recover to its peak level. No matter how majestic a fortress is, it needs warriors to guard it in order to stand on the top of the mountain. A fortress without people cannot defend against any attack. We have discussed this issue many times. Valaya tried to directly solve the root of the problem, while Granni proposed another plan, a plan that could turn the tide at the most critical moment for the Sons of the Mountain and Stone and save our race from the brink of destruction."

"Very good." An Jiyue crossed her arms and nodded in agreement. "It seems that I am not the only one who has set his sights on the dead."

"Granni's plan is not that crazy," the Dwarf Death's overly straightforward words made the girl choke a little. "Not to mention my people, even humans would find it difficult to understand your idea. At least Sigmar's followers would definitely not be able to accept the fact that their long-dead ancestor has turned into a lively pottery statue."

"Of course I know this. I have deeply experienced the stubbornness of the dwarves in the matter of rangers. The problem is that there is really no other way. Valaya's plan is indeed good, but it is too late to save the situation! There is not much time left before the end of the world. Even if the dwarves' population explodes from this generation, it will be useless. Before the new generation of short-bearded boys grow up to the age where they can carry axes to fight, the three-eyed guy will ride his black donkey of doom and smash the whole world to pieces."

"Gronni had similar concerns, so he proposed a backup plan," Gazul said in a deep voice, "Gronni created a device he called the [Eternal Furnace]." The Dwarf Death God raised his left hand, and a translucent projection appeared in front of the two (?): "The Eternal Furnace can decompose the soul and remove the negative parts of it. According to Granni's design, these purified souls will regain their physical bodies after completing a series of trials and once again fight for the Mountain Kingdom."

"What Sigma statuette... Well, this time it's Granni statuette." The girl held her forehead with one hand, a mouthful of old wine stuck in her throat, unable to cough it out or swallow it. Looking at the translucent image of some large device projected by Gazul, An Jiyue asked, "Then why was this plan not implemented?"

"Granni said he encountered some technical difficulties. To be precise, there was a problem with the first step of the plan. The soul could not be correctly guided to the Eternal Furnace." Gazul spread his hands. "Our runes are not perfect, although my people are usually reluctant to admit this. There are many areas that the dwarf runes have never touched. We need wisdom from other races to solve the series of problems faced by this plan."

"'The wisdom of other races', why don't you just say magic? How dare Granny believe in magic?"

"Whether it's me or anyone else, as long as we are dwarves, we will never believe in something as fickle as magic. But you are an exception. The power of the Outer Gods is special. At least Granni assured us that the special power you possess is 100% reliable."

"That's why this plan was not implemented... I kind of understand why you said that you have been waiting for this day for seven thousand years." Obviously, the power of the Outer God must refer to the Holy Scripture of War, An Jiyue thought, "So, what do you need me to do?"

"This is the key to the Eternal Forge." A golden hammer appeared in Gazul's hand. "Take it to the location of the Eternal Forge and light it. I will take over the rest of the work."

The dwarf god of death handed the warhammer to An Jiyue. An Jiyue took it with both hands, but found that it was much lighter than expected. She looked at the warhammer in her hand. This blunt weapon was made of oath gold, and many mysterious runes were inlaid on the hammer head and handle.

"I have a question," the girl asked as she weighed the warhammer in her hand, "Why would you give such an important thing to an outsider like me?"

"Because only you can ignite the Eternal Forge. Granni's creation has the ability to decompose souls. When it is ignited for the first time, the invisible shock wave formed will tear apart the souls of all mortals around. Only you can face this impact without being hurt. In addition, even if you don't consider this point, only you have enough power to activate the key."

After a pause, Gazul said seriously: "The most important thing is that the key is only safe in your hands. Whether it is you or other Outer Gods, you are invisible in the long river of fate, or you do not exist. No one can peek into your figures from the fickle fate, not even the blue-haired silly bird who likes to play witchcraft. This is why I think Granni was able to foresee your arrival, because you did it deliberately."

"So," An Jiyue stretched out her hand, "Does this count as a covenant?"