+ + data query . . . searching . . . identified + + Classified Level 5 clearance – Ordo Xenos Archive + + Identity Verification in progress . . . + + DNA analysis – complete + + retinal scanning – complete + + digital voiceprint – complete user identity verified: Inquisitor Magnus xnx39/646/33/5a buffering data . . . . . . compiling index . . . . . . ->"Squats; Abhuman or Mutant?" Witch Hunter Garthum: 322.M40 ->"Viability Study: Squat Autonomy within the Imperium" Inquisitor Armus: 182.M41 ->"Space Dwarves: an Ally for Humanity" Inquisitor Orestes: 309.M41 ->"Heretics, Aliens and Mutants – the Squat Threat" Confessor Arken: 318.M41 ->"The Squat Histories: Codices of Antiquity" Techpriest Hannover: 320.M41 ->*stop* ...accessing executive summary... +++ Imperial Database (file ref. sts84/030/88/5c) The Squat, or Space Dwarf: this is a diminutive humanoid race of great physical constitution that possesses a great deal of technical ability and characterized by a tenacious spirit and deep sense of honour. The origins of this race cast suspicion upon many fundamental tenets of Imperial doctrines; Humanity alone must rule the galaxy. The Alien is evil. The Mutant is an abomination. These are unshakable facts upon which the Imperium is built. That non-human species could be worthy of the trust of The Emperor of Mankind is utterly impossible to reconcile with the political realities of the Imperium. Needless to say, the Inquisition is quite divided on the issue of the value of the Squats, or Naugrim as we now know they call themselves. Whether they are worthy of respect is under debate, but there is no dissent as to the official doctrine. They are not to be acknowledged in any way. They are a myth; figments of stories told for the amusement of children. They do not exist. To suggest otherwise is heresy. This datafile contains all pertinent archival data pertaining to the history of the Naugrim. It is EYES ONLY. Breach of Level 5 security protocols will result in immediate issue warrants with summary execution clearance for Adeptus Arbites and all Inquisition agents. PROCEED WITH FORTITUDE *The Emperor is our Salvation* The Guildsman stepped from the hatch of the still steaming tunneller. He removed his goggles and squinted into the darkness of the cavern. The Warpknot had been sound; it was a solid node of crystal and it would make an excellent Slipgate. Yet he did not allow himself the pleasure of satisfaction in a job well done, for there was much more yet to do. Golgotha Prime. This was one world, one amoung many that the Krusaders of Thoroden were returning to after millenia of isolation. Like so many of the Homeworlds of antiquity, they had fallen to ruin, signs of violence in abundance. It was clear that the Thains and Hearthguard had fought well, but were outnumbered many times over. On some worlds, it was the greenskinned Orkkunen that had slaughtered the Naugrim. On other worlds there were signs of Elthuari treachery. On some worlds they found the chitinous remains of the Tyrakniden that had swarmed into the tunnels of the dwarves and carried them off for what purpose none can say. Even the Necrontyr had roused from their slumber to partake of the genocide, the only evidence of their attacks being the telltale Gauss scoring on the marble halls where the defenders must have made their heroic last stand. On all worlds it was the same. Blackness where once there was light. Gloom, where once untold beauty reigned in the Deeps. And yet there were survivors. Hidden in the deepest caverns there would sometimes be found a group of Naugrim, living as best they could in hiding. Like a vein of precious metal, the Guild sent teams to remove them, to bring them back to Gesspur, back out of the darkness and into the ancient light of Khu’Zendain whose memory untold centuries of hardship could not erase from their souls. Perhaps it would be so here on this world. Perhaps the Orks had not found all the tunnels and secret ways the Naugrim had fashioned under the mountains of Golgotha. These greenskinned brutes are not renowned for their thoroughness, or their reasoning; only their brutality and their ruthless cunning. Let them think themselves mighty. Let them feel at ease, living within the mighty halls that were built by dwarven hands; for Thoroden The Deep King cometh and he brings the Fire and he brings the Hammer and he will bring vengeance to those that have Wronged his people. The Lords of the Deep The Dwarf race has a long and proud history, dating back to the Dark Age of Technology, or as they call it in their records, The Age of Founding. The Imperium has explained them as an abhuman strain like Ogryn or Ratlings, and calls them Squats. Those dwarves that live under the sway of the Emperor accept that name and answer to it when amoung uplanders, but amoung themselves they know their true name and keep it hidden; they are the Naugrim and their memories are long. The Dwarf Home Worlds lie within the oldest parts of the Imperium, and it is thought by some that conditions on these high-gravity mining worlds changed the human colonists over generations into dwarves; but the Naugrim believe that it is not the Dwarves that come from the humans, but the reverse. Before the Age of Founding, when the Home Worlds were settled, there was the time referred to in the most arcane of the Dwarven books as The Deep Age. This was a time when humans were still hairy brutes, and the Eldar were plentiful. It is in this ancient time that the Naugrim were at their height. They had built cities on thousands of worlds, all buried deep under the surface, connected by a network of slipgates, and united into a Commonwealth under the rule of the Deep King on the Throneworld of Khu’Zendain. A World within Rock There had always been Khu’Zendain; the race did not know of a time before its magnificent halls, its arching caverns, its sculpted tunnels. If even the agents of the Imperium had ever heard of this world, they would not find it, nor does the Eldar Black Library contain its location, for it exists beyond our galaxy. Deep in the black void between galaxies, shrouded in nebulous dark matter, far from the warmth of any star, there lies a mass of cold hard rock. It orbits no star, it has no atmosphere, and no sign of life of any kind is visible. It would be spherical, if not for the ragged gouging crater that covers nearly a third of its cracked surface, as though it were struck my the hammer of a god. Within the center of this massive rock, pressure causes heat, and the elements of this unknown matter have separated, combined and metamorphisized, creating pockets of oxygen, nitrogen and other organic compounds. It is here that the race called the Naugrim began, deep under tons of rock, evolving within the warm caverns of Khu’Zendain, like metal smelted in a furnace. These creatures explored their world, and used their skill to fashion it more to their liking; polished floors, vaulted ceilings, carved columns; stonework of unmatched beauty. Warpcraft They lived in rock, and always delved deeper into its lore, unlocking its secrets, seeking its treasures, unraveling its mysteries. Eventually, after eons of labour they discovered a secret of matter and energy, of thought and emotion – they discovered the Warp. They used this knowledge to devise Warpcraft, the art of tunneling through space. Certain points in a mass of rock had concentrations of energy that could be fashioned into a tunnel that leads to another place, far away. The Naugrim, had a different sense of the universe, being a subterranean race, and did not think of these other places as new worlds; they were all Khu’Zendain. Yet these were new worlds; the worlds that would become known as the Home Worlds were settled long ago by explorers that tunneled deep under the rockiest and most massive concentrations of matter, where the energy for slipgates would be found; under the largest and densest mountains. These concentrations, or warpknots, were most often found in large geodes, or other pockets where crystals formed under the pressure of a mountain. Some of these worlds had native inhabitants that never came in contact with the Naugrim, and on others, these stout lords made contact with the strange surface-dwellers, or Uplanders. Their craft and skill was great, and many of these races they encountered thought them to be gods or demons, and many others swore fealty to the Deep King, and learned what wisdom the Naugrim cared to share. Thorin’s Bane In this time, the slipgates made all the Home Worlds into one network, and the Naugrim traveled freely to all corners of their Commonwealth. The Warpguild Engineers were constantly exploring, delving deeper and deeper, opening new tunnels and traveling further and further, always in search of new treasures. In their lust for riches and ambition for knowledge, they unleashed something that has plagued the galaxy ever since. They cracked open the warp; they awakened the Chaos Powers. King Thorin, in an attempt to make a tunnel into his dreams had broken the border between reality and thought. That which had been separate and unmixable was now intermingled. Thorin, instead of finding his fondest dream was confronted with his worst nightmare, the Chaos Power Khorne. Immediately understanding his folly, Thorin did the only thing he could, and collapsed the Master Slipgate, preventing Khorne from entering the physical world, but also shutting down all the slipgates that branched from it. This also trapped Thorin in the Warp with Khorne, who the Naugrim now call Thorin’s Bane. The Naugrim carry a great burden of shame, for they feel that it is because of Thorin’s folly that the Chaos powers first learned of the material world. At the time, few in the Commonwealth understood what went wrong, but suddenly, the slipgates closed. All the worlds that once were mere extensions of Khu’Zendain now had to fend for themselves. Here begins the Age of Founding. The Home Worlds established their own infrastructures and became independent colonies. The loss of the Master Slipgate also cut the Home Worlds off from the Warpcraft Guild, preventing them from constructing a new slipgate network. Once it became clear that the slipgates were not coming back online, they adapted as best they could. They could no longer reach their King, but the nobles, or Thains as they are called, that had been on the Home Worlds at the time established new kingdoms. These formed them into a royal clan houses, or Leagues. They all believed that the Deep King was fighting some terrible enemy, and that He would call upon them in His darkest hour. At that time the slipgates would open once again and they would return to Khu’Zendain. The Lost King On occasion, a slipgate could be activated for a short time, allowing some limited travel at crucial times. Without the Master Gate, powering of a local slipgate uses an incredible amount of energy. However, the old gates were still practical for communication; a small amount of power could energize the slipgate enough to produce a glowing plasma field at both ends of the gate. By manipulating the phase harmonics of the power source, controllable patterns could be produced. These runegates allowed the Home Worlds to maintain direct contact with each other. The runegates were used with increasing frequency towards the end of the Age of Founding. The Living Ancestors knew the Eldar were rushing towards some cataclysm, and they held many councils to discuss what was to be done. It became clear to the Naugrim that there was a connection with the increase in strange warp-related phenomena and the collapse of the Master Slipgate. They decided that they would have to return to Khu’Zendain. All the wealth of the Commonwealth was used as the Leagues, each eager to prove their loyalty, spared no expense in preparing the krusade. Massive reserves of energy were used as the slipgates were charged and the krusaders were sent through. Once through, the gates had to be shut down, for there was no power left. Those that remained waited for months, then years for some sign, but there was none. Then came the warpstorms that heralded the birth of Slaanesh, and the Fall of the Eldar. The krusade had failed, the King was lost. The warpstorms rendered the runegates useless; the Age of Isolation had begun. (A full account of the Imperial version of the history of the Squats appeared in WD 111, written up by Bryan Ansell, Nigel Stillman and Graeme Davis. Here the Five Ages are explained more fully, and it is availble to view online at: http://www.role-play.co.uk/w40krp/squats_imperium.shtml) The Little Fathers There is data within the impeccable records of the Squats that uncovers some very controversial information about the role of the Naugrim in the development of Mankind. First there is evidence that the Squats had a slipgate that led to Terra. In their histories, they make references to a world they call ‘Gaea’ where they found humanity in a feral state. They felt great compassion for this race, which they saw as a diamond in the rough. The Naugrim took the humans, or ‘hugrim’ as they called them, under their wing and taught them what they could. Humanity came to think of the dwarves and stern but kindly mentors and called the Deep King ‘The King Under the Mountain’. The technology and skill of the dwarves seemed like magic to them, and they sang songs of the wonders of the Deep. The Dwarves taught the Humans much and together they faced many perils. But to the Imperial Adept, the suggestion that humanity was ever subject to the rule of a race of aliens is heresy, and must be absolutely denied. Second, there is evidence that the Squats may have had a substantial role in the Rise of the Dark Age of Technology. It seems that they had a major role in the design and implementation of a system that allowed standard items of technology to be constructed on various worlds from local materials. Yet to suggest that the STC was anything other than a gift of the divine Machine God would be to invite civil war with the Tech-Priests of Mars. Thirdly, and most incredibly, is the suggestion that the Emperor Himself may have been sent by the Naugrim. In the early times, many humans went back to Khu’Zendain with the Deep Lords, to enter the service of the Deep King, or as the Humans called him, The King Under the Mountain. These devotees, called Journeymen, developed a code of service whereby they would spend their entire lives travelling with the Engineers, Warpsmiths and Explorers, learning all that they could in the comparatively short span of a human lifetime. Their families lived amoung the Naugrim, and served the thains and nobles in the Strongholds. Sometimes a Journeyman would return to his people after living for a time with the Little Fathers, and he would bring back wisdom and teachings, and become a leader amoung humans. These Journeymen would often have mechanical augmentations and increased strength and longevity, and some had supernatural powers of mind. It is thought that the craft of the Dwarves was so great that they had unlocked the untapped powers that lay dormant within mankind. And it is thought by some that the Deep King saw troubles ahead for both the humans and the Naugrim, and saw the need for a great and mighty leader to carry humanity through the darkness. Using all their skill they engineered a marvel that went beyond their wildest vision; they had created a perfect being; a man of such strength and mental power that he would be like unto a god. It is rumoured that this being was sent back to Earth to fight the rising tide of darkness so that humanity might survive to become a great power, one that might stand back to back with the Naugrim in the Darkest Hour. This is total blasphemic heresy to the ears of any Imperial citizen, and the height of madness is the further assertion that the Space Wolves chapter was in fact the first chapter of the Adeptus Astartes; intended by the Naugrim to be the only chapter and set up to aid the Emperor in his task. The mere suggestion of this to any space marine would be hazardous to the health of any present at the time. Yet the myths persist; of dwarves aiding the Space Wolves, and building for them mighty fortresses and forging for them weapons and armour of great power. It is whispered that the Space Wolves keep a most secret prophesy of the Return of Dwarves at the Final Battle, and that their elders are ever on the alert of signs of this ancient race. Heir To The Throneworld The last Age in the Squat Histories is only mentioned briefly at the ends of unfinished bloodspattered books. Where the Naugrim historians had time to record it, it is called the Final Age. The Homeworlds were attacked by a massive convergence of alien foes; perhaps the Gods of Chaos decided to annihilate this venerable foe and used their influence to create a nexus of probability where all enemies of the Naugrim struck at once, when their allies were unable to help. This violent pogrom brought the Naugim Leagues to the brink of annihilation, but they were saved by a hero from the past. A dwarf in ragged miner’s clothing appeared before the battered Brotherhood of Leagues and stated his lineage; Thoroden, son of Thorodrim, son of Thorodon, son of Theögrim, son of Theögron, son of Theörin, son of Thorin the Last Deep King of Khu’Zendain. He was laughed at and ordered to leave the Great Hall at once. He remained defiantly. The Thains grew angry at this disrespect and threatened to burn off his beard if he did not drop to his knees at once. The dwarf instead held aloft his mining tool, an ancient hammer, weathered and chinked from millenia of hard use in the deeps. Despite its appearance of shoddiness, any Naugrim could recognize at a glance that this was a hammer the likes of which had not been seen since the Deep Age. The Thains lept to their feet, axes, swords and hammers at the ready. With a warcry that cracked the air with the force of a thunderclap, the stranger leapt onto the marble council table and brought his hammer down with a mighty blow that split it into seven fragments. The Thains were knocked back from the concussion of the blow, and when the dust had cleared, the Stranger was standing amoung the fragments of the ruined table, hammer at the ready, and a soaring note could be heard. The hammer was ringing, letting out a tone that went straight into the hearts of the Dwarven Lords and brought tears to their eyes. They began to fall to their knees in remembrance of their ancestral home that was lost, for this was truly a great hammer, a hammer of legend. This stranger was then confirmed to be who he said he was, the direct descendant of Thorin, Last of the Deep Kings of Khu’Zendain, and this hammer was the legendary Khazad-Uz, the First Hammer; the birthright of the King. Master Warpsmith The warpsmithing skill of the Deep Kings of old is legendary. Prior to coronation, the heir to the throne of Khu’Zendain had to pass the master level trials of the Warpcrafting Guild. In their youth, royal family members would serve a tour of duty with the Guild, and travel throughout the Commonwealth. Thus, when Thorin collapsed the Master Slipgate, his son Theörin was far off with a team of Guildsmen and Journeyman assistants, exploring and tunneling into a new area. When they became trapped, the slipgate they had come through was not yet fully established, and they had no way to leave the warpknot. They were sealed deep beneath the mountains of Gesspur, a remote world, and they would have died there, but for the will of Theörin. Using every ounce of mining skill, they tunneled their way into a nearby cavern through which flowed an underground stream. They constructed a makeshift settlement, and the necessities of life were scrounged together. There was not enough for everyone, and many died in the first month; but there were enough survivors to start a self-sufficient colony. Old Quane, the Living Ancestor reached out with his mind and found the truth of what had happened and told the son of Thorin’s Bane. His Father was lost in the Warp, probably forever, and he was now the heir-apparent. Theörin considered long what to do. The Naugrim were nothing without their King, and without the Throneworld, there could be no coronation. The honour of his people demanded that he return to Khu’Zendain, whatever the cost. He embarked upon a venture that would carry on over seven generations of the long-lived royal clan. From the planet of Gesspur, in a remote and desolate corner of the galaxy that would become known as Segmentum Obscurus, these noble dwarves laboured on a device of such complexity that its construction would take the combined skill of generations of Naugrim engineers. After ten millenia, it was complete. These marooned Naugim had built in 10,000 years what had taken Naugrim civilization over 500,000 years to create. They had built a new Master Slipgate. They would carry the fight to the enemy that had robbed them of their honour so long ago, and they would set right the folly of Thorin’s Bane. The time had come to call upon what stout-hearted Naugrim remained to join in the krusade to regain what they had lost and return the King to the Throneworld. Naugrim Krusaders The way back to the Throneworld is difficult to travel. The collapse of the Old Gate fossilized the warp around Khu’Zendain into Slipstone, the hardest substance in existence. The new tunnel back to the Throneworld is the most difficult journey the Naugrim have ever undertaken and the going is slow. The tunnel might not be completed for another ten thousand years; or a fault line in the Slipstone might be found, getting the Warpsmiths that much nearer to their goal. In the meantime, the Heir has come to call the Naugrim out of their sleep, for their King asks them to serve. Thorin’s Bane is at large in the galaxy, an affront to the honour of the Naugrim and a disgrace to the memory of Thorin, the Last Deep King. The Gods of Chaos have done their worst, and they believe they have won. They know that only the Naugrim have the power to defeat them. The Dwarves must make ready for war and marshal their strength for the final battle that lies ahead. This is the Final Age. The Krusade to reclaim their ancestral home and bring about the defeat of Khorne has begun, and it will not end until one foe or the other is destroyed. by Dylan; November 15, 2001