Variyags of the Kol-Dawi

There are few Kol-Dawi who choose the way of a warrior. Life in the tower-cities is a constant struggle against the twin threats of their bleak homelands and their ancestral curse, laid upon them by jealous Ancestor Gods. Every waking day, every breath, is considered a hard-won victory, and few of the chaos duardin are willing to risk that in petty squabbles or power grabs. Even in times of war, when whole hosts march from the gates of the ziggurats, their ranks are mainly made of mercenaries and thrall-soldiers.

Those that do seek out the life of a warrior are called Variyags. They are mainly drawn from poorer duardin who have few other options, or else criminals condemned to a term of service. The Variyags take to the field enclosed in suits of thick black iron worn over corselets of close-fitting scales, each scale engraved with dark runes of protection. Before them they bear heavy slab shields that lock together to form a wall of iron, and they carry weighted chopping swords to hack apart foes who break upon the Variyag anvil.

Variyags are a common sight within the tower-cities, where they police the markets and forges on behalf of their masters, the Sorcerer-Prophets. When the mages go abroad on their esoteric quests for power and the secrets of rock and iron, they go borne in palanquins carried by Variyags, and surround themselves with these heavily armed warriors. Should their charge fall or succumb to the curse, it is common practice for their failed bodyguards to be hunted down and slain by other Variyag bands, or else entombed with their former master to redeem themselves in death. It is not uncommon in less reputable cities of Order to find lone duardin sellswords, their beard bound in locks and their flesh stony and scarred, unable to bear the retribution that awaits them within the cold stone walls of the ziggurats.