Volkmar Von Hindenstern (nicknamed 'The Grim'), Grand Theogonist of the Empire, is a fictional character in Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy setting. He may be used as a hero character of an Empire army in the Warhammer Fantasy Battle tabletop wargame.
Volkmar is the current Grand Theogonist, or High Priest, in the fictional Warhammer setting. Volkmar's post is analogous to that of the Pope. In addition to his own vote as an Imperial Elector, Volkmar also commands the votes of his two subordinates, the Arch-Lectors. As, according to current background material, no Emperor since the Great War has taken office without the Grand Theogonist's approval, this arguably makes Volkmar the most powerful man in the Empire.
Volkmar rides into battle on a grand "War Altar" bearing the sacred icon of the Empire, the Griffon. Although well versed in the way of the sword, his undying faith in the might of Sigmar is his greatest weapon and the source of his uniquely puissant battle prayers.
In the years leading up to the Storm of Chaos campaign, the Sigmarite clergy were in conflict over a young warrior priest named Luthor Huss, who had openly denounced their increasingly decadent ways. Huss never attacked Volkmar in his speeches, displaying nothing but respect for the old man's resolution and focus. Many urged Volkmar to excommunicate Luthor, and yet he refused.
Volkmar was more concerned with the growing might of Chaos in the north, and spent long hours reading ancient grimoires in search of an answer. Many began to cast doubt upon his sanity. Volkmar became increasingly removed from Church affairs, and the influence of the Arch-Lectors grew unchecked.
Storm of Chaos
Volkmar decided the time had come. He knew he had to halt the rise of Archaon before he became too powerful to be halted. Drawing an army of the faithful and the state troops of Talabecland, the combined Empire force army met the foes in the Troll Country. The fighting ebbed back and forth, but Volkmar realized the foe's unending stream of reinforcements would prove fatal to his army. Volkmar charged Archaon, calling out a challenge. The priest knew Archaon could not refuse, for his position could only be maintained with fear and respect: to show any kind of weakness would invite challenges to his power from his followers. Archaon slew Volkmar and destroyed the war altar he had ridden. The remnants of Volkmar's army were allowed to flee, to spread word of the Empire's coming fate.
A year passed. Be'lakor, the Dark Master had been released from his prison. Eventually the daemon chanced upon the same battlefield where Archaon had triumphed. There he discovered Volkmar's frozen corpse. The daemon laid a taloned hand over the dead man's chest and, using unholy sorcery, dragged Volkmar's soul back into his body. (The process is thought to have regenerated the priest to his prime, for Be'lakor needed Volkmar not only alive, but healthy, so to prolong his torture.) Be'lakor had Volkmar chained to his army standard, to crush the resolve of the Empire's defenders. Archaon had merely slain Volkmar; Be'lakor would subject him to a lifetime of physical and mental torture.
The banner, like Be'lakor's plan, was short-lived. Immediately prior to the Siege of Middenheim, Volkmar loosed 'an inhuman roar', broke free of his enchanted bonds and slew a number of his captors with his chains, before he was rescued by King Louen Leoncoeur of Bretonnia, who carried the priest to the shelter of Middenheim's Shallyan temple.
After Archaon's army was routed, the army of Mannfred Von Carstein drew close to Middenheim. The vampire stated his terms; as his sire had called on their forefathers, so he called upon them: serve him in life, or serve him in death. Without fear, Volkmar strode out from the Empire ranks and confronted Mannfred. Staring into Mannfred's eyes, Volkmar snarled a challenge of his own. He reminded Von Carstein that his forefather had slain Mannfred's sire, and that he would do the same to him. Faced with this challenge, his thoughts turning to the unchecked horde of Vardek Crom, as well as the memory of the slaying of Vlad von Carstein, Mannfred turned his army around and returned to Sylvania.
After the siege, many clergymen, including the new Grand Theogonist, Johann Esmer, expressed concern over Volkmar's return, fearing he had become tainted by Chaos. To prevent a schism within the Church, the Arch-Lectors sent armed men to 'persuade' Esmer to step down in favour of their former leader, Volkmar. Esmer fled to the city of Marienburg, and Volkmar was swiftly reinstated.
Volkmar in Warhammer Fantasy Battle
Volkmar has returned as a special character in the new edition of Warhammer Armies: Empire. Riding the restored War Altar, Volkmar is subject to the rules for Sigmarite warrior priests and to the rules for frenzy.
