Prologue:
Twenty years ago, the battle of Thirion and Carilgor raged. Two rival cubes, separated by time and space for eons had finally come back into proximity. The Steelskin goblins of Thirion immediately launched a massive offensive on the Salttongue goblins of Carilgor. As gleaming silver goblins charged towards green tarnished goblins, the great Hassitorum of Carilgor waded into the fray.
From its battlements, Salttongue mages lobbed destructive corrosive spells while salttongue seigemasters poured steaming cauldrons of green hissing acid on their untarnished foes. Even from within the citadel, even over the sounds of the tortured petitioners and mortals who provided some sort of horrible necromatic sustenance to the great walking fortress, I could hear the din of battle raging outside; I could hear the horrible sounds of blood sacrifice which Magluibyet and the Sons of Dhakaas demanded.
But over all of that I could hear something else. Perhaps it was the skills of my profession that gave me the ability to hear the call -- I am a Mog'trg N'lev, a Spelltheif, one who is trained in the redirection of the power of others -- or perhaps I was chosen for some other reason, but I did hear it. At times the call was barely a whisper, at other times it was a scream that seemed to come from right around the next bend. Despite having dwelt with the Salttongues for many months, I found myself walking down corridors I had never before noticed. The walls of flesh and stone and metal began to glow with an ungodly light and even the sounds of the raging battle became muffled as I descended to an impossible depth within the hassitorum. I knew that I was traveling corridors that had not seen mortal footsteps for eons, but the voice drew me on.
And finally, after minutes... hours... days of traveling within this single fortress of stone and metal and undead flesh, I found a door. Beyond it I learned lost darks forgotten by the minds of men. Since then I have hunted to unravel what I have learned, corroborate, verify.... This is the result.
- Mogget Nalev, Goblin Spellthief
Introduction: The Hassitorum, an Overview
Let's start at the very beginning (blasted slaad, now I've got that song in my head!). For those of you who rarely leave the comforts of Sigil (and believe me, cutters, compared to the planes, even the Hive is warm and cozy), the hassitorum are massive walking fortresses found exclusively on Acheron. These fortresses are unbelievably ancient, and less than a dozen fully functional ones are said to remain in the entirety of the Infernal Battleground. Those that do exist, however, seem to be quite invincible, repairing any damage done to their walls, turrets, and limbs within mere days. There are even reports of hassitorum being crushed between two cubes and while all those that dwelled upon the fortress were crushed into nonexistence, the hassitorum managing to bring themselves back up to full functionality within mere weeks, the bodies of those that fell within, consumed to fuel the repair process. It is thought that the devices are fueled by the destruction and death wrought in the constant battles that always surround them.
The hassitorum are strange devices; part construct, part undead flesh. They generally appear as massive fortresses with one or more twisted spiraling towers. Fortified, crenellated walls complete with arrow slits and trapdoors ring their perimeters. In the central courtyards, a number of catapults and other infernal siege devices sprout directly from the stone ground. In one notable instance, these armaments are actually giant necrotic arms which hurl boulders when commanded. The rooms and structures of the hassitorum are large and spacious. Each hassitorum has a massive barracks area as well as rooms specifically designed for holding of armaments, training, and most any other structure traditionally found in a massive fortress. Up to 4,000 individuals can be housed comfortably with room for up to three hundred mounts. In times of hardship, the fortresses can be filled to even greater capacity (numerology indicates a maximum population of 6,666 individuals, but that's probably just nonsense) but not without sacrificing quality of existence to critically dangerous levels (not that most of the armies of Acheron would care).
The mechanisms of locomotion that are the greatest defining characteristics of the hassitorums are the great thaumonecrotic limbs. The appearances of the limbs are extremely variable. One hassitorum is propelled by massive clawed mortal arms, while another moves via spider-like metallic limbs; most of them are some blend of the two. A hassitorum can move at the same pace as a trotting horse, though the ritualistic sacrificing of slaves, captives, and soldiers alike can grant a hassitorum greater speed. The claws of the hassitorum can grip any surface and the orientation within the structure is always towards the flagstone cobbles. There are rumors that through the sacrifice of hundreds of individuals simultaneously a hassitorum can be made to slip from cube to cube or even from layer to layer, but no one I spoke to had ever witnessed such a thing occur.
A hassitorum is directed by the commander of the occupying army, reacting to his every whim. The fortress seems to be able to form a bond with the military leader of any group, selecting whatever leader the entire army follows and not just one deemed the leader due to political ambitions. For example, if a priest of Maglubiyet believes itself the commander of an entire goblin army yet the general is the true military and tactical power, the fortress will bond with the general, bypassing the cleric (much to their chagrin, I'm sure).
As of the printing of this these are the extant hassitorum and their commanding armies. With the changing nature of the Unending Battle, it is more than likely that none of this is information is still accurate.
The Fortress of Blood controlled by the unliving horde of citadel Cavitus, the Fortress of Blood is constantly surrounded by a swarm of fiendish bats and dire bats.
The Fist of Gruumsh controlled by the orc armies of Tharashk
Crawling Death controlled by the steelskin goblin tribes.
Raj'Jshmal the home of the rakshasa raja Fiilianthirious, the Raj'Jshmal has been magically coaxed out of its former fortress-like arrangement into a beautiful glittering palace.
The Fortress of Eternal Power commanded by the raucous mercenaries of Ohm. I'd bet my hat that it's already back on the market.
Alright, now we've got the nuts and bolts of hassitorum existence and design, but where do they come from? The current theory is that the hassitorum were designed by the hassitor, a long dead race of necromancer/alchemists who dwelled among the cubes far before the current epoch. However, no bladeling or rakshasa texts (that we know of) speak of the hassitor as anything more than an ancient race that once dwelled upon the ancient cubes of Carceri (or the torrid battlefield of Sh'vrath as the raksha call it). Much research has been done to learn the identities of these hassitor and the secrets of the construction of their infernal engines, but all magics, mortal and epic alike, have failed in this pursuit. How is it that an entire race could arise and fall without leaving a single mark on the planes, without even noting more than a footnote in event he records of the immortal rakshasa lorekeepers?
Ha, I know the answer! I do, and if you keep reading so will you.