From the 5th and 6th edition rulebooks, the crown has made him a strategist without equal among his kind. Although in the game we only see this when he gives basic tactical advice and then seems to revert to speaking stupidly like any other orc, in the old rulebooks he was seen watching the battle unfold from above on his wyvern, watching the movements of his enemy and constantly thinking of ways to counter them. In the 5th edition, there's even a surprisingly profound scene where he ponders on the difference between orcs and humans. I know it might be outdated now and that Games Workshop might no longer consider it canon, but I think it offers some good insight into how the crown influences the mind of an orc. "Azhag looked down on the boy's body and tried to understand what had brought one so young so far only to be killed. He felt that if he could understand that then he would understand his enemies and find final victory. Humans were not like his followers, he knew that. The crown had given him sufficient insight to see. Humans were not warlike in the same way as orcs. The big greenskins lived to fight. They might be momentarily overcome by panic in the heat of battle when all around was confusion, but death held no terrors to them. [...] No, humans were not like orcs. They feared to die. To an orc, death was something that just happened, a bit of bad luck, like breaking a tooth when you bit into stonebread. Death was not something an orc looked forward to with any apprehension. Orcs knew their lot was to fight and die. They complained about it no more than a tree complained about the wind and rain. Humans were not like that. They were weak; they sought things other than ceaseless warfare, and the prospect of death frightened them. [...] The human had been brave, Azhag thought. He had known fear and he had overcome it. He had held his ground in the face of certain death and tried to hold Azhag back while his wounded comrades fled. It had been a selfless thing to do, and all the more selfless because he had been afraid. Azhag shook his head. Such behaviour was almost beyond his comprehension. Still he had the time. The world was his to conquer." Warhammer Armies - Orcs and Goblins - 1996
@@crystallxix1493 are they now? Isn't the example above proof enough that they are just that, Azhag being made an exception only through the influence of the crown?
Since TW Warhammer released, there has been renewed widespread interest in WFBs. Where before WFBs was only really popular among tabletop wargames hobbyists and gamers tended to lean more towards 40K. since AoS is current and WFB has been discontinued combined with the proximity of the developer to GW (it's just a 2 hour drive away). Resulted in a very unique situation where CA have been given a lot of freedom to use pretty much any and all materials from all of WFB. Azhag was being geared up to be a major character at one point before Grimgor came along and hasn't really been a *thing* since 6th edition (which was in 2000, so a very long time ago and a different era in the game) so we're talking pre-End Times stuff and since I was really into Warhammer 40 000 in the late 90s to mid 2000s. I remember Azhag simply disappearing from interest outside of a small number of Orc and Goblin players who fielded the model, holding only a couple of paragraphs of mention in 7th edition and only mentioned in his rules in 8th (where I lived I never saw anyone at the two GWs I frequented use him and even then orcs and goblins wasn't a popular army to begin with by 8th edition in my area (only one person had an army and it was mostly night goblins). So his return in TW Warhammer renewed everyone's interest in him and thus as far as GW is concerned, anything which is in Total War Warhammer has been decided to be official cannon, even if it was retconned in the intermediate years prior to the release of the total war titles. CA even said this is the case on the livestream when Norsca was revealed and them bringing back units which haven't been in the game since 2nd edition. Truth is, he never really was of much interest to begin with. He operated just before the very start of the end times and by the time Grimgor showed up to fight Archaon he was long dead. Having both waaagh'ed north into the world edge mountains then west into the empire where he met his end, been defeated while Grimgor was busy fighting Skaven in Karak Ungor.
I should like to point out that, in The Battle of Osterwald in the old White Dwarf Magazine, they referred to him as "Azhag the Slayer", called Azhag's wyvern "Doomfang" and the reason Azhag had a crown was because the orc player, Jervis Johnson, had chosen a (then) generic "Crown of Command" because his army contained a lot of goblins and he needed to "find some way of stopping the pointy-headed little chaps from running off." He found the "Crown of Command" the most useful in doing so. Thus was the legend of Nagash's Crown of Sorcery born. However, it was not useful enough as the Empire player, Robin Dews, sent Azhag to his grave with some Knights Panther and a Bright Wizard.
I don't really like the Greenskins in TW, but when i did the campaign i chose Azhag. Grimgor dissapointed me - for all his hype, he isn't actually that good. Azhag has mobility, death spells and a flyer, and is funny as hell to boot. Right boys, ere's the plan. We are going to employ a full pincer movement. Attacking from the east and west flanks at the same time will increase our chances of success. Wut? Some dead git'z takin' up me wordz again! Get yer choppaz out ladz, its time to move! Oh - and ye wanna do dat "flankin maneuver" whotsit, we...probably should. Cause i got a feelin'..it might work.
@@IsoMSS For that amount of investment you could get Azhag or Wurrzag or Skarsnik, who bring a lot more to the table. Grimgor is a Dawi lord, stuck in a faction who's playstyle is completely diffrent. And Grimgor loses to elite units - and some regular ones too. I've seen him barely scraping with halberders and losing to greatswords and hammerers, that AP is killing him. and I've put him against a fully decked Ungrim - he got stomped. To be closer to his lore representation, he needs charge defense and anti-large bonus as well as more HP and maybe immunity to psychology.
@@Michael-kd1ho thats because he got nerfed into the ground, grimgor in warhammer 1 could damn near solo armies in the lategame because ofhow strong he was
Very nice video, the only thing I would criticize, in a good way, is that you did not mention why it was that Azhag was killed. The crown was angry that he didn't listen to it and assaulted his mind for control and he fought it, but that left him in a blank state and that was how that grand master killed him. WAAAAGHHHH!!!!
Yeess! you are right Ezequiel, but I had that part cut out from the script as the space was running short and I couldn´t exceed the word limit. I send the final scripts to the UK to get voice acted so at the moment that´s the small limit I have on the channel. (otherwise it can get pretty expensive for me :( ) Will try to make longer videos though to have more detailed episodes!!🙌😃
Whoops! Forgot to mention some of the sources: --White Dwarf Magazine, WD366 July 2010 --Warhammer Fantasy Wiki Hope you enjoyed this episode! If you’ve noticed, I’ve been adding some new stuff to the videos: a new endscreen, a short intro video with a map that will zoom in to the location of interest of that particular video such as where a battle is taking place or where a character is at that moment within the world-that-was. Hoping these little details add up to make a better viewing experience for you all. Let me know what other characters we could cover in the future. I have Throgrim Grudgebearer on the to-do list already.😃
I find it really sad this character has so little lore. We re talking about one of the few living being that constantly was talking with Nagash himself (or at least a piece of him) and brought his tactics in the nothern realms. I really wished we had a book about him where he would argue or laugh with the crown from time to time.
I am wondering why it wasn't mentioned that the crown of sorcery belonged originally to Nagash and it's his voice which is whispering to Ashag. It's a rather important detail imo. "The Crown of Sorcery is an ancient relic that belonged to the Liche Lord Nagash. It is said that those who wear it are assailed by shadows of the Liche Lord's own dark thoughts. Within five minutes of putting it on, it will begin to grow into the wearer's skull. Unless it is removed by someone with surgery, the wearer will be killed by any attempt to remove it. The Crown of Sorcery allows its wearer to cast any necromantic spell, whether or not the character is a spell-user. There is no direct cost, but each time the crown is used, the wearer is overcome by the dark brooding thoughts of the ancient Liche Lord. Eventually, the wearer is completely overcome by the power of the Crown, goes insane and sets off for the Land of the Dead, far to the south of the Badlands, seeking more dark knowledge. Such a wearer will go into a frenzy at anyone trying to stop them and can only be stopped by having the crown removed." (warhammerfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Crown_of_Sorcery)
So this video states that "Azhag discovered the Crown of Sorcery amidst the treasure hoards of a Chaos Troll." What I don't understand is how it came to be there in the first place? The Crown of Sorcery is one of the most storied relics in the Warhammer World, being the Crown of Nagash himself. The lore plots its movements pretty closely. From my understanding it was taken from Nagash by Alcadizaar who basically just stumbled out of Nagash's fortress and died on the bank of a river. The Crown was then picked up by a human shamen named Kadon who would go on to found the city of Mourkain in the Badlands. From Kadon, the Crown eventually passed to Ushoran who founded the Strigos Empire, which was ultimately destroyed by Orcs. From there, one of Kadon's disciples, Morath, took the Crown and fled north into the lands that would eventually become the Empire, and settled in the Middle Mountains, becoming a powerful necromancer in his own right. Morath was ultimately destroyed by Sigmar, who took the Crown and locked it away in a treasure vault. When Nagash was resurrected, he led an invasion of the Empire to recover the Crown and was only thwarted when Sigmar donned the Crown himself and defeated Nagash in battle at Reikdorf. So presumably Sigmar hides the Crown of Sorcery away again, recognizing its terrible evil. So how then did it come to be in the Chaos Troll's treasure hoard, for Azhag to find?
I´m not sure why it was in the Chaos Troll´s possession. According to an article I found in the White Dwarf Magazine (WD366 July 20 edition) the crown was already there but it gives no explanation as how it ended in that place.
@@TheBookofChoyer Yeah, I can't find any explanation for it anywhere. I'm actually starting to think it's just a big hole in the canon. Maybe GW was planning to fill the gap with some imperial traitor who made off with the crown, or maybe some chaos warlord who sacked Altdorf before coming to a sticky end himself. Whatever the case, I guess they just never got around to it before retconning the entire setting. Thanks for the reply. Also, great channel!. Keep up the awesome work :D
Thank you Dredd! The setting are all (almost) maxed out. Also, I use some mods that GEMfx which enhances the visuals greatly, with a performance hit of course. But for these kind of videos I think it works fine :)
Yeh, sadly. Considering how infamous of a character he is he's had a really short career compared to the likes of Grimgor who has plagued the old world for centuries.
It's a wyvern, not a dragon. And Orcs tame them the way they tame everything else, they bully them into submission. In the case of Wyverns, they're usually poorly tamed, as it's common for their warbeasts to eat other greenskins.
@@ProtomanButCallMeBlues Well... Skullmuncha is a bit of a special case, as Wyverns usually have to get tamed and domesticated from the moment of hatching to get them to the point where they won't try to eat their rider. Skullmuncha was an usually large and vicious specimen but also completely feral, so the Night Goblins who gave it to Azhag as a gift likely thought of it just as a powerful warbeast to let loose upon the enemy, but Azhag just gave it what the lore describes as "one of his best stares" which was enough to make it submit to him. Having the power of a necromancer god bound to your hat really has its perks, it would seem.
From the 5th and 6th edition rulebooks, the crown has made him a strategist without equal among his kind. Although in the game we only see this when he gives basic tactical advice and then seems to revert to speaking stupidly like any other orc, in the old rulebooks he was seen watching the battle unfold from above on his wyvern, watching the movements of his enemy and constantly thinking of ways to counter them. In the 5th edition, there's even a surprisingly profound scene where he ponders on the difference between orcs and humans. I know it might be outdated now and that Games Workshop might no longer consider it canon, but I think it offers some good insight into how the crown influences the mind of an orc.
"Azhag looked down on the boy's body and tried to understand what had brought one so young so far only to be killed. He felt that if he could understand that then he would understand his enemies and find final victory. Humans were not like his followers, he knew that. The crown had given him sufficient insight to see. Humans were not warlike in the same way as orcs. The big greenskins lived to fight. They might be momentarily overcome by panic in the heat of battle when all around was confusion, but death held no terrors to them. [...]
No, humans were not like orcs. They feared to die. To an orc, death was something that just happened, a bit of bad luck, like breaking a tooth when you bit into stonebread. Death was not something an orc looked forward to with any apprehension. Orcs knew their lot was to fight and die. They complained about it no more than a tree complained about the wind and rain. Humans were not like that. They were weak; they sought things other than ceaseless warfare, and the prospect of death frightened them. [...]
The human had been brave, Azhag thought. He had known fear and he had overcome it. He had held his ground in the face of certain death and tried to hold Azhag back while his wounded comrades fled. It had been a selfless thing to do, and all the more selfless because he had been afraid. Azhag shook his head. Such behaviour was almost beyond his comprehension.
Still he had the time. The world was his to conquer."
Warhammer Armies - Orcs and Goblins - 1996
Lovely insight! Nice read my friend thanks for sharing this info! 😃🙌
Trolldrool hey do you know were I can find this books for cheap?
Also I too love how the orcs of warhammer are more than mindless beasts of wat
@@crystallxix1493 are they now? Isn't the example above proof enough that they are just that, Azhag being made an exception only through the influence of the crown?
Since TW Warhammer released, there has been renewed widespread interest in WFBs. Where before WFBs was only really popular among tabletop wargames hobbyists and gamers tended to lean more towards 40K. since AoS is current and WFB has been discontinued combined with the proximity of the developer to GW (it's just a 2 hour drive away). Resulted in a very unique situation where CA have been given a lot of freedom to use pretty much any and all materials from all of WFB. Azhag was being geared up to be a major character at one point before Grimgor came along and hasn't really been a *thing* since 6th edition (which was in 2000, so a very long time ago and a different era in the game) so we're talking pre-End Times stuff and since I was really into Warhammer 40 000 in the late 90s to mid 2000s.
I remember Azhag simply disappearing from interest outside of a small number of Orc and Goblin players who fielded the model, holding only a couple of paragraphs of mention in 7th edition and only mentioned in his rules in 8th (where I lived I never saw anyone at the two GWs I frequented use him and even then orcs and goblins wasn't a popular army to begin with by 8th edition in my area (only one person had an army and it was mostly night goblins). So his return in TW Warhammer renewed everyone's interest in him and thus as far as GW is concerned, anything which is in Total War Warhammer has been decided to be official cannon, even if it was retconned in the intermediate years prior to the release of the total war titles. CA even said this is the case on the livestream when Norsca was revealed and them bringing back units which haven't been in the game since 2nd edition.
Truth is, he never really was of much interest to begin with. He operated just before the very start of the end times and by the time Grimgor showed up to fight Archaon he was long dead. Having both waaagh'ed north into the world edge mountains then west into the empire where he met his end, been defeated while Grimgor was busy fighting Skaven in Karak Ungor.
@Aden Jett yea. your right. no one gives a shit. you and your bot can fuck off
Most underated Total War channel on UA-cam.
Grey Seer Thanquol thank you Thanquol 👊🏼😃 it means a lot!
Milk and cookies, inept general and Heir of carnage have nothing on the quality of this.
Grimgor Ironhide: Brutal, yet Kunnin’.
Azhag the Slaughterer: Kunnin’, yet Brutal.
Reminds me of certain 2 orc gods..
I should like to point out that, in The Battle of Osterwald in the old White Dwarf Magazine, they referred to him as "Azhag the Slayer", called Azhag's wyvern "Doomfang" and the reason Azhag had a crown was because the orc player, Jervis Johnson, had chosen a (then) generic "Crown of Command" because his army contained a lot of goblins and he needed to "find some way of stopping the pointy-headed little chaps from running off." He found the "Crown of Command" the most useful in doing so.
Thus was the legend of Nagash's Crown of Sorcery born.
However, it was not useful enough as the Empire player, Robin Dews, sent Azhag to his grave with some Knights Panther and a Bright Wizard.
Wow thanks a lot. Didn´t really know this. Thanks for sharing this info Arthur!
That, my friend, is a true piece of lore...
I don't really like the Greenskins in TW, but when i did the campaign i chose Azhag. Grimgor dissapointed me - for all his hype, he isn't actually that good. Azhag has mobility, death spells and a flyer, and is funny as hell to boot.
Right boys, ere's the plan. We are going to employ a full pincer movement. Attacking from the east and west flanks at the same time will increase our chances of success.
Wut? Some dead git'z takin' up me wordz again! Get yer choppaz out ladz, its time to move! Oh - and ye wanna do dat "flankin maneuver" whotsit, we...probably should. Cause i got a feelin'..it might work.
If you build Grimgor as a fighter with full specs in his fighting he's an unparalleled monster who can 1vAll elite enemy units and lords.
@@IsoMSS For that amount of investment you could get Azhag or Wurrzag or Skarsnik, who bring a lot more to the table.
Grimgor is a Dawi lord, stuck in a faction who's playstyle is completely diffrent.
And Grimgor loses to elite units - and some regular ones too. I've seen him barely scraping with halberders and losing to greatswords and hammerers, that AP is killing him. and I've put him against a fully decked Ungrim - he got stomped.
To be closer to his lore representation, he needs charge defense and anti-large bonus as well as more HP and maybe immunity to psychology.
@@Michael-kd1ho thats because he got nerfed into the ground, grimgor in warhammer 1 could damn near solo armies in the lategame because ofhow strong he was
Da crown iz wisperin'.....
dead git'z = NAGASH
Very nice video, the only thing I would criticize, in a good way, is that you did not mention why it was that Azhag was killed. The crown was angry that he didn't listen to it and assaulted his mind for control and he fought it, but that left him in a blank state and that was how that grand master killed him.
WAAAAGHHHH!!!!
Yeess! you are right Ezequiel, but I had that part cut out from the script as the space was running short and I couldn´t exceed the word limit. I send the final scripts to the UK to get voice acted so at the moment that´s the small limit I have on the channel. (otherwise it can get pretty expensive for me :( ) Will try to make longer videos though to have more detailed episodes!!🙌😃
It was only a detail, though, the rest was awesome!.
It’s cool that he has Nagash’s crown. If he has put up for it for this long it means he’s technically more strong willed then pre god Sigmar
Whoops! Forgot to mention some of the sources:
--White Dwarf Magazine, WD366 July 2010
--Warhammer Fantasy Wiki
Hope you enjoyed this episode! If you’ve noticed, I’ve been adding some new stuff to the videos: a new endscreen, a short intro video with a map that will zoom in to the location of interest of that particular video such as where a battle is taking place or where a character is at that moment within the world-that-was. Hoping these little details add up to make a better viewing experience for you all.
Let me know what other characters we could cover in the future. I have Throgrim Grudgebearer on the to-do list already.😃
DO QUEEK ONE DAY!!!
Thanks for the suggestion! noted :) Will definitely do that one in the near future, that's one character that I've always wanted to do.
Amazing work 😀👍
Best Warhammer channel on youtube!!
Ricardo Sosa THANKS!! 🙏👐🏻
I find it really sad this character has so little lore. We re talking about one of the few living being that constantly was talking with Nagash himself (or at least a piece of him) and brought his tactics in the nothern realms. I really wished we had a book about him where he would argue or laugh with the crown from time to time.
2:35 callz it "crusade" instead of WAAAGH... zoggin umies
5:44 eh I mean, for the emperor!
Well done sir.
Can't believe I'm just finding your channel now. Keep up the awesome work.
Welcome to the channel Stephen! Its great to have you here :)
still waiting for the Grimgor ironhide one :)
Wow, thanks so much 🤔 now I understand why azhag is so different with all other orchestra, in appearance and his behavior too
Such a green masterpiece
Thanks a lot man! I really appreciate your support! 👊
Loving the content, can you make your videos longer? Love learning about the lore.
Thanks a lot Daniel! Will try make them a bit longer every time.🔥
What a brilliant soundtrack!
I am wondering why it wasn't mentioned that the crown of sorcery belonged originally to Nagash and it's his voice which is whispering to Ashag. It's a rather important detail imo.
"The Crown of Sorcery is an ancient relic that belonged to the Liche Lord Nagash. It is said that those who wear it are assailed by shadows of the Liche Lord's own dark thoughts. Within five minutes of putting it on, it will begin to grow into the wearer's skull. Unless it is removed by someone with surgery, the wearer will be killed by any attempt to remove it.
The Crown of Sorcery allows its wearer to cast any necromantic spell, whether or not the character is a spell-user. There is no direct cost, but each time the crown is used, the wearer is overcome by the dark brooding thoughts of the ancient Liche Lord. Eventually, the wearer is completely overcome by the power of the Crown, goes insane and sets off for the Land of the Dead, far to the south of the Badlands, seeking more dark knowledge. Such a wearer will go into a frenzy at anyone trying to stop them and can only be stopped by having the crown removed."
(warhammerfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Crown_of_Sorcery)
Your lore videos are incredible man keep it up
Thanks a lot Aegenwulf! 🔥
So this video states that "Azhag discovered the Crown of Sorcery amidst the treasure hoards of a Chaos Troll." What I don't understand is how it came to be there in the first place?
The Crown of Sorcery is one of the most storied relics in the Warhammer World, being the Crown of Nagash himself. The lore plots its movements pretty closely. From my understanding it was taken from Nagash by Alcadizaar who basically just stumbled out of Nagash's fortress and died on the bank of a river.
The Crown was then picked up by a human shamen named Kadon who would go on to found the city of Mourkain in the Badlands. From Kadon, the Crown eventually passed to Ushoran who founded the Strigos Empire, which was ultimately destroyed by Orcs.
From there, one of Kadon's disciples, Morath, took the Crown and fled north into the lands that would eventually become the Empire, and settled in the Middle Mountains, becoming a powerful necromancer in his own right. Morath was ultimately destroyed by Sigmar, who took the Crown and locked it away in a treasure vault. When Nagash was resurrected, he led an invasion of the Empire to recover the Crown and was only thwarted when Sigmar donned the Crown himself and defeated Nagash in battle at Reikdorf.
So presumably Sigmar hides the Crown of Sorcery away again, recognizing its terrible evil. So how then did it come to be in the Chaos Troll's treasure hoard, for Azhag to find?
I´m not sure why it was in the Chaos Troll´s possession. According to an article I found in the White Dwarf Magazine (WD366 July 20 edition) the crown was already there but it gives no explanation as how it ended in that place.
@@TheBookofChoyer Yeah, I can't find any explanation for it anywhere. I'm actually starting to think it's just a big hole in the canon. Maybe GW was planning to fill the gap with some imperial traitor who made off with the crown, or maybe some chaos warlord who sacked Altdorf before coming to a sticky end himself. Whatever the case, I guess they just never got around to it before retconning the entire setting.
Thanks for the reply. Also, great channel!. Keep up the awesome work :D
Really good videos man,great job.
I see a bright Future ahead for this channel. Sub and like gained for this awesome video.
I really appreciate your words man!👊😃 Thanks for your viewership!
Now we need a video about the Wurrzag da Great Green Prophet.
This was epic!
Thanks a lot Jeremy! 👊😃
Quality content! awesome video!
Thanks a lot Grisak! Glad you enjoyed it! 👐🏻
love this, azhag was a confusing character for me to grasp, this really helped put things in a good perspective
Favorite Orc in any fantasy world ever lol
Do some lore on the lizardmen and there beasts.
I prefer this dudes voice to the newer vids of recent. But still awesome content
fantastic video man
Thanks a lot Caleb!
So Azhag was the first Weirdboy.
So awesome.
How in the hell does your game look THIS GOOD!!!!
Thank you Dredd! The setting are all (almost) maxed out. Also, I use some mods that GEMfx which enhances the visuals greatly, with a performance hit of course. But for these kind of videos I think it works fine :)
Az’ag is ‘eya!
Ótimo vídeo, fale mais sobre os Gors, abraço do Brasil
Can't help notice the similarities between Azhag and Azog
I do like his wyvern as amount interesting green skins
This is before Gringo or Ironhide yeah I love the green skins
I wish Azhag had a start position further north. You can't play Greenskins without fighting the goddamned Dwarfs constantly, and that's just no fun.
Idk if you're aware, but your wish was granted :D
Louzey humies killed da boss
cool lore story of warhammer i hope there more charather since bring more lord total war warhammer 2
Thanks a lot man! There are more characters and Battles to come! 🔥💀
then subscribe now
what is the name of the song at 1:10 ? and 6:00?
Anyone know the song 6:00
what is the name of the song at 1:10, the link does not work
Azhag the Isekaid...
amazing!! :D
when will there be a grimgor ironhide one
So when will Grom the Launch get his lore vid?
Here it is my friend! 🙌😃 ua-cam.com/video/Lc0Dgso4Yeo/v-deo.html
The Book of Choyer thanks
Spoilers! He was being controlled by the crown of Nagash. Mainly Nagash himself.
I'm not like other orcs, I have a brain
You didn't put some serious informations about how he lost and who was the helmet of azhag
Crown of sorcery a,k Nasgah
So Azhag is dead?
Yeh, sadly. Considering how infamous of a character he is he's had a really short career compared to the likes of Grimgor who has plagued the old world for centuries.
Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
How did Azhag Tame a Dragon!!!!!
It's a wyvern, not a dragon. And Orcs tame them the way they tame everything else, they bully them into submission. In the case of Wyverns, they're usually poorly tamed, as it's common for their warbeasts to eat other greenskins.
@@ProtomanButCallMeBlues Well... Skullmuncha is a bit of a special case, as Wyverns usually have to get tamed and domesticated from the moment of hatching to get them to the point where they won't try to eat their rider.
Skullmuncha was an usually large and vicious specimen but also completely feral, so the Night Goblins who gave it to Azhag as a gift likely thought of it just as a powerful warbeast to let loose upon the enemy, but Azhag just gave it what the lore describes as "one of his best stares" which was enough to make it submit to him. Having the power of a necromancer god bound to your hat really has its perks, it would seem.
The empire sucks!
They always proclaim themselves as heroes and "the generic good guys" in the whole faction