Karak Hirn, known as the "Hornhold" in Khazalid, is the biggest and most important Dwarf hold in the Black Mountains between the northern Border Princes and the southern borders of the Empire. The hold is currently ruled by King Alrik Ranulfsson of Clan Drazhkarak and his wife, Queen Winnifer Falxenheir.
History[]
Origins[]
Karak Hirn's location in the Black Mountains.
A young and growing Dwarf kingdom with many vassal fiefdoms surrounding it, this hold was settled slowly, and only grew in relative importance after the near-collapse of the old Dwarf empire of the Karaz Ankor. Some of the settlements that make up this hold are built on the mountain's side, and a few are even exposed to the air. Due to its position in the Black Mountains, this hold is not connected to the Underway, and so must be approached via overground roads, therefore passing through treacherous mountain passes and cliff-hanging tracks.[1]
Rich deposits of precious metals and iron are found here, but there are only a few lodes of the rarer metals and gems. None of the strongholds and cities of Karak Hirn have become wealthy or powerful enough to rival the great Dwarf kingdoms and empires of the Worlds Edge Mountains. However, it is closer and more accessible to the markets of the Empire and Tilea and acts as a trading centre and market for imported wares from the ancient holds in the Worlds Edge Mountains.[1]
Concept art of Karak Hirn created for Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, with the Horn of Hirn visible at the pinnacle of the Mountain.
Traders and travellers who manage to cross the treacherous mountain passes and cliff-hugging tracks to reach Karak Hirn can be sure of a welcome, and although they will be restricted to certain areas, non-Dwarfs are allowed to wander about these places called the "merchant halls" (Vithang Khazi) without the escort that is customary in most holds of the Karaz Ankor.[2a]
Karak Hirn is also called the "Hornhold," because of the huge mountaintop cavern that when wind blows through, creates a natural effect that projects a terrifying blast of sound through the mountains. The Dwarfs have exploited this natural phenomenon by constructing additional sounding chambers, and massive doors that they can open and close to change the pitch and duration of the sound. The mountain's horn is used to signal to both smaller kingdoms and outlying cities, summon warriors and frighten away simple monstrous creatures such as Trolls. The "Horn of Hirn" can be sounded even on windless days, lighting a huge fire in a particular chamber, which serves to draw air through the hold.[2a]
Grudge of Treacherous Stone[]
The Hawk of Mackenstein decorated with an Imperial helmet, used as a sign of good luck for those that pass by it. The hawk is not a statue. The column actually extends underground and joins the rest of a massive structure -- a dormant Nehekaran Hierotitan known as the Devoted of Ualatp, the remnant of an unsuccessful Nehekharan military expedition into what would become the Reikland several thousand years ago.[3a]
Outside Nehekhara, only the Dwarfs of Karak Hirn recorded the fate of KingRahotep's constructs. In the hold's great Book of Grudges, the Grudge of Treacherous Stone recounts the defeat of the Devoted of Ualatp in particular, along with the specific location where it fell.[3a]
King Rahotep was a ruler of the Nehekharan port city of Zandri many thousands of years ago. Many years after his demise, Nagash's necromantic ritual revived all who had died in Nehekhara as Undead. Restless and frustrated by the lands of his birth, Rahotep took his skeletal legions north to explore and conquer the Old World. He eventually penetrated into the area now known as the Reikland. Thousands of Undead warriors and walking stone constructs marched through the forests, seeking a worthy opponent for the arrogant king rather than the handful of primitive Humans who called the land their home.[3a]
The Legion of Rahotep eventually met its match with the Dwarfs. The Zandrian king camped in the forest and ordered his Undead slaves to build a great obelisk to proclaim his greatness. While his forces lay idle, Dwarf engineers from Karak Hirn mined the ground beneath the Undead army and detonated subterranean explosions. Thousands of stone constructs tumbled into the earth, including the Devoted of Ualatp, a Hierotitan.[3a]
It was entombed, with just the hawk on its headdress projecting above the ground. The Devoted of Ualatp lies crumpled but intact below the surface today. Its huge body is trapped by many tonnes of soil and a thousand years' tree growth, but the mummified Liche Priest interred in its chest is conscious and a faint light of witchfire burns in the Hierotitan's eyes.[3a]
Sources[]
- 1: Warhammer Armies: Dwarfs (8th Edition), pg. 25
- 2: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 1st Edition: Dwarfs - Stone and Steel (RPG)
- 2a: pp. 35-36
- 3: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4th Edition: Monuments of the Reikland (RPG)
- 3a: pp. 11-12
Gallery[]
