Karak Kazarak is the only known hold which had stake a claim within the slopes of the Middle Mountains during the time of the primeval Empire. Not much is known about it, other than the fact that the hold was overrun by Orcs and Goblins in -200 IC, with the survivors banding together with the local Teutogen tribesmen. Together, they helped build Middenheim to the grand city it would one day become. Before they left, the Dwarfs laid a curse upon the mountain for all time. It is located near the western foothills, in modern Taubertal.[1b]
Overview[]
Karak Khazarak was first overrun by Greenskins two centuries before the crowning of Sigmar, and has been in the hands of one Orc tribe or another ever since. The Red Tusk Orcs — a fairly small tribe but fierce in battle — currently control the region. Bands of Stone Trolls swell the tribe's ranks and they are said to command a horde of Night Goblin vassals. The Goblins infest the caverns in the Middle Mountains and snipe at any who seek to trespass in Red Tusk territory.[1a]
The Dwarfs still bitterly remember losing the hold, and have recorded it in the Great Book of Grudges kept by their High King. Whilst the hold is isolated and well defended, no large Dwarf throng has yet been mustered to retake it, though the High King has sent agents to try to rouse Middenheim's Dwarf population to undertake the task. It is not uncommon for those young Dwarfs in Middenheim who take the Trollslayer's Oath to journey towards Karak Khazarak, though most meet their end long before they even set eyes on the lost hold. The Red Tusks have grown shiftless in recent years, and they have erected a great stone idol depicting one of their monstrous gods, towering over the treetops within sight of the Oberholzbek mine. Whether this is intended as a mark of territorial boundary or a forbidding portent of things to come is unclear.[1a]