The Pass is also the Empire’s only connection to the sparsely populated Border Princes, wild and savage lands heavily disputed and under constant attack from marauding Orc and Goblin tribes. Black Fire Pass became a link between the Empire and her neighbours, especially with Tilea to the southwest, and over time men and goods began to flow freely between the two nations. In the wake of Sigmar’s final victory over the Greenskin tribes, the Empire of Man established itself as a great power and the Pass acquired increasing economic, as well as military, significance. Over the years, the occupiers of the Horn Hold have constructed sounding chambers and massive doors to change the pitch and duration of the sound and have even learned to light fires in the depths of the city to start the note at will. Named for the terrifying blast of sound caused by winds blowing through a huge cavern at the heart of the karak, the dwarfs use this peculiar natural phenomenon to summon warriors and warn other settlements of incoming danger. Finally, to the southwest lies Karak Hirn, the Horn Hold. It is said that Karaz-a-Karak has never fallen, and when one lays eyes on its formidable defences it is easy to believe the stories, for dwarfs do not often make empty boasts. The Great Book of Grudges and the Book of Remembering, mighty heirlooms of the dwarf people, rest within the fortress. The Lord of the Everpeak is High King of all the Dwarfs, and the noble clans of the fortress city trace their ancestry back to the dwarf Ancestor Gods themselves. The depleted dwarfs did not have the numbers to resist and the city was lost, never to be reclaimed. To the Southeast lies Karaz-a-Karak, the Everpeak, ancient capital of the once mighty Dwarf Empire. Like wild dogs sensing weakness, a mighty host of Skaven invaded the city from their underground tunnels while a vast horde of Greenskins attacked from above, each determined to take advantage of the tragedy to claim the karak as their own. Some fifteen hundred years before the crowing of Sigmar, savage earthquakes shook the Worlds Edge Mountains and the Black Water burst, flooding the lower levels of the Karak. The prosperity of the Crag Mere did not endure, however. The mountains around the karak are rich with gromril, a meteoric iron highly prized by the dwarfs, and Karak Varn grew wealthy as a result. To the North, hewn out of the cliff s that overlook Black Water, lies Karak Varn, the Crag Mere. Black Fire Pass stands at the centre of a triangle, its points roughly signified by three great Dwarf Karaks. It is at once a chink in the armour of the Empire, a favoured path for invading armies, and also a vital lifeline, an essential trade route connecting the Empire with the remaining Dwarf Karaks, Tilea, and the wild Border Princes. īlack Fire Pass has ever been a double edged sword because of this scarcity of accessible routes through the Mountains. The other route, the Peak Pass to the North, which emerges in Ostermark above Karak Kadrin, or Slayer Keep, is both lengthy and remote. The geographical importance of the Pass cannot be overstated it is one of only two ways through the imposing ring of Mountains that protects the Empire’s eastern borders. There the Old Dwarf Road becomes the Silver Road and cuts through the World’s Edge Mountains, emerging from Dead Rock Gap at the foot of Mt.
Through Black Fire Pass, one can trace the path of the Old Dwarf Road out into the forests of the Border Princes and past the gates of the great dwarf fortress of Karaz-a-Karak. Eerie wisps of black vapour gush from vents at the base of the crags to form surging shapes against the darkened rock. Formed long ago when violent eruptions tore the Black Mountains in two, the Pass is a gaping chasm of contorted lava flanked by steep black cliffs of polished volcanic glass. Kristoff Haamar, Historian, Cartographer, Poet and Gentlemen of the Empire īlack Fire Pass, or Haz Drazh Kadrin as it is known in Khazalid, lies in the southeast of the Empire in the Province of Averland. Sigmar, give me the words to tell this story, and I will craft something that the ages will not willingly forget." How do you tell a story that everyone knows? What grace I have, with pen, and brush, and the tongue of men, let it be heard. There, we rose out of the darkness, together, as a man became a God. There, few stood against many, and triumphed. There, in the crucible of battle, an Empire was forged.
It is an old story and a familiar one, for we all first hear the legend at an early age. My name is Kristoff Haamar, and this is the story of Black Fire Pass. How appropriate, given all that happened there, that impossible words should stand as a symbol of our Empire and its impossible dream. The very name describes the impossible, the magical.
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