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Naggaroth

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Saved by Hal!
on March 2, 2009 at 11:55:39 pm
 

The New World


The northern New World, known as Naggaroth, has been dominated for millennia by the Dark Elves, but they are hardly the only residents of this continent, and there are certainly other realms that are worthy of note.


Maps

New World

Click the above map for access to a much higher-resolution image, with locational notes.

 


Realms

 

Kalterhafen

 

The Dragon Brethren
Dates  2518 IC - present
Principal Inhabitants  Mixed, but a Human majority
Flag / Arms  
Capital Kalterhafen
Language

Reikspiel (official)

Battle Tongue (official)

Religion No one state church. Only worship of the Ruinous Powers is banned. The Old World and Asur pantheons are both supported.
Government Stratocracy
Ruler Uhlrik Gunderit
History 2518 IC - Clar Karond razed, renamed Kalterhafen.
Currency not established

The mighty Dark Elf city of Clar Karond once stood here, but it has been sacked and destroyed, its proud black towers tumbled to the earth. In Clar Karond untold slaves once labored upon the fleets of the Witch King, for here were his principle dockyards, where the raiding ships are built that harry the lands of the Ulthuan and beyond. The city was vast and sprawling, and all around it is surrounded by forests of towering pines, black trees that harbour few creatures and cloak the ground beneath so that all is darkness in the forests of shadows. Chained slave gangs worked the forests, cutting and dragging the massive timbers into the city of Clar Karond - the tower of Doom as it was called by men. All of that ended in 2518 IC (XI: 354) when a powerful Asur force accompanied by the entire might of the Black Dragons stormed and demolished the city.

 

What of its populace was not destroyed has fled to other cities or to the surrounding countryside to lick its wounds. In the darksome city's place, the Dragon Brethren have hastily erected a fort and renamed the place Kalterhafen (meaning Chill Harbor). This fort is the first territory to be taken and held by the Dragon Brethren for their own dominion, and so it and its immediate environs are the germ of their future state.

 

Kalterhafen, though it is under the control of the Dragon Brethren, is surrounded on most sides by the territory of an implacable and ancient enemy. While the attack that led to the sack and razing of Clar Karond was hardly a suprise to the Dark Elf lords, they had anticipated merely a strong raid, a feint in preparation for a greater attack against Karond Kar rather than a determined attempt to actually take the city. This is the first time that Malekith's forces have ever actually lost a city within Naggaroth itself and the ancient, hidebound leaders of the Druchii appear to still be in a certain degree of outraged shock over the affair.

 

When Schloß Drache departed Kalterhafen to reinforce the Blighted Isle against Chaotic forces, a significant portion of their strength (including their entire navy) remained behind to hold this place. Most of the surviving former slaves of Clar Karond remained behind as well to establish a free home for themselves and joined the Black Dragons' forces. Vanye Waverider, as the Dragons' admiral, has been tasked with leading this combined effort of establishing a firm hold on this place and training the hordes of new recruits.

 

Word of the Black Dragons' drastic transformation has not yet reached Vanye or his highly diverse forces, and indeed what condition they will be found in is uncertain.

 

Naggaroth

 

Dates  -2723 IC to present (2519 IC)
Principal Inhabitants  Druchii
Flag / Arms  
Capital Naggarond
Language Druhir (known as Dhar-Elthàrin by the Asur)
Religion

Khaine (official)

Slaanesh (banned but prominent)

Government Despotism
Witch-King Malekith
History

-2751 IC: Malekith fails to become Phoenix King

-2723IC: The Sundering. Foundation of Naggaroth

-238 IC: Black Way discovered.

176 IC: Watchtowers built

1783 IC: Underworld route to Arnhelm discovered

2301 IC: Great Chaos Incursion. Battle of Finuval Plain

2423 IC: Eltharion raids Naggarond

2518 IC: Fall of Clar Karond

Currency  

Warhammer Wiki Page on Naggaroth (from which a fair amount of the text on this page is derived)

There are five (formerly six) major cities in Naggaroth which contain a significant portion of the Dark Elf population. These cities were built as multi-walled fortresses and almost all life in Naggaroth is centered around them. Naggarond, the capital, is one of the largest population centers in the Warhammer world. It is the seat of power for Malekith, the king of the Dark Elves, and his royal court.

 

  • Naggarond

Naggarond is the most evil city in the world and the most mighty of all the cities of Naggaroth. Its black stone walls rise a hundred feet from the ground and set within them are four vast gateways with doors of iron fifty feet high. Above the walls are set a hundred towers, which rise as high above the walls as the walls rise from the rock. From these towers fly the banners of the Witch-King. The severed heads of those sacrificed upon the altars of Khaine are displayed from the spikes upon the battlements, and the skins of those flayed alive in the god's honour hang from the walls. Within its walls the city rises higher and higher, and at its pinnacle stands the tower of the Witch King, the Dark Lord of Naggarond, Malekith, formerly heir to the Phoenix throne. From his tall tower the Witch King rules his domain with a will of iron. His tower rises high above the city and from it spring battlements and lesser towers, for it is a great and impregnable fortress in its own right.

It is said that the sorceries of the Witch King enable him to look out upon the whole world from his tower, to direct his withering gaze where so ever it pleases his malicious intent. If his eye should fall upon a man then the Witch King's evil gaze can cause his mind to break and the flesh to fall from his bones, for such is the Dark Lord's evil power. He watches his armies ride to war, and sees the dark-clad messengers scurry about his land. Far off he watches the land of Ulthuan behind its protective mists of magic, and he feels the keen hatred burning within his heart.

The city is shrouded in a perpetual pall of sacrificial smoke that rises from the burning altars of Khaine, the God of Murder. Upon these altars the Hag Queens tear Men and Elves apart. They pluck beating hearts from living bodies and pull entrails from bellies and burn them in the sacrificial flame of the God of murder. In the temples of Khaine blood flows night and day, and more honour Khaine with their deaths than anywhere else except perhaps the city of Har Ganeth itself, where even the pavement is stained with blood.

 

  • Ghrond

Ghrond, the North Tower, stands upon the very borders of the Witch King's realm. To the north, only a thin line of watchtowers guard against incursions by the forces of Chaos. To the east loom the Spiteful Peaks, perhaps the most inhospitable mountain range in the known world, infested by fearsome manticores, tribes of savage orcs and warped beastmen, and even worse dangers. West is the desolate wasteland known as the Black Plain, where sleeps the ageless evil of the Altar of Ultimate Darkness. Only to the south is there any safety, for that way runs the Witch King's highway, paved with the skulls of his foes, leading to the gates of his own city of Naggarond.

 

Ghrond lies in the bitterly cold north of the Witch King's domain. In shape it is like the great city of Naggarond, yet in size it is far smaller, a fortress to be garrisoned rather than a place in which to dwell. Its single massive tower, grim, black, and slender like a spear, rises from its mountain spur.

From this tower sorceresses watch over the ever shifting Realm of Chaos, place of gods and source of all magical power for good and ill alike. Within the Realm of Chaos the lands seethe with energy, rising like the sea, whilst the air is bathed in competing colours of sorcery, turning and twisting, howling and crying like the wind. The sorceresses observe the changes in the Realm of Chaos, for it is said that the patterns of change hold the secrets to the future, and that all secrets are contained therein for those who dare to look.

Every day dark clad riders gallop away from the tower of Ghrond bearing the reports of its guardians to Naggarond. These foretell of things to come, of auspicious moments when the Witch King's armies may meet with success, or of the growing power of his enemies. From these observations the Witch King plots his strategies and launches his armies upon the World.

Ghrond serves as a bastion against the hordes of Chaos. It has a large garrison, quite capable of putting down small to major invasions from the Wastes.

 

  • Karond Kar

The Druchii city of Karond Kar in the tongue of men is called the City of Despair. It is to this terrible place that thousands of slaves are brought; men from the Old World; Elves from Ulthuan, and more from across the world, all destined to serve the Witch King. The wailing spirits of dead slaves are said to haunt the whole city. The Dark Elves love to hear this sound of dread and despair. It fills their dreams with delicious images of suffering and pain.

Many slaves die upon the altars of Khaine, their hearts torn from their bodies, whilst others are sent north and south to labour in the mines and quarries of the Witch King.

Thousands die as they cross the seas to Karond Kar, stifled and suffocated in the holds of the slave ships, or tortured to death for the entertainment of the black hearted crew. From the docks the slaves are driven in chains amidst the jeering crowds. As the slave masters beat them forward many stumble on the steep rock and are trampled to death by the chained feet of those who follow. At this sight the crowds laugh all the louder and cry with pleasure, for such is their love of cruelty that this sorry spectacle is rated a great entertainment.

The Beastmasters hail from Karond Kar and the mighty hydras and manticores follow. When a druchii child shows aptitude for taming beasts he is sent to the Tower of Despair to study under the masters that dwell there. It is also here that the monstrous Cold Ones are broken for service, so the Dark Elves can ride them to war.

 

  • Hag Graef

Hag Graef is named the Dark Crag, and of all the cities of the Dark Elves it is feared the most, for no captive man or Elf has ever escaped from this place. It lies at the bottom of a cold, dark valley and is completely surrounded by mountains of bare black rock, higher than the highest walls. No sunlight reaches the city of Hag Graef and it is shrouded in gloom and shadow.

The city was built by druchii generals who had been defeated in battle by the High Elves: fearful of Malekith's wrath, they built the city as an easy way to defend themselves from any punitive attack Malekith might send against them. However, the Witch King, under the direction of Morathi, used politics, instead of warfare, to claim lordship of Hag Graef.

All about the city lie many mines and quarries from where the Witch King takes iron and stone to arm his warriors and build his fortresses. Thousands of slaves labour in his service. Chained together they scrape and hack at the rock, often deep underground in narrow tunnels and dark passages. The chill winds bite deep and there is little to eat but scraps of foul dark bread, for the Dark Elves enjoy to see their slaves cold and starving, and beat them all the harder when they fall faint with hunger.

All the black mountains about Hag Graef are riddled with tunnels and excavations, and it is during their excavations for rock and ore that the Dark Elves discovered the great subterranean lake they call the Underworld Sea. Beneath Hag Graef the mountains rise and buckle, so that as the peaks rise into the air a gigantic cavern lies beneath the earth. This Underworld Sea was first discovered by the Dark Lord of Hag Graef, Kaledor Maglan. So great is its extent that the dark Elves have sailed upon this sea and explored its countless caves and branches, though doubtless the Underworld still holds many secrets.

In the deepest caverns of this Underworld the Dark Elves discovered strange reptilian creatures which they called Cold Ones. The stables of Hag Graef are full of these monstrous beasts, and many Dark Elves descend into the depths to hunt them.

 

  • Har Ganeth

The very name of Har Ganeth is cursed with evil. In Ulthuan none will even speak of the city which they call only the cursed place, whilst to the Dark Elves it is the city of the executioners. The great Temple of Khaine here is the largest in the whole of Naggaroth, for this city is the spiritual capitol of the Cult of Khaine. As well as the main temple building itself, a full third of the citadel is under the direct control of the hags. Barracks, assembly fields, and training rooms enough for a sizeable military force can be found there as well as the more usual reliquaries, meditation chambers, and holding pens for sacrificial victims. Witch elves and assassins, dozens of smaller yet no less martial cults devoted to Khaine's many aspects are also barracked within the temple grounds.

 

Rulership of the citadel was long ago granted to the noble House of Rakanthis, but the true power has always lain with Crone Hellebron. Since the mysterious death of the last city lord, she has ruled har Ganeth alone. Even when the crone resides in Naggarond at the court of Malekith, the city is left under the command of the hags rather than in the hands of the nobility. All important posts in the Har Ganeth city legion, the city's own military force (as opposed to the smaller forces maintained by the noble houses), are filled by Hellebron's appointees.

 

  • The Watch Towers

Across the Northlands of Naggaroth the Witch King has raised many watch towers upon the borders of the Realm of Chaos. Though mighty he is ever fearful of treachery, for betrayal and treachery lay heavily on his mind, for such is his nature that he supposes others to be as greedy for power as himself. He sees enemies to the south in Ulthuan, to the east he spies the men of the Old World whose power grows by the day, further still are the Dwarfs - enemies of old who plot with men to overthrow him.

Yet the greatest enemy of all, but lies to the north, in the realm of Chaos. Here the Chaos gods watch and listen, gathering their armies for the time when chaos shall inherit the whole world. The Witch King watches also. His towers guard against the warbands that would harry his lands. His armies wait for the invasion of the gods, safe behind their stone walls in the bitter cold of the north

 

  • Hotek's Column

Here are the ruins of the dwelling, playground and workshop of the insane heretic priest and master artificer, Hotek. The column has been broken down, but even its ruins maintain a geometry that has only the most tangential relationship with the physical world of men and elves.

 

  • Vaul's Anvil

A once-great shrine, the center of the Dark Elves' corrupted version of the worship of Vaul. The Black Dragons have desecrated the place and massacred its priests, but old wounds often fester.

 

 

 

Arnhelm

Arnhelm
Dates  
Principal Inhabitants Asur
Flag / Arms  
Capital Arnhelm City
Language Tar-Elthàrin
Religion  Asur pantheon. Isha is the patron goddess of the city itself.
Government Colony
Viceroy  
History  
Currency  Sovereign

The Asur colony of Arnhelm, known to Imperial cartographers as "Arnheim" has been in High Elf hands since before recorded human history. Its capital shares the name of the whole colony, and is the only large city in the realm though there are a number of smaller cities along the coast...

  • Shining Hill - This is the district of the city of Arnhelm where Rainbow Hall (the chancellor's palace) and much of the administration are.

 

Chaos Wasteland

The Shadowlands, the Umbra Chaotica or whatever name one prefers for it simply fail to do this place justice. It is a vast swathe of literal Hell on earth, where reality can melt and run like wax and Daemons can roam freely...


Peoples

 

Druchii

The Dark Elves of Naggaroth refer to themselves as the Druchii...

 

Autarii

The independent, wilderness-dwelling Autarii are clans of Dark Elves that reside in the woods, mountains and wildernesses of Naggaroth rather than huddling in massive fortified cities or plantations. Better known as Shades, these nomad cut-throats take mercenary employment from highborn Druchii, but do not consider themselves direct subjects of the lords of Naggaroth.

 

Slaves

For many centuries, the Dark Elves have relied upon slavery and plunder as the primary driving forces of their economy. They have roved the world over in search of victims and treasure, and accordingly the slave-pens, cities and fields of the Druchii are filled with living beings from across the globe. Asur are their most prized victims, but hardly the most numerous. The greatest proportion of the Dark Elves’ slaves is drawn instead from the teeming ranks of Humanity. Old Worlders are chained next to Hung and Ikadians (New Worlders), and men from Cathay and Nippon must labor alongside Arabs. Most common are representatives from those lands closest to Naggaroth: the tribes of the Northern Wastes, the New World and the peoples of the Old World. With the discovery of the connections between the Underworld Sea and the west a few centuries ago, an ever-greater influx of slaves from Nippon and Cathay has begun to alter the mix. Naturally, many lifelong slaves are of mixed ancestry. There are also representatives of nearly all of the world’s major nonhuman races, especially Goblins.

 

This sorry mass of slavery must live, work and die at the pleasure of its masters, and families and social groups are often divided merely out of spite. Though many of the slaves keep to their own ethnic and linguistic group as much as possible, they frequently have little choice in the matter. Accordingly, the slaves of the Dark Elves have developed a wide range of pidgin and creole languages to allow them to communicate amongst themselves. Most of these are built with Druhir (the language of the Druchii) as their superstrate, since that is the one tongue that most slaves at least share a rudimentary knowledge of. Substrates for these mixed tongues are of course the dominant tongues of the lands from which most of a given area’s slave population is drawn.

 

Larger populations of slaves such as the huge workforce kept at the logging fields of Clar Karond tend to develop reasonably stable creoles among their principal groups, reinforced when new slaves are born and raised with these as their first languages. The Druchii derisively refer to these mixed languages collectively as Fechàrin, “slave-talk,” and take their existence as evidence that their slaves are inferior by virtue of their failure to completely adopt Druhir, never mind that few Dark Elves would bother to provide proper tuition to a slave. Slaves with a reasonable grasp of one of these tongues, however, should be able to communicate on at least a rudimentary level with any other group of longtime slaves that they should be shuffled into, and to pick up the local dialect before long.

 

Hung

 While the Kurgan are the Chaos Marauders best known to Old Worlders, it is the Hung that throw themselves violently from the North against not only Cathay but Naggaroth. Where the Kurgan are tall and dark, the Hung are short, squat and wide-faced. They live in the saddles of their tough, sturdy ponies. The Hung are constantly in a state of war, whether among themselves, against the Kurgan, against Beastmen, in raids against Greenskins or the peoples to the South of their homelands. The hung are known as a savage, sly and cunning people with a taste for treachery.

 

Ikadians

 The copper-skinned humans of the New World...

 

Asur

 The High Elves have a strong presence in the New World, specifically in its southern regions around their fortress-city of Arnhelm. They claim the lands south of the Doom Glades, though they do share them with the Ikadian tribes...

 

Greenskins

The degenerate Goblinoid races exist pretty much everywhere in the Warhammer World, and the New World is certainly no exception. In Naggaroth, there are many Goblin slaves toiling under Dark Elf whips. To the West the Black Spine mountains are stiff with all varieties of Greenskins, which pour down from time to time to war against the Elves. Tribes of greenskins rage against the Hung to the North and infest the Petrified Forest to the South.

 

Beastmen

The Beastmen are found in considerable numbers throughout the northern parts of the world, and Naggaroth is no exception. One interesting quirk of the area is that, liker other parts of the world, the beastmen of these lands reflect the nightmares and imagination of the sentient peoples of the region to a certain degree. While Gors and Bray are in evidence, there is also a sizable population of beastmen that are at least partially reptilian in appearance, and in some cases can even be mistaken for Lizardmen on casual observation...


Links

Druchii.net is the home of a considerable amount of Dark Elf resources.

The Critical Hit article on Dark Elves - I believe that most of this text is actually from WH publications.

Warhammer Wiki entry on Dark Elves.

Wikipedia Dark Elves entry.

 

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