WARHAMMER® ONLINE: AGE OF RECKONING™

ZONE OVERVIEW

Kadrin Valley

Official Information from EA Mythic

Among all the warriors of the Dwarfs, the doom-laden Slayers are the most feared. Driven by some secret shame or disgrace, these fearless fighters have pledged to regain their honor by seeking death in battle. Upon taking the Slayer oath, a Dwarf severs all ties to home and family and wanders the world in search of his fate. Though they often travel alone, there is one place where the Slayers are known to gather in force. That place is Karak Kadrin, the Slayer Keep.

Karak Kadrin is unique among all the holds of the Dwarfs in that its ruler, Ungrim Ironfist, is himself a Slayer. Bound by his duties as a monarch, he cannot leave and seek death in combat, and so he fulfills his Slayer oath by providing for other Slayers as they seek to fulfill their vows. At Karak Kadrin, a weary Slayer may find lodging, food and hospitality for as long as he needs it before resuming his quest for death. In return, those Slayers who remain at the keep are expected to help the King uphold his pledge to guard the Peak Pass, along which much trade flows between the lands to the east and west of the World’s Edge Mountains.

As the Peak Pass leads directly to the eastern border of the Empire, it is a desirable route of invasion for warriors of Chaos swarming down from the north, or bloodthirsty greenskins seeking to ravage the lands of men. For this reason, the Slayers diligently guard the pass, in particular the stretch which runs nearest to Karak Kadrin, which is known as Kadrin Valley.

As the greenskin leaders Grumlok and Gazbag plot their war against the Dwarfs, they know that the most fearsome enemies they face will likely be the Slayers. If King Ironfist is warned of the imminent attack on the Dwarf capital of Karaz-a-Karak by the greenskins’ gathering Waaagh!, he will send a host of Slayers to defend the city, lessening the greenskins’ chances to successfully conquer it. In order to prevent this, the two leaders of the Bloody Sun Boyz decide to launch an attack upon the Slayers and engage them in Kadrin Valley, keeping them well away from the capital city of the Dwarfs. A large horde of Orcs and Goblins marches northward from Eight Peaks with orders to keep the Slayers occupied and away from Karaz-a-Karak.

The greenskin assault takes the Slayers completely by surprise, for most of the fighting has until now remained well to the south. Even Malekith, ruler of the Dark Elves, is surprised by news of the attack on the Slayer Keep. The move is exceptionally cunning for the leaders of the Bloody Sun Boyz, who have until now been little more than pawns in his grand scheme to conquer Ulthuan. Intrigued by the greenskins’ new strategy, the Witch King commands one of his most trusted agents, Beastmaster Vauroth, to lead a battalion of Dark Elf warriors to Kadrin Valley. There, Vauroth is commanded to observe the actions of the greenskins while aiding them in their attack on the Dwarf hold.

Seeing the Dark Elves join the battle against his Slayers, King Ironfist realizes that Karak Kadrin is in dire peril. His concern turns quickly to surprise when a company of High Elves arrives to aid the beleaguered Dwarfs. The company, led by Tarril Bladedancer, had been shadowing Beastmaster Vauroth’s regiment, hoping to discover the purpose of their journey to Kadrin Valley. Though not particularly fond of High Elves, King Ironfist reluctantly accepts Tarril’s offer to help, for Vauroth’s forces have already overrun the Dwarf outpost of Grung Grimaz and claimed it as their own.





In Kadrin Valley, the fighting is fierce and relentless, for not one, but two ancient conflicts have erupted into violence and bloodshed. Any hope of victory for the Armies of Order hangs by the slimmest of threads, for the alliance between the Dwarfs and High Elves is tenuous at best. Though it was long ago, the Dwarfs have never forgotten the terrible war they fought with the Lords of Ulthuan. It is likely these two ancient races will never again trust each other as they once did, even though the fate of both their peoples may depend on it.

The Ten Ton Thought:

Slayers are awesome.  There is no other way to describe this zone except as the home of slayers in Warhammer Online.  So if a logical Vulcan were reading this we can assume that Kadrin Valley is awesome.  With not only Slayers and Greenskins fighting each other, we also have bands of Dark & High Elves fighting their continual war in the valley as well.  To top it all off; being the road to the Empire, Kadrin Valley is also a good place for Chaos and Humans to start some fighting good times.

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