Badlands
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The Badlands is the name given to the arid, rocky country that lies between the Worlds Edge Mountains and the Dragonback Mountains. [4] To the north of the Badlands lie the Black Gulf and the Blood River, [3] and to the south, the Blind River and the Marshes of Madness. Eventually, the lands become shifting sands as it meets the Land of the Dead where ancient, eroded monuments still stand guard and mark the border. [4]
It is a place of boulder strewn steepes and marshes where barrows, cairns and ruins speak of a time when the land was more fertile. Other primitive effigies of Gork and Mork have been errected or carved into rocky outcrops, covered in skulls and trophies. [4]
Flora and Fauna
Thorny scrub brush and gnarled, ash-grey trees are all that grow in the dusty, barren wastes of the Badlands. What water can be found is a foul and stinking brown, thick with mud and unfit for any creature to drink. Contributing to the dismal mood are twisting formations of jagged rock and the omnipresent ruins of the Mourkain Empire, still adorned in leering skulls and other emblems of death and decay.
This desolate land is home to some of the most vicious and brutal tribes of greenskins to be found anywhere. These tribes war constantly with one another, and many of the most successful greenskin leaders in the history of the Old World emerged from the Badlands to lead their tribes on a path of destruction and conquest. The harsh environment and constant state of conflict weed out the weak and unworthy. In the Badlands, only the strongest survive.[4]
History
The Dwarfs used to mine Brightstone deep down under Mount Gunbad, but during the Time of Woe a large horde of Night Goblins attacked and drove the Dwarfs away from the gold-rich mines.
Around -1150 IC, Karadok the Conqueror led his tribe of Daemon worshippers from the east across the Badlands, raiding and burning but Nagash was angered by their intrusion and sent Ushoran and W'soran to wipe them out. In a single night of bloodshed the two Vampires slaughtered him and his tribe, claiming the howling blade he carried as Ushoran throttled him. [2]
Many years later, Mourkain Necromancers divined the existence of magical ley-lines under the Gunbad mines, determined to reach these magical ley-lines the Necromancers used their undead laborers to dig a great tunnel connecting the tunnels with their own empire, which at that time stretched across the Badlands. In the deepest pit of the Gunbad tunnels, they build a great obsidian henge to channel the potent magical energy of the ley-line convergence, but alas they never had a chance to use this mighty power, for the Mourkain Empire was destroyed not long after having finished the henge.
In -429 IC, the Daemon Prince, Ss'sath gathers ten thousand Daemons that sweep across the Badlands and of them, none fight harder than Bonehell of Khorne and his Infernal Executioners. [1]
Its hard to imagine a more inhospitable land for the Dwarfs to visit, but they have come to the badlands on a very important mission. In response to the fall of Karak Eight Peaks, the blow to the Dwarfs morale have been severe, High King Thorgrim Grudgebearer has proclaimed that the Dwarfs will venture to the Badlands, and forge mighty weapons more powerful than any before, they will be made from the strongest and rarest material known to the Old World, and one of them is Brynduraz, also known as Brightstone.
Rumors of the Mourkain tunnels had long been declared a myth, but interest in the story was renewed when the High King announced his ambitious plan. because the mines under Gunbad mountains was the only known source of Brightstone, the dwarfs had many times in the past tried to reclaim the mines but all had failed disastrously, because the Night Goblins were well entrenched. A secret tunnel leading into the tunnels is just what the Dwarfs need but even if the Dwarfs find a tunnel into the mines transporting the Brightstone back to Karaz-a-Karak will be a very large undertaking.
Most of the Badlands have been mutated and tainted by the vile powers of Chaos, like the nearby marshes of madness. All manner of foul predators, both living and not, prowl the arid and desolate rock-strewn hills and valleys. Ghouls stalk the land looking for fresh meat to feast on, packs of Chaos Hounds hunt for prey to "play with" under the green-tinged moon, Morrslieb. High above black-feathered carrion birds circle, searching with greedy eyes for something to satisfy their never ending hunger. In the southern reaches dwell a large tribe of Orcs who will suffer no trespassing in their territory.
Locations
There are many scattered towns and villages that survive on the northern shores of the Black Gulf where renegades and rogues dwell, much as they do in the Border Princes. [4]
- Black Crag: The lost Dwarf hold of Karak Drazh, once a fortress home that was rivalled only by Karak Eight Peaks. [4]
- Death Pass: Once part of the Dwarf built road network, it remains the only clear route through to the Dark Lands and the riches of Cathay beyond. [4]
- Giant Stomping Grounds: Many giants lumber between the highlands above the Black Gulf and the Dragonback Mountains, apparently enjoying the coastal air as they throw boulders at passing ships. [4]
- Misty Mountain: South-east of the Sour Sea, a lone Goblin infested peak that towers above the World's Edge Mountains. [4]
- Mount Bloodhorn: The tallest peak in the Dragonback Mountains and once known as Ekrund. [4]
- Mourkain: A shunned necropolis that was once the captial of the Strygos Empire that was sacked and left in ruins by Garsnag Craktoof. [4]
Gallery
The Badlands
Map of the Badlands before the War of the Beard
Sources
- 1: White Dwarf 368 (UK): Daemons Design Notes, pg. 22
- 2: Master of Death (novel): Chapter Seven, pg. 158
- 3: WFRP Rulebook (1st Edition), Section7: The World Guide, pg. 271
- 4: Arcane Journal: Orc & Goblin Tribes: In Savage Lands... pg. 7-9
