Black Pit
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This article is about the Goblin landmark; for the Elven underworld, see Mirai. |
The 'Black Pit, also called the Valley of Many Eyes, is a hollow deep in the Drakwald Forest important to both Night and Forest Goblins.[1a][1c]
Contents
Overview
A bleak, unwholesome valley surrounded by wooded hills, the light of day here never penetrates the forest canopy, leaving the area gray and seemingly drained of colour. Traversing the Black Pit is hazardous, as dark shafts pockmark the ground. Bones and refuse scattered about the surface mark this as the “black heart of spiderdom”, for many of the pits house nests of the largest Arachnarok Spiders found anywhere in the Warhammer world. The creatures are drawn here to breed from across the Old World and beyond, moved to do so by the cycles of Morrslieb & Mannslieb.[1a][1c]
The most secret, sacred site for Forest Goblin tribes of the Spider-kult, the area is fiercely guarded from intruders. Even the defenders rarely enter the Black Pit, doing so only to sacrifice to the Feaster from Beyond, rouse its children to war, or trade with the Pit’s other inhabitants.[1c] Night Goblins dwell deep beneath the valley, uniquely capable of crude metalwork among nearby Greenskins thanks to techniques learned from captured Dwarfs. A mutually-beneficial relationship with surrounding Forest Goblins sees those metal goods traded for a steady supply of spider flesh, captives, and fungus.[2a][2b][2c] On occasion specific kinds of captives are demanded, notably including fearsome Spites, whose capture is only possible thanks to enchanted black iron traps distributed by the Night Goblins below.[2d]
Black Pit’s existence is suspected by some in the Old World. The Dwarfs of distant Karak Azgaraz hunt for its location as they think it may be connected to their subterranean network, the Undrin Ankor, and to free any of their captive kin, [2d] while Laurelorn Forest’s Eonir Elves similarly search, hoping to solve the Spites steady disappearance.[2d] Gotrek Gurnisson even claimed that Snorri Nosebiter had not only been there, but once pulled an ore truck up and down a shaft in Black Pit for three days before fighting off a Goblin tribe.[3]
History
- c.1115 to 1140 IC - As the Great Plague begins in The Empire and its people die off of the Black Death, Forest Goblin tribes range out of the woods to fight Skaven clans over the nation’s carcass. Every Human settlement close to the Black Pit is razed to the ground.[1b]
- 2518 IC - The Battle for the Drakwald, part of the millenia-old War of the Drakwald, begins as Human encroachment on the Black Pit stirs the Forest Goblins to action.[1b] Redvenom tribe champion Snagla Grobspit and his Deff Creepers fight in the forefront.[1c]
See Also
Sources
- 1: Warhammer Armies: Orcs & Goblins (8th Edition)
- 2: Cluster Eye Tribe (book)
- 2a: The Cluster Eye Tribe, pg. 3
- 2b: Old Weirde's Incunabulum, pgs. 5-6
- 2c: Terrors of the Drakwald, pg. 10
- 2d: Careful What you Vish For, pg. 16
- 3: Vampireslayer (Novel), ch. TEN
