Mourkain
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Mourkain, the Place of Death[2] often also known as Morgheim,[2][3] was once the capital of the civilisation of Strygos which thrived -1147 to -200 IC, long before the time of Sigmar. [4]
History
In -1147 IC a young human shaman and leader of the Lodringen tribe named Kadon first discovered the frozen corpse of Priest-King Alcadizaar of Khemri along the banks of the Blind River. The fallen king still gripped the sorcerous Crown of Nagash tightly in his hand.[2][4]
Drawn by the power that emanated from the crown, Kadon took it and placed it upon his own head. Almost immediately, the corrupting influence of the crown effected a change in the young Shaman. Kadon became obsessed with death and the magic of Necromancy. He commanded his people to build a magnificent tomb for Alcadizaar and around that tomb, their settlement evolved into a city that came to be called Mourkain. [2] [4]
Kadon saw the city grow over the years into an realm of Strygos [4] which, at its height, stretched from the Marshes of Madness all the way to the Black Gulf. They traded with the Dwarfs of Karaz Bryn, also known as Silver Pinnacle, but when they learned more of his necromancy, they ceased visiting.[1a]
Kadon was slain by the Vampire Lord Ushoran who arrived in -1120 IC and seized the city for himself, founding the kingdom of Strigos. [2]
In -800 IC the Dwarf Thane Razek Silverfoot was sent by his father to re-open trade with the city, working through Neferata who had saved him from Beastmen raiders whilst travelling.[1a]
Destruction
The rapid expansion of the Mourkain civilization drove many Greenskins out of their settlements in the Badlands and into the World's Edge Mountains. It was an injury the bellicose Orcs would not forget. In retaliation, the Orc tribes united in a massive Waaagh! Craktoof under the Orc Warboss Garsnag Craktoof and marched upon the city in -200 IC. Despite being well-schooled in the Necromantic arts, the Strygos people were no match for the amassed might of the fearsome greenskins. Morath, a lieutenant of Ushoran, escaped with the Crown when Ushoran was slain by by Orc Shaman Red Eye while defending the gates. The rest of vampiric court fled as the city burned to the ground, the scattered survivors becoming Strigoi Ghoul Kings. Many tomes of magical lore of Kadon were scattered far and wide, carried by those who survived the destruction. [2][4]
The few human survivors fled north, forced to become nomadic travelers known as the Strigany. These gypsies were often met with suspicion and/or abuse by the inhabitants of the northern lands due to their association with vampires, which much of the time was unfounded but some bands did indeed harbour their traditional masters.
The ruins of this once powerful empire remain abandoned and desolate, haunted by the tormented spirits of its former citizens.[2] It is said that the dark heart of the ruined city of Mourkain is still inhabited by the fabled Ghoul King, who surrounds himself with undead minions in a twisted parody of the ancient court of Strygos.
Locations
The city had been built in a spiral of stone clad streets with great stone buildings at its core and crude thatched huts at the edge and merchants stalls lining the inside of the city wall. Before Neferata arrived, there were no temples but at the very centre was a crude pyramid of black stone.[1a]
Defences
It was protected by concentric rings of mainly wooden palisades with the decaying bodies of beastmen and Orcs impaled on stakes that lined the approach roads. A great but crumbling stone gateway decorated by skulls guarded a bridge that granted access over a river - ropes connected to it allowed the city defenders to control it from within.[1a]
Society
The culture of Mourkain was heavily steeped in death and decay, destined for an unsavory end from the moment that a Kadon first found the Crown of Sorcery. [2]
During the rule of Ushoran, criminals were used to feed him and his blood children.[1b]
Version Differences
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In Warhammer Armies: Vampire Counts (7th Edition), the Mourkain of Kadon lasted -1147 to 1020 IC before it was destroyed by Orc Warlord Dork Redeye. Then in -250 IC Ushoran founded the city of Strigos on the top of the ruins of Mourkain which was then destroyed by Garsnag Crakoof in c. -200 IC. [5]
Sources
- 1: Neferata (Novel)
- 2: Warhammer Armies: Vampire Counts (8th Edition), A Lineage of Blood, pgs. 22, 36
- 3: Master of Death (novel), Chapter Nine, pg. 208
- 4: Warhammer: The Old World Rulebook, Timeline of Legend, pgs. 26-27, 39
- 5: Warhammer Armies: Vampire Counts (7th Edition), pg. 29
