Karak Norn (Khazalid: Barren Earth Hold) is the most prominent of the Dwarf strongholds in the Grey Mountains. Nestled among forested peaks and deep valleys, it has long stood as a bastion of Dwarfen pride on the borderlands between the Empire and Bretonnia. Though never as wealthy as the great holds of the Worlds Edge Mountains, Karak Norn and its sister strongholds have endured for millennia, trading resilience and ingenuity for the lack of rich ore seams.
Legend holds that Karak Norn was the first Dwarf hold to be ruled by a queen — Hadora Ironpick, who led her exiles there after the fall of Mount Silverspear in –1367 IC. Since then, the Ironpick line has ruled, guiding their folk through hardship and lean times with the same stubbornness found in all true Dwarfs.
The Grey Mountains are far less bountiful than the Worlds Edge, and Karak Norn has always struggled to compete with the riches of its eastern kin. By the reign of King Brokk Ironpick, it was clear that local ore veins were running dry. Worse still, exploratory mines uncovered more Skaven burrows and Night Goblin tunnels than veins of gold or silver.
To sustain the hold, Brokk directed the Miners Guild to search farther afield. Though new deposits were found — especially in the Stirhügel Hills of Stirland — most shafts were abandoned, blocked by Greenskins or collapsing into rubble. Goblins, Trolls, and Wyverns soon claimed these ruins, forcing the miners ever onward in their search for wealth. Many prospecting bands have wandered far from the Grey Mountains, some never to return.
Despite these hardships, Karak Norn endures. Its wealth today lies less in ore and more in its trade routes and strategic position.
Karak Norn is built into the southeastern face of Iron Peak (Angspithaz), overlooking a narrow valley to the southwest and the Lookout Plateau (Dokzorn), from which Dwarfs can observe the edges of Athel Loren. The hold commands a wide region dotted with villages, waystations, and fortified inns.
Travel through the Grey Mountains is perilous: sudden storms, rock falls, and monstrous predators make every journey uncertain. To aid travelers, the Dwarfs constructed sturdy stone shelters every few miles along the main roads, though beasts — and occasionally Trolls — sometimes lair inside them.
Four major trade roads connect Karak Norn to the wider world:
Granite Road (Durakdurazdrin): The principal route into Wissenland, leading to Meissen.
Ridgeway (Hrugazdrin): Crossing the dizzying heights of Stigenak Skybridge, it eventually reaches Pfeildorf.
Cleaved Road (Mardrin): A lesser-used road, leading to Wursterburg and the ruins of Bugman’s Brewery.
High Meadow Road (Zorndrin): Winding toward Athel Loren, but little used by Dwarfs. Human merchants use it to reach the Wood Pass (Wutkadrin) and trade with the Wood Elves. Returning traders are heavily taxed at Migdhal Sauk — a Dwarfen discouragement of dealings with the Asrai.
Though Karak Norn is the most renowned, several other holds are scattered across the Grey Mountains. Together they form the western bastions of Dwarfenkind, smaller in size and wealth than their eastern cousins but no less stubborn in defense.
Perched north of Axe Bite Pass, Karak Ziflin lies closer to Bretonnia than to the Empire. Fierce sea winds sweep its peaks, and its trade routes run through both Bretonnia and the Empire.
Montfort Road (Ufdikadrin, “Road to the Haughty”): Leads to Château Montfort, where Dwarfs receive a cool Bretonnian welcome, often blamed on Elven influence.
Friendship Road (Ongakadrin): Favored route leading to the Imperial fortress-town of Helmgart. Here, Imperial merchants treat the Dwarfs far more warmly than their Bretonnian neighbors.
High among the flinty peaks near Ubersreik lies Karak Azgaraz, one of the most important Grey Mountain strongholds. Though once rich in gold and silver, its veins are long mined out, forcing the hold to rely on trade with the Empire. Despite this austerity, its wealth is still the envy of men.
The hold’s new king, Thuringar Orc-hewer, has earned renown for his daring counterattacks against the Greenskins, Skaven, and Night Goblins who infest the surrounding mountains. Though many Longbeards grumble at his rashness, Thuringar seeks to restore the hold’s fortunes and live up to its name as the Hold of the Fearless Axes.
Geographically, Karak Azgaraz is perched atop Eyrie Peak, its road running past Copper Tarn lake and west to Grey Lady Pass, and thence to Ubersreik or Parravon. Travel to Karak Norn is possible via a hazardous eastern track, though it is beset by rockfalls, monsters, and the deadly snows of winter.
The hold has deep ties with Ubersreik, whose walls and bridges were Dwarf-built. Many of the city’s Dwarfs trace their ancestry to Karak Azgaraz. While kinship grants Imperial Dwarfs some favor, not every manling is welcomed — visitors without proper cause may be turned away, or worse, greeted with a Ranger’s axe.
Among the most famous sites of the Grey Mountains was Bugman’s Brewery, founded near the River Sol by Zamnil Bugman, father of the legendary Josef Bugman. Its beers — most famously Bugman’s XXXXX — were sold across the Old World and celebrated as the finest Dwarfen craft.
The brewery met a tragic end when Goblins razed it during Bugman’s absence. Returning to ruins, he and his companions swore vengeance, taking up the Ranger’s oath. To this day, the story of Bugman is told as both a tragedy and an inspiration — a reminder that even in ruin, the Dwarfs endure.
The Grey Mountain holds may lack the splendor of Karaz-a-Karak or Karak Eight Peaks, but their role is no less vital. They guard the passes between Bretonnia and the Empire, sustain trade routes across perilous lands, and provide a stubborn western bulwark against Greenskins, Skaven, and worse.
Though leaner in treasure and smaller in population, the Dwarfs of the Grey Mountains embody the same unbreakable spirit as their kin across the Old World. As long as the banners of Karak Norn, Ziflin, and Azgaraz fly, the western marches of the Dwarfs will never fall.