The answer: not all the redirected leylines flowed towards Ulthuan. Each Karak was transformed into an enormous Waystone, and all magic, whether ambient and benign or the shaped power of the spellcasters of other races, would be absorbed into the leylines and redirected to the mighty and ancient Runic arrays at the heart of Karaz-a-Karak, which would shackle and transform the magic into the energy of Runecraft. Which in turn would power the Great Works left behind by the Ancestor-Gods.
But now, it powered much less than it once did.
The Gas-Forge of Morgrim, lost, and with it the airships that were once held aloft by the airs it created.
The Tectonic Shackle of Thungni, lost, and Thunder Mountain unleashed once more. When it could no longer be permanently garrisoned due to poisonous gases and magma outflows, it did not take long to fall.
The Sally Port of Gazul, lost, and now every Dwarf fallen far from the protection of Gazul's priests is defenceless.
The Eyes of Grimnir, thousands of scattered monitor runes throughout Silver Pass, lost, and with them the ability for Karaz-a-Karak to safely project power along the pass, which lead to the loss of what was now Mount Grimfang.
The Great Pumps of Morgrim, lost, and now most believe Zhufbar was named for the miniscule waterfall it now hosts, rather than the torrential flash-draining of the Black Water for the mining of its bed, which destroyed the dark and terrible forests that once dominated what was now known as Averland and the Moot long before the arrival of humanity.
The Third Axe of Grimnir, lost, and now all have forgotten that once Peak Pass only opened when Karak Kadrin wished it to be open.
And dozens of other miracles of the Ancestor-Gods, so far lost as to be forgotten. And the energy network that once powered them is as far beyond the understanding of even Kragg as the creations of the Ancestor-Gods were to the Dwarves of the Golden Age.
But those were the oldest wounds. Still fresh and bloody was the loss of Karag Dum and Karak Vlag in the Great War Against Chaos, and the first time a freshly-crowned Thorgrim sat upon the Throne of Power and had the information it held flood into his mind, he understood why his uncle, High King Alriksson, had been carried off to the Ancestors by wounds he should have recovered from. Not a day went past when he didn't long for the same escape for the same reason.
The Great Runes of Valaya, the mighty Karak-Runes that had protected the Karaz Ankor from the Wind of Magic since Chaos first came to the world, and the last of the Great Works connected to the Rune of Azamar, were faltering. And when they fell, no Hold could hope to survive even the gentlest Storm of Chaos.
