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.
Thorgrim Grudgebearer had come to rule an Empire just in time to watch it crumble.