'Official' chronological order will differ somewhat from the order these snippets are delivered in.
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So long as the Rune of Azamar endures, the Karaz Ankor shall never fall.
These were the words that Grungni spoke when he carved the Rune of Eternity into the Throne of Power. They brought comfort to the Dawi that gazed upon the Throne of the High King. But as the centuries passed, they became more and more a source of dread to the High Kings themselves, because of the most guarded secret of a very guarded race, never known to more than two living Dawi.
During the Golden Age, the Elves of Ulthuan built the Waystone network to control and redirect the leylines of the Old Ones, pouring magic from across the world into Ulthuan to drain it into the Great Vortex. The Karaz Ankor joined them in this endeavour, and the High Magic of Ulthuan joined with the arts of Grungni and Thungni to increase the power of the Waystone network. This is the history known to many scholars of history, among Elves and Dwarves and even men. But to those who know the Dwarves, a question might present itself: what payment did the Karaz Ankor receive for their service? For the pride of the Dawi would not allow them to work for free.
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 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 day 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, and not a day went passed when he longed 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.
Thorgrim brooded over the Runic readout that heralded the coming end of the Karaz Ankor, ignoring the Karak Norn ambassador for now, since the Throne of Power also recorded, transcribed and displayed the ambassador's words. Zhufbar, functional, the readout told him. Karak Kadrin, functional. Barak Varr, Karak Azul, and of course Karaz-a-Karak, functional.
No power from Karak Norn, or any of the other Young Holds founded after the War of Vengeance. All they represented to the Rune of Azamar was a constant drain to sustain their protections.
So little time. So few resources. So many Grudges.
Thorgrim fought with the constant chafing of the march of time to keep from snapping at and dismissing the ambassador. He had a duty, at least for however much longer the Karaz Ankor lasted.
Incoming Transport, said a third readout, passed on by a lookout that did not question why procedures demanded they note observations aloud. Vala-Azril-Ungol colours.
Thorgrim fought back a sigh, wondering what new Grudges the doomed attempt to turn back the clock would bring now. With skill born of long experience, Thorgrim wound up the meeting with the ambassador just as the lookout reported that the Gyrocarriage was touching down.
Azrilbezaz in range, said... something? Thorgrim had never seen that part of the readout used before. Synchronising. And in a sudden, deafening silence, the complaint klaxon of the falling power reserves that only Thorgrim could hear went silent for the first time in eighteen decades.
