With the new underground environment of Warcry: Catacombs comes a fresh setting – Varanthax’s Maw. Today, we’re lighting our torches and braving the labyrinthine tunnels below the Skullpike Mountains to learn more about this subterranean realm.
Varanthax’s Maw
Built into the skeleton of a long-dead drake, Varanthax’s Maw is a vast, daemonic forge that belches forth great clouds of ash from a volcanic peak within the Skullpike Mountains. The cavernous lair that houses the raging heart of the forge is an infernal place of smouldering lava flows and sulphurous smoke. To inhale the hot air is to fill one’s lungs with fire, making every breath a torturous act.
Yet upon descending further into the Maw’s deepest, darkest tunnels, even more hellish realms are revealed. Burning lakes of brimstone stretch out as far as the eye can see, cackling fire-daemons leaping and cavorting across the bubbling surface. Yet great troves of ancient treasures can be found by those with the courage and wit to traverse the seemingly endless maze of passages without succumbing to the many dangers – and denizens – that can also be encountered there.
Varanite
Most valuable of all the riches that one can discover below the Skullpike Mountains is the molten realmstone known as varanite. This rare substance is unique to the Eightpoints, and can be found in relative abundance within Varanthax’s Maw. Varanite is infused with the transmutational power of raw Chaos, the effects of which can be wildly unpredictable except when bound by the most potent forms of sorcery.
It’s the lure of this priceless realmstone that draws an increasing number of adventurous warbands to Varanthax’s Maw, and they will fight any and all in their way to secure even the smallest quantity. The Everchosen always has need of varanite to aid him in his conquests of the Mortal Realms, and those who provide it for him can earn the favour of the ultimate power within the Eightpoints. Yet the presence of the Khainite Shadowstalkers within Varanthax’s Maw is something of an enigma, for they are soul-bound to Morathi and serve her unflinchingly in all things. Does the Shadow Queen desire a quantity of varanite for herself, and if so, for what purpose?
The plot thickens…
Between the events of Warcry: Catacombs and the opening book of the Broken Realms series, it seems that Morathi’s definitely up to something! If you haven’t picked up a copy of Warcry: Catacombs, order yours today and serve the Shadow Queen with the Khainite Shadowstalkers warband included in the box.