Zone Overview – Dragonwake

In the eastern reaches of Caledor, the tall mountain peaks yield to grassy hills that eventually slope down to meet the western border of Eataine. Though the lands to the west are more mountainous, the caves that run beneath the hills of this region are as deep as any in Caledor, and many ancient Dragons slumber within them. In ages past, when the lands of the High Elves came under threat, the Dragon Princes traveled to this land to rouse the slumbering beasts to war. For this reason, the western-most region of Caledor came to be known as Dragonwake.

Fueled by hatred that has festered for millennia, the Dark Elves continue their relentless march across Ulthuan, driving the defending High Elves and their allies ever southward toward the capital city of Lothern. For the noble lords of Ulthuan the situation grows bleaker with each passing day. It is clear that desperate measures must be taken to slow the invaders’ advance, for little else has worked. The time has come to wake the great Dragons of old.

With the enemy at their heels, the High Elf armies pour into Dragonwake and race to the old temples and holy sites to rouse the slumbering titans of the skies. The Dragons are among the High Elves’ mightiest weapons, and their wrath will surely be terrible when they behold the treacherous armies of the Witch King burning and pillaging the lands of Ulthuan. But the Dragons’ slumber is deep indeed, and there is no knowing whether they will ever take to the wing again.

Though it has been long since the evil Druchii fought the War of Sundering, they remember well what sleeps beneath the hills of Dragonwake. Malekith devises an ambitious plan to bend the great Dragons to his will and use them to destroy the High Elves. It will be no small task to break the minds of these ancient and powerful creatures, but Malekith knows that for each Dragon that is turned, he will both deprive his mortal enemies of a mighty weapon, and gain one for himself.

Elsewhere, other plots take root in Dragonwake. One the oldest and most biter rivalries among the Dark Elves is that which exists between the Hag Queens Hellebron and Morathi. Crone Hellebron is ancient, nearly as old as the mother of the Witch King. The long years have twisted Hellebron’s mind, filling her with terrible spite and jealously of the beautiful and eternally youthful Morathi. Hellebron seeks power, so that she might overthrow Morathi as leader of the Temple of Khaine. To this end, the Crone has led a force of Dark Elves southward to Vaul’s Anvil, a workshop and forge tended by the blind priests of the High Elf god of the forge.

It is in the searing fires of Vaul’s Anvil that many of the finest and rarest weapons and armor in the High Elf are forged. It is a resource the High Elves can ill afford to lose, and a counterattack is swiftly organized to break Hellebron’s siege.

Of all these conflicts, however, none may be as important as the struggle for control of the Isle of the Dead. This dread island at the center of Ulthuan’s Inner Sea is the focal point of the vortex, and here the powers of Chaos are so concentrated that no living creature can safely approach the center of the island. The forces gathered at the Isle of the Dead are potent beyond comprehension, but in age now long past, Malekith once tried to take control of this vast and terrible power. The resulting cataclysm destroyed much of Ulthuan and nearly deprived the Witch King of his life.

Now Malekith has returned to Ulthuan, and the dark energies call to him from the Isle of the Dead, tempting the evil ruler of Naggaroth with promises of unlimited power. The High Elves know that they cannot allow the conflict to approach the Isle of the Dead, for if the mad son of Aenarion were to try once more to gain control of the Isle and the unearthly forces concentrated there, it could spell the end not only of the war, but of the High Elves.