Bloodkeep
Bloodkeep is a Chaos Dreadhold on Greatiron Tor in Aqshy.[1a] It served as the prison of Skarbrand until the Brass Chain binding the Bloodthirster was moved in the wake of the Battle of Bloodkeep during the Realmgate Wars.[2a] Bloodkeep has withstood sieges by armies numbering in the millions, and through the entire Age of Chaos, it never was taken by an enemy,[1b] and none had been foolish enough to try for for over two hundred years prior to the Realmgate Wars.[1c]
The fortress consists of eight concentric rings of fortifications surrounding the central keep known as the Brassheart.[1b] The main gate to the Brassheart is called the Conqueror's Gate as the metal used in the construction of the gate is made from broken portcullises of conquered castles and the crowns of defeated kings.[1c]
Contents
History
Age of Myth
With the aid of the duardin, the kings of the Fireplains build a fortress atop Greatiron Tor.[1a]
Age of Chaos
The forces of Chaos conquer and raze the great stronghold on Greatiron Tor. Eventually, the mountain and all that can be seen from its summit is claimed for Khorne and Bloodkeep is constructed atop the ruins of the former stronghold.[1b]
The strength of its armies and the impregnability of its walls make Bloodkeep a name feared throughout Aqshy[1b], and constant skull offerings left by Khornate pilgrims at the base of the mountain turn the verdant valley between Greatiron Tor and the Zhulghar Mountains into the Valley of Skulls.[1a]
Archaon, tired of Skarbrand attacking his armies, beseeches Khorne to restrain the Bloodthirster. Khorne agrees, and forges the Brass Chain to bind Skarbrand within Bloodkeep. He also grants Archaon the ability to summon Skarbrand and return him to the prison when required.[1a][1b] When Skarbrand is bound by the Chain within Bloodkeep, his strains against his chains can be heard for miles around.[1a]
Realmgate Wars
Lord-Celestant Sargassus Heavenhost meets with the Fyreslayers of Vostarg Lodge in order to hire them to assault Bloodkeep and steal the Brass Chain, offering a large payment of gold. Despite his lodge's ongoing war with the Skaven, Runefather Bael-Grimnir agrees to lead three hundred Stormcast Eternals and a large force of Fyreslayers across the Zhulghar Mountains to Bloodkeep and through the ancient, duardin-built tunnels beneath the tor, allowing the attackers to bypass Bloodkeep's outer defences.[1b]
Despite losing half the Stormcast and many Fyreslayers to a Skaven ambush in Runestruck Pass[1d], the force succeeds in reaching Bloodkeep.[1a] They wait until they can no longer hear Skarbrand's struggles against his bonds, and then bore into the ancient duardin tunnels beneath the fortress using the powers of the Fyreslayers' Zharrgrim priests.[1a]
The Battle of Bloodkeep
The force emerges into the courtyard just outside the Conqueror's Gate. While the main force holds off the bulk of Bloodkeep's defenders, Sargassus leads a spearhead against the elite Crimson Guard Skullreapers and clears the path to the gate. Sargassus succeeds in breaching the gate, but before he can enter the Brassheart, Skarbrand unexpectedly returns to Bloodkeep after being banished from Ghyran, where he had been sent to attempt to prevent Alarielle's rebirth, by the Slann Xen'phantica. Realizing that his force's remaining strength cannot reach the Brass Chain with Skarbrand returned, Sargassus calls the retreat.[1c]
In the aftermath of the battle, Archaon orders the Brass Chain moved to the Brimfire Gate.[2a]
Sources
- 1: The Realmgate Wars: Balance of Power
- 2: The Realmgate Wars: All-gates
- 2a: Skarbrand, the Exiled One pg. 150
