Soroth Kor: Lore & History

Origins in Obscurity: The City's Secret Birth

"Soroth Kor, known in forgotten texts as the ‘Celestial Reach,’ was said to have been designed as a reflection of the stars themselves. The architects, driven by a mad desire to capture the heavens in stone, carved symbols of the night sky into its foundations. But the alignment was imperfect, and the city became a celestial sinkhole, drawing in all it could never truly grasp."
  -  Excerpt from “Mysteries of the Mortal Realms,” by Alecto Far-Eye, Azyrite Scholar

"Few remember the truth of Soroth Kor’s founding, but it is said among the oldest of the vampires that it was built as a paradise for the undying - a sanctuary where the lords of the night could rule without fear of the sun or silver. Its architects were ancient vampires who carved a kingdom of shadows beneath its streets. But their hunger turned the city against itself, transforming it into a maze of sorrow where the living are mere sustenance for the Silent Court that still reigns within."
  -  Countess Nystral Bloodmire, personal diary, recovered from the ruins of Baldrik’s Lament.

"The hands that shaped the city were no craftsmen - they were tools in the grip of something unspeakable. The stones were not laid with skill but hammered deep into the marrow of the earth, born of agony and fire, until even the land itself howled in protest beneath the weight of its walls."
  -  Morkar Ashenfist, The Tower That Eats the Sky

"Soroth Kor, it’s no city - it’s a giant shroom what got too big for its boots! A spore gone wrong, see? It sprouted stone instead of fungus, ate up everything around it, and now it’s just sittin’ there, sulkin’. The grots say it’s still growin’, but not like a proper fungus - it’s growin’ sad, and anyone what goes in starts growin’ sad too."
  -  Skraggle the Sneak, Moonclan Shaman

The origins of Soroth Kor are buried deep beneath layers of myth, misinformation, and fragmented memories. It seems that every account weaves another version of the city’s birth - each tale conflicting with the next, each more outlandish than the last. Theories abound, whispered in hushed tones by those who dare to speak of the city: a grand mausoleum, a sanctuary for the undying, a city that sprouted from sorrow itself. But the truth, hidden within Soroth Kor’s shifting streets and shadowed alleys, is far darker than any of these claims suggest.

Most historians speculate that Soroth Kor was established long before the Age of Chaos, during a forgotten era of myth and conquest. The city’s architecture reflects conflicting influences – celestial alignments, ancient runes, and ominous symbols – suggesting that its creation was not the work of a single culture but a mosaic of rival factions and lost civilizations. Contradictory carvings and glyphs throughout its crumbling walls indicate that Soroth Kor may have served as a trade hub, pilgrimage site, or even a sanctuary for exiled elites, each leaving their mark over the centuries.

In truth, Soroth Kor is not just haunted or cursed - it is an infection spreading through reality itself, a sentient wound in the fabric of the Mortal Realms. It is a product of the Architects of the Abyss, entities from outside reality who exist in the void between worlds. These beings, immune to the laws of physics, time, and nature, crafted Soroth Kor as a colossal, malignant gateway - part machine, part organism, and part nightmare. The city was never intended to be a home or fortress; it was designed as a parasitic structure meant to consume reality itself. Every stone, spire, and street is an extension of the city’s hunger, drawing in life and energy to feed the unknowable plans of the Abyss.

Predatory Architecture: Soroth Kor’s physical structures are more than just old ruins - they are tendrils of the city itself, slowly spreading and supplanting real-world locations. Walls move, streets shift, and landmarks are swallowed, often subtly, until whole regions are irretrievably absorbed into the city’s dark maze.

Memory Erosion: One of Soroth Kor’s most insidious methods of consumption is its ability to erode the memories and identities of those who enter. Inhabitants find that their pasts become hazy, details of their lives fade, and they cannot remember a world outside the city’s influence over time.

Reality Overwrite: The city does not simply destroy; it replaces. Soroth Kor consumes not just the physical but the metaphysical laws of nature, time, and even the souls of those within. The city rewrites the reality it touches, warping it to fit its twisted designs. Warbands might find familiar places altered as they are ensnared by Soroth Kor, such as a once-known mountain now appearing as a jagged spire of black glass or an ancient grove turned into a suffocating labyrinth of bone-white trees.

The Echo of Soroth Kor

The city is an active force in the lives of those who dwell within its shadowed streets. It is a place where the very architecture seems to breathe with intent, where walls whisper secrets, and where the roads themselves shift and change to suit the whims of an ancient, sentient power. This power, known as the “Echo of Soroth Kor,” is the city’s insidious consciousness.

Soroth Kor’s silence is a weapon the Echo bears to maintain absolute control over its domain. The silence is not just the absence of sound; it is a living, oppressive force that smothers all it touches. The Echo uses this silence to suppress the will of those who enter its domain, sapping their energy and willpower, isolating them from one another, and making it nearly impossible for them to organize or resist the city’s influence. The Echo thrives in this eerie hush, for in silence, it can manipulate, deceive, and dominate without opposition.

The ultimate nature of the city remains deeply hidden, obscured by the city’s twisting thoroughfares and the suffocating presence of the Echo. Few grasp the full extent of its malevolence, and every fragment of its past is jealously guarded by the city’s ancient will – a sentience that deforms reality to protect its secrets.

HISTORICAL RECORD - FROM ASHES TO SHADOWS

Age of Anomalies: The Creation of Soroth Kor

Soroth Kor is conceived and constructed by the Architects of the Abyss, mysterious entities from beyond the known realms. Designed as a cosmic trap and a parasitic entity, the city’s sole purpose is to consume reality, drawing in energy, life, and matter to serve its creators’ inscrutable aims. Soroth Kor lay dormant for millennia, hidden within the Mortal Realms, its hunger embedded in every surface and pinnacle.

Age of Myth: The Arrival of Azyrite Settlers

Azyrite settlers discover Soroth Kor as a grand, untapped opportunity. Drawn by its alien architecture and potential for arcane power, they establish the city as a thriving outpost of Sigmar’s civilization. Soroth Kor flourishes as a hub of trade, learning, and military strength, but the city’s parasitic nature quietly begins to affect its inhabitants. Strange occurrences, disappearances, and whispers from the Echo are dismissed as anomalies rather than warnings.

Age of Chaos: A Desperate Refuge

As Chaos sweeps across the Mortal Realms, many Azyrite cities fall to destruction. In a desperate bid to survive, fleeing Azyrites seek refuge in Soroth Kor, believing it to be a bastion of safety and a last stand against the forces of Chaos. Thousands flood the city, hoping to rebuild and defend against the encroaching darkness.

Instead of sanctuary, the refugees find themselves trapped in a place that preys upon their fear and desperation. Soroth Kor feeds on the influx of new inhabitants as the Echo grows more powerful, warping memories, draining hope, and manipulating those within. The Azyrites who sought refuge are gradually devoured - some physically, others losing their minds and identities to the city’s insidious pull.

The battles against Chaos within the city’s walls only fuel Soroth Kor’s purpose. As roving warbands, refugees, and Chaos forces clash, the city thrives on every death and moment of despair. The population dwindles as people vanish into the shifting streets or fall prey to the city’s countless traps and anomalies, and silence blankets the city as it continues to gnaw on the remnants of those who once lived within.

Age of Sigmar: Rediscovery and Renewed Hunger

As Sigmar’s forces push back against the tide of Chaos, Soroth Kor is rediscovered by adventurers, warbands, and treasure seekers drawn by rumors of arcane power and hidden relics. The city, though outwardly still, begins to stir with renewed activity. Each new arrival baits Soroth Kor’s appetite, and the Echo works tirelessly to enforce the city’s will.

Scavengers establish temporary camps within the city, battling each other and the city’s inherent dangers, unaware that their presence directly influences Soroth Kor’s ultimate objective. The city’s influence continues to manifest subtly, rewriting reality around it and drawing in the whole of the Mortal Realms one small piece at a time.

Present Day: The City That Devours Reality

Soroth Kor is a silent yet voracious predator. It has consumed its own history and those of countless souls drawn to its streets, feeding on the endless battles and ambitions of those seeking to claim it. The Echo’s whispers permeate every corner, driving paranoia, confusion, and fear. The city is not just a battlefield but a living nightmare, constantly shifting and consuming.

Soroth Kor is a monument to lost hopes and relentless hunger, an ever-intensifying threat to the Mortal Realms. Every new warband that enters, every spell cast, and every drop of blood spilled serves to feed the city’s desire to devour all. The silence that pervades Soroth Kor is not the absence of life, but the presence of a city that has consumed everything, leaving behind only echoes and shadows.