Archaon’s vast empire is controlled from the Varanspire, a monumental fortress dominating a tortured landscape in the Realm of Chaos. It is to those twisting towers and colossal walls that his endless trail of spoils and trophies are brought, and it is here that stands Archaon’s dark throne.[1]
Description[]
The Varanspire rises from the surrounding hellscape like a blade thrust into the chest of a corpse. Its spiked walls weep the blood of tormented prisoners, while jagged spires reach up into flame-wreathed skies, where maddening glimpses of the Mortal Realms at war flicker and fade. The Varanspire’s bladed towers are filled with winged horrors, while its walls are stalked by hordes of warriors, daemons and monsters sworn to the Everchosen.[1a]
To reach the Varanspire from the Mortal Realms, one must travel through the magical anomaly known as the Eightpoints. Existing between worlds, this vast nexus of gateways and towers was once the jewel of the Eight Realms. Long ago conquered by Archaon, it holds a portal torn into the Realm of Chaos that leads directly to the Varanspire. Through this vital strategic confluence, Archaon can move his armies to wherever he needs them.[1a]
Within the Varanspire, beyond its yawning, tooth-lined gateways and hell-forged portcullises are miles of twisting corridors and cavernous chambers with only loose ties to recognisable natural laws. Some are filled with nests of writhing daemon-flesh, while others house sanity-rending shrines to the Chaos Gods. Many are bloodstained fighting pits where gore-covered champions duel endlessly for the favour of their cruel master.[1a]
At the Varanspire’s heart lies the Chamber of the Vanquished. Here, amid a forest of pillars carved with the screaming faces of defeated foes, stands a throne of flowing darkness and ossified ambition. Forged from the souls of kings, it radiates unholy power, filling all who gaze upon it with dread.[1b]
It is a throne Archaon has never sat upon, set within a fortress he has not entered in an age. While he fights his constant wars of conquest, his Realm Lords gather before the throne to lay their triumphs and trophies. Under the gaze of his sorcerers, mortal and daemon lords bow in the throne’s shadow, paying obeisance to it as they would the Everchosen himself.[1b]