Barak Varr is the lone seaport of the Dwarf lands, and has long been a key commercial center of the Old World. The lion's share of goods exported from Barak Varr to places such as Tilea, Bretonnia, and the Empire pass through the city's heavily-fortified docks. Although the lands of Barak Varr technically include all of the ports, docks, and anchorages that line the easternmost limb of the Black Gulf, what most mean when they refer to 'Barak Varr' is the Great Cove, the massive port facility hewn deep into the Cliffs of Gamrud.

In response to a request by the High King Thorgrim Grudgebearer, King Byrrnoth Grundadrakk, lord of Barak Varr, agreed to send a significant portion of his flotilla of ironclads to support the Dwarf recovery of Ekrund, leaving only a token force behind to defend the harbor. A short time after his ships had departed, a massive greenskin assault was launched upon the port. The Orcs and Goblins came by both sea and land and quickly overwhelmed Barak Varr's remaining defenses. The Dwarfs were barely able to repel the attack, leaving King Grundadrakk with little choice but to gather his people, seal the gates leading to Barak Varr and fall back to the shelter of the Great Cove.

Without naval superiority, King Grundadrakk has been forced to accept the greenskin presence in Barak Varr until the main fleet can return from Ekrund. The King's remaining ironclads now fight to keep the greenskins pinned down with intermittent bombardments while avoiding attacks from the numerous Orc war barges in the harbor. Also lending aid to the defense of the Cove is a bank of massive cannons that line the rocky promontory high above the bay.

Sturdy Dwarf-constructed lighthouses line the interior of the Black Gulf, guiding ships into the harbor of Barak Varr. These have become hotly contested areas for the greenskins and Dwarfs. The fighting is heaviest at the Black Gulf lighthouse where a small, but resolute band of Dwarfs holds out against hordes of greenskins. These brave warriors know that if the ironclads dispatched to Ekrund should return, they will need the lighthouse to guide them safely to the Great Cove. Showing typical Dwarf fortitude, the defenders have repelled every attack made upon the lighthouse. However, their supplies are dangerously low and they will not be able to hold out much longer.

Despite their losses, the greenskins continue to throw wave after wave of attackers at the gates surrounding the city. The fighting is fiercest at the Bar Dawazbak, the Dwarf Head gate, where a brave contingent of King Grundadrakk's best warriors has been ordered to hold to the last Dwarf. It is this gate which protects the overland entrance to the Great Cove, and if the greenskins should get through, the Dwarfs would be cut off from retreat and forced to make a last stand.

The One Tusk tribe vastly outnumbers the Dwarfs holed up in the Great Cove, and so it is lucky for the Dwarfs that some unexpected help has recently arrived. Sensing an opportunity for profit, the fabled regiment of Slayer pirates led by the doomed Captain Long Drong set sail for the harbor at Barak Varr. The mercenary pirates offered their services to the besieged Dwarfs in the Cove, and when King Grundadrakk scrounged together enough gold to pay them, Long Drong's men sailed out to take on the entire greenskin war barge fleet. It's a hopeless mission against impossible odds, and just the sort of challenge the Slayers relish.

With the rekindling of ancient hostilities between the forces of Order and Destruction in the Age of Reckoning, the significance of the Dwarf port at Barak Varr has grown exponentially. While the greenskins continue to blockade the harbor, the vital supply line that links the Dwarfs to their allies will be cut, and the Dwarfs will have little hope of surviving the great Waaagh! that is about to march on their capital.



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