Hello everyone, since Vermintide 1 I’ve wanted there to be a lorebook for all the characters and here is my version of the tale of Bardin and Okri in the closing years of the World that was.
When Bardin left Karak Norn to aid the townsfolk of Ubersreik he left behind his closest cousin Okri. A fine smith within Karak, well respected and a clear master of his craft that of blackpowder. Okri had trained and explore the Grey Mountains many times with his cousin and they together had many a wonderful tale to tell, but this was not the glory days of the Old World, this was the End times. With Bardin engaged in the crises engulfing Reikland it fell to the heroes of Karak Norn and Karak Ziflin, as well as the other smaller holds, to defend themselves against the oncoming darkness.
There were many skirmishes in the Grey Mountains between Dwarf and Goblin, Skaven, and the twisted followers of Chaos. The Dwarfs held their ground for many years but it was in the year 2526 IC that the end was certain for the inhabitants of all the realms. Bardin had returned for a brief time after the destruction of the Reikland at the hands of the foul Glottkin, but his home was about to be destroyed. He returned to Karak Norn to hear news of the burning of Karak Ziflin to the Skaven, having taken his slayer oath before Bardin was prepared to sell his life for his kin. But who should be in command of the defences of the causeway leading into the main gate of Karak Norn but his greatest friend Okri! Okri a master engineer commanded the ranks of thunderers and quarrellers which had set up barricades to stem the tide of the incoming goblin and Skaven hordes. Bardin and Okri had little time to catch up, over a cask of Bugman’s finest they regaled one another with the tales of the raki they had slain since they last met, with Bardin convincingly having the greater count. It was the day after Bardin’s return that the attack began, thousands upon thousands of Skaven and goblins threw themselves at Bardin and Okri, and from inside the hold itself they attacked slaughtering the inhabitants, in only a day the dwarfs were slain to just a scattered band holding the causeway. With most of their families dead and the few surviving dwarfs planning their escape route, including Okri’s son - Okri -, the cousins made their stand against the tide and buy time for the refugees.
And so it was at sunrise on the 3rd day of the attack on the Grey Mountains in the IC 2526 that Bardin and Okri made their stand, engineer and slayer back to back against the RAKI! From high in the mountain path Okri’s son could see his uncle and father on the causeway, and saw the slaughter they lay upon the hated foe. It was said for the refugees of the dwarfs that Bardin and Okri slew 10 skaven and goblins for every dwarf who had died in the attacks on the Grey Mountains. Had it been a different time they would have assuredly become the greatest dwarfs of legend. But it was the End Times and the world was soon to be lost. But that is not the end of Okri’s tale. His legend lived on through his son whose line extended through the forging of the realms. The line of Okri kept the story of the fall of Karak Norn alive into the Age of Sigmar! His descendants helping to create the Endrins, which would be used by dwarfs to flee the Age of Chaos and save the dwarfish people from almost total annihilation at the hands of the Chaos Gods. Okri’s line now extends throughout the mortal realms, with the proud name Okrison showing your connection to one of the mightiest heroes of the Old World, and forging ahead in a new age of prosperity for the dwarfs from even loftier heights their their mountainous homes of old! The couisn’s Bardin and Okri may have fallen in the end times but their legacy will live on in eternity!
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