Khaz’Vel’Tor is an ancient dwarven fortress built into Mount Vorthrek in the Ashfire Cradle, in the mountains broadly due west of Arkrist. The stronghold is constructed in two major rings around a volcanic core. By the time the Drakefire Phalanx arrived, it had been occupied by a large kobold society organized around worship of the ancient red dragon Zar’Malek, whose lair and hoard lay within the Inner Ring.
The fortress combines dwarven engineering with later kobold occupation. Heat-regulation machinery makes the Inner Ring survivable, ventilation shafts connect workshops, warehouses, barracks, and hidden spaces, and mechanized draconic defenses can be activated from fixed stations. The outer ring contains living quarters, workshops, storerooms, places of worship, barracks, and a large temple suspended over lava.
The spiritual ruler during the campaign was Scalespeaker Vael Skarrix, supported by Captains Issk and Gravak and the Smolderguard. A dissident faction called the Cinderclaw Cindercate, led in part by the metalworker Rickit, believed Skarrix deliberately prevented Zar’Malek from waking in order to preserve his own authority.
The Phalanx allied with the Cinderclaws, killed Issk and Gravak, sabotaged the fortress food supply, and helped create the conditions for an open uprising. During the resulting chaos they crossed the lava bridge into the Inner Ring, where the dwarven machinery, Zar’Malek, and the Eye of Visthuun awaited them.