Bazzoxan

Bazzoxan
Depiction of Bazzoxan, by Kent Davis from Critical Role: Call of the Netherdeep.
General Information
Leader	Taskhand
Current leader	Verin Thelyss
Guard unit	Aurora Watch
Location Information
Plane	Material Plane (Exandria)
Continent	Wildemount
Region	Xhorhas
Points of interest	Betrayers' Rise Gatehold Barracks The Ready Room
Societal Information
Population	2,610 (in 836 PD)
Races	81% Drow 8% Goblinkin 11% Others
Affiliation	Kryn Dynasty

Bazzoxan is a large village at the base of the cliffs at the northernmost point of the Penumbra Range in Xhorhas. The village is built below an ancient black temple, which was historically named Bazzoxan, on top of ruins. Demonic incursions from the temple beginning about 795 PD caused most civilian inhabitants to leave over time, and by 835-836 PD, the village was largely occupied by military forces and maintained under martial law.

Description

Bazzoxan is located north of the Barbed Fields, at the base of the Penumbra Range. Above it rises a giant, ancient, jet-black Betrayers' Rise, a temple that was built into the maroon-gray mountain rock of the surrounding mountains. Spiral towers with their own alcoves and balconies emerge from the temple, some of which have crumbled.

The buildings of the the village of Bazzoxan are scattered structures built on ruins, much like the Ghostlands of Rosohna. There are large iron watchtowers marking the street corners along the perimeter of the settlement. Aurora Watch patrol the streets, and most of the population appears to be military. There are very few lights, as the drow and goblinoids who make up most of the population do not need them to see in the dark. Dust storms are not uncommon.

Points of interest

• Betrayers' Rise, an ancient temple of the Betrayer Gods looming over the northern side of the city. The princes of the Abyss used it as their seat in the Material Plane.
  • The Umbra Gates, gargantuan black doors in the mountains over Bazzoxan that serve as the entrance to Betrayers' Rise.
• Sacrifice engines, two 30-foot deep pits lined with rows of metallic blades. Centuries ago, acolytes to the Betrayers threw mortals inside and activated the levers near the edge of each pit, animating the blades and pleasing the evil gods. As of 836 PD, the Aurora Watch lures demons toward the engines, avoiding severe casualties from their side.
• Crematorium, a stone building that rests on a side of Penumbra Range is owned and operated by two brothers, Reynard and Sebastian Allerton. The crematorium has two furnaces.
• Infirmary, three buildings bordering the centre square of Bazzoxan. As of 836 PD, it was under the care of Bautha Dyrr.
• Gatehold Barracks, commander center for Taskhand Verin Thelyss and his senior officers. It contains four rooms: war room, mess room, training area, and sleeping quarters.
• A dilapidated temple, once a flourishing temple to Avandra, by 836 PD was partially destroyed, but it was situated into a garden by firbolg named Foghome, producing vegetables that need sunlight.
• Wall of the Unforgotten, a memorial site for Aurora Watch soldiers.
• The Ready Room, the only inn in Bazzoxan, is owned and run by Delez and Prima Demona, a drow brother and sister team. The inn is very basic and prices are high due to the expense and difficulty in getting commodities to such a remote location.

Map

Official map of Bazzoxan, by Deven Rue from Critical Role: Call of the Netherdeep.

Society

Demographics

In 835 PD, the total population was 2,610. Eighty-one percent of the population of Bazzoxan is drow, but goblinkin, orcs, and others reside there too. The population is mostly military personnel. Most people wear armor and are armed, and the civilian to soldier ratio is about one to four. Even the civilians are trained in basic combat and defense.

Notable people

Name	Type	Description
Aloysia Telfan	NPC	Agent from the Consortium of the Vermilion Dream, searching for the signs of ruidium in the Betrayers' Rise temple.
Bautha Dyrr	NPC	Healer in Bazzoxan infirmary and a cleric of Xalicas.
Delez Demona	NPC	Clerk at the Ready Room. Young male drow.
Foghome	NPC	Firbolg follower of Melora who tends to the garden in the Dilapidated Temple.
Question	NPC	Agent from the Cobalt Soul, researching the Betrayers' Rise.
Kalym Telaarin	NPC	Priest of the Luxon.
Naevyn Tasithar	NPC	Drow soldier of Aurora Watch.
Prima Demona	NPC	Clerk at the Ready Room. Young female drow.
Prolix Yusaf	NPC	Tiefling agent from the Allegiance of Allsight, researching the Betrayers' Rise.
Verin Thelyss	NPC	Taskhand in charge of the forces in Bazzoxan. Male drow, Essek's younger brother.

History

Fan art of the Abyssal rift of Bazzoxan, by Clara.

In the time of the Calamity, the entire mountainside was a prominent temple to a number of Betrayer Gods. Bazzoxan was the name of the structure, rather than the village. The deep-set, multi-leveled temple was the seat of the princes of the Abyss on the Material Plane, who were tenuously aligned during the Calamity but held different seats throughout the temple. Like many locations in Xhorhas, Bazzoxan was left a ruin after the end of the Calamity.

After the reclaiming of Ghor Dranas and the establishment of Rosohna, some members of the Kryn Dynasty traveled north in an effort to renovate another former site of the Betrayer Gods. Although, for a time, they were successfully developing a new mining town, in the process of their reclamation, the inhabitants of Bazzoxan uncovered that there were still quite a number of remaining doorways from the abyssal temple. They had only managed to build part of the city before it was attacked by those demonic forces.

Since the attack, which occurred around 795 PD, most of the tunnels to the temple have been barricaded in order to prevent threats from entering the city, though demons and other creatures do still slip past from time to time. Aurora Watch soldiers have been fighting creatures from the Umbra Gates ever since the Abyssal rift reopened, but have been stuck in a stalemate for decades. Many civilians have left Bazzoxan in the ensuing years, and those who still live there primarily support the military and the mages fighting the forces of the Abyss.

A group of Aurora Watch soldiers, during an expedition into the abandoned temples there, found a Vestige of Divergence, the Kiss of the Changebringer.

Critical Role: Call of the Netherdeep

In this adventure, two parties of adventurers travel to Bazzoxan in search of the place where Alyxian prayed for Avandra's blessing during the final siege of the evil temple there. Agents of the Cobalt Soul, Allegiance of Allsight, and Consortium of the Vermilion Dream are also investigating related matters.

As of this time, set in or shortly after 836 PD, a small number of Aurora Watch arcanists are posted there to attempt to find and seal the planar rifts through which various threats emerge.

The Tales of Exandria: The Bright Queen

In the late 830s to early 840s PD, Leylas Kryn, Dryca, and Aurora Watch soldiers including Roshan traveled to the temple at Bazzoxan, descending into its depths. Dryca explained that, before the Divergence, Kord created a means for his mortal champions to enter the Dreadnest in the Abyss should the last battles of the Calamity fail in some respect. The line entrusted with this knowledge died long ago, but Dryca acquired it before then: a pendant, the Stormlord's Heart, housed in this temple and used by touching the wearer's blood to it. As Leylas prepared to use it, Dryca asked if she remembered the cost; she confirmed she willingly bore it, and used the Heart. Her mission to the Dreadnest was to save Quana Kryn and recover a Luxon beacon.

Trivia

Matt gave an overview of Bazzoxan in an interview with Todd Kenreck as part of the official media for the upcoming adventure Call of the Netherdeep (2022).

References

Art: