Gatshadow Mountain, also called simply Gatshadow, is an enormous, ominous mountain in Tal'Dorei at the southeastern tip of the Cliffkeep Mountains, just northwest of the Bramblewood Forest and Westruun. It got its name because of its ominous appearance, with a dark, blackened rock peak that stood out amongst the rest of the mountains. While other mountains crest at 4,000 feet up, this one is over a mile high. Gatshadow's peak is nearly always obscured by storm clouds or mist. Most of the trees are dead or dried out towards the top, but other than that the vegetation is pretty sparse.[2]
Description[]
The stone that comprises this monstrous formation is darker and denser than that of nearby mountains, and it is considered to be the finest stone for crafting on the Tal'Dorei continent, hence why many crafters and smiths make the dangerous journey there to quarry the rock—and not all return.[3] One path winding up toward Gatshadow's peak passes through the Bramblewood.[4]
Since the mountain was raised and corrupted by the Chained Oblivion's power in the Age of Arcanum, there has been a maze of tunnels and trapped chambers twisting down through the mountain, through which immortal servants of the Chained Oblivion wander endlessly, and the lowest reaches of this labyrinth are barred by magically sealed stone doors that even the mages of the Arcana Pansophical cannot breach.[5]
Small cave[]
This hole continued for 15 feet into the mountain before it ended abruptly.[6] A layer of dust coated everything, and the site had remained largely undisturbed for a long period of time.[7]
Umbrasyl's lair[]
Around the big cavern entrance high on the mountain, there were clumps of dead, gnarled, petrified trees on top of melted stone and soot.[8] The entrance was an opening on the side of the mountain face with no walkable path up to it. 60 feet below was a smaller entrance with a 40-foot scalable wall leading towards it at an upward angle.[9]
Around the exterior of the entrance, there were two nearly identical rocks embedded in each side of the cavern wall, each about three to four feet in diameter. Their texture and their weathered appearance were far younger than the rest of the stone around them.[10]
Screenshot of the cavern within Gatshadow Mountain.[art 3]
In the cavern there were pieces of stone jutting out of the floor, and two pools of somewhat greenish-brackish pungent-smelling acid.[11] Next to one of the pools there was an elevated platform where a large outcropping of stone had just slowly pulled itself out of the rock, nearly touching the very height of this cavern.[12] The ceiling was 70 feet high with a few stalactites throughout this cavern.[13]
Stalagmites and stalactites had formed central columns, around the base of which a few pools gathered. Portions of the ground had elements of the acrid liquid that filled the pool. The mineral build-up on the inside of this cavern made the walls slick, and rounded off most of the stone.[14]
History[]
Age of Arcanum and the Calamity[]
Tharizdun, the Chained Oblivion had been imprisoned under Gatshadow Mountain[15] since the Founding.[16] A priest of Tharizdun, Acek Orattim, based himself at the mountain, which, under Tharizdun’s influence, then rose into a sharp spine much taller than the other Cliffkeep Mountains, and it was riddled with a maze of tunnels. Acek spread Tharizdun's corruption from Gatshadow to the surrounding region.[5] During the Calamity, Tharizdun escaped his prison and went on a rampage,[15] and when Pelor, the Dawnfather, crushed Tharizdun in battle in the Alabaster Sierras,[17] the Betrayer God fell back to Gatshadow, but Pelor pursued and used four Prime Trammels[18] to banish Tharizdun from the Material Plane. Some say Acek was so suffused with Tharizdun's power that the god's banishment caused Acek's body to be ripped apart, leaving his base vacant to attract other villains and devotees of the Chained Oblivion.[5]
Before Campaign One[]
Long years before Vox Machina visited the mountain, there was an expedition to investigate rumors of a nocturnal creature at Gatshadow's peak that was stealing mountain goats and had killed enough people from a small village northward to cause it to be abandoned.[19] The members of the expedition found their way up to a small cave, made their camp with a small fire, but apparently couldn't escape, and four skeletons remained.[20]
Campaign One: Pre-stream Arc and "Vox Machina Origins Volume 2"[]
Drath Mephruhn controlling the Strongjaws.[art 4]
Drath Mephruhn, alternately identified as a shade or dying mage, raised Stonejaw Strongjaw from the dead and magically compelled Stonejaw's son Grog, then in Stilben, to travel to Drath's lair, which was a crypt in a subterranean city deep within Gatshadow Mountain. There, Drath began a ritual to embed a phylactery in Grog's chest so that he could achieve lichdom and possess Grog's body.[21][22]
The recently formed Vox Machina, searching for their companion Grog, arrived at the mountain and found a cave entrance that brought them to Drath's lair; they arrived during the ritual, finding Drath accompanied by the mind-controlled Strongjaws.[23] Under control of Drath Mephruhn, Grog, his father, and undead skeletons attacked the party. Eventually, Pike destroyed Drath Mephruhn and the fight was brought to an end, bringing Grog back to himself, but not before the mage could complete the ritual and embed his phylactery into Grog's chest. After burying Stonejaw, they returned to Westruun, with Grog bearing an itchy scar.
"The Family Business" (1x47)[]
Umbrasyl made his lair in the mountain after the Chroma Conclave's attack on Emon.
"Umbrasyl" (1x55)[]
After the Chroma Conclave attacked Emon, the ancient black dragon Umbrasyl, called the Hope Devourer, roosted in a cave at Gatshadow's peak, collecting tribute from Westruun. Several scouting parties from the Herd of Storms were sent to Gatshadow in preparation for an attack on Umbrasyl, but they didn't return.[24] Shale's age and disabilities slowed her down, so she survived Umbrasyl's slaughter of her party by a twist of fate, then descended from the mountain in time to meet Vox Machina.
Scaling the mountain, Vox Machina and Shale discovered a small entrance with four long-dead skeleton corpses. There were remnants of a small camp that was long iced over through winters past. There were roughly 85 gold pieces among their corpses and spare change in silver and copper; an oil lantern; climbing gear for four people; some long-spoiled rations; and a very moldy diary. They ascended Gatshadow further and slew Umbrasyl in his cave.[25]
Aftermath and adventure hooks[]
After the death of the Hope Devourer, his spilled blood, combined with the strange magic of the Gatshadow Mountain, caused the corpses of goliaths spattered by it to rise again as undead black dragonborn with skeletal wings;[26] this Black Snow tribe flew to the Ashen Gorge, attracted to a gemstone called "the Ruby of Oblivion".[27] Moreover, the mix of the dragon's acid and his magical blood seeped through the ground, forming maze-like caverns inhabited by black half-dragons, oozes, and the ghosts of the goliaths defeated by the ancient black dragon.[28] Due to those dangers, by 836 PD not many people try to approach the area, despite the valuable materials that could be taken from Umbrasyl's body.[29]
In both the original Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting (set in 812 PD) and the Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn (set in 836 PD), Jorenn Village's Shademaster Arhanna Lewyn was noted to send out a trio of agents weekly, either into the Umbra Hills or to the base of Gatshadow, to further some mysterious agenda.[28][30]
An epic-level adventure hook in both the original Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting and the Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn involves a supposed Remnant cultist who steals some of the Whispered One's knowledge and flees to Gatshadow Mountain to seek the tormented spirit of Acek Orattim. She is pursued by both the Remnants she betrayed and by heroes sent by the Arcana Pansophical.[28][29]
Official art of Gatshadow looming behind Westruun at Winter's Crest, by Kent Davis.[art 6]
References[]
- ↑ See Critical Role: Vox Machina Origins, Volume #2, Issue #2, pp. 3.
- ↑ See "Umbrasyl" (1x55) at 1:19:09.
- ↑ Some of the information on this page was imported from Matthew Mercer's Vox Machina Wiki article, "Gatshadow".
- ↑ See Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting, p. 52.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 See Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting, pp. 63–64.
- ↑ See "Umbrasyl" (1x55) at 2:02:13.
- ↑ See "Umbrasyl" (1x55) at 1:59:13.
- ↑ See "Umbrasyl" (1x55) at 1:46:57.
- ↑ See "Umbrasyl" (1x55) at 1:49:58.
- ↑ See "Umbrasyl" (1x55) at 2:12:56.
- ↑ See "Umbrasyl" (1x55) at 1:57:53.
- ↑ See "Umbrasyl" (1x55) at 1:56:16.
- ↑ See "Umbrasyl" (1x55) at 2:20:26.
- ↑ See "Umbrasyl" (1x55) at 2:23:27.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 See Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting, p. 51.
- ↑ See Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting, p. 19.
- ↑ See Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting, p. 49.
- ↑ See "The Endless Atheneum" (1x106) at 1:09:35.
- ↑ See "Umbrasyl" (1x55) from 2:00:46 through 2:01:59.
- ↑ See "Umbrasyl" (1x55) at 1:59:13.
- ↑ See Vox Machina Origins Series II, #1, #2, and #6.
- ↑ See "The Story of Vox Machina" (Sx06) at 1:34.
- ↑ See "The Story of Vox Machina" (Sx06) from 0:00:50 through 0:01:41.
- ↑ See "Umbrasyl" (1x55) at 1:15:45.
- ↑ See "Umbrasyl" (1x55) at 3:55:37.
- ↑ See Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting, p. 73.
- ↑ See Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn, p. 109.
- ↑ 28.0 28.1 28.2 See Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting, p. 64.
- ↑ 29.0 29.1 See Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn, p. 95.
- ↑ See Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn, p. 96.
Art:
- ↑ Official art of Gatshadow Mountain, by Olivia Samson from Vox Machina Origins II 2. Used with permission.
- ↑ Official map of Gatshadow and surrounding areas, by Andy Law from Critical Role: Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting. This file is a copyrighted work. Its use in this article is asserted to qualify as fair use of the material under United States copyright law.
- ↑ Screenshot of the cavern within Gatshadow Mountain."Umbrasyl" (1x55) at 2:44:35
- ↑ Drath Mephruhn controlling the Strongjaws."The Story of Vox Machina" (Sx06) at 01:34
- ↑ Fan art of Umbrasyl's corpse, by Clara (source). Used with permission.
- ↑ Official art of Gatshadow looming behind Westruun at Winter's Crest, by Kent Davis (source). Used with permission.