Thar Amphala

For the Campaign One episode of the same name, see Thar Amphala (episode).

Thar Amphala
Fan art of Thar Amphala, by Cristina Anaya.
General Information
Full name	Thar Amphala
Constructed	Age of Arcanum
Current leader	Vecna
Location Information
Plane	Shadowfell (formerly) Material Plane (Exandria)
Continent	Issylra
Region	Othanzia
Points of interest	Entropis
Societal Information
Affiliation	Remnants

Thar Amphala is a city originating in the Shadowfell that served as Vecna's domain and base of operations.

Following the completion of the ritual atop Entropis, Thar Amphala was transported to the Material Plane, on top of the remains of an Earth titan some distance northwest of Vasselheim. Vecna reanimated the titan's corpse and marched the city in a siege against Vasselheim. Following his defeat, the city remains atop the titan on the outskirts of Vasselheim.

Description

Fan art of Thar Amphala, by Thomas Brin.

Most of the buildings are made of stone and wood, in a style that resembled ancient Wildemount architectural styles. The city was in a state of disrepair when Vox Machina first arrived, ruined and bearing the scars of the ancient war that took place within its walls, with many buildings missing walls or had their roofs burnt away. However, closer to the center of the city, the buildings were in better shape. It was built around the jagged spires rising from the inhospitable landscape of the Shadowfell, the streets spiraling in towards the tower at its center, Entropis. There was at least one Threshold crest within the city to facilitate it moving through the planes.

History

Little is known about Thar Amphala's founding and history before Vecna's involvement. Near the beginning of the Undying King's rise to power, he overtook the city to act as the base of operations for his growing army of followers and undead creatures. In the centre he built the tower known as Entropis. He ruled his new domain for a time, during which he became aware of the power and devout worship enjoyed by his "neighbour" in Letherna, the Raven Queen, which caused jealousy in the archlich, further motivating him to form his own cult beyond Thar Amphala and aspire to godhood.

From his seat of power, Vecna then used an event called the celestial solstice by manipulating magical ley energies which allowed him to open up portals between the Shadowfell and the Material Plane on a whim. With this, Vecna sent his forces across Exandria to spread his influence, wreak vengeance on past enemies and strike fear into the masses, beginning his rise to infamy.

As Vecna's terror spread from Thar Amphala, those working against him discovered the celestial solstice and reverse-engineered it in order for the Beacon of Arms, the holy army of Pelor led by champion Yos Varda, to invade the ancient city.

During the ensuing battle Yos Varda perished, but not before witnessing Vecna's vampire lieutenant attempt to kill and usurp his wounded master. Kas the Bloody-Handed and Vecna were both destroyed in the ensuing fight, and the victorious Beacon of Arms left Thar Amphala. The Sword of Kas, the weapon wielded by Vecna's lieutenant, had been imbued with a fragment of his consciousness, and so was buried beneath the city at some point.

Vecna remained within Thar Amphala while he regained power, seeking out mortals to aid him. He made contact with Delilah Briarwood and she began carrying out a plan to help him ascend to godhood and bring Thar Amphala to the Material Plane. She conducted three rituals to create siphons that would empower Vecna, each connected from various point across Exandria to the outskirts to Thar Amphala.

"Taryon, My Wayward Son" (1x97)

Vox Machina first saw Thar Amphala when Vex'ahlia successfully shot an Oracle Arrow through the mysterious siphon beneath Whitestone, where Delilah Briarwood had attempted a ritual to Vecna some year or so prior. Through it Vex saw the distant outline of the tower of Entropis.

"Unfinished Business" (1x100)

After discovering and tracking down the second Ziggurat to contain a Siphon similar to the one in Whitestone, Pike communed with Sarenrae for more information. Through her goddess's help Pike was able to see the Siphon as a doorway into the Shadowfell, and also saw the vision of Entropis and city around it as Vex previously had.

"Thar Amphala" (1x101)

Using artifacts looted from Vecna's Remnants, Vox Machina entered the Siphon beneath Whitestone and arrived in Thar Amphala, emerging on a platform surrounded by the broken remains of all the items they'd thrown through it over the past year. They quickly found that the city's streets were overrun with walking corpses, that its skies were patrolled by horrid shadow creatures known as gloomstalkers, and that its inhabitants were all insane cultists who had removed either an eye or a hand in worship of Vecna. The party escaped the notice of these monsters thanks to the magic of Vex'ahlia and turned the few that did notice them into allies thanks to the magic of Scanlan Shorthalt. From these dominated allies the party learned that Vecna's plan was to transport the entire city of Thar Amphala to the Material Plane with all of its zombies, necromancers, and gloomstalkers and begin to conquer the entire world from there. Eager to stop him, the party set out to confront Vecna at his home, the obsidian tower Entropis.

"Race to the Tower" (1x102)

A few hours after Vox Machina arrived in Thar Amphala, the entirety of the living populace of the city began to gather around the tower of Entropis in anticipation of the city's transportation to the material plane. Just minutes before the heroes could arrive at the sinister tower, Vecna sent out a telepathic message to each inhabitant of the city, personalized to best motivate them to enact his will. Then, snow began to fall and the sky changed, as the city was no longer in a remote corner of the Shadowfell, but atop the Zenwick Mountains just a few hundred miles from the Dawn Cradle, Vasselheim. The worshippers of Vecna only had a few minutes to rejoice before two members of Vox Machina conjured two massive earthquakes that brought Entropis crashing to the ground and covered the city in dust, scattering Vecna's forces momentarily in the confusion. However, the very top of Entropis, a massive obsidian hand, was unaffected by the earthquakes and gently floated to the ground. It was here that Vox Machina attempted to ambush Vecna, only for the Whispered One to quickly kill two of their members and force them to retreat to the Feywild.

"The Endless Atheneum" (1x106)

When Keyleth scried on Delilah Briarwood, she had a brief vision of the Zenwick Mountains, then the city of Thar Amphala, and then Delilah emerging from a tunnel beneath the city before Vecna telepathically interrupted the spell.

Vecna's Return

Fan art of Thar Amphala atop a reanimated primordial earth titan, by Stephen Oakley.

Following Vecna's ascension to godhood, he teleported Thar Amphala to the Material Plane through the use of at least one threshold crest. He placed the city on top of the remains of an Earth titan, which held within it the ruins of Thomara, and reanimated the titan, marching the city towards Vasselheim.

"The Ominous March" (1x109)

Two scouts from Vasselheim reported to the city's council of Dawn Marshals that they had found the city and seen it move. The council decided to act now and began their assault, teleporting their forces towards it while it was still 200 miles away from Vasselheim. There, they noticed that the city was protected by a magical impenetrable barrier, so they would need to find another means of entrance. Vox Machina found a way inside of the earth titan and began their ascent towards the city above.

Fan art of the Earth Titan, by Lap Pun Cheung.

"Dark Dealings" (1x112)

Vox Machina emerged from the Crypts of Thomara into the city of Thar Amphala proper, and decided to try to find the Sword of Kas. Vex was able to determine the sword's location with Locate Objects and lead Vax and Keyleth there. They found the sword in a cavern beneath the city, at the bottom of a pool of greenish liquid, and recovered it. Unfortunately, while they were doing so, Vecna caught wind of their location and they were forced to flee the city once more, Plane Shifting to the Feywild.

"The Final Ascent" (1x113)

Vox Machina Plane Shifted back to Thar Amphala and headed to the city walls, planning to take down the barrier surrounding the city. They found one of the crystals powering the spell and successfully dislodged it by destroying the wall around it, deactivating one sixth of the barrier and allowing their allies entrance to the city.

Vox Machina made their way to Entropis and found that the tower had been rebuilt since Pike and Keyleth destroyed it, and it was now held together by veins of green arcane energy. The war raged on in the city around them as Vox Machina ascended Entropis.

"Vecna, the Ascended" (1x114)

Vox Machina fought Vecna at the top of Entropis and he summoned Meteor Swarms, one of which crashed into Entropis itself, sundering it into pieces. During the fight, the undead titan swiped at the armies, leaving destruction in its wake, and Vecna rained down more meteors. As Scanlan read the Rites of Prime Banishment, the titan swung toward Entropis in a desperate attempt to stop the ritual, but failed. Vecna was banished and the titan ground to a halt above the city of Vasselheim.

Fan art of Vasselheim celebrating Vecna's defeat, by Kent Davis.

"The Chapter Closes" (1x115)

The magic holding Entropis together dissipated and the tower collapsed. The titan and Thar Amphala remain looming over the city, as a reminder of the losses and victories of the fight.

Trivia

• Thar Amphala is described not only as Vecna's seat of power, but also as his domain, and it seems to be an original term from Critical Role. Outside its canon, the equivalent of Thar Amphala would be Cavitius, a citadel ruled by the Whispered One that wasn't always in the Shadow Realm, but that according to past editions would end up there to act as Vecna's Domain of Dread.

References

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