Threshold crests are cerulean blue stones that allow a city to Plane Shift.[1]
Properties[]
Threshold crests are magical artifacts that operate in conjunction with others to transport everything within their triangulated area across planes.[2] They do not open portals or passages that people or objects can pass through, instead being ritually bound to a location and thus able to transport that location.[3]
History[]
The Nine Eyes of Lucien[]
During his research a mage of old discovered that, in the floating city of Aeor, a man called Fastidan, despite being at odds with members of the Convocation, managed to win their respect and receive funds over several years to finance his projects, which included excavating, polishing and constructing threshold crests. He used slaves for such tasks.[4]
Vox Machina Origins Series III[]
The dragon Skysunder traveled from Westruun to the Frostfell with a shard of a threshold crest she wore on her forehead. She used a pointed end of the shard to cut a portal between the planes, which remained open for only a few moments.[5] Vox Machina killed her in the Frostfell, and Vex'ahlia used it to return them to Exandria.[6] Eskil Ryndarien identified the shard as a piece of threshold crest and noted that it was drained of its magic.[7]
Campaign One: Vox Machina[]
In their pursuit of Riskel Daxio, Vox Machina entered a Clasp hideout and bargained for passage and access to Daxio with Spireling Warren using the threshold crest shard taken from Skysunder. Scanlan claimed that it would grant the Clasp a Wish, and while they saw through the deception, they also could tell that the shard still had magical potential and accepted the trade.[8]
Threshold crests were first mentioned by name when Vox Machina entered the city of Syngorn while it was within the Feywild. As they approached the sealed city gates in the outer wall, they noticed the threshold crests, which allow the city to travel between the Feywild and the Material Plane. Syngorn's crests are two feet across and deep cerulean in color, and each sits under a massive emblem of a crescent moon flanked by two trees.[9] Artagan (disguised as Garmelie) tasked Vox Machina to procure him a piece of a threshold crest as the price for his aid in escorting the party to the Shademurk Bog.[10] The party skirted this requirement by giving Artagan a piece of the threshold of their room from which Keyleth had used Stone Shape to cut out a crest.[11]
The party noticed another threshold crest within the city of Thar Amphala. It was a deep cerulean blue gemstone, about two feet across, embedded within the wall,[12] and was very similar in size, installation, and functional placement as the threshold crests adorning the exterior of Syngorn.[13]
Campaign Two: The Mighty Nein[]
While pursuing the Tombtakers across the island of Foren in Eiselcross, the Mighty Nein encountered an extremely large threshold crest within the Aeorian ruins referred to as "A5". The chamber it was found in was lit by bright blue light from the gem (roughly one-and-a-half to two feet wide) in the center of the ceiling thirty feet above.[14] Caleb detected a strong aspect of teleportation magic in the room, and the gem had a very strong aura of conjuration.[15] He was able to identify that the crystal was part of the largest threshold crest he'd ever seen, and that it would take multiple crests to Plane Shift a city.[16] The Tombtakers chiseled out the crystal and took it with them when they left.[17]
The Mighty Nein found another crest in the ruins of A2 and took it with them.[18][19] They later lost it when the Tombtakers stole their Bag of Holding, but in turn recovered the one the Tombtakers had previously found.[20] Essek Thelyss explained to the Mighty Nein that if the Tombtakers intended to use crests to transport the Cognouza from the Astral Sea back to the Prime Material Plane, they would have to use some other means of taking it there first.[21]
References[]
- ↑ See "The Feywild" (1x59) at 2:57:20.
- ↑ See "The Tortoise and The Dare" (2x117) at 1:08:16.
- ↑ See "A Walk to Warmer Welcomes" (2x124) at 3:06:19.
- ↑ Critical Role: The Mighty Nein - The Nine Eyes of Lucien, p. 119 and 120.
- ↑ See Vox Machina Origins Series III, Issue #3.
- ↑ See Vox Machina Origins Series III, Issue #4.
- ↑ See Vox Machina Origins Series III, Issue #5.
- ↑ See "A Musician's Nostalgia" (1x37) at 3:24:06.
- ↑ See "The Feywild" (1x59) at 2:56:13.
- ↑ See "Heredity and Hats" (1x60) at 1:10:39.
- ↑ See "Heredity and Hats" (1x60) at 2:11:05.
- ↑ See "Race to the Tower" (1x102) at 0:50:27.
- ↑ See "Race to the Tower" (1x102) at 0:51:55.
- ↑ See "The Tortoise and The Dare" (2x117) at 15:08.
- ↑ See "The Tortoise and The Dare" (2x117) at 36:05.
- ↑ See "The Tortoise and The Dare" (2x117) at 1:03:42.
- ↑ See "The Tortoise and The Dare" (2x117) at 42:18.
- ↑ See "Malice and Mystery Below" (2x119) at 3:25:51.
- ↑ See "Contentious Company" (2x120) at 1:22:24.
- ↑ See "A Walk to Warmer Welcomes" (2x124) at 0:09:54. Matt confirms in his summary that a threshold crest was within the Bag of Holding the party recovered from the Tombtakers.
- ↑ See "A Walk to Warmer Welcomes" (2x124) at 3:06:19.
Art:
- ↑ Symbol of the Wardens of Syngorn, featured on the Syngorn threshold crests from Critical Role: Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting, p. 39. 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.
- ↑ Skysunder using the threshold crest shard, by Olivia Samson from Vox Machina Origins III #3. Used with permission.