Emberhold

Fan art of the Emberhold, by Son of Joxer.

**The Emberhold** is a duergar stronghold within the Underdark. It has been conquered in the past by the beholder, K'Varn, then destroyed by lava flow following the death of King Murghol. Currently the fortress is ruled by King Thangrul II.

## **Description**

The Emberhold lies in a cavern about a mile and a half in length, which appears to have been created by seismic activity. Towards the back, the cavern feeds into a naturally downward curving tunnel. It is lit by a few dozen lava falls that pour down the sides of the cavern. There are also small pockets of candlerock throughout the cavern that provide some light. Despite this, the cavern is still very dark.

There are hundreds of stalagmites hanging from the ceiling and black obsidian spikes like stalagmites rising from the ground, which maintain an unwelcoming atmosphere around the Emberhold fortress.

### **Architecture**

There are about twenty to twenty five buildings alternating with seven black obsidian spires that act as watchtowers. They are smooth, with rigid design, and have jagged lips on the outside for each level of the towers. The spires themselves are outfitted with ballista and heavily manned.

In the center of the city is a gargantuan, ebony fortress, which is built against one of the walls of the cavern. The top of the walls are marked with serrated stonework. There is a massive magma fall that descends from a hole in the ceiling which pours down onto the roof of the fortress. This magma is then forked by channels in the stonework to flow down each side, buttressing the fortress as an additional defense mechanism. Over time, stone has been replaced in sections where the lava has worn away the rock.

On the left side of the fortress just outside the walls of the stronghold are two streams of molten lava which pour down over the fortress and cavern wall, which is diverted down the tunnel. Underneath the smaller of those two streams is a secret door meant to open from the inside, presumably as a means of escape for soldiers and royalty.

### **Defenses**

The landscape is very open, making it easy for the duergar within the city to notice invaders. Large groups of duergar patrol the landscape surrounding their city.

Some of the obsidian spires, as well as the main building, are armed with ballistae for additional protection of the city. The duergar of Emberhold also train basilisks for defense. The area around the fortress holds occasional statues of beings that in the past got too close and were petrified by a basilisk's stare.

## **History**

K'Varn's first conquest after entering the Material Plane was capturing the Emberhold. Whether he did this by persuading a large population of duergar to his side or through his mind controlling abilities is unknown, but war broke out within the stronghold.

Later, a group of duergar managed to capture an illithid that had come too close to the stronghold. After K'Varn interrogated the creature, he sent a large army down into Yug'Voril, the illithid's home. Using the army as a distraction, he was able to infiltrate the temple within the city and gain control over the elder brain. More than likely after this point he either placed or returned King Murghol and Queen Ulara's power within the Emberhold as his representatives.

Once K'Varn had control over both duergar and illithid, he began to plan for an invasion of the surface world. He had the duergar from Emberhold build up their armies and travel to a cave system higher up to begin construction of a war camp in preparation for a full scale attack.

Prior to Vox Machina journeying to Emberhold, one of K'Varn's creations had been terrorizing the duergar, brutally slaughtering entire patrols outside of the stronghold. Whether he did this intentionally to scare the duergar into submission or by accident is unknown. The creature would later be killed by Vox Machina while traveling through the fields of glass and bone deeper in the Underdark.

### **Arc 1: Kraghammer and Vasselheim**

#### **"Breaching the Emberhold" (1x06)**

While Vox Machina attempted to open the trap door on the side of the fortress, Scanlan used his *Dimension Door* to teleport himself and Pike to the roof to knock the duergar sentries off. However, during the surprise attack the group alerted the whole of Emberhold to their presence. Vox Machina nonetheless managed to open the trap door and made their way through the lower floors of the stronghold until they broke into the dungeons. During this time they found and rescued Lady Kima.

#### **"The Throne Room" (1x07)**

Proceeding through the Emberhold to break the backbone of the duergar assault on the surface, the group eventually made their way to the throne room. Tiberius tried to trick the duergars by changing his appearance into Laduguer, an Underdark deity worshiped by dark dwarves. King Murghol and Queen Ulara saw through the deception, so Vox Machina had to attack earlier than was planned.

During the fight, both Tiberius and Kima were turned to stone by the basilisk; Ulara breached the ceiling, causing lava to flow down upon Vox Machina. She was then able to gain control over Grog and teleport away from the fight. In the end, Scanlan eventually managed to decapitate Murghol and escape with the rest of the party.

#### **"Glass and Bone" (1x08)**

Vox Machina was able to escape the Emberhold overflowing with lava. Many duergar were burned alive inside the fortress, and many others were forced to evacuate the Emberhold and fall back to the buildings and plains around the city. Vox Machina pursued Ulara deeper into the Underdark in an attempt to rescue Grog.

### **Aftermath**

In the aftermath of this chaos, Murghol and Ulara's daughter (only six years old at the time) and heir disappeared. In her absence, the war-duke Thangrul became king.

## **Notable Duergar**

* **King Murghol**: King of Emberhold and a formidable fighter, he was decapitated by Scanlan in combat.
* **Queen Ulara**: Queen of Emberhold and a magic user, she was psychically killed by K'Varn.
* **King Thangrul II**: Ex war-duke within the Emberhold. Successor after King Murghol.
* **Murghol and Ulara's daughter**: Disappeared after Vox Machina's attack.

## **References**

1. ↑ See "Breaching the Emberhold" (1x06) at 0:33:37.
2. ↑ See "Breaching the Emberhold" (1x06) at 39:22.
3. ↑ See "Breaching the Emberhold" (1x06) at 0:34:48.
4. ↑ See "Breaching the Emberhold" (1x06) at 35:19.
5. ↑ See "Breaching the Emberhold" (1x06) from 33:46 through 36:54.
6. ↑ Clarota described K'Varn's takeover of the Emberhold.  See "Attack on the Duergar Warcamp" (1x04) from 29:59 through 32:47.
7. ↑ See *Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn*, p. 101. The adventure hook *The Lost Heir* is built around this incident.

**Art:**

1. ↑ Fan art of the Emberhold, by Son of Joxer (source). Used with permission.
2. ↑ Fan art of the Emberhold, by Crann (source). Used with permission.