Ember roc

Official art of an ember roc, by Elisa Serio from *Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn* pg. 238.

## Biological Information

### **Abilities**

* Inferno
* Searing Presence

## Sociocultural Information

### **Planes**

* Elemental Plane of Fire
* Material Plane (Exandria)

### **Locations**

* City of Brass
* Cliffkeep Mountains
* Hellcatch Valley

An **ember roc** is a variant of the standard roc created by Matthew Mercer. They appear near rifts to the Fire Plane, where they hunt and feed on different elemental creatures until they manifest igneous abilities themselves.

## **Description**

Rocs avoid humanoid settlements and hunt monstrous creatures, sometimes accidentally assisting the Ashari tribes who entice them to devour creatures attempting to escape into the Material Plane. After years of feeding on fire elementals, salamanders, fire giants, a roc is imbued with primordial power, flames erupting from every feather to transform it into the ember roc.

A flammable oil flows ember roc's body burning like a napalm. Roughly a gallon of oil is worth about 750 gold.

### **Abilities**

Due to their fiery nature, ember rocs are immune to fire damage. They also have multiattack action — one bite and two claw attacks and the keen sight of their distant ancestors.

* **Searing Presence**: Just being close to the ember roc causes fire damage to all creatures within 5 feet of them, also emitting bright light in a 40-foot radius and dim light for an additional 40 feet.
* **Inferno**(recharge 5–6): In addition, they have a rechargeable ability to heavily burn nearby enemies in certain radius and push them back.

## **History**

### ***Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn***

A legendary stormborn goliath, Kaldon Thunderhead, managed to kill "the ember roc of the south".

### **Campaign One: Vox Machina**

Vex noticed one flying above the City of Brass.
Shortly after, Vox Machina fought an ember roc during the battle at Fort Daxio, where it was utilized as a mount by the fire giant general Ordis. After its master dismounted, the ember roc actively joined the battle but was collectively struck down by Pike and Grog.

### **Campaign Three: Bells Hells**

In 843 PD, while Bells Hells were traveling to the Tishtan excavation site in Marquet, their skyship the *Silver Sun* was surprised by a dust storm. In the middle of it, an ember roc started chasing them. The adventurers attacked the creature a few times, but it seemed determined to pursue their skyship, so when it was close enough, Fearne Calloway cast *Polymorph*, turning the gargantuan bird into a goldfish so small that it was blown away by the strong winds.

After the apogee solstice, when an international alliance was working against the Ruby Vanguard near the Red Center, Arcanist Allura Vysoren and Mythtaker Qi Mandozi combined their magic with one of Percival de Rolo's inventions to create a distraction: several rhinoceros and ember rocs attacking the excavation site, coordinated with other spells in a way that would allow them to actually feel real, and to react if they were hit (having Percy's device as the physical body to receive hits).

## **Trivia**

* As of 836 PD the Grey Hunt does consider potential new members, and its leader, Lady Vex'ahlia de Rolo, usually gives them tasks to prove themselves, like hunting an ember roc in less than three months.

## **References**

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 See *Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn*, p. 238.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 See *Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn*, p. 80.
3. ↑ See "The Aurora Grows" (3x49) at 4:16:19.
4. ↑ See "Clash at Daxio" (1x77) at 3:06:23.
5. ↑ See "Clash at Daxio" (1x77) at 2:13:09.
6. ↑ See "Clash at Daxio" (1x77) at 2:12:11.
7. ↑ See "Clash at Daxio" (1x77) at 1:41:00.
8. ↑ See "Clash at Daxio" (1x77) at 1:41:32.
9. ↑ See *Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn*, p. 253.
10. ↑ See "Path of Brass" (1x74) at 2:58:37.
11. ↑ See "Clash at Daxio" (1x77) at 1:10:45.
12. ↑ Grog's "How do you want to do this?" on the ember roc involved swinging Pike as a weapon.  See "Clash at Daxio" (1x77) at 2:42:07.
13. ↑ See "The Aurora Grows" (3x49) from 4:16:19 through 4:25:00.
14. ↑ See "The Eve of the Red Moon" (3x81) at 3:32:34.

**Art:**

1. ↑ Official art of an ember roc, by Elisa Serio from *Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn* pg. 238. 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.
2. ↑ Fan art of an ember roc fighting Vox Machina, by Thomas Brin (source). Used with permission.