Black Fang Mountain

When the Bats claimed Black Mountain as their HQ, they transformed its interior into a proper castle and city, nearly hollowing out the large landmass. Though Black Fang Mountain was the main HQ of the Bat Tribe (and one of the two main bases for the Crawler Empire, alongside Scorpion Cavern Castle) for tactical purposes, King Bliston stressed to his people that it would only be a temporary home for the tribe, until they conquered enough territory in the inland to move out of the barely-hospitable Outlands. This plan was eventually partially changed; after the unexpected fall of Black Fang Mountain at the hands of the Ice Hunters, the Bat Tribe migrated to New Bat Island, to combat a possible invasion from the Manta Ray Empire.

After Black Fang Mountain was frozen by the Icebears, it was claimed as a major southern stronghold by their allies the Sabertooth Tigers, who used it to store all their frozen prisoners from the Crocodile and Gorilla tribes (with the exception of Crogar). However, it was eventually claimed by Unichi during their massive Outlands campaign, driving out all Ice Hunter presence from the mountain. The Bats, meanwhile, ironically had no interest in their liberated former HQ, considering New Bat Island and Balthazar City to be a superior living space.

## History

### Imperial Era

When the Bats, Scorpions, and Spiders left The Gorge of Eternal Depth through the tunnels Bliston had found, and divided by species into tribes, the Bats conquered the third of the Outlands where Black Mountain was located. They turned it into Black Fang Mountain, which they used as their HQ during the Bat—Raven War and the Chima Alliance—Crawler Empire War. Though the HQ of Bat Tribe's ally, the Scorpion Tribe, was infiltrated and destabilized by splinter factions such as The Forgotten and The Combine, Black Fang Mountain had much tighter security, partially due to not being connected to any other tunnels in the Outlands. Indeed, the only time Black Fang Mountain itself was successfully infiltrated by spies, was when the bats Bratta and Bachell were brainwashed from the outside by Forgotten founder Scrin and instated as sleeper agents. They were both discovered and cured of his mind-controlling venom between the events of the Bat—Raven War and the Chima Alliance—Crawler Empire War. Bachell, Bratta, and the latter's boyfriend Barney Balhoun all eventually joined the Forgotten of their own accord, though this was after Bachell and Barney had left the HQ (and Bratta was discovered and imprisoned by Balthazar immediately after she decided to join the Forgotten), and Black Fang Mountain remained secure from internal threats.

#### Battles of Black Fang Mountain

In the later days of the Chima Alliance—Crawler Empire War, after Gorilla President Gorbav captured King Bliston, the Gorillas shot Black Fang Mountain with the Schrewerer Gustav. A part of the mountain close to the summit sustained heavy damage, but the rubble was cleared and the turrets on that part of the mountain were rebuilt. After that, the majority of the Bat Army, having claimed and secured significant territory in the west, returned to Black Fang Mountain to defend their HQ. Relatively soon afterward, Bliston was rescued from the Gorillas by Scorponok, and returned to Black Fang Mountain, at the same time that the Gorilla Army blockaded it from the Outland Mountains. Bliston refused to sign the gorilla's treaty, believing that he'd be betrayed again, and the Bat Army put up a fight against the invading Gorillas, until the Gorillas returned to Gorilla HQ due to Gorbav's sudden death by a stroke.

### Ice Hunter Era

Immediately after the Gorillas left the Outlands, Bliston received warnings from both Badrar and Leopard messengers about the Ice Hunters who had just entered the south. However, both warnings came too late; Black Fang Mountain was attacked and frozen by the Icebears before the Bats could evacuate. Bliston and most of the present Bats were subsequently frozen as well, and imprisoned in Icestrike's Ultimate Glacier. The Icebears had no intention of claiming the Bat headquarters for themselves; the purpose of freezing the mountain was to fulfill the Prophecy of Black Mountain (see the Black Mountain page), so that the Ice Hunters could attack the Valley of Balance; thus, the Icebears left the frozen mountain behind as they went northwest. This is considered the end of the location's involvement in the Crawler—Ice Hunter War.

#### Fire—Ice Wars

Later, the Sabertooth Tigers claimed Black Fang Mountain as a southern headquarters, storing their own frozen prisoners from Gorilla HQ (and later, the Crocodile Swamp) there. Interestingly, despite high-profile Gorilla Republic leaders such as President Gorvan being kept in Black Fang Mountain, the Sabertooths transferred Croc King Crogar north, to one of their outposts in the Arctic. After obtaining fire chi from the Phoenix and co-founding the Unichi alliance with the Wolves and Republic of the Claw, the Gorillas launched a massive assault on Black Fang Mountain and the Outlands in general. After driving out the Sabertooths and finally thawing out both the HQ and the prisoners within, Unichi claimed Black Fang Mountain as a shared secondary headquarters, from which they currently utilize the Bats' vehicle factories and other utilities for their campaigns against the Hunters.

## Description

(In the words of the Bats.)

"The Black Fang Mountain is where the mighty and mysterious Bat Tribe resides. We are the very first mammal, non-bird tribe to be able to fly, so we carved an opening into the cave at the top of the mountain, just below the summit. The entire outside of the mountain is black, and the entrance to the cave is shaped like the wide open mouth of a bat, with four huge black fangs (hence the name Black Fang Mountain); two on the top, and two smaller ones on the bottom. There are two piercing eyes carved above the mouth, glowing green. To get inside the HQ, one must either be able to fly, be a very skilled mountain climber, or use a flying vehicle. The entrance is small enough that one must walk or fly between the fangs to go inside the cave.

Inside the top of the mountain, just behind the entrance but heavily guarded, is a throne room where the King sits on a tall, black seat. From his seat, the King can see out the entrance, having a view of the entire Outlands, and a partial view of Chima (the Black Fang Mountain is the tallest and biggest mountain in the Outlands). Just in front of the throne is the place someone would stand to meet the King. If the King doesn't like what the visitor is saying, he will press a button on his throne, opening a trapdoor beneath the feet of the visitor, causing said visitor to fall deep down inside the mountain. The visitor would fall down a deep, smooth hole before finally landing at the bottom (inside the bottom of the mountain) where there is a perilous, round set of black and purple spikes jutting upward in a curved formation.

However, in the King's throne room, there are many holes in the walls. These are the entrances to tunnels, where Bats can fly into to travel through the hollowed-out interior of the mountain. There is a multi-leveled hive of tunnels and rooms built into the mountain, serving as homes for the Bats, eating areas, vehicle garages, factories, shops, and military training caves. Outside, Black Fang Mountain has turrets attached to it all around the exterior. In the middle of the mountain, at the front below the cave entrance, is a mechanism that opens a giant obsidian door built into the mountain, allowing the united black cloud of the Bat Tribe to swarm out of the mountain."

## Trivia

* The mental asylum cave of Black Fang Mountain had its name censored to "mental hospital cave" within the Roleplay. "Mental asylum cave" is its canon name, however.
* There was a brief controversy on the Black Fang Mountain topic during Icestrike's attack, due to other roleplayers trying to capture Bliston despite him already having been frozen and imprisoned by the Ice Hunters (who the non-Fire Tribes had no way of effectively fighting at the time). The posts conflicting with Bliston's already established imprisonment were eventually retconned as a result.
* Though JGREAD had planned to use Black Fang Mountain only up until the Icebears' invasion, and then for one other event afterward, it ended up becoming an iconic and popular location in the RP, used by multiple factions (and currently still in use) despite no longer being the Bat HQ.
* The other use JGREAD planned for Black Fang Mountain was for it to be shifted back to its original geographical location in the Outland Mountains during the Great Illumination. The plan was for the mountain to smash through Corvidholme on its way there, with Bliston warning Father Grigori in advance and helping to evacuate anyone still living in the town. Since the Great Illumination still has yet to happen in the RP, it is unknown whether this proposed event will come to pass.