Gatshadow
The mighty mountain known as Gatshadow is a
spire of death that looms over the Dividing Plains .
Westruun sees it always upon the horizon, and the
most vicious monsters of the Bramblewood grow
cruel in its fell shadow. Folkloric tales about the evil
powers within Gatshadow are told in all cultures of
the Dividing Plains: stories of giant spiders in the
forest, of beings of pure shadow that dwell within the
mountain’s tunnels, and of the tunnels themselves,
which are so labyrinthine and shifting that no one
who enters will ever escape. These days, most of
these stories are told to keep children from wandering into the forest alone—but they are far from simply
children’s tales.
Gatshadow was transformed into a place of evil in the Age of Arcanum. Acek Orattim, a priest of the Betrayer God known as the Chained Oblivion, made the mountain his seat of power. The Oblivion’s inexorable might corrupted the mountain, stretching its stone-like putty until it was a jagged needle that towered over all other mountains, and etching a mind-bending labyrinth of twisting passages into the mountain’s heart.
Acek spread the Oblivion’s nihilistic despair across the Cliffkeep Mountains and the Dividing Plains below. All bowed before their influence their minds lost to unfathomable contemplation of the end of all things. Untold thousands died at the hands of Acek and his god, willingly entering Gatshadow—which then became their tomb.
The bitter cold of oblivion threatened to consume the land, but it was repulsed by the Dawnfather and his warriors of light. The Dawnfather struck a telling blow against the Oblivion, and doggedly pursued as it retreated to Gathsadow. He shackled and banished the god of the end within Gatshadow’s depths. It was said that Acek’s mind and spirit were so saturated with his master’s essence that the god’s banishment tore his body asunder. Today, only the empty maze of deadly chambers and traps remain beneath the mountain, forgotten and awaiting discovery.
The high bluffs of Gatshadow have in recent years been the home of many a villain, most recently Umbrasyl the Hope Devourer, the black dragon of the Chroma Conclave. Legend says that Gatshadow’s interior tunnels spiral infinitely downwards, into a void of utter darkness. Immortal, white-eyed devotees of the Oblivion pace endlessly into Gatshadow’s tunnels, carrying lightless torches, whispering that the secret to freeing their god from the Divine Gate is sealed in the depths below. The stone doors that bar entrance to Gatshadow’s lowest reaches are sealed by magic so great, even the most inquisitive of the Arcana Pansophical can’t breach them—and it is well that they cannot, for who knows what terror would be unleashed if they were opened.
Gatshadow was transformed into a place of evil in the Age of Arcanum. Acek Orattim, a priest of the Betrayer God known as the Chained Oblivion, made the mountain his seat of power. The Oblivion’s inexorable might corrupted the mountain, stretching its stone-like putty until it was a jagged needle that towered over all other mountains, and etching a mind-bending labyrinth of twisting passages into the mountain’s heart.
Acek spread the Oblivion’s nihilistic despair across the Cliffkeep Mountains and the Dividing Plains below. All bowed before their influence their minds lost to unfathomable contemplation of the end of all things. Untold thousands died at the hands of Acek and his god, willingly entering Gatshadow—which then became their tomb.
The bitter cold of oblivion threatened to consume the land, but it was repulsed by the Dawnfather and his warriors of light. The Dawnfather struck a telling blow against the Oblivion, and doggedly pursued as it retreated to Gathsadow. He shackled and banished the god of the end within Gatshadow’s depths. It was said that Acek’s mind and spirit were so saturated with his master’s essence that the god’s banishment tore his body asunder. Today, only the empty maze of deadly chambers and traps remain beneath the mountain, forgotten and awaiting discovery.
The high bluffs of Gatshadow have in recent years been the home of many a villain, most recently Umbrasyl the Hope Devourer, the black dragon of the Chroma Conclave. Legend says that Gatshadow’s interior tunnels spiral infinitely downwards, into a void of utter darkness. Immortal, white-eyed devotees of the Oblivion pace endlessly into Gatshadow’s tunnels, carrying lightless torches, whispering that the secret to freeing their god from the Divine Gate is sealed in the depths below. The stone doors that bar entrance to Gatshadow’s lowest reaches are sealed by magic so great, even the most inquisitive of the Arcana Pansophical can’t breach them—and it is well that they cannot, for who knows what terror would be unleashed if they were opened.
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