Emberhold

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. Now the fortress is ruled by King Thangrul II.

Landscape
Emberhold resides 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 maintains quite an unwelcoming atmosphere around the Emberhold fortress.

Architecture
There are about twenty to twenty five buildings alternated 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, right outside the walls of the stronghold are two streams of molten lava which pour down from the stream 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 group of duergar patrol the landscape surrounding their city.

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

History
K'Varns first conquest after entering the Material Plane was capturing 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 his wife, Queen Ulara their power within Emberhold as his representatives.

Once K'Varn had control over both duergar and illithid, he began to plan for an invasion on the surface world. He had the duergar from Emberhold build up their armies and travel to a cave system higher up and 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.

Vox Machina in Emberhold
Arc 1: Kraghammer and Vasselheim

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While Vox Machina attempted to open the trap door on the side of the fortress, Scanlan used his dimension door to teleport him and Pike up to the roof and knock the duergar sentries off of the roof. However, during the surprise attack the group alerted the whole of Emberhold to their presence. The group 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.

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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 Underdark deity worshiped by dark dwarves. King Murghol and queen Ulara saw 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 flow down upon Vox Machina. Then she was 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.

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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.

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.