Thordak

Thordak, self-titled "The Cinder King", is an ancient red dragon, even larger than most other ancient dragons. He and Raishan made the deal to form the Chroma Conclave. With time, Thordak went mad, presumably due to the heart crystal (used to bind him to the Elemental Plane of Fire) that was embedded in his chest. Thordak was the dragon who killed Elaina, Vax'ildan and Vex'ahlia's mother.

As an NPC in Critical Role, Thordak is played by Matthew Mercer. In The Legend of Vox Machina, Thordak is voiced by Lance Reddick.

Appearance
Vox Machina first saw Thordak in the Elemental Plane of Fire. At that time, Thordak had the standard appearance of a red dragon, albeit a particularly massive one. When Thordak attacked Emon, Gilmore noticed that, instead of the uniform scales of a dragon, Thordak had a heart crystal in his chest: a jagged red stone that pulsed with power.

Background
Long ago, before maturing into an ancient dragon, Thordak ruled over half of Marquet from his lair in the Scaldwind Sands. His followers, made up of feral kobolds and "serpentine" beings, attacked the city of Ank'Harel less than two centuries after its founding, but after a two-week battle, his armies were defeated and Thordak was wounded. He fled north over the Lucidian Ocean, but was struck down and fell into the sea. He was presumed to have died shortly thereafter from his wounds.

Thordak was not seen again for centuries, until about 794 or 795 PD, though there had long been rumors of a draconic creature that attacked various ships and coasts. It was later revealed that Thordak, nearly dead from his fight with Devo'ssa, had landed on the Island of Viscan, and was captured by the necromancer Opash who experimented on him in his laboratory. These experiments, which involved research into immortality, made Thordak more powerful, and eventually he destroyed the necromancer. Thordak began to make his own additions to Opash's notes, growing interested in Opash's research into Guuthal the Ever-Fed, an ancient black dragon who evaded death by becoming a dracolich. Thordak's final notes indicated that he intended to leave the island and find a new mage to complete the dracolich ritual. He reappeared, now calling himself the Cinder King, in the Mornset Countryside, and attacked it.

The reports of these attacks, and the unprecedentedly massive dragon, reached the government of Tal'Dorei. At the time, Lady Allura was not yet a member of the Council of Tal'Dorei, but was an adventurer, in a party with Kima and Drake Thunderbrand, among others. Allura's party traveled to investigate, and found that the entire region around the Gladepools, including Byroden, had been destroyed in the attacks that had also killed Vax'ildan and Vex'ahlia's mother, Elaina. Allura's party, helped by a small group of mercenaries, were able to push Thordak back to his lair in the Stormcrest Mountains, where he had amassed a number of lizardfolk followers. However, the party and the mercenaries were unable to defeat Thordak, and retreated after many among them had died.

Knowing they could not kill Thordak, Allura called upon the Arcana Pansophical, who developed an arcane trap to permanently seal Thordak within the Elemental Plane of Fire. They bound Thordak's essence to the "Fountains of Creation", using an artifact called a "soul anchor" which they made from the massive ruby heart crystal of a primordial fire titan. This soul anchor could not be removed from the Elemental Plane of Fire, and Thordak could not escape without the anchor. While the process was successful, many lives were lost, including three of Allura's companions: Sirus, Dohla, and Ghenn. The soul anchor mutated his body and mind and allowed him to reproduce asexually.

During his imprisonment in the Elemental Plane of Fire, Thordak was approached by Raishan. The ancient green dragon had been cursed by a druid and was slowly dying of a horrific disease. Thordak claimed to know of a cure (while in reality he knew a way for her to avoid the disease killing her, by becoming a dracolich like Guuthal the Ever-Fed), but refused to share this knowledge with her until she found a way to release him. Raishan proposed a conclave of powerful dragons to aid them and left to prepare - forming the Chroma Conclave.

Raishan's initial plan, after infiltrating the Fire Ashari, was to release Thordak during the celestial solstice. However, the power he was drawing from the heart crystal was making Thordak insane and increasingly powerful. Fearing Thordak would forget their deal in his madness should she wait any longer, Raishan instead initiated the plan during the Winter's Crest Festival, and corrupted the crystal so that Thordak could escape.

Escape and invasion
Vox Machina saw Thordak in the Elemental Plane of Fire during Keyleth's Aramente trial with the Fire Ashari. Thordak later escaped to the Material Plane after those events, helped by Raishan, who had disguised herself as a young girl and been adopted by the Fire Ashari.

Thordak led the Chroma Conclave on an assault against Emon, Westruun and (presumably) other parts of Tal'Dorei. In the aftermath, he asexually produced eggs of several primordial dragons and kept them in his crater in the center of Emon. He gathered his followers, the Scions of Flame, which he had previously ruled in the Ashen Gorge, and moved them to Emon, where they patrolled the streets on the backs of wyverns. Raiders who submitted to the dragon looted the city and brought their spoils back to Thordak, who had taken residence in the ruins of the Palace of the Sovereign. The red dragon's presence within the city opened portals to the Plane of Fire, allowing fire giants loyal to Thordak, as well as rampaging elementals, to enter the city.

Immediately following the attacks, Allura and Keyleth revealed through a Scrying ritual that Thordak had returned to the Material Plane through Pyrah, devastating the area and killing many Fire Ashari druids as he did.

Siege of Emon
As Vox Machina and their allies entered the ruined Cloudtop District of Emon, Thordak sensed their presence and emerged from his burrow. Thordak attacked Vox Machina and a grueling battle ensued. During the battle, Raishan revealed herself and turned on Thordak, joining the assault against him. After several attacks, the scales on Thordak's chest were chipped away, revealing the crystal within. The Vestiges of Divergence wielded by Vox Machina and the last hit being an arrow of dragon slaying loosed by Vex'ahlia cracked and shattered the crystal, causing Thordak to shrink down to Raishan's gargantuan size. Realizing the danger he was in, Thordak turned and dove down into his burrow. However, Vax'ildan swiftly chased the dragon into the hole and dealt the killing blow with Whisper.

In the aftermath, Raishan took Thordak's corpse and his spawn with her to Viscan as she escaped from the red dragon's lair.

Relationships
Thordak, mostly guided by Raishan, established a loose alliance of dragons known as the Chroma Conclave, which also included:
 * Brimscythe
 * Umbrasyl
 * Vorugal

Notable items

 * Soul anchor
 * Deck of Many Things
 * Immovable rod
 * Carpet of Flying
 * Dwarven Thrower
 * Boots of Elvenkind

Abilities
Along with the usual ancient red dragon abilities described in the Monster Manual, 5th Edition, Thordak had:
 * Innate Spellcasting: Thaumaturgy
 * Soul anchor, while intact, enhanced Thordak's abilities depriving him of his sanity
 * Stretched from gargantuan to colossal form, giving him extra +1 to AC (23 from 22)
 * Extra 1000 HP
 * Additional multiattack (4-pronged from 3-pronged multiattack)
 * Mild regeneration
 * If a character started within 10 ft, they received fire damage.
 * +12 Strength saving throw

Appearances and mentions

 * Campaign 1
 * Exandria Unlimited
 * The Legend of Vox Machina
 * Exandria Unlimited
 * The Legend of Vox Machina
 * Exandria Unlimited
 * The Legend of Vox Machina
 * Exandria Unlimited
 * The Legend of Vox Machina
 * Exandria Unlimited
 * The Legend of Vox Machina
 * Exandria Unlimited
 * The Legend of Vox Machina
 * Exandria Unlimited
 * The Legend of Vox Machina
 * Exandria Unlimited
 * The Legend of Vox Machina
 * Exandria Unlimited
 * The Legend of Vox Machina
 * Exandria Unlimited
 * The Legend of Vox Machina
 * Exandria Unlimited
 * The Legend of Vox Machina
 * Exandria Unlimited
 * The Legend of Vox Machina
 * Exandria Unlimited
 * The Legend of Vox Machina
 * Exandria Unlimited
 * The Legend of Vox Machina
 * The Legend of Vox Machina
 * The Legend of Vox Machina
 * The Legend of Vox Machina

Behind the scenes
Matthew Mercer revealed during that both Thordak and Brimscythe wanted Emon for themselves. Thordak had originally planned to kill Brimscythe quietly, without the other Conclave members knowing. However, Brimscythe was instead slain by Vox Machina (who would later slay Thordak during the liberation of Emon), leaving Thordak's claim to Emon uncontested.

Had Vox Machina permitted Raishan her time with Thordak's corpse, she would have cast an ancient variant of Speak with Dead, extracting the location of Opash's lair and the secret to her getting rid of the soul curse/disease. He had told her about it in battle and said that he could help her, and that it was part of his plan to become a dracolich. When Vox Machina interrupted the ritual, she sealed them off with a Wall of Force to buy enough time to finish the ritual and get enough information to teleport to the Island of Viscan, where she then got the rest of the information she needed.

Trivia

 * One of the Quon a Drensal racing lizards in the Luck's Run casino is named after Thordak.
 * In the Critical Role Major Arcana Tarot Card Set, he represents "XIII - Death".

In popular culture

 * In a video essay on transphobia and social media, Ash Hardell referred to a reptilian avatar as Thordak, alongside references to famous dragons from other popular franchises (Smaug, Charizard, Spyro, Toothless, and Mushu).