Description
When Vox Machina ventured to the Core Anvil in 812 PD, there were runes on what appeared to be an exit seal, saying, "Here the Crafter's Halls lay dark, the means of making the World Ender gone. All-Hammer protect us all." Beyond the seal was a stairway that led downward into darkness, and they could hear undulating, reverberating pounding of some distant piece of machinery.
Down the stairs, there was some breathable air, as well as walls carved with what appeared to be metal reliefs of armored warriors. They emerged into a massive hexagonal chamber. In the floor was a pit of heated coals, and on the wall was a solid gold relief with a large, triangular opening in its center. To either side were large metal warrior reliefs, similar to the ones in the hallway, with a third on another wall. Behind the staircase that led into the room was a smelter.
Filling the gold opening with smelted gold opened the door to a room filled with black smoke, with two pools of lava in the floor. The ceiling of the chamber was about 50 feet up and was blackened by soot. On the far side was a sparking engine, the source of the mechanical pounding noise audible from the stairs. In the middle of the room was a raised platform holding a massive, always-hot, jet-black anvil with small veins of glowing orange and red: the Core Anvil of the All-Hammer. The anvil had chains dangling off each side; there was a wide variety of tools chained to the side of the anvil, including a very well-made black metal hammer with gold inlay and scrolling. Looming over the anvil was a forge guardian.
The Founding
The Core Anvil is where the All-Hammer formed the first dwarves and many artifacts of the Founding. The All-Hammer created forge guardians to protect the divine furnaces like this one.
The Calamity
The All-Hammer used the Core Anvil to craft the Prime Trammels for the Rites of Prime Banishment to banish the Chained Oblivion.
Campaign One: Vox Machina
When Vox Machina sought help from the gods to combat Vecna, the goddess Ioun taught them the secret of how to craft more Prime Trammels and showed them the location of the Core Anvil. They teleported to Shorecomb, a coastal town five miles from Scaldseat, sailed out, and dove to reach the hot tunnels beneath. They eventually reached the Core Anvil. Scanlan, in his planetar form, found the runes on what appeared to be an exit seal, and Grog used his Titanstone Knuckles to rip open the seal. The party encountered ancient constructs, defeated the Forge Guardian, and crafted the Prime Trammels that they soon used to banish Vecna.
Artwork
