The Hollow Threshold is one of several unstable portals created by the Cult of the Eclipse to connect the Material Plane to the Shadowfell. Each portal is anchored by a powerful artifact steeped in darkness, and maintained through fear, ritual magic, and the weakening of the Elven barrier.

🕳️ Description#

A desolate and warped location, where the natural world seems to fray at the edges. Light bends strangely, shadows stretch too far, and the very air feels hollow—as though something essential has been removed. This eerie terrain marks the boundary between planes.

🌑 Function#

The Threshold is both a gateway and a wound. Through it, the Cult draws shadowy creatures and siphons energy from the Shadowfell. The artifact anchoring it is usually hidden within a desecrated structure—such as a ruined temple or fallen shrine—and can only be destroyed through radiant or divine means.

🧿 Dangers#

  • Shadow-touched monsters spilling into the Material Plane
  • Cultists performing rituals to stabilize or expand the breach
  • Corruption of the land, weather, and even dreams near the site
  • Time and space may distort within the portal’s reach

đź”’ Closing the Portal#

To seal the Hollow Threshold, the party must:

  1. Locate and destroy the anchoring artifact (often through radiant magic or cleansing rituals)
  2. Survive an onslaught of creatures pouring through the breach
  3. Withstand the collapsing energies as the portal implodes

🧥 Story Hooks#

  • Vael, an agent of the Chained Library, may appear—offering cryptic insight or asking for Serenity’s orb.
  • The party may discover that multiple thresholds exist, and this is only the beginning of a larger planar unraveling.

Hollow Threshold Themes#

Skreek (Aarakocra Paladin) - Elemental Plane of Air#

  • Anchor: His stolen relic (as you mentioned)
  • Personal stakes: Recovering what was taken, proving his worth to his deity/order

Slumpet (Gnome Rogue) - Mechanus (Plane of Law)#

  • Anchor: A master thief’s precision tools or a perfect heist plan written on clockwork plates
  • Monsters: Modrons, inevitable constructs, gear-spirit swarms
  • Effects: Everything becomes unnaturally organized, locks seal themselves, time moves in rigid intervals
  • Personal stakes: His chaotic rogue nature clashes with oppressive order; maybe he once stole from a lawful organization

Toby (Half-Elf Blood Hunter) - The Beastlands#

  • Anchor: Corrupted hunter’s trophy, a were-creature’s heart, or blood-soaked tracking tools
  • Monsters: Dire beasts, lycanthropes, primal spirits, blood-maddened animals
  • Effects: Local wildlife becomes hyperaggressive, hunting instincts overwhelm reason, blood calls to blood
  • Personal stakes: His blood hunter training/curse resonates dangerously with the bestial energies

Shad (Half-Elf Bard) - Pandemonium (Plane of Madness)#

  • Anchor: A broken instrument that once drove audiences mad, or sheet music that writes itself
  • Monsters: Howlers, cacophony elementals, mad spirits, gibbering horrors
  • Effects: Sounds become distorted, people speak in tongues, music causes hallucinations
  • Personal stakes: His bardic magic risks being corrupted, or he feels drawn to the chaotic “inspiration”