The Gap

The Gap is an enormous passage through the Greypeak Mountains, extending roughly 100 miles through the mountain range. In the Age of Wonders it was known as the Gap of Otheron, named for the event that created it. In a much later era it became known as Oath's Gap, with the original history of its creation largely forgotten.

Creation

The Gap was created during an early confrontation between Magerris and Correries, when both were still mortal.

Magerris was carrying the White Gift when Correries defeated him, knocking him unconscious. Otheron, one of the Heroes of Aegea, picked up the loose Gift. Not understanding the power he was holding, Otheron unleashed a blast at Correries. Correries dodged the attack, but the blast tore a massive trench through the mountains, creating the feature that became known as the Gap of Otheron.

This event involved only the White Gift. Later accounts that associate the creation of the Gap with the Red or Blue Gifts are incorrect and should not be treated as part of its history.

The Gap in the Under the Bus Era

By the time of Under the Bus, the Gap was already an immense passage through the mountains. It was a major strategic location, in part because the Tower of Plinth stood at its upper end.

The Tower served as a stronghold of the Chosen and gave whoever controlled the Gap a commanding position over the passage. A lift system connected the depths of the Gap with the upper portions near the Tower. The lift was operated by gnomes and provided an important means of moving people and supplies through the enormous vertical distance.

The Gap itself was sufficiently large that ordinary travel through it took approximately three days. Some portions contained plunges of roughly 10,000 feet, emphasizing the enormous scale of the formation.

The Gap became closely associated with the history of the Chosen. The party encountered Effron and the Chosen there, and later events in the Gap included the attack in which wolves and werewolves came up from its depths. Effron and many of the Chosen were killed during that attack. Afterward, when the lift became unusable, the party descended into the Gap using rings of Feather Fall.

Development Over the Following Millennia

The Gap continued to serve as a major route through the Greypeak Mountains for thousands of years after the Under the Bus era.

Over time, travelers and inhabitants made use of the enormous walls and surrounding mountains. Tunnels and chambers were cut into the sides of the Gap, including passages extending toward the mountain peaks. Some sections were used as shelters or camps so that travelers could stop without obstructing the main passage.

Its importance as a transportation route also made the Gap strategically and economically valuable. Various rulers and lords attempted to control it in order to regulate the trade passing through the mountains. By the time of the kingdom of Spanier, the Gap was actively patrolled and tolls were collected from travelers. Spanier's patrols also helped keep the route free of bandits and dangerous creatures.

After the collapse of Spanier into independent city-states, the regular patrols ceased. The Gap subsequently became more vulnerable to bandits and other threats. Historical accounts from this later period also mention trolls and giants having inhabited the Gap in earlier times.

A guard and toll outpost was eventually constructed at ground level near the center of the Gap. This structure was not the ancient Tower of Plinth; it was a much later addition built to support the policing and taxation of the passage. The outpost was built into the mountainside and was subsequently repaired and expanded. The original portions were of an unusually sophisticated construction, appearing almost as though the rock had been grown into the shape of a building.

Physical Characteristics

The Gap is remarkably straight and level for almost its entire length. It cuts directly through the Greypeak Mountains without the bends or changes in elevation normally expected from a mountain pass.

In the later era, the main passage was approximately fifty feet wide, broad enough for substantial caravans to pass through. Its floor and walls were extraordinarily smooth, giving the impression that the mountains had been precisely carved away.

The walls rise thousands of feet above the floor. Near the center of the Gap they become so high that direct sunlight reaches the bottom only briefly around midday. The interior therefore remains dark and cold even during summer, and travelers commonly require lanterns or torches for illumination.

The combination of its immense length, unusual straightness, smooth walls, and tremendous height made the Gap a remarkable sight even thousands of years after its creation.

The Fortress of Heroes

By the Original Korvak era, the Tower of Plinth had largely disappeared from common historical knowledge. Its memory survived in legends concerning a place called the Fortress of Heroes.

The Fortress of Heroes was remembered as a great stronghold high above the Gap, associated with the heroes of the ancient Age of Wonders. Legends spoke of tunnels, powerful magic, and mechanisms that allowed people to travel between the bottom of the Gap and the fortress high above it.

These traditions were fragmentary and often treated as little more than legend. The true identity of the Fortress had been forgotten.

The Fortress of Heroes was, in fact, the ancient Tower of Plinth.

Oath's Gap

By the Original Korvak era, the Gap of Otheron had become known as Oath's Gap. Its true origin had been forgotten for approximately ten thousand years, and scholars and travelers had developed various explanations for its existence.

Some traditions claimed that ancient dwarves had carved the passage through the mountains. Others attributed it to the power of Demmazon or to the immense magic of the Age of Wonders.

These explanations were conjecture rather than accurate history. The true creation of the Gap was known in the ancient records of the Age of Wonders: it had been formed by the uncontrolled power of the White Gift when Otheron attacked Correries.

The later legends nevertheless demonstrate how thoroughly the original history had been lost. By this era, the Gap was understood primarily as an ancient and extraordinary physical feature whose true origin was no longer remembered.

Historical Importance

The Gap remained important for thousands of years because it provided one of the principal routes through the Greypeak Mountains. Its strategic value repeatedly attracted rulers, armies, merchants, adventurers, and those seeking to control the trade passing through the region.

Its history therefore spans several distinct eras:

• Age of Wonders: The White Gift creates the Gap during Otheron's confrontation with Correries.

• Under the Bus: The Gap is an established strategic location, with the Tower of Plinth and its associated lift system above and within it.

• Following millennia: Travelers, kingdoms, and local powers develop and use the Gap; tunnels, shelters, patrol facilities, and eventually a ground-level guard outpost are added.

• Original Korvak Campaign era: The ancient Gap remains a major mountain passage but is now known as Oath's Gap. The true history of its creation and the identity of the Fortress of Heroes have largely been lost to time.