Hollowvaults
A Labyrinth of the Dead
Overview
The Hollowvaults are an ancient necropolis, a sprawling network of crypts, barrows, and tunnels buried beneath the Fellholds. Their origins stretch back to an era before even the Dawnbringers, with legends speaking of them as the tombs of lost kings, warlords, and ancient horrors. Some claim these halls once held vampiric warlords, bound in slumber by ancient rites, while others insist that the graves belong to monarchs of forgotten civilizations, their names eroded by time.
When Sigmar’s crusaders waged war against the The Master the Hollowvaults were repurposed as burial grounds for fallen heroes—a holy sanctum consecrated to ensure the dead would not rise again. But time has a way of unraveling even the strongest protections, and now, the Hollowvaults are a place of whispers and shadows, their halls overrun with screeching bats and worse.
Legends & Superstitions
The Shrike of Black Hollow: The deepest vaults are said to be haunted by a great Terrorgheist, a monstrous revenant that nests within the ruined catacombs. Locals call it “The Shrike of Black Hollow,” and few who have wandered too close have lived to describe its full horror.
The Sunken Mausoleum: A cavernous, partially flooded chamber beneath the Hollowvaults is rumored to house an ancient, nameless ruler, interred in a sarcophagus adorned with faded runes. It is said that even the bravest grave robbers dare not disturb this tomb, for the seals that bind it remain unbroken.
The Endless Tunnels: Some explorers claim that the Hollowvaults shift, that tunnels collapse and reform, leading wanderers in circles or trapping them within. Scholars dismiss this as the result of natural cave-ins, but those who listen carefully swear they hear stone grinding against stone, as if something unseen moves the halls.
The Master’s New Refuge
Having abandoned the ruins of the Ashen Cairn, The Master has claimed the Hollowvaults as his lair, seeking its labyrinthine depths as both a place of refuge and a domain he can mold to his will. The siege of Ashen Cairn is fresh in his mind—he will not allow himself to be trapped again. Unlike his old seat of power, the Hollowvaults offer hidden tunnels, secret exits, and countless escape routes, making them an ideal refuge for the Umbral Coterie.
Yet his arrival was not one of conquest, but of chance. The Master stumbled upon the Hollowvaults by accident, while fleeing angry group of local foresters after one of his hunts for fresh took an unexpected turn for the worse. Deep within the vaults, he encountered the Shrike of Black Hollow and its colony of Night Shriekers, the monstrous bat-beasts that infest the ancient tombs. Rather than flee or fall to their hunger, The Master, though wounded and outnumbered, did what few could—he bent the Terrorgheist to his will, binding the Shrike and its shrieking brood to his service through sheer force of dominance and ancient blood magic.
The crypts suit his needs well—filled with the echoes of ancient power, cloaked in shadows, and beyond the reach of most mortal hunters. The vaults' countless graves and ossuaries provide ample material for dark rituals, and the ceaseless wailing of bats fills the air like a dirge, a symphony of his eternal hunger.
Yet, even The Master must tread carefully here. The Hollowvaults are not his alone to command—things older than him dwell in the deepest reaches. Whether they will serve him, ignore him, or rise against him remains to be seen.