First appearance: S2 Ep1, Fate of the Arbiter (Fate of the Arbiter Part 1) · watch it on YouTube
The Eastern Outpost is an old temple-pyramid on the far edge of the Grandmaster’s lands, built by some long-forgotten society and later put to work as a military post. For years it was commanded by Orin, and it holds one of the most closely guarded objects in The Void: Gerald, the Box of Chaos, which is kept there between Deathmatches. It was where the Grandmaster’s loyal heroes first set out to rescue the Arbiter and learned he had never needed rescuing at all.
Description
Getting there is a journey in itself. The road from The Dread Fortress runs across miles of volcanic stone and magma. Part of the way it crosses a broken, crumbling stone bridge over a river of lava, with a gap of about thirty feet in the middle. Travellers who made the trip found that after three days of walking, the Fortress behind them didn’t seem to have shrunk at all.
The outpost itself is a ruined temple-pyramid with an army camped outside. Inside, a main hall is decorated with dragon skulls and has a river of lava running through it. Beneath the skulls is an inferno room where the Box of Chaos is safeguarded. The outpost also has an eastern potato cellar. The air finally cools out here, and from the top of the pyramid you can see the land beyond the border change drastically.
Flynry, who had seen the temple back in Orin’s day, later recognised a similar one in the arena and knew that touching its runes granted protection.
History
Fate of the Arbiter
In S2 Ep1, Fate of the Arbiter (Fate of the Arbiter Part 1), the Grandmaster sent a band of heroes across the lava fields to the Eastern Outpost with a parting warning: “Do not fail me.” The Arbiter had apparently been kidnapped, and the heroes’ orders were to meet Orin, the outpost’s commander, and get him back. From the outpost they pushed further out against the Servants of the Void and infiltrated their compound. There they found that the kidnapping was a sham the Arbiter had planned himself. They fought what they believed was the Arbiter, cut off its hands and carried them back to the Dread Fortress. There they discovered they had been fooled again, and the Arbiter branded them traitors.
Fate of the Faithful
By the time of Coriander Society, Fate of the Faithful Part 1 (A Crossover), Orin was dead, betrayed by the Arbiter. His son Lyrus explained that many of the people now working with him had once served Orin at the Eastern Outpost. “Once his death became known to us and the Arbiter’s betrayal became known,” he said, “we left the forces of the Grandmaster to work in her favor from the shadows.”
In Coriander Society - Fate of the Faithful Part 2 (A Crossover), Lyrus passed the outpost and told the newcomers what it was. “This is the eastern outpost where my father was stationed… this is where they keep the Box of Chaos.” Guarding the box had been Orin’s charge, “a great honor. He kept it safe for many years until his death.” Lyrus didn’t know who commanded the outpost now, but he guessed it was “probably one of the Arbiter’s henchmen.”
Further out, in the mountains past the outpost, stands an old dwarven fortress where the Faithful first learned of the Arbiter’s betrayal. Later in the adventure, Lyrus also spoke of a stronghold beyond the outpost that the Faithful had once stormed, when they still believed the Arbiter had been kidnapped by the Children of the Void. It lies a considerable distance away. The Grandmaster would not garrison it, and the Children may have taken it back.
The box’s home also came up when it appeared as a card at the table. The Grandmaster pointed out that it “is well secured in the Eastern Stronghold, so obviously it’s not actually here.”
Battle for the Crown
The outpost came back to Flynry in the arena. In S2E20 — Battle for the Crown Round 3 — Flynry & Prof. Stabbz v Thornabub & Mcswiggins, his view of the fight was blocked by a statue, so he studied the hieroglyphic carvings on the arena’s pyramidal temple instead. He had seen a temple like this before at the Eastern Outpost, back with Orin. He knew that touching the runes granted protection, and he used that knowledge to shield himself.
The Season of Fate
In S5E16, Chaos Royal (Season 5 finale), the first Chaos Royale (four-way), the Arbiter was ruling the Void with the Grandmaster imprisoned. This was the Season of Fate, an alternate timeline that only the Arbiter lived through. It was not going well. People were upset that the Grandmaster was still imprisoned, there were riots, and the Eastern Outpost had just been ransacked. “It’s hard to be the ruler,” he complained. Thea added the latest rumours: that he smelled, farted constantly and wore fake Italian leather shoes. The Arbiter snapped back about the shoes.
“They are real Italian leather! They always have been!” — the Arbiter
Notable Figures
- Orin: commander of the outpost, charged with guarding the Box of Chaos until his death.
- Lyrus: Orin’s son, who led the Faithful past his father’s old post.
- The Box of Chaos: kept in the inferno room beneath the dragon skulls.
- The Arbiter: his faked kidnapping first sent heroes to the outpost.
- Grandmaster Elusia Skypiercer: whose lands the outpost guards.
Appearances
- S2E20 — Battle for the Crown Round 3 — Flynry & Prof. Stabbz v Thornabub & Mcswiggins
- S2 Ep1, Fate of the Arbiter (Fate of the Arbiter Part 1)
- Coriander Society, Fate of the Faithful Part 1 (A Crossover)
- Coriander Society - Fate of the Faithful Part 2 (A Crossover)
- S5E16, Chaos Royal (Season 5 finale), the first Chaos Royale (four-way)