Nightshade Pass

Nightshade Pass is the only known mountain pass that extends all the way through the Blackblade Range between western Midmaer and South Paladis.

This control point was first seen in Release 24 and is a 3 skull hunting area. Within you will find Hilt Fortress, a dungeon that extends deep below the mountain.

At the entrance to Hilt, there are 2 different doors:
 * One is labeled Enter Hilt Fortress [This door can only be used for "Reassemble the Vermillion Lens" quest]. Enter into this door if you have the Reassemble the Vermillion Lens quest active.
 * The other door is labeled Enter Hilt Fortress [This door cannot be used for "Reassemble the Vermillion Lens" quest]. Enter this door if you do not have the Reassemble the Vermillion Lens quest active.

''Within the Blackblade Mountains, between South Paladis to the west and Midmaer to the east, is the narrow cleft of Nightshade Pass. At its center the winding pass opens up into a bowl-shaped canyon in which rests a shimmering lake fed by icy water flowing down from glaciers hidden higher in the mountains to the north. On the south end of this valley can be seen the tall volcanic mountain of Hilt that gives this region its name.''

Lore

 * According to legend, before the Fall of the shards of the shattered moon, there was a great battle between the Gods of Man and the Avatars. It raged all across the face of the world. One of the Avatars saw that they could not win and so, rather than fight the gods, he plunged his blade into the world, desiring to kill that thing which the gods loved most; their creation. The edge of the sword tore through the fertile lands of the world, opening a great and terrible wound which became known as Hellfire Rift. It was here, then, that the gods in their wrath stopped the Avatar and cast him back into the Abyss from which he came. But the damage had been done and the gods, in their wisdom, left the hilt of the blade exposed until such time as some legendary hero from some other legend were to come along and heal the world. That’s what that southernmost peak is supposed to be; the hilt.


 * It’s on the north end of the canyon, however, that the area’s most interesting feature can be found. Built over two hundred years ago by the Obsidian general Karpasic (during the time depicted in Blade of the Avatar), the fortress at Hilt was created as a conceit for the glory of the Obsidian military power (which didn’t please the Cabal of the Obsidian Sorcerers). Furthermore, according to legend it was where the military discovered, deep below the earth, the wondrous obsidian forges. During its time, however, the excuse of its building was to further fortify and secure Nightshade Pass itself, since enemy armies could not easily travel through the valley pass without using the bridged ford located between the lower walls of the fortress, exposing them to fire from soldiers and mages stationed on the battlements above.

Trivia

 * This scene was added in Release 24.
 * This scene was also referred to as Hilt exterior.