The number Mansions is unknown, although it is known that the mightiest and oldest, the High Mansions, numbered nine. The greatest, most powerful and most populous was Siöl, located deep under the northern Great Kayarsus Mountains, defending a series of fortified passes leading east into Eänna. The proudest and most fiercely independent was Nihrimsûl, located under the south-eastern Yimaleti Mountains. Cil-Aujas lay in the east, under the peak of Aenaratiol at the south tip of the Osthwai Mountains. Ishoriöl, the Exalted Hall, lay in the far west, beyond the Demua Mountains near the shores of the Great Ocean. Viri lay underneath the peak of Antareg in the Urokkas, a small range of mountains overlooking the Sea of Neleöst, the Misty Sea. Illisserû, the Lighthouse, was located in the Betmulla Mountains overlooking the Sea of Meneanor, with Curunq under the Araxes Mountains of the east and Cil-Aumûl under the Hinayati Mountains of the far south. Western-most of the Nine was Incissal, located under hills near the Great Ocean.
Each Mansion was built under mountains to hide it from the watching eyes of the gods. It is thought of this author that the gods feed on feelings, emotions, suffering, greed, laughter, and love in all their myriad forms. The rulers of each mansion sought to avoid the sight of the gods on the outside, but what they had not expected was to find that which dwells in the depths. Fleeing from the gods who feast on our strengths and weaknesses, they cast themselves deep into the earth only to find that there too were gods. These new gods were young, not yet having taken true shape, and they gave power to some.
The rulers of the mansions closest to these sore wounds in the world learned to silence emotion in themselves. Only the protection of the logos, a kind of rigid logic, could keep this thing at bay. So they built a wall, a great barrier between themselves and the depths. Yet, forces above and below, and the natural shifting of the plates of the earth itself would occasionally crack these walls.
