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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Nebuchadnezzar" data-source="post: 413155" data-attributes="member: 1938">Four entries from the Khanesian GazetteerAerlond (Large City, 13,984): Once known as Armoth-Tur, it became Aerlond (meaning freedom in ancient hafling) when the haflings rebelled against their masters during the collapse of the Mardukian empire. Haflings from across Mardukia joined their kin in proclaiming Aerlond on the ruins of old Armoth-Tur while the Mardukians fled towards Heedsan. Aerlond is a grim city, surrounded by enemies and innhabited by haflings whose paranoia is only surpassed by their xenophobia. An oligarchy rules the city; the patriarch from each of the seven greatest clans commands a seat on the city-council. Subject of discussion recently has been how to deal with the flocks of skeletal birds harassing farmers and patrols around the city. The latest rumour in town speaks of how Aerlond has attracted the attention of evil druids capable of controlling and turning into undead animals. These druids are said to lair in Khorwood, a forest which in truth has grown increasingly twisted and dark in the past few years. Though few Aerlondians believe this tale, they all give Khorwood a wide berth.Halls of the Eternal: A sprawling necropolis, the Halls of the Eternal are the tombs and crypts of Mardukia's priesthoods and nobility. When common folk died, their corpses where simply dumped in huge massgraves. According to Mardukian beliefs, a proper grave and burial would enable the deceased to enjoy certain privilages in the afterlife. Thus the nobility and priesthoods enacted a law which read that only servants of the gods and men of noble blood would receive a proper burial. This was to ensure that those who rule on this world would also rule in the afterlife. Considering this, it comes as no surprise that tomb-desecration was a major felany in old Mardukia. Most tombs, crypts, and mausaleums were (and many still are) both trapped and guarded.  The Halls of the Eternal is a huge ziggurat constructed of mud bricks with the terraces being covered in baked bricks. It is known as the grandest building in all of Khanesh. Three large staircases on the front of the ziggurat leads to a gate on the second level. Each staircase has over a thousand steps. There are nine levels above and one below the second level. The eleventh level is a temple dedicated to Bhawasti, the Mardukian god of the dead and the dying. In Mardukia people were not thought to be alive; one was either dying or dead. Needless to say, a society so fixated on death held the priests of Bhawasti in high regards. Indeed, it was the priests of Bhawasti who were the caretakers of the Halls of the Eternal. The common clergy lived in a small village not far the ziggurat, while the high-priests had their living-quarters within the ziggurat itself. Today the village is in ruins and the Halls of the Eternal abandoned. But it has not been left unguarded. Manlike constructs made entirely of clay still stand guard within the ziggurat, and the myriad corridors are heavily trapped. But the most powerful creatures protecting the Halls of the Eternal are those called "The Guardians Everlasting". These are spirits capable of possessing both the clay-guardians and the legion of corpses within the ziggurat, enhancing both with strength, magic, and cunning. If their host is destroyed, the spirit is but released and may seek another host. These spirits also protect the corpses from turning into undead, making the ziggurat free of such horrors.     But this freedom may not last. Recently an undying wizard of horrible power and ill intent has laid siege to the Halls of the Eternal with an army of undead. This wizard calls himself Nabusar the Third and claims he is the rightfull heir to the ziggurat. Every day hordes of rotting zombies and skeletal-warriors equiped with ancient, rusty armour, assault the ziggurat so that Nabusar might have his heirloom. So far they have been repulsed, but not without destroying several guardians. It is only a question of time before the undead horrors seize the ziggurat, and thus gain access to great magic buried with the old priest-kings, and an endless supply of corpses for necromantic animation.March of Roses: The Marsh of Roses is a stretch of land infamous for its morbid beauty. Across the entire marsh are the remains of people buried from the waist and down in the dreaded mud. On these corpses bloom the wonderous Marshrose, a flower unique to this place. Marshrose is the deepest red of colour in moonlight, but blacker than Oviezyr's heart in sunlight. The flower has strange properties which conserves the corpse on which it blooms. It halts decomposition and preserves a life-like appearence which could fool anyone in thinking that the corpse was actually alive or only recently dead. The cheeks blush deeply and the skin is rich in colour. The fact that the Marsh of Roses is littered with corpses and Marshroses creates an incredible tableau of colours, especially during sunrise when all the flowers change colour from red to black. It is a sight of which bards have written countless tales. The most popular is the tale of how a lovestricken man chased his suicidal lover into the marsh and drowned in the mud before the visage of a sunrise. It is said that his ghost still searches the marsh, forever calling the name of his lovelorn sweetheart into the silent landscape.The Forest of White Shadows: The Forest of White Shadows, located north of Ecliptea, is one of the most dangerous forests in Mardukia. Ever since the War of Fiends, the forest has been a sanctuary for devils and demons alike. The fiends have brought the eternal conflict between their respective races with them to the forest. The forest is now (and has been for a long time) a battleground between demons and devils. All the creatures of the forest have sided with either the demons or the devils, including a group of evil druids who call themselves the Claws of Eavyra. These druids have awakened all the animals of the forest, using them as servants and soldiers. This makes the forest as bizarre as it is dangerous. The forest has twisted the minds of the animals, rendering them insane and hateful of people from the outside (as they call any man not of the forest). At first the animals keep themselves hidden from visitors. They then begin to whisper amongst themselves, sharing taunts and mocking the outsiders. The birds of the forest are especially infamous for their cruelty. They poke out the eyes of weary travelers who have fallen asleep and cackle taunts so spiteful they could unnerve a demon.</blockquote>

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