The Chiming Halls
Location: Mechanus
Realm of Solonex
Character: The fifth chime rings, I rise from my slumber. I take up my robe and walk to my post. As I do, the ninth chime rings, and two of my elderly men die of old age. I reach my post, the eighteenth chime, which I heave with all my force. It rings, and a child is born. I return to my bed, I resume my slumber.
Power: Sonolex, a little known power of music and fate. To worship Sonolex is to give up the concept of self, to become one with the passage of time. As they and their petitioners ring the chimes suspended in the confines of the Halls, key moments of life and death are ordained on the Prime worlds where Sonolex is venerated.
Description: Sonolex is among a minority of powers who have changed over the aeons, and their realm has morphed to match. Originally a more despotic Power, Sonolex and the Chiming Halls were once located in Tintibulus, the third layer of Acheron. Now, the ‘cube’ containing Sonolex’s realm has shifted to Mechanus, and become slightly metallic. From a distance, the Halls look like a geometrical figure skewered on one of Mechanus’ shafts.
The Halls are, from the outside, an angular polyhedron of metallic volcanic rock. Many of the faces have metal hatches and portholes, allowing individuals to leave and enter the realm, if they’re able to rock-climb to get there, that is. This is a dangerous trip, where the climber risks falling thousands of feet before hitting another gear.
The vast ‘cube’ is even larger inside, a hollow shell of rock containing a seemingly infinite number of tall ceramic chimes. The chimes are hundreds of feet tall, and are organised into many, many layers. Each chime is assigned to a single petitioner, who sleeps in a room nearby until the chime needs to be rung, to signify the birth or death of a worshipper. There are always the distant resonant tones of chimes in the background of a visit to the Chiming Halls.
Principal Towns: There is only one burg in the Chiming Halls: the small town of Bellchord. Located at the exact centre of the Halls, it caters to the newly arrived. Each person who dies in the service of Sonolex awakens in one of the many inns here, where they await assignment at the chimes. During their wait, they work serving others waiting and guests. Thus, the entire town seems to constantly providing service for itself. Food and water are furnished by Sonolex themself, so all services are aesthetic in nature, very often musical.
Special Conditions: Musicians love the Chiming Halls. No musician who has trained in an instrument can ever give a bad performance here. After all, the chimes themselves are holy, so it would be sacrilegious to allow other music to be bad. This is conversely bad for those who are not proficient in an instrument (after all, for every advantage in Mechanus there’s a disadvantage). If you never learned how to play an instrument, you can never play it here. A body just can’t will themselves to do it.
Silence spells function normally here, except that they can never silence the constant distant sounds of the chimes. In fact, you can hear the chimes even if you’re deafened, or you’ve got your ears covered. There’s no avoiding the chiming (which is fortunately soft enough not to be a hassle at least). Travellers claim they can even heard the chimes in their dreams when they sleep.
Certain necromantic spells are heavily augmented here, but only under the right conditions. All spells that either slay or bring back to life an individual instantly are cast as if the caster were four levels higher, but only if the caster rings a ceramic bell during the casting. Other kinds of necromantic magics function as normal.
Finally, all spells involving sonic effects or music are cast as if the caster were a level higher, but again, only if musical components are used to cast the spells.
Jink is not required here, barter is how things work. In order to get anything in the realm, a service of equal value must be provided. Troublemakers expelled from Bellchord for not performing a service will find themselves lost in the maze-like Chiming Halls.
Principal NPCs: Sonolex themselves are never seen by visitors, though petitioners assigned a chime swear they’ve spoken with them about it. The visitors themselves can, however, meet Sonolex’s chief proxy, a spellslinger named Eckoringe (human proxy of Sonolex [he/him] / LN). What Eckoringe is, exactly, is not clear, but he casts spells as a song mage and a necromancer, as well as having the full abilities of a priest of Sonolex. He can be found in Bellchord enjoying the entertainment or wandering the chiming halls watching for slackers in the ranks (which he almost never finds).
Possibly the strangest local in Bellchord is Ailemalida (planar firre eladrin [she/her] / Society of Sensation / CG). Starkly contrasting with the fairly sedate scene in Bellchord, she’s move in permanently, and has lived here for just under a century. She does her part, not to fit in, but to remain in Bellchord. she has a secret shame though, which keeps her in the Chiming Halls: she was nearly deafened by a vrock before she moved here, and she became totally tone-deaf. She remains here because she simply can’t sing beautifully anywhere else.
Services: Bellchord has a number of services to interest a body. First of all, half the town is composed of inns of all qualities, and they only take payment in reciprocal service (bussing the restaurant for a meal, delivering goods, etc.). The same goes for everything else in town. Money is worth nothing here, and everything must be traded for a service. Since many of the petitioners are skilled at nothing else, they perform music for their fellows as payment. Thus, this is a great place to hear all manner of song. In fact, Ailemalida isn’t the only Sensate who lives here.
Bellchord is also a great place to get ceramics (especially ceramic bells). Ceramics cast in the Chiming Halls all get a +4 to all saving throws, making them a popular item exchanged for service here.
Finally, there are a number of ‘life and death’ clinics here. People seeking their last rest or trying to revive a friend could do worse than coming to these places, where the natural necromantic augmentation of life and death magic is used to its full advantage. Fortunately, the city has strict laws about using magic to convince someone to commit suicide here.
Source: Belarius. Canonwatch: This power and realm are homebrew.
