Ashes of Penance
A memorial burg in the Wasting Place of Ash
Centuries ago, a civilisation created a war so massive that it necessitated the direct intervention of the powers themselves. Pantheons warred. A world died. The remaining gods paused in their fighting, saw what they had done, and felt sorrow. Wading through the wreck of their world and the burnt remains of their worshippers, the gods bowed their heads in prayer to the Great Unknown before shaking hands and vowing to fight no more. Before departing for Elysium to begin new existences, they set up a memorial in the Quasielemental Plane of Ash, deep in the Wasting Place.
The ash dunes part. Daylight emerges, revealing a great city filled with art and knowledge. This is the best of what was, and it’s preserved here in the midst of a calm part of the Wasting Place called the Snuffing, as a gesture of humility and as a reminder of what was wrought.
The aura of peace and disappointment here is palpable. [Any fighting suffers a penalty of -12 to hit, with a 60% chance of a combat spell failing.] If anything is destroyed, the gods will replace it in a century or two. Rasts, quasielementals and other such creatures tend to avoid the place, fearful of angering the powers who created it.
Once every cycle great numbers of the sartarin tribe of ruvoka come to Penance dressed in sackcloth to confess their sins and make resolutions. In respect, they model their civilisation closely on the lost one, and borrow the books here to teach their children. Any harm done to the city or its relics will be quickly avenged by the Sartarin, but they will aid those who come honestly seeking wisdom.
Dark Chant: It is said that not every veteran of the divine war has reformed, and that a fierce god of war seeks the ashes of Penance and its destruction. It seems that the peoples of these unrepentant gods are not represented in the city’s archives, and angry at this snub, Baatific minions sweep the plane of Ash on dark wings, trying to penetrate the wards of obscurity hiding the shrine from them. The ruvoka carefully screen those they trust with the knowledge of the realm’s location, but what if they fail?
Source: Rip van Wormer
