Arali

Arali

Realm of Nergal

Location: Planes of Cordance / Nether / Kur

Most of the so-called settlements in Kur are in ruins. One of the few which is still standing is Arali, the City of Bedrock.

CHARACTER: Power corrupts, pride destroys, and even god-kings must eventually answer for their hubris. The petitioners here have achieved a kind of enlightenment through despair—they’ve stopped caring about the machinations in the World Above, existing in a state of perfect, dust-covered apathy. Arali is a place where ambition goes to die, carved into stone as a permanent reminder that all earthly glory eventually ends in darkness and shadow.

DESCRIPTION: In Arali even the stalactites weep dust as they hang from the cavernous ceiling like swords threatening impending doom. This burg is built in a vast cave dominated by a vaulted ceiling that bears the weight of ages, surrounded by walls carved into honeycombs of petitioner dwellings. The whole bloody place reeks of resignation and an old kind of death. It’s lit by the eerie glow of whatever passes for illumination in Nergal’s domain—and you’d better believe that’s precious little. At the centre of the burg you’ll find a pool of eerie black water—the only liquid relief in this parched hellscape. High above, Nergal the Lord of Kur holds court in his inverted ziggurat-Stalactite Palace. Unless you’re a strong flier, the only way in is via the Hanging Carriage, a golden chariot which dangles from a rope. Few are allowed entrance to the palace who don’t live there. Little is known about the insides of the zigurrat, but there’s chant that there’s a gate here leading to Nergaltos.

The walls of the cavern are where most of the the petitioners dwell, their houses carved deep into the rock. Unbothered by visitors or the fiends who vie for control of the burg when Nergal is away, they’ve stopped caring about the happenings and what others want—they simply exist. There are a few sahkil living amongst the petitioners, although they cannot scare them or be nourished from them, so they are usually ravenously hungry and will sniff out any of the infrequent mortals visitors to the burg rapidly. It’s likely that these hungry sahkil have been exiled from the Stalactite Palace, where most of the fiends prefer to make their kips.

SPECIAL CONDITIONS: The whole burg is under the thumb of Nergal’s divine interdiction—resurrection magic simply won’t work here except through a wish spell. The Lord of Kur doesn’t take kindly to anyone undoing his work, making every death in Arali as final as carved stone.

WHO RULES: Nergal, the god-king of war, plague, and destruction, calls this bedrock tomb his secondary seat. The berk’s got more titles than a Cager factol: he’s the Lord of Kur, Bringer of Pestilence, and the Divine Embodiment of Inflicted Death. While he’s not here all the time, don’t mistake him for a slouch—when he’s not prowling the planes spreading death and misery, he’s likely to be busy furthering the cosmic dance of decay from his stalactite throne.

WHO REALLY RULES: While Nergal may swagger about as the big boss, when he’s absent the power flows through his cadre of ancient, unnamed fiends. Fourteen lilu are said to hold court in the inner sanctum—the same bashers who once guarded the seven gates when Ereshkigal summoned their master to account for his rudeness. Add to that a kelubar gehreleth, a dungeon full of imprisoned hordlings, and Tadmustum herself—Nergal’s own daughter and a goddess of underworld authority.

MILITIA: The Grand Staircase leading down to Arali from Irkalla is haunted by the inshav—a kind of lilu fiend who act, begrudgingly it seems, as shadowy guides. They’ll escort proper petitioners but likely tear apart any fool trying to sneak through, unless of course they’re garnished to look the other way. Once you’re in the city proper, you’re at the mercy of the Fourteen. Fortunately, they aren’t known to work together at all well, and a cunning blood might even be able to play them off against one another.

SERVICES: Don’t expect luxury, but Arali offers its own grim attractions. Naram-Sin, a fallen god-king who once declared war on Heaven itself, has been given the degrading job of serving as an unofficial guide to the burg, and cautionary tale warning visitors about the dangers of angering the powers. It’s possible a cutter might encounter other members of the Annunaki in Arali too, although they’d be wise to give these demi-powers and fiends a wide berth. They usually appear as huge animals with eyes that shine with cunning intelligence, and chant goes they’re all capable of sealing a mortal’s fate on a whim. In particular, Erra the Plague-Bringer can be found stalking the streets, dispensing dark wisdom about war, pestilence, and the gentle art of civilisational collapse, while champing at the bit to be let into the Prime to practise what he preaches. Some say that Erra is really Nergal in disguise, although recent sightings of both simultaneously in different parts of Arali have scholars and fiends alike questioning the nature of their Lord’s identify more openly than ever.

For those foolhardy enough to seek an audience with Nergal, your best bet at getting an invitation to the Stalactite Palace is through Naram-Sin, who claims to have the ear of the Lord of Kur himself. Convincing the bitter, but boastful, ex-conqueror to help might require more than mere jink though.

CURRENT CHANT: The City of Bedrock is crawling with conspiracies. Naram-Sin harbours deep resentment over his cosmic humiliation and might be willing to aid anyone seeking to challenge divine authority—for the right price or promise of vengeance. The Fourteen ancient demons guarding Nergal’s palace know secrets from when the cosmos was young, and recent disturbances suggest one or more might be ready to break their eternal silence in exchange for freedom. You see, the fate-seeing beings are stirring, and that suggests something momentous approaches. Smart money is on the collapse of one of the Mesopotamian Pantheons, probably the worship-starved Sumerian Dingir. In that case, the Anunnake are perfectly poised to sweep in and grab whatever power they can lay their hands upon.

PRINCIPAL NON-PLAYER CHARACTERS: Naram-Sin (human petitioner [he/him] / Believers of the Source / NE). This blood’s story is long indeed—as a great conqueror of his prime world, he became a god-king, and declared himself King of the Multiverse and God of his home city. This was, of course, not to last. Naram-Sin wanted to continue his glorious campaign of conquest, but there was nothing left to conquer, other than Heaven itself. So the hubristic Naram-Sin declared war on Heaven for the sake of his own pride, greed and vanity, swearing he could take on the pantheon’s leader, Enlil. There was of course no fight, no battle—only slaughter. Enlil sent his mightiest, most loyal servants to remind the mortal of where he stood. But the mere death of their god-king wasn’t enough for Enlil, so he ordered his servants to not only put Naram-Sin’s city to ruin but to erase it from History itself. Now Naram-Sin spends his time in Arali, where he warns outsiders of the dangers of angering the gods. He is unable to remove his tarnished crown or his regal clothes, which have become torn and dirty over many years, making him look bedraggled and pitiful.

Sources: SGreen and Jon Winter-Holt. Mythwatch: This location is homebrew. Arali is one of many names the Mesopotamians had for the Underworld.