Settlements and Sites of the Four City-States #125
May 5th, 2023
Number: 125
Name: The Diabas Cathedral
Location: Southern Lanu Maug range between the Gap and the Grey Skull territories
Population (approx.): 1560 (Kin and servitor constructs and elementals)
Brief: As the Ta’arnan Empire collapsed, notable dark powers scattered and went into hiding. The Grey Skull Orcs (#52) sheltered the remains of the Church of Gabbalt, a Demi-God of Fire and Earth, whose priest-smiths had armed the Orcs for hundreds of years. The Gabbaltians went into hiding eventually moving south through the underdark to the edges of Skull lands. There they found a singular spire with deep roots below ground. The priest-smiths hollowed the interior, from top to bottom, forming a vaulted cathedral to Gabbalt within the stone. Their servant elementals and golems carved tunnels reaching back north to the Orc lands and south to the edges of the Gap (#19), a holy site they believed was defiled by Pala Stonecrusher’s worshippers years ago. An outpost looks out on to the gap, where soldiers of Gabbalt’s Dark Regiment guard the priest-smiths as they conduct their rituals. The bishops of the church bide their time and gather magical strength, for they have too little resources to strike against the “occupiers” of their fallen Empire and still fewer allies (even the Grey Skull Orcs are not committed to their cause). Their seers and astrologers view the fires and cast the rocks for opportunity and omens. Spies move through the region, contacting other remnant Ta’arnan groups.
Geography: The Diabas Cathedral occupies a single mountain peak about 30 miles north of the gap and 10 miles south of Grey Skull Orc lands in the Lanu Maug. Over the past 600 years, worshippers have carved and furnished numerous levels, from residences with views of the surrounding peaks to great factories in the depths. Although the numbers of the church are small, their devotion and dark rituals grant them extremely long lives rivalling those of the Elves. The Gabbaltians are very careful to avoid contact with the occupiers, particularly the skilled and pernicious Hillwardens of Orchunter’s Lodge (#86) to the west.
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