High Cromlech
On the western side of the foreboding Shatterjack Mountains lies High Cromlech, the city-state of the abdead, (i.e. undead,) where the living are second-class citizens – or worse.
The streets of High Cromlech seem dead. There is little movement, no throngs of pedestrians going about their business, and most distinctive of all, absolutely no noise. There is a good reason for this pervading quiet. In High Cromlech, the dead rule. The highest social class consists of a particular variety of abdead known as thanati. These lich-like gentry are, in most senses, literally dead corpses which have been animated, and retain their consciousness.
As the years wear on, the bodies of thanati practically mummify, becoming dry and leathery. They move and go about their day with great care, as not to damage their frail bodies. Most lose the ability to speak traditional languages as their tongues and vocal chords vitrify, and have their mouths sewn shut. Socially, thanati carry the title “deadman” or “deadwife.”
The living inhabitants of High Cromlech – called “the quick” – are lesser citizens who live in Liveside, a ghetto on the southern edge of the city. Some few are respectable working class and small businesspeople, carrying the title of “liveman” or “livewife.” These citizens are allowed to inhabit the city because there are certain jobs that the slow and brittle thanati cannot themselves perform, and jobs too delicate to trust to mindless zombies. The wealthiest of livemen aspire to buy their way into the upper echelons of thanati culture, affording the specific treatments necessary to rise as an abdead.
The rest of the city’s living citizens, though, are slumdwelling underclass. They are not oppressed, but they are less socially powerful than the dead and the living gentry. Most of the living souls in High Cromlech, though, are not free citizens – they are farm-bred human cattle, raised in cages, whose only lot in life is to be killed and risen as a mindless zombie slave. These “zombie factories” are famous throughout Rohagi, usually spoken of only in fearful whispers.
Thanati are not the only abdead inhabitants of High Cromlech. Other, less savory and less common varieties of abdead also call the city home. Vampirs, for example, are allowed to live in High Cromlech because they are abdead, but they are not rulers. Quite the reverse – vampirs are considered rather pathetic junkies who are kept alive on the whim and sufferance of the High Cromlech living. Little other information about High Cromlech is available to most scholars, although it is known that the abdead gentry of Armada emigrated from High Cromlech.
The streets of High Cromlech seem dead. There is little movement, no throngs of pedestrians going about their business, and most distinctive of all, absolutely no noise. There is a good reason for this pervading quiet. In High Cromlech, the dead rule. The highest social class consists of a particular variety of abdead known as thanati. These lich-like gentry are, in most senses, literally dead corpses which have been animated, and retain their consciousness.
As the years wear on, the bodies of thanati practically mummify, becoming dry and leathery. They move and go about their day with great care, as not to damage their frail bodies. Most lose the ability to speak traditional languages as their tongues and vocal chords vitrify, and have their mouths sewn shut. Socially, thanati carry the title “deadman” or “deadwife.”
The living inhabitants of High Cromlech – called “the quick” – are lesser citizens who live in Liveside, a ghetto on the southern edge of the city. Some few are respectable working class and small businesspeople, carrying the title of “liveman” or “livewife.” These citizens are allowed to inhabit the city because there are certain jobs that the slow and brittle thanati cannot themselves perform, and jobs too delicate to trust to mindless zombies. The wealthiest of livemen aspire to buy their way into the upper echelons of thanati culture, affording the specific treatments necessary to rise as an abdead.
The rest of the city’s living citizens, though, are slumdwelling underclass. They are not oppressed, but they are less socially powerful than the dead and the living gentry. Most of the living souls in High Cromlech, though, are not free citizens – they are farm-bred human cattle, raised in cages, whose only lot in life is to be killed and risen as a mindless zombie slave. These “zombie factories” are famous throughout Rohagi, usually spoken of only in fearful whispers.
Thanati are not the only abdead inhabitants of High Cromlech. Other, less savory and less common varieties of abdead also call the city home. Vampirs, for example, are allowed to live in High Cromlech because they are abdead, but they are not rulers. Quite the reverse – vampirs are considered rather pathetic junkies who are kept alive on the whim and sufferance of the High Cromlech living. Little other information about High Cromlech is available to most scholars, although it is known that the abdead gentry of Armada emigrated from High Cromlech.
Structure
Unlike the mortals of the living world, the abdead aristocracy has little need for enforced order. High society creates its own structure, and the nobility govern themselves as such. The city, isolated both culturally and geographically, keeps only the slightest of diplomatic channels open to the outside world.
Demography and Population
Population
439,000
Type
abdead-dominant (82% thanati, 14% human (living), 2% vampir, 2% other abdead) - (does not include zombies).
439,000
Type
abdead-dominant (82% thanati, 14% human (living), 2% vampir, 2% other abdead) - (does not include zombies).
Military
The zombie factories have, in times of conflict, produced more than enough cannon fodder to ensure High Cromlech’s safety, such as during the Flesh-Eater Wars. There have always been rumors that High Cromlech possesses giant floating vessels, moonships, but such reports are unconfirmed.
Religion
Those thanati with pious leanings favor Khyriad, the deity credited with creating the first abdead upon Bas-Lag. Living humans of High Cromlech tend not to be religious, but often invoke Khyriad’s name as a figure of speech.
Type
Geopolitical, Country
Currency
In High Cromlech, currency is much more of a standard symbol than anything else. Only the quick of Liveside use currency in the traditional sense. What little raw materials required by the city are produced in the nearby Shatterjack Mines.
Judicial Body
Deadman Reginald
Executive of the Housing Comittee
Deadwife Mushi
Administrator of the Zombie Factories
Executive of the Housing Comittee
Deadwife Mushi
Administrator of the Zombie Factories
Official State Religion
Official Languages
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