Chi'ka'gough

"Your old name is not your king, I rename you 'Everything'"

The Sea of Graves

Chi'ka'gough is a dark and gloomy locale, forever shrouded in night. Tall trees cover the already sunless ground in shadow, the only light coming from an always full moon in the sky. From the surface Chi'ka'gough is an endless graveyard, no matter how far one travels, they see the same sight. A sea of graves extending to the treeline. If one traverses the expansive forests they might encounter a few isolated graves, but eventually the trees give way to another large swath of graves. The graves have a wide variety of styles to them, mirroring the different customs mortalkind has for laying their dead to rest. Some are large mausoleums, simple headstones, or even mass graves where one can see piles of skeletons laying in a heap. Others are more intricate, large coffins carved into trees, or lavish pyramid like structures to house one person. Sometimes there isn't a grave at all and one must watch their step to ensure they don't trip on a skeleton.
Life is almost nonexistent in Chi'ka'gough, when one walks the sea of graves the most they see are birds flying in the sky. Ravens, crows and most commonly vultures. Where these birds came from or if they are even birds in the first place is a topic of great debate for some scolars. Most veiw them as spies for Anor, a way for her to watch over her "subjects".

The Grave Wardens

Grave Wardens the guards of Chi'ka'gough and enforcer's of Anor's will. They can be seen all over the endless grave, walking, waiting, always silent, always prepared. The original purpose of the Grave Wardens was to ensure souls did not leave Chi'ka'gough , their vigil is seldom interrupted as raising a soul from the dead is a an art not known to any but the most powerful beings. But when the situation arises they leap into action.
Grave Wardens are made willingly, usually from followers of Anor in the living world. There is an intricate ceremony when a new Grave Warden is brought into existence. This ceremony has two variations, the most common one involves one or more aspiring Wardens to be kneeling, presenting a sword to a Warden in a circular pattern with celestial runes etched onto the ground beneath them. Anor breaks her silence and speaks to them in their mind, what she says is not known, as it is a carefully guarded secret among Wardens. When the aspiring Warden recites the prepared response to The Silent, the Warden takes the sword from the aspiring Warden and slits their throat. After a few moments the bloody skeleton of the dead breaks through the skin, crawling out into the world reborn as a Grave Warden. The second variation of the ritual is unknown, reserved for only the most devout of Anor's followers.
Appearance wise a Grave Warden is a skeleton, with the symbol of Anor etched onto their skull. What's unique to a Grave Warden is that their soul is bound to their skeletal frame. Unlike mortal bodies that merely house a soul, their bodies are their soul. In the past Grave Wardens were sent to other planes to kill beings Anor considered distasteful, such as liches, necromancers, undead and escaped souls. This practice ended long ago for unknown reasons.

Final Resting Place

For the vast majority of mortals in all planes, Chi'ka'gough is and will forever be their final resting place. There are of course a few exceptions to this rule, Feinds, both Devils and Demons, as well as Aberrations circumvent this. Demons return to the Abyss, same as Aberrations and are reborn from it again, in a sense they aren't even mortals at all. Demons are the result of mortals dying in the Abyss, their souls becoming a reflection of their greatest fear. These souls know not Chi'ka'gough. Devil's circumvent this not through their own doing, but by the will of the Archdevils. When a devil dies in hell, their soul is bound to a soul coin.
For the rest of all mortals Chi'ka'gough is and will be their final resting place. When a soul arrives in Chi'ka'gough they are greeted at the entrance by a Grave Warden, the only inhabitants outside of the souls of the dead. They find themselves at the gate of the endless graveyard, a cliff to the Abyss behind them. The Warden stands before them, judging them quietly. When a decision is made the fate of the soul is sealed.

Judgement

When at the gates to the sea of graves a Grave Warden greets new souls and passes judgment on them. This process weighs the deeds of the soul in their living life. The parameters of this judgment isn't entirely clear, and we can only speculate how much one's actions in life affect one's treatment in the afterlife, if at all.
Once a soul has been judged, they are lead to an empty grave, where they are entombed until the end of eternity. The events that occur to souls here is unknown. Any soul that has successfully escaped or has been freed from Chi'ka'gough has had their memory magically erased upon leaving their grave. That is to say that for some reason, some souls want to leave their eternal resting place. While they know not why, the fact that some even do may be cause for concern.
The rarest placement is when a soul is deemed worthy of joining the ranks of the Wardens, when this is the case they are brought before the Silent herself to provide final judgment on the soul. If they are deemed worthy and they accept the mantle of Grave Warden, they are inducted into the order.

Visions of Death

Rarely, souls and Wardens that travel the plane see a figure in the distance. A tall woman cloaked in a black shroud, always out of reach. The Silent wanders the endless grave, never remaining in one place for long. Living beings that make their way to Chi'ka'gough see her more often than the dead. On rare occasions she approaches visitors, simply watching them as they make their way through her home.

Type

Dimensional plane

Characters in Location

• Anor