Cathedral of Broken Glass

"We gathered here when the Otherworld brought terror to this land. We gather here now that this land may not return that terror to the Otherworld."

— The Rogue, negotiating the Nightfall Truce

To the local humans the only thing notable about the area is The Duke, a seemingly immortal and immense oak tree. The city declared the tree to have landmark status years ago, but the rest of the park has fallen into disrepair and overgrowth. Nobody seems to care, content to leave it as a green space with a creepy old tree.

But the connection to the Otherworld is still strong, and the Fae that gathered there remembered when spires stood over the forest, built from Fae craft into the land itself in a mix of living wood, stone, and crystal.

The Duke, once the youngest tree of the grove, now it’s sole survivor, sits quiet watch over the ruins. It is said when it rains the ground sparkles as the water hits the soil that still holds traces of the Faerie crystal. The land itself hums with power and the Fae return to dance their rings again.

Architecture

The Cathedral was made using Magick and Glamour, combining it with the Old Oak forest. The trees were magicked into growing into the castle complex itself, but all of them save one were destroyed by the fires that swept through the lands when the last war was raged through the valley.

When the complex was first made, the building known as the Cathedral stood in the center, and had many windows made from magick glass infused with brilliant shifting colors. It was said that they were made from the stuff of the light of the stars, the blood of the wicked, the tears of lost love, and other ingredients, made into a crystal sheet form.

History

When the Faeries of the Western Lands still walked the earth freely they erected a beautiful and terrifying royal palace over the portal to the Otherworld. They ruled openly both over the Wilds and the human lands. Their master architects were instructed by The Court to create a complex that combined elements of the mortal world, the natural world and the Otherworld to show their power in the Middle Realm and how they felt they held dominion over them all.

The result was the complex which came to be known by its central building, a multi spired structure made by forcing the growth of oak around stone and magick crystal. The name the Cathedral of Broken Glass came from a faerie who objected to the integration of mortal styles, but the name fit the structure and its intent to show how powerful the Fae were in their ability to bend the world to their will.

As conflict came to the valley and the Fae were forced to recede mostly back into the Otherworld, the Magick and Glamour which held The Cathedral together began to fade, and the as fires raged through the valley and the portal to the Otherworld was broken, it finally collapsed, leaving its ruins to seep into the soil.

The Cathedral of Broken Glass is now a park on the outskirts of Dusk City. The ground still holds power and the remaining Faeries that reside in Dusk City gather there for important meetings and celebration days. The guest of honor is allowed to sit under the surviving oak tree, known as The Duke which is said to still hold the memories of all the oaks that once stood there.

The truce of Nightfall, the uneasy understanding between the different supernatural groups that call Dusk City home, was negotiated there and it is considered both holy ground and neutral ground where disagreements between the groups may be settled, but it is controlled by the Fae and is primarily used by them.

RUINED STRUCTURE
The same wars that pushed the Faeries of the Western Lands into hiding also destroyed the complex in which The Cathedral was the center.

Type

Shrine

Parent Location

Dusk City

Owning Organization

Faeries of the Western Lands