Cotiahold
Formerly one of the most prosperous Republican mountainhomes, Cotiahold was destroyed in the days before the Doom of Shatterhold. The death of Cotiahold was largely overshadowed by the Doom, and it was not until after the reclamation of Shatterhold in 2552 that the first attempts were made to uncover what had occurred.
By 2865ME, little progress had been made in solving the mystery of Cotiahold, nor had there been any success in reclaiming the fallen mountainhome. Home to things stranger even than those found in the depths of Shatterhold, very few dared to venture into the shadows that had swallowed it. Those who managed to return, however, emerged with tales of impossible vistas, alien stars, and artifacts changed by their contact with the absolute dark.
Cotiahold That Was
When Cotiahold lived, it was considered the most beautiful of the mountainhomes. The city was easier to access - and less defensible - than the others, so it was made into a gallery rather than a fortress. True, most of the Republican mountainhomes are works of beauty, but Cotiahold devoted itself to artistry in a way the others did not.
Lit with arcane torches, each building was given over to telling some portion of the Republic's history - and, closer to the center were works depicting the Raskines travel to Velos at the fall of the Divine Era.
At its height, it was one of the greatest wonders of Velos, and a trip to the continent was hardly complete without a visit to Cotiahold.
Consumed by Shadow
Due to the complete disappearance of Cotiahold's population and the hostility of its' interior, for centuries only theories existed as to the exact nature of what occurred. Until, in 2842, Lady Katarina Boelegar led an expedition that reached the very heart of Cotiahold. Using information detailed in The Devouring Dark, a rough timeline could be assembled.
When the spell activated, the center of Cotiahold - the Grand Gallery - was the central point of a tremendous summoning. This would have presented, first, as the air over the Grand Gallery appearing to tear open. The temperature within Cotiahold plummeted as the extraplanar atmosphere, colder than possible, poured in; the shift would have been drastic enough to flash-freeze anyone unfortunate enough to have been within the Grand Gallery.
The entities on the other side of the portal, at this point, took notice of the disturbance and investigated. As-yet unidentified, these beings were believed to be innately hostile to mortal life. The residents of Cotiahold were able to slay at least one of them, the corpse was used as a waypoint during Lady Boelegar's expedition.
Even trying to describe them is a bit of a folly, since I don't think they're made of anything from this world. I'm not sure they're made of anything at all. You could tell where they were by the effect they had on the world behind them, distorting it like a heat shimmer. Four legs, an elongated torso, and a pair of vicious claws - not that they needed them. A brush alone was enough to kill, their raw malice too much for mortal flesh to endure. It took ten of us to bring down one; the gods help us if they ever come in strength.
Contact with these beings caused instant, irreversible harm; the victims dissolved into bubbling, hissing acid. As there was no known way to detect these beings save for the visual disturbance, there was no way to estimate the number of entities that remain within Cotiahold.
Whether these were the same entities that originally emerged or descendants of them was unknown. Though the buildings and works of art have been changed into something else, the meaning or purpose was unknown. Whether or not the tear between planes is still open was unknown.
An Impossible, Twisted Place
The interior of Cotiahold barely resembled what it once was - and many argued that, after so long in the consuming dark, it was unrecoverable and best forgotten. Despite this, the raw arcane power of some of the items retrieved from the depths made it a tempting target for who had proven themselves against all else Velos had to offer.
After all, what secrets could be left to discover?
As most did not return from trips into Cotiahold, only a few landmarks beyond those noted in The Devouring Dark were known.
Foolsgrave
The only even somewhat safe location within Cotiahold, Foolsgrave was once the mountainhome's agricultural district. Some remnant of the arcane lights that once enabled crop growth still functioned and kept the section bathed in murky half-light.
Here adventurers rested before plunging in once again - or saw to the dead lucky enough to leave a corpse. Though the undead were common enough in Foolsgrave, the larger threat came from the living: those who chose to prey on folk as they returned, weakened and unready.
A ruined temple to Raske marked the entrance to the Godsgarden, and the safest route deeper into Cotiahold.
Godsgarden
The grand temple to Raske the Builder marked the entrance to the Godsgarden. The temple itself had nearly completely fallen away by 2865ME, with only one small section of roof and wall remaining. Largely, it existed as cracked foundations and shattered stone benches, oddly untouched by the devouring gloom.
At the rear of the temple was a grand stairway, which descended into the statuary garden that gave the section its name. Grand sculptures and depictions of the Raskine pantheon were spread across several blocks, the paths between them overgrown with black, spiked vines. Many of the statues had been defaced or altered, rendering them nearly unrecognizable.
Curiously, the statues of several unknown deities were noted by Lady Boelegar - these alone were left without defamation.
Travelers were advised to travel alone through the Godsgarden, as the inhabitants of that section of the city often failed to take notice of singular individuals.
Following the main path through the Godsgarden would, eventually, lead one to the Grand Traverse - the circular roadway that served as Cotiahold's main artery.
The Grand Traverse
Wide enough for several carts to traverse abreast, even in death the Grand Traverse remained the best way to travel deep into Cotiahold. Large parts of the road were covered in debris - most of which did not appear to be from any stone local to Cotiahold.
Travelers along the Grand Traverse to keep their eyes down and count their steps, rather than attempting to see landmarks. The inhabitants along the Grand Traverse preferred not to be seen.
The Lighthouse
Two thousand and seventy steps and a traveler could see the Lighthouse in the distance. It was not advised to attempt to visit the lighthouse; there is no known safe route to it. When the night was quiet and the lighthouse was in sight, a distant ocean could be heard.
It marked the halfway point between the Godsgarden entrance and the Liar's Road exit.
Mercyward
Stretching upwards, three thousand steps from the Godsgarden was the Mercyward. A tangle of buildings gone cancerous, their growths stretching upwards into the infinite dark. Travelers were advised not to peer too highly up the Mercyward.
If necessary, travelers could safely rest within the first floors of the Mercyward, but must not give or offer aid. The inhabitants of the Mercyward were eager to offer their services to the wounded, and treat competition poorly.
Travelers who wished to reach the Grand Gallery were advised to cut through the Mercyward; on the fifth floor was a gore-encrusted path to the Butcher's Ward.
Butcher's Ward
Do not linger in the Butcher's Ward; the inhabitants are interested in you.
The most straightforwardly dangerous section of path to the Grand Gallery, the Butcher's Ward did not fit any known location within Cotiahold. Buildings of an odd, oily black stone twisted around each other, and the area expanded impossibly to either side.
In the Butcher's Ward, an alien sky was visible. The recorded constellations match no known stars.
The Butcher's Ward had no singular path through it, the buildings themselves moved as if alive. Travelers were advised to fix the Lighthouse at their back and move forwards until they could see the golden tile of the Liar's Road.
The Liar's Road
A final obstacle before arriving at the Grand Gallery, the Liar's Road was once a depiction of the Raskines' journey to Velos. It had been defaced, and depicted those same Raskines suffering at the hands of nigh-invisible, many-armed beings.
The Liar's Road, in physical length, could be crossed in less than a hundred strides. It rarely felt so quick. Travelers were advised to not trust anything they saw or heard; the inhabitants there wanted nothing more than to sway them from their path.
Gallery of Change
At the heart of Cotiahold, the Grand Gallery was transmuted into the Gallery of Change. Lady Boelegar's descriptions were few, and when questioned she stated she did not believe she had seen the truth of the Gallery.
Still, she offered some small hints of what it had become.
We saw the history of an impossible race, under a sun black as pitch. They were nothing like us; the world did not behave as it should. Unlike us, they left their gods; at least, that's what they want us to see. The question, with how much illusion magic lingered in the air, is why they want us to believe that particular tale.
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