Grand Mausoleum
History of the Grand Mausoleum
Pre-Historical Existence
According to legend, the Mausoleum began its life as an oracle: a deep cave on a high cliff that those in the deepest of grief would walk into, in search of answers. Invariably they returned without any further questions. Bardic historians in at least two traditions have suggested, without evidence, that the site of the Mausoleum was discovered by those in greatest despair that sought to cast themselves off the Throat on to the rocks below, but were called by curiosity (Yishanim tradition) or a literal call from the depths (Dwarven tradition) to investigate the cave at its summit.
Elvish Religious Settlement
At the end of the Spring Age, as those legends say, the Elvish settlement of Lyfgard, comprised of three towers and a central throne room, was erected. It is not understood why a settlement would exist there, though historians speculate it must have been a remarkably well funded religious community. The three-tower structure continues to baffle anthropologists, who can conceive of no reason why that inefficient and expensive structure would be designed by a fledgling community without external influence.Yishanim Citadel
At the end of the Summer Age, after the Fall of the Elves, the Yishanim took control of Lyfgard and began building between and around the ancient buildings with their own magic-infused concrete structures. According to Yishanim bardic lore surviving from the late Summer Age, the Old Ones found the structure sealed within the ebon granite walls and locked behind the sixty-foot Crystalline Gate: structures that had not stood there while the Elves lived. The lore suggests the otherworldly security measures may have been put there by Hell itself when it became clear their stewards had been exterminated by Sylvanas. There is no surviving lore suggesting how it was that the Yishanim managed to enter, though some early reliefs in the concrete do depict the gate and appropriately sized humanoids raising a number of offerings to the gate. The thirteenth such relief depicts the gate opening for the supplicant. In the fourteenth and final relief the supplicant is depicted with an unusual headdress inside the gates, and the other twelve are arrayed outside, facing outwards and now carrying long, thin spears. Adjacent to the successful supplicant, depicted two feet high, is a fifty-two foot high detailed relief of a monstrous bipedal entity with skeletal wings, four arms and a goat's skull. The Kindly Ones inform visitors that they understand the image to depict Lord Arcus, god and progenitor of the shinigami that populate and administer the Kingdom of Hell.War for the Citadel
After the extinction of the Yishanim created a power vacuum at the peak of the Throat, dedicated human disciples of Kelemvor, God of the Dead, armed themselves and took to the Mausoleum to prevent its perversion by infernal forces invading from Pandaemonium. The battle was a brutal and deeply unfair one given the complete air superiority of the infernal forces. Nevertheless, through some combination of numbers, the historically brilliant tactics of their leader, Vesper König, and timely success in opening the Crystalline Gates, the humans were successful. Historical accounts record that the infernal forces were unable or unwilling to ascend past the gates and were restricted to attempting to break through them with force and magic, without success. In the wake of the battle, the pilgrims tended to the many fallen and began the founding of Templeborne in support of the Necropolis that was required. In contrast to the Elvish and Yishanim populations that existed before, the new human occupants believed that no race had a monopoly on grief or a superior claim to intercession. Their care for the dead, their willingness to admit even their enemies and to argue on their behalf, and no small amount of fear has led to their common names being excessively flattering: the Kindly Ones, the Ladies and the Gentlemen, the Dear Friends. Those warriors that survived were treated with reverence and terror for the rest of their lives, having served in the vanguard of Hell and defeated the Lords of the Inferno. They remained in arms for the rest of their lives as a standing military company in the event the Infernal forces should make another assay against the Grand Mausoleum, ironically adopting for themselves the insult the Pit Lords had used to damn their names on the day of victory: droz'ohn-ka. The little leaf, the thing that weighs as much as a leaf, the thing that blows away in the wind. There is no historical evidence to support the common Corran superstition that the droz'ohn-ka are the same warriors today that they were at the dawn of the Winter Age, having been granted (or cursed with) immortality in gratitude for their service to Hell. The archaeological evidence to the contrary is clear and overwhelming that they are the only humans interred in the Grand Mausoleum itself, rather than the Necropolis below, and that they lie there to a soul.
Diplomatic Procedure
Any supplicant seeking to have Kindly Ones intercede on their behalf with the functionaries of Hell must first arrive in Templeborne: the only functional settlement maintained by the Kindly Ones and populated by their lower classes in service of the clerical class above. Through the rear gates of Templeborne, one comes upon the Necropolis and ultimately a stretch of blasted tundra before reaching the Throat: the impossibly steep and winding chalk-white cliff upon which the Grand Mausoleum is located.
At the peak of the Throat, the supplicants will be met by a group of clerks and stewards, who will usher them past the two companies of droz'ohn-ka that will stand guard during the intercession and through the Crystalline Gates -- assuming the supplicants still wish to proceed, which typically they do not. The supplicants then proceed through the Mausoleum with their dearest mortal treasure in tow (or, failing that, a proposal for Hell that they have reason to believe would attract the attention of the functionaries, potentates, lieutenants or gods of the realm). They meet their intercessor upon the Black Throne, make their case, and the intercessor then proceeds through the abyss into Hell to bring the request to the underworld.
Interference in Mortal Affairs
The Grand Mausoleum typically takes no interest in mortal affairs unless directed to by Hell itself. They do, however, maintain their troops in fighting order -- both their infantry and the elite droz'ohn-ka -- by loaning them out for extraordinary sums. Being concerned only with life and death taking their due measure according to the dictates of Destiny, they are generally unconcerned with whether or not the cause is just.
Type
Acropolis / Citadel
Black Keep
Crystalline Gates
Eastern Elvish Tower
Grey Keep
The Path
Southern Elvish Tower
Western Elvish Tower
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