Bādaw Monument

The Bādaw Monument is the only intact example of a number of similar structures discovred by Tāyas āng Harig. It can be seen in the outskirts of Bādaw, a ruined city in the realmshard of Mitlac, situated near the Rasp.

Purpose / Function

Although the original purpose of the Bādaw Monument is not known for certain, evidence suggests that the towering structure was meant to serve as a monument to either gods or guardian spirits that protect borders. Indeed, one of the mysteries surrounding the city of Bādaw is the lack of a perimeter wall. Conventional wisdom suggests that such a large and evidently prosperous city would have need for defenses against covetous neighbors, but the lack of any extant fortifications or even traces thereof has confounded scholars.
The Bādaw Monument is one of a number of similar structures placed some substantial distance apart. It is believed that these monuments would have been used by the Bādawya civilization in lieu of stone walls, potentially as part of a large-scale defensive spell that would have surrounded the city in its heyday.
The outline of the structure resembles a humanoid being with a head, a torso, six arms, and four legs that are planted on the ground at the four corners of a square. The "hands" of the depicted being grasp what appear to be thick cables that would ostensibly have been strung from one structure to the next. Indeed, while some of these cables have been severed and are hanging loosely from the monument, three remain attached to the collapsed remains of the two other similar structures nearest to it.
This superficial similarity of the structure to the humanoid body plan suggests that the structure was built as a monument to a god or a guardian spirit of sorts. As it seems that each of the structures similar to the Bādaw Monument would have been connected to its two neighbors by the cables that it holds in its hands, it suggests that the city would have been surrounded by a perimeter of these structures before its ruin, further evidence that the structures served a defensive purpose. From this, it is conjectured that the monument, and other structures like it, were built to honor the gods or guardian spirits that protected the borders of the city.

Architecture

The architecture of the Bādaw Monument is dramatically different from the rest of the structures in the city. It is constructed of steel beams arranged in a geometric fashion to best support the weight of the structure while using the least material possible.

Type

Arcade

Parent Location

Mitlac