The King's Catacombs

"Humans place much respect upon those that end up in the catacombs, but Felumbra once told me that material rulers aren't often as pure as people perceive" - Vequaniel, Supreme Lexiconist of the Heavens

In the forest of the theoretical border between the The Free Cities of Palanthas and The Stormtide Kingdom, on the very western base of The High-Vale Mountain Range, lies a very well guarded entrance to an ancient tomb. This burial site houses the remains of royalty, kings and queens of history all the way to Rike Kelbourn, the First King of Ansalon.
The crypt is these days guarded by The Paladin Order. While the work may these days seem dull and uneventful, the paladins consider it a great honor. Visitors may pay their respects and pray at the altars to Astair and Martha, but the paladins will not open the doors to the inner sanctum except on the occasion of a king or queen's death. Inside the inner sanctum are three different sectors accessible from the main foyer, where a statue of king Rike Kelbourn oversees the burial halls and his own coffin in the center of it all.
These three sectors are each dedicated to a different kingdom. To the south lies the most expansive burial hall of them all, the one dedicated to Kelbourn's own legacy, the rulers of Palanthas. Almost every single king and queen of the Free Cities has been buried here. As most of them embraced the ways of the holy order of Astair, the entrance to the hall is decorated with the golden shield of the paladin order.
Across from that, to the north, rest the kings of The Stormtide Kingdom. Or at least, some of them. This hall is the most recently built, and the only addition from the original construction. The crypt was created during a time when both Stormtide and Palanthas were united as one kingdom, and those monarchs are buried in the previous hall. Since then, the people of the Stormtide Bay Area liberated themselves and created their own kingdom. At first the new kingdom wanted nothing to do with the catacombs and instead cremated their dead on a funeral pyre, but during times of peace some monarchs warmed up to the idea of being buried in these esteemed halls. These days it is definitely more common that the Stormtide rulers follow their own local tradition, but those that were on good terms with Palanthas kings and perhaps fought alongside them in battle may choose to go against that.
To the east from the grand statue and deeper into the mountain, in the smallest of all the halls, lie three dwarven rulers. These dwarves lived during the times of Kelbourn and were extremely loyal to him, and despite the fact that they already have many prestigious halls deep underground for their deceased royalty, agreed to also be buried in his catacombs as gestures of respect. Since then the dwarves defaulted back to their own traditions.

Alternative Names

The Catacomb of Kings

Type

Catacomb

Parent Location

The High-Vale Mountain Range