The Shrine of Seventy-Thousand Swords

"We do not deal in winners and losers here, Mr. Faircrest. You did not 'lose,' you were brought to justice. The justice of your captors. You were a bad boy who got caught. Your actions hurt others.
To ask pity of me shows you have not done your homework. I will never pity a self-obsessed man child who uses others for 'purpose' and 'power.' That's true weakness. Hope we judge that your city was correct in their prosecution. I will be far less charitable to you." -- Zealot Rhone Antwill upon the prosecution of Kane Faircrest (Late 435 P.D.)

Seventy-Thousand Swords - The Mountain of Unknown Scars

The scent of rust permeates the air at the midsection of the Glint Valley. The scent of The Shrine of Seventy-Thousand Swords draws a familiar memory: blood. There they are, piled and discordant, forming a mountain that competes disgustingly with the verdant mountainsides on its flanks. The famous shrine juts straight skyward at the mound's apex. The precise design of the shrine speaks the code of the community: Order. Stood proud and set atop madness.   

The ongoing Singularity Crusade has spread across the entirety of Northern Moroam, bringing with it the rule of the Aomian League and their God of Unity. Through the ensuing cascade, Aom's followers have quashed out the elements of other ideologies in favor of their lord's absolute worship. The collective demise of minor local gods are the fanaticizing fuel that drives the Singularity Crusade forward. To the crazed masses, roped too deeply into the collective hallucination to recognize many common rights, there is no greater joy than to stretch Aom's love. 
That is why The Shrine of Seventy-Thousand Swords is surprising in the context of the League. It not only holds against the tide, it controls the ebb and flow. For not even the Singularity Crusade dares attack or bother itself with The Shrine of Seventy-Thousand Swords. The unique place is too useful for the world to damage.
Far in the northeast of Moroam The Shrine of Seventy-Thousand Swords resides hidden at the midpoint of the Glint Valley nestled between the fair-weathered Calmplane Mountains. It is a transient space, one of those spots where everything except the wind keeps quiet. Quiet that is filled with a feeling of something eerie, some past-danger, something holy. The Shrine is named after a mysterious cache of swords discovered over 100 years ago by a group of Primuscian exiles that fled from Aom. 
The Primuscians, known bluntly as 'Zealots,' immediately assigned great significance and importance to the site. There, they constructed a place of worship for Primus at the peak of the fake mountain. All of this happened to great excitement by the Primuscians, who took it upon themselves to uncover the secrets of the pile. For one, the swords, while old, contained a shockingly low amount of rust. The swords each held an intact edge as well, leading to numerous lacerations for the scaling Zealots. 
The mound of swords was given its name by the Zealots. Over the next 100 years they built another symbol of worship to their god: a grand courthouse. Deeming the mound as an allegory to the pointlessness of war and crime, the Zealots began offering judicial and legal services to any who had the need-- no matter how far away they may be.
But this was not simple consultations or the aid of extremely proficient lawyers; this was for nations, leaders, and the most heinous of criminals. The Zealots stockpile the world's legal codes and create their own based on the collective. The code they create, known as "Sonnerand International Legal Doctrine" is meant to serve as a fair and unbiased judging system for international crime, war crimes, and any crime too unique or unmanageable by a single city or nation. This was something Sonnerand had lacked since the Dematalyst, and almost every sovereign state was and remains thankful for the Zealots for creating the Doctrine, including the Aomian League. 
Therefore, despite being a site of worship to Primus-- a god who fundamentally opposes the greediness of Aom-- and despite being situated firmly in Aomian territory, The Shrine of Seventy-Thousand Swords remains comfortably unbothered. 
The Shrine has another claim to fame, though one that is much less utilized in the context of the world. Zealots did extensive research into the pre-history of Glint Valley. They discovered that the site was called Zharjevva, and opted to give the mound of swords the same name. They also discovered a large number of the swords composing Zharjevva were legendary Shariki blades.

Shariki Blades

Only a handful of these blades have ever even been seen outside of The Shrine of Seventy-Thousand Swords. They are five and a half foot long blades with a dramatic C-shaped curve at the upper foot of the blade. This curved section, called the 'Twex,' is double-sided and gets its name for the crescent moon-shaped cutting edge on the backside of the blade. 
The durability and strength of a Shariki blade outmatches other swords many times over, so many times over in fact that the blades could practically be called magic items. So honed, strong, and sharp is the edge of a Shariki blade that is has the ability to slice through solid stone, and slice other swords clean in half. 
At The Shrine of Seventy-Thousand Swords, the Zealots both train exclusively with Shariki blades and are the world's only known crafters of the sword, with only five individuals ever knowing the secret techniques of forging the weapon. 
The preferred method of Zealot execution is decapitation via the Shariki's Twex.

Demographics

The four-hundred mostly-human Zealots serve as the Shrine of Seventy-Thousand Sword's only caretakers, enforcers, and permanent residents.

Government

The Shrine is a Forbidden City. Zealot Rhone Antwill serves as the senior-most member, and therefore holds the distinct responsibility for being the final word on all Shrine goings-on. Power and authority are essentially equal among the Zealots of the Shrine. A cabal of fourteen Zealots serve as the inner brain of the Shrine, they are known as 'Judges,' and handle any foreign affairs, sentencing, and higher-level issues in the Shrine.

Defences

A twenty-foot ramparted wall rims the mound of swords. It is made of uranium reinforced with iron rebar and braces. In the center of the wall, a two-inch thick layer of Unravel Stone ensures that the wall repels any would-be magic attack. All 400 inhabitants of the Shrine are fighters capable of matching the champions of the world's armies should the need arise.

Industry & Trade

Along with accepting criminals for prosecution, judgement, and execution, the Shrine of Seventy-Thousand Swords provides a service that every great nation on Sonnerand benefits from: International Law. The Zealots use cases brought in from all across the land to serve as a basis for their legal codes. Likewise, sovereign states are eager to use Zealot code because of its impartiality, evidence-based reasoning, and detail. 
Running in tandem with this, producing the International Law for Sonnerand over the past 100 years has allowed the Shrine to also begin producing comprehensive world histories. These world histories are very dry and are steeped in legal code and precedent. However, they serve as one of Sonnerand's only sets of Dematalyst-to-Present historias and as a result they are commonplace in the libraries, universities, and courthouses of most nations.
And, on rare occasions indeed, the legendary Shariki swords serve as cherished relics only given to the world's most just and deserving.

Districts

General

The Shrine of Seventy-Thousand Swords is a closed settlement. The space itself is less of a city and more of a huge pile of rusted metal with a wall around it, along with a number of rustic dwellings for the Zealots. Traders and wanderers do not and can not simply enter the Shrine. Instead, access is only given to those who join the Zealots, have a Writ of Entrance from a participating city, or are there to be prosecuted.

Prime Court

This enormous courthouse is by far the largest building at the Shrine, and could, in many ways, constitute as the actual "shrine" part of the Shrine of 70000 Swords. Like many of the grandest sites of worship in Sonnerand, this temple to Primus, God of Order and Law, is a functional. The entirety of the Prime Court is about the size of two Dellwind city blocks, and it takes an average of 12 minutes to cross the entirety of the structure. There is only one court within the Prime Court-- and it has the same name as the structure, serving as the ultimate epicenter of Primus worship and judicial doling.
A handful of offices are reserved for the fourteen Judges of the Zealots. No one judge holds power over the others, so each office room is fashioned in the same efficient capacity. The building also contains the Shrine's mess, an infirmary, armory, and reliquary. The building is guarded at all hours of the day throughout the year. Non-Zealots are absolutely forbidden from entering, and the penalty for doing so is a swift death at the hand of a Zealot.

Zealot Housing

The one-story two-room dwellings of the Zealots are the Shrine of Seventy-Thousand Sword's only residential buildings, and of those only about 140 exist. The buildings are build into the wall surrounding the Shrine. Most buildings are made of the same stone and iron as the wall, but those situated closer to the interior use wood with iron bracing.
The homesteads of the Zealots are as fiercely guarded and protected as the Prime Court. This is because the Zealots have a staunch code for dealing with potential outsider arrogance: trespassing and stealing being chief concerns. For this reason, unauthorized access to the Zealot Housing units carries the same penalty as the Prime Court: death.

Zharjevva [Jar-Yae-Va], Mound of Swords

Using the old name of the long-gone settlement that stood here before the Mound, Zharjevva is that title bestowed upon the mass of rusted and jumbled swords which the settlement is built around. Records of Zharjevva can be found from the tumultuous first decades after the Dematalyst. The mound has been tempered and adjusted by the Zealots. A sharpened stairway leads to the top of Zharjevva. There the Zealots have also fashioned an altar to Primus that is occasionally littered by the written pleas for justice and order written by both the Zealots and the rare petitioner. Zealots only allow ascensions of outsiders by means of a "Writ of Entrance" bestowed by many cities that work directly with the Shrine.

Assets

The Shrine of Seventy-Thousand Swords is an asset in of itself-- a landmark that has, moreso than anything else, defied the animosity between the ATSQC and Aomia. The judicial services of the Zealots are used when cities lack the knowledge, space, or care to judge their own citizens. The Zealots also take in the world's worst criminals for judgement and (more often) execution-- something everyone appreciates getting their hands clear of.
The far more tangible asset the Zealots yield are their functional swords. The Shrine of Seventy-Thousand Swords is the only place in the world where the legendary Shariki blades are forged. These blades are notable for their staggering quality, being able to easily cut through even chunks of rock. Shariki forging techniques are a secret guarded at a blood price.

Guilds and Factions

Zealots - Every resident of the Shrine is a Zealot. The have no grander term or title. They are simply "Zealots;" if asked what these people are zealots of they would dryly reply 'the law.' Thirty Zealots act as the jury during any court proceeding.  
Judges - Fourteen of the most respected and senior Zealots are allowed the honor of serving as judges. These men and women take their jobs extremely seriously. They act as tie-breakers in the astoundingly rare event of a hung jury.
Shariki Smiths - Only five zealots are ever hand-selected to serve as the smiths for the legendary Shariki blades. These five members all hold unique roles as well-- and only when a senior member dies does a new role get filled. If a senior member is incapable of working, they are honorably slain by a Zealot to perserve the secrecy of the forging techniques.

1. Head Smith - Oversees the project, finalizes.
2. Folder - Hammers and shapes the metal.
3. Heat Maintainer - Maintains optimum forge temperature at all times.
4. Ore Gatherer - Manages amounts of ore, flux, and other materials.
5. Aid - Fills quench barrels, polishes anvil, misc. tasks.

History

Various trade manifests and raiding documentation from the tempestuous first century Post-Dematalyst list a smithing village of "Zharjevva" as a somewhat poor area without much to offer. It's no wonder that, after about year 60, the village received no other mention.
It is impossible to say what broke Zharjevva, but break it did. Like so many other towns, like so many other people, the town was simply left out of history-- the warring wizards of the time content to make the story all about them. By 110, maybe a handful of individuals remembered visiting the site in their youth. By 125, the location was forgotten.
Jumping forward over 100 years, the region know known as Aomia had endured a battering the likes of which seldom other places in the world could attest to. Events such as the War of the Shorecarving had turned the regions Western coastline to the newly formed ATSQC. In the year 290 an Aomian prophet, Dianora of the One, led a peaceful coop of Tu'Trellia and renamed the location to "Aom" after her newly-revealed god of the same name. This coop and rebranding, while initially peaceful, was the start of Aomia now-infamous religious ignorance.
Following the coop, the holy members of Tu'Trellia's many faiths were given the option to convert to Aom's teachings or face exile from the city. Unsurprisingly, those dedicated to Primus, the God of Law, Order, and Justice, did not take kindly to the demands. But these people, the Zealots, were woefully outmatched to halt the theocratic homogenization. The entire congregation instead matched out of the city in an event that is still kept covered-up by the officials of Aom known as "The Eviction of Law."
For two years following their exile, the Zealots processed from town-to-town, offering clerical and judicial services wherever they went. This was a service that was heavily needed in 290, as many of the most powerful now-states of Aomia lacked strong judicial process. The Zealots did not adhere to borders either. They also took their services to the ATSQC where they served stints in Dellwind and Pointe Royale.

The actual discovery of the Shrine of Seventy-Thousand Swords was not expected. By the end of their second year in exile (1000 days on Sonnerand) the Zealots were traveling to north-eastern Moroam; a place that had, due to the course of history, become largely abandoned and filled with ghosts. This land, known as Faeerien, was the site of Zharjevva. While walking though a pass between the Calmplane Mountains known as the Glint Valley, the Zealots arrived at Zharjevva-- though the village was unrecognizable.
Only the foundations remained to mark the place had ever been inhabited, but that hardly drew attention. Instead, the Zealots were taken in by the sight of tens of thousands of blades- each over a century old but mostly free of rust- stacked over 400 feet tall in the middle of the valley.
The Zealots took great meaning out of the mound at once. Here, in a corner of the world thought forgotten and exiled by man, the Zealots found the testimate to what could only have been a monumental battle with thousands upon thousands of soldiers.
Who were they? Why had they fought? Had it been worth it?
No one remembered who these people were-- who forged the swords. The mound was a mystery. To the Zealots it was a marked reminder of the futility of war, the hubris of conflict and the impermanence of those who bring strife and battle. To the Zealots it was fitting that the swords and their owners be unknown-- there would be no justice or liberty for the blades, nor the souls of their wielders. They thought it Primus showing them a sign, a meaning.
The reason why the blades were all piled up is still unknown, and the Zealots intend to let the mystery be one that goes unsolved. The beauty and, indeed, holiness of the Shrine of Seventy-Thousand Swords is that, even moreso than the Arcanist Seared Badlands, it shows the awesome impact of hate, of brutality. It showed the result of lawlessness, the burden every person carries when justice and order are abandoned. The Shrine is but a glimpse, a small warning of true chaos and disorder. It is a mirror into the barbarism the world finds itself tipped at the cusp of. It is a sign to those who arrive, it is also a sign of respect to the nameless-- that is, without each other, without direction, we are all unknown.

Points of interest

The Shrine of Seventy-Thousand Swords is a spectacle to even approach. The mound can be seen from over a mile away, and ascending the metallic steps is a dream of any follower of Primus. For someone lucky enough to be given access to the Shrine, just about everywhere you look offers up a unique sight or intimate view into Primuscian rites.

Tourism

You don't want to be a tourist at the Shrine. If you are, it likely means you've been prosecuted for a serious crime that your local judicial center did not want to deal with-- or deemed your problem too unique to be solved by its legal code. 
Prisoners are the most often outside visitors to the Shrine. Once processed and inside, many prisoners are given unrestricted access to the Shrine-- with the exception of trespassing into private residences and the Prime Court. 
Many prisoners go about the act of ascending Zharjevva, climbing seen as an act of atonement and penance. It's said that anyone who can climb Zharjevva without getting cut is innocent in the eyes of Primus.

Architecture

Prime Court is the only architecturally significant building. The structure is out-of-place in the tranquil valley and small dwellings. It is a hugely impressive building bedecked in columns and beveled domes. The design is like clockwork in its angular precision. This is made even more noticeable inside, where certain ceiling fixtures-- like fans-- run on cog-and-gear movements. The court room itself has trimmings and fixtures of gold and brass.

Geography

Situated in a valley, the Shrine of Seventy-Thousand Swords enjoys protection from the mountains on either side of it. The Shrine's wall does not damn the five streams that cut though the site. 
These streams are called:

• Moonstone Stream (Used for drinking water)
• Prima Stream (The prettiest stream)
• Tu'Tra Stream (The stream by the Prime Court)
• Little Pink Brooke (Named for the pink-hue of the water)
• Perimeter Creek (That runs along the wall)

Climate

Glint Valley
The Glint Valley is situated between the Calmplane Mountains. As the name would imply, these mountains are pleasantly temperate and fair. The Glint Valley itself is named after various protrusions of moonstone and sodium crystal that tend to reflect and glow in sunlight and moonlight. The valley receives little rain but is fed by a diaspora of brooks and streams that keep the region fertile and green. That is not true in winter, when massive amounts of snowfall suddenly shift into Faeerien from Erfitt. The Shrine of Seventy-Thousand Swords has a record snowfall of just over 56 inches.

Natural Resources

Though unconfirmed, it is heavily suggested that Shariki blades are crafted by some special ore the Zealots receive from the Calmplane Mountain's interior.

Founding Date

292 P.D.

Alternative Name(s)

Steel Mountain/Mt. Steel. Swordgrave. Zharjevva, the Forge City.

Population

400

Inhabitant Demonym

Zealots

Location under

Aomia

Owner/Ruler

Zealot Rhone Antwill

Additional Rulers/Owners

• The Zealots of Rememberence

Ruling/Owning Rank

Rememberencer Zealot