Hamish's Crypts
In the time of Good King Justinian, and the Times of Good Works, some few of the short-lived humans remained aware and fully cognizant of the part their ancestors played in the atrocities Elven Purge. Hamish's Crypts is one individual's idea of an erstwhile apology; a temple and monument created to honor the elvish dead from the area. Most of the slaughtered elves had been buried in mass graves; none of them with any type of identification. As the forests and fields grew back, covering and hiding the scars and filth left upon the land during such a time of madness, even these gravesites were lost to Humanity. Or, maybe, they were 'forgotten' on purpose; shame is easier hid, than faced. In any case, as time went on and people forgot their guilt and shame, and as new farms began to sprout up all over the place, these shallow graves were suddenly brought to light. A monk of the church of Waukeen, Hamish Skaalder by name, then began the task of burying and honoring the dead. With no way to put families together, or even most times an entire body's skeleton (the human's destruction was fierce and thorough), Hamish had the thought to begin cleaning the bones, and lining the defunct smuggler's tunnels underneath the former site of the Elves' forest city by the sea, Paxandar. He took to this task with the single minded purpose all clergy possess, and by the end of his long, long life, had lain close to a million slaughtered elves to rest in a catacomb that has since become known as Hamish's Crypts. Laid in honor upon a bier of birchwood by his human brethren, Hamish's body was unexpectedly taken by a group of Elvendom's elders, and lovingly laid to rest amidst the ancient bones of the catacombs he so dutifully, and religiously, built. The Elves left the area without speaking to a single human after Hamish was interred. Nobody blamed them; elves' live long lives, and these elves in particular were exceptionally old...they were alive during the Elven Purge. The land above Hamish's Crypts was resettled many times, eventually (an eon or so later) coming to be known as Hammingburg in the ensuing centuries. It has stayed a focal point of trade and commerce in the area, but it had never been resettled. This out of superstition mayhaps, but be that as it may, it is now a modest town of nine hundred souls, give or take, and the millions of bones that lay below them are never even thought of, anymore. Time hides all wounds from the outside, but deep scars never truly heal.
Purpose / Function
To lay to rest, and honor, the dead slain during the Elven Purge.
Design
Winding, and very narrow in some places; it was not so much 'designed', as 'revealed'. The elves of Paxander dropped en masse, falling where they stood, sat, worked or played. A million and more souls, gone in the blink of an eye.
Entries
The entries to Hamish's Crypts have been lost for generations.
Sensory & Appearance
Close to the ancient entrances to the crypts, it is rumored that there are candles lining certain cubbies and corners. Candles left by brave teenagers as they crept into the crypts on dares, or to impress their lady friends. One can see exactly how far they got, over the years, because when the candle shrines stop, the skeletons begin. It is conjectured that this is why the entrances were covered over, and 'lost' to the deeps of time.
Denizens
Just the poor, dead elves slain during the purge. They were the original denizens of this part of the world.
Contents & Furnishings
There is a single shrine, dedicated to the dead, reading;Here it is that Hamish the monk interred all of the dead he could find.
So, to, remember and honor the fallen; for they outnumber the now living.
So, to, perhaps, shall our great sin be, somehow, forgiven.
Perhaps.
Valuables
Many of the elves were buried in their cloaks, which hold properties of stealth and were not at all trusted by humans, who thought they had 'dark elfin magic' on them.
Hazards & Traps
It is unknown if the catacombs are safe any longer.
Alterations
There have been some tectonic events, so no one expects them so still be viable. Some of the walls must have collapsed, and anyway, no one knows where the entrance even is, and the Unified Kingdoms of Greysilt seem content to let it stay thataway.
Architecture
A series of natural caves and tunnels under the surface of where Hammingburg now stands. Standard catacombs are constructed of the bones and skulls of the honored dead. There are rooms, walled and furnished with creations made from stone, that Hamish built in places where basements or other subterranean structures once stood. The attention to detail is stunning, in these creations, and each works flawlessly as whatever implement it is made to be. A bone flute sounds loud and true; a bone chair seats one comfortably and at the perfect height. Bone swords are sharpened to a razor's edge. Walls, floors...in some cases, even pilings...have been made from bone. There were a lot of bones. For the most part, the catacombs are not so much piled bones, as they are revealed remains. Hamish dug down into the ground of Tellus, exposing the dead so that they could be properly grieved and interred here, at their final resting place. In many cases, a pile of bones represents an entire family, who had perhaps been at dinner, before their life force was ripped from them and they were cast down into darkness.
Defenses
Hamish worked many clever, some even downright devious, traps into his work of grand atonement.
Tourism
There has never been any tourism to these crypts, that the chronicler is aware of.
RUINED STRUCTURE
4406
4406
Founding Date
4205
Type
Catacomb
Parent Location
Included Locations
Environmental Effects
It is very cool, bordering on chilly, even on the hottest summer days.
Related Plots
The Narthex
Comments