CrownedSun/DeadSijan

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The City of the Dead

Most commonly reached by way of a funeral, the "City of the Dead" (as the Underworld city is commonly called by knowledable Sijanese) is quite different from it's living counterpart. The city is larger, more byzantine and confusing, filled with ghosts from all over the East. One of the few places in the Underworld where the green-tinged Contagion Dead do not overwhelmingly outnumber the recent Dead, Sijan is a 'livlier' and more active city in the Underworld as well. The Living City is devoted overwhelmingly to the solemn arts of the dead, and of passing, while the City of the Dead itself is devoted to growing rich and powerful off the dead -- either through robbing them as they leave the city, or providing them a location to live out their search for Lethe.

While the Funeary Order still rules over the city, the great masses of ghosts provide a place for a spirit to while away creation in nearly any manner he should wish. Northern Raiders have established grand feast halls where the food and drink never dies, while rows and rows of houses exist for those seeking pleasures available only to the Dead. The Nexus of the Underworld, Sijan is a place of opportunity and danger.

Yet, with the coming of the Deathlords, all that is in jeopardy.

Society of the Dead

the Funeary Order</b>

• <b>The Deathspeakers are the undisputed Masters of the City, the leaders of the Honorable Order and the sole dependable contact between the Living and Dead Cities. Junior members of the Observance are well-known and even reasonably common, but of the true Elders, little is known. Ancient Ghosts of the First Age, they are said to be heirs to great wisdom and power.
• Funerists and Mortwights serve as a kind of Noble class, above the common masses of Dead that swarm the streets of the city, but largely subserviant to the Deathspeakers. The Junior members of these dead Observances tend to the matters of everyday importance in the city, while their Seniors head the cities Byzantine Bureaucracy and hold the most practical power.
• Rumors speak of sinister Black Monks, deadly Ghostly Assassins in the service to the Funeary Orders. Very little, if anything, is known of them. Yet, occasionally, a Ghost disappears under mysterious circumstances in the Underworld and the Black Monks are commonly placed to blame. Most rumors place them as shadowy enforcers, while others say they secretly rule even the Deathspeakers.

The Populat</b>

• <b>The Adopted Dead are those that have bought into the Sijanese system, helping to 'serve' the dead as best as they are able -- usually for a price, but typically a fair one. While the Funeary Order provides many basic services, it is the Adopted that truely give the City its character. Most were Merchants in Life, many of the Guild, and thus fall easily into the routine...
• The Common Dead are the most common sight in Sijan, a soul that fell into the city and decided one way or another not to leave -- but instead to become a part of it's culture. Those who die 'in the know' can manage to avoid most of the taxes and set themselves up with a comfortable afterlife, while those who are caught off-guard by the merchantile nature of the Underworld typically adapt less quickly. Some exist on the very edge of becoming Lemures, but most learn the rules of the game fairly quickly (it's not really that much different from their lives).

The Lemures</b>

• Lowest of the low, the Lemures the homeless penniless ghosts. Some arrived to the fabled City of the Dead after their deaths elsewhere, and without Grave Goods nor useful skills to carry them, simply settled on the bottom of the cities culture. Others, bled dry by the Cities graft in their attempt to escape it, simply find themselves stuck forever at the bottom -- unable to pull themselves up. Most eventually find their way back to the Mourning Fields, haunting their tombs and existing pathetic half-deaths.

Notable Locations in the City of the Dead

• <b>the Black Citadel is the seat of the Funeary Order, an ancient structure that has long since been ground down and built over in the living world but still stands -- a massive keep of black stone, two towers reaching up into the cloud-filled sky of the underworld. Numerous rooms in various conditions ranging from pristine to crumbling fill the towers, and the halls in the lowest levels of the Citadel are almost maze-like in their path. Dating back to the First Age, the Citadel serves two primary functions. First, it provides the center for the Observances of the Order -- even the living members of the Funeary Order know of the Black Citadel, though they will most likely never see it until the day of their deaths when they are brought to the imposing structure for the first time. Secondly, it provides the most obvious link into the Catacombs that dwell under the city, though the one most tightly controlled by the Order.

• The Catacombs located beneath the city stretch out further than the city itself, filled with the stale stench of dead air and the bones of countless generations of forgotten dead. The Catacombs were already nearly filled when the City of the Dead was created around the Black Citadel, and only the most ancient of the Deathspeakers fully know their secrets. These tombs are the final destination of only a worthy few, most of them members of the Funeary Order themselves, for excavation of new tunnels is both dangerous and costly. Sometimes a new corpse is added to an already crowded section of the Catacombs, for most of the spirits of this area have already long since fled on to Lethe (or Oblivion). Some Crypts and all Mausoleums open up into the catacombs, and no few spirits use the Undercities as a means of transportation through the city, though they do so at their own risk. Sometimes Nephwracks are spotted in the far corners of the undercity, and some whisper that the darkest depths of the Catacombs extend into the Labryinth itself.

• the Mourning Fields, commonly called the Plains of the Dead in the Living World (to avoid confusion with the Shadowland outside of Lookshy), lie on the other side of the River Avarice (which is the only river of the Underworld that shares names with it's living counterpart, due to lore travelling between the two worlds). The Bridge of the Living, verboten to all Ghosts, lays crumbling and tottering -- sometimes disappearing entirely. Thus, all Ghosts traveling to and from the Fields use the Bridge of the Dead, a massive imposing structure of black stone. Busy at almost all hours, display of the proper corpus-brands (made with Moliation) is required to re-enter the city. Such brands can be bought for a small price (in Grave Goods) by the newly arrived dead. The Fields themselves are quite impressive, stretching out over the plains until they are lost to the eye itself, vast fields of graves and crypts piled on atop each other. Shadowlands are rare, but in places the Wall between the worlds has worn so thin that each bleeds into the other. Those few Shadowlands that do exist have all long since been salted over.

• the Necropolis Populi is a long plaza paved with black stone, in the center of which rests a few replanted trees from the Black Chase. Merchants and Peddlers line the extents of the plaza, offering grave goods and ritual offerings, while the most successful trade-shops open up into the Plaza beckoning the masses of the Dead to seek shelter and tranquility within. The Plaza also serves as the center of infrequent public meetings arranged by one Ghost or another, and is the site in which the Funeary Order makes all of its rare announcements and proclamations. For all the chaos, the extensive plaza is none the less the center of the Dead Cities culture and economy -- anyone who spends any amount of time in the city finds himself drawn there sooner or later.

• the Paths of Emptied Tombs are the common name for the main roads leading out of the city, due to the tendency of anyone who succeeds in getting to the end of the road to loose everything that was located in his tomb. Largest of these is the Via Mortuum, which leads directly from the Mourning Fields to the Cities South Gate, but others exist. Storefronts and shops line the roads, beckoning ghosts to remain behind in the City of the Dead. Guards and Taxcollectors are also frequent sights, for obvious reasons.
• the Golden Tomb is another relic of the First Age, a brilliant sweeping Tomb of Sculpted Gold, rising out over the low-lying buildings around it and sparkling in the lean Underworld daylight. Even at Night, when the clouds are thin, it seems to radiate unexpected light. Rumor is that this tomb was constructed by one of the Anathema for his beloved wife, though how it ended in the Underworld is unknown. Most posit that it was destroyed during the end of the First Age, when the Dragon-Blooded rose up against the Demon Princes. Others suggest that some natural effect of the Tomb brought it to this Dark Realm, and that in the right circumstances it might even be able to re-emerge into the living creation. Exploration is difficult by the fact that anyone who enters the Tomb (a difficult task in and of itself) is never seen again.

• the Wailing Rooms are a black-stone brick building maintained by the Funeary Order for the detainment of dangerous and criminal shades. Escapes are beyond rare, and the Wailing Rooms are located in the midst of one of the cities most prosperous regions. Processions of criminals being led to the Wailing Rooms from the Dungeons of the Black Citadel are infrequent, and it is also here that the Black Guard (the undead contingent of the living Sijan's guard) keeps its barracks. The Howling Rooms, however, are a different story, located in the 'slums' of the city where only the very poor (and a few well-off Lemures who stay in the city itself) remain. Now and again the Hungry Ghosts and Maddened Shades that exist within the walls of the Howling Rooms slip free, but they are always captured before they escape into any of the 'good' parts of town. Occasionally a bit of public protest against the practice of keeping Hungry Ghosts in confinement, instead of destroying them, raises but such dies down quickly enough. Exactly what the Funeary Order does with them, if anything, is unknown.

• House of Broken Dreams is a large three story building constructed from wood harvested from the Black Chase, the largest building located in the central Necropolis Populi of the city, and it is here where the Funeary Order offers it's own unique goods and services to the recently dead and anyone else with a wish in achieving them. These services can range from contact with living relatives, assistance in reaching the living world and surviving there, revenge on foes, prophecy and astrological readings, and even stranger feats only whispered of. Even entering the House has its price, however, and the services themselves can only be brought with Artifacts or promises of a reciprocal favor. Few who go back on the Funeary Order's payment survive the experience, and in any case are never again allowed to deal with the Order.

Interesting Personages in Sijan

Leaders of Sijan</b>

• <b>Deathspeaker Dalas Payle is one of the younger members of his Observance, and the most commonly encountered by those in Sijan. Master of the House of Broken Dreams, he oversees the actions there and ultimatly arranges all of the services that are purchased within the House. Not that he performs them all himself, but he is the broker for the rest of the Order in such acts. He has also assumed something of a represenative nature within his Observance, making pronouncements and meeting with important visitors. While he is almost certainly fairly low in the hierarchy, his very approachability has given him a certain status all its own.

• Funerist Tirithan, widely proclaimed as the 'leader of the Funeary Order', is more commonly known by those within the Order as the Master of the Citadel and it is a task that he takes carefully. He is a tough and grim-faced man, with shrunken cheeks and a cold harsh voice, dressed in dark black robes and wearing the silver bracers of the Order. Any who step foot into the Black Citadel learn to respect and fear its master, as he dogs the steps of the careless -- those who anger him are found hanging from the highest tower, their corpus dull and gray. He is said to be a master Martial Artist, with access to many strange and powerful Arts, and most suspect him to be of a most ancient vintage. None the less, anyone who has buisness within the Black Citadel usually comes face to face with its black-clad master eventually.

• Mortician Aldis Nerin is perhaps one of the most well-known names in Sijan, a Hero of the Second Age, who helped to keep the Realm from conquering the River Province during the early days after the Great Contagion. While technically a member of the Mortwights Observance, Aldis holds enough influence and esteem in the city to rival that of the more potent Deathspeakers -- not to mention an extensive Ancestor Cult in the living world, which spreads across the East. One of the cities foremost defenders, he has not faded away in death; he still keeps his blade at his side and his sharp words are as dangerous in death as they were in life.

• Deathseaker Kraala has always existed in Sijan, since the earliest memories of any of its inhabitants. Once, she might have walked the streets more openly but in these days she seldom strays from the Halls of the Black Citadel or the depths of the Cities Catacombs. Never the less, especially in matters of official buisness within the Order, her name is occasionally raised -- usually in a final, "Kraala has made a decision on this matter" kind of way. Those honored enough to catch a glimpse of the reclusive Deathpseaker speak of a pale skinned beautiful woman, cloaked in darkest robes with gleaming silver bracers, whose very eyes beckon silence and whose hands were quick and nimble.

The Populat</b>

• <b>Sickle fills a very...niche...position within the economy of Sijan, namely that of punishment. There exist, now and again, those who are so overcome with guilt and remorse (or so they say) that they expect to be punished by the Heavens upon their deaths. While the Heavens makes no such arrangements, as far as anyone knows, Sickle is more than happy to comply. He has a small buisness, but one full of repeat customers, who enjoy all manner of pains. Much more substantial, however, is his work in 'Freelance Hell for Hire'; usuaully inflicted on whatever poor son of a bitch his customer can bring before him. He can even help in the retrival of such folk, if the price is good enough. Such unfortunates are turned over to the Deathlords afterwards, fodder for the Forges.

• Willow Lain, formerly a Guild Ma`am in Nexus, continues to the tradition in Sijan -- the plump older woman maintains a House of the Dead where any wealthy shade can enjoy the rest of his eternity draped in finery, comfort and pleasure. The cost of such comforts are not inconsiderable, however, and typically only rich nobles and Barbarian Tribesmen (ancestor worship makes for very wealthy ghosts) can afford such treament for very long. A few have paid the exhorbant price required to live in the House of Willow Lain full time. In addition to such things, however, Willow Lain maintains what she feels is an important act for the city -- 'adopting' young and beatiful spirits with little else to offer the city, paying the relevent fees and taxes for them, and turning them into worthy members of society...as attendents in her House.

• Princess Alafair arrived in Sijan upon a black funeary barge, the Princess of one of the Hundred-Kingdoms, sent off to the City of Tears for a proper and respectful funeral. By all accounts, the service was poignant and beautiful, and all who attended (including most of her family, who arrived shortly after the arrival of the funeary barge) were greatly touched. Alafair Do`Kor's arrival in the underworld was just as spectactular, though for different reasons. Typical of these was her exit across the Bridge of the Dead, when someone attempted to convince her that if she wished to leave the Mourning Fields she would have to part with some of her grave goods. When he failed to move aside, the unlucky tax collector was sliced neatly in twain. Since then, the Princess has spent most of her time preaching against the excesses of the city -- most suspect that it is only a matter of time before she is struck down by the Black Monks, but she shows no fear of such phantoms.

Other Sijanese</b>

• <b>Odkyl Wavewhisperer is a true rarety in the City of the Dead, for he is still among the living. He arrived in the Underworld through a long trek through the Black Chase, paying for his way into the city with silver. The story of his arrival has passed, slowly, through the city. A Nexus Mercenary, off fighting in foreign wars throughout the Shadowlands. A woman, Helena, whose beauty shone greater than the stars and the moon. How they found each other, and then were ripped apart by unkind fate and war. Him, injured and her dead -- sent off to Sijan by her parents, for they could not afford a proper funeral for her and knew that she would be treated kindly by the Sijanese. Slowly, still recovering, he moved over the expanse of the East, until he reached the City of Tears -- finding her grave, and being visited by her Spirit. Nearly a month has passed since his arrival in the Lands of Death, and most of his time is spent wandering up the streets and corners of Sijan, calling out for his lost love. Slowly, he grows more pale and drawn, as the Underworld and the Grief slowly saps at his strength.