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Gardens 0407 — The Vault Of A Kingdom’s Citizens
A low stone dome is partially covered by the root mass. On its surface,
a story in carven images:
A kingdom is in turmoil, beset by illness and an uprising by a
traitorous vassal. A wall is built by one-time allies, who refuse to
send aid. Nevertheless, a mighty king named Runalt works tirelessly to
protect his people from barbarism.
The forces of treachery make many attempts on his life — strangely
featureless assassins with knives, robed cultists who stand in water and
menace crops, knights wreathed in flame and insects. He survives them
all.
He meets with his most trusted advisors: a painter of great spiritual
dedication, an architect whose works make all cities radiant and
plentiful, a brave and well-traveled cartographer, and a scholar and
calligrapher whose wisdom is unmatched. Knowing that the traitors
conspire against them of jealousy, they work to rally the loyal
citizenry to Runalt.
Many existing cities are abandoned in an exodus to a new fortress
blessed by the favor of gods and the deeds of these great men. As the
traitors march on the fortress, it vanishes, leaving them to blame and
kill each other.
In a beautiful future, an exodus from the fortress returned to the
world: its citizens rebuild civilization now that the barbaric and
plague-ridden have killed each-other off, overseen by the same
king.
A spiral staircase leads into the dome from the top center, 100 floors
deep, each floor a vast square packed with bodies: the citizens of the
kingdom of Runalt. They await the order to return to the waking world.
Upper floors have some room to walk, while on lower floors the bodies
are stacked tight like firewood. There are untold thousands in the dark,
smelling of embalming fluid and paint thinner. Each week, if servants
are needed at Runalts castle or at some other site he wishes to control,
they are taken from here.
At the bottom of the staircase, a treasure chamber:
(as mythic horde in Luke
Gearing’s &treasure)
30,000 coins in coinage
25,000 coins in trade goods: 4000 coins worth of powdered spices, 8000
coins worth of ornamental seeds, 7000 coins worth of textiles, 6000
coins worth of ivory.
3 artefacts: a faerie boat of the river kingdom but bearing Runalt’s
colors, a Falcon Hood, and a Sun Amulet.
4 maps: one to the
city at the bottom of the top of the mountain, one to the
brine-eaten cathedral, one to the
sky-wizard’s tower, and one to a hoard in Catage itself. The latter
two are drawn up as plans of attack.
16 magic items: milk of kindness, wax of refusal, rat covenant, serpent
draught, nautilus-helm, welkin love potion x2, the bearskin, the
witness, 11 fever pearls, the sculptor’s medium, mosquito cloak, the
eager dose, inverse varnish, a matching set of thousand league plates,
misc goldsong elixir.
