The
Angel’s Burial Ground (Mountaintop suburb of Infinigrad).
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| Map of the suburb. |
Overview of the suburb:
The Angel’s Burial Ground is a converted sanatorium, sprawling
alongside one of the last remaining mountain ranges not destroyed by Infinigrad
endless expansion. Towers of multi-coloured marble, smooth finished and organic.
A multitude of arches, round doors and windows. These are populated with
angels, a raceoid fond of high places and clear air.
The suburb’s famous whispering winds are rumored to bring
messages from the gods. Pray and ask for
guidance in high places here and you might hear a reply. Eons ago, patients and
doctors alike would plead with the winds for cures. The winds can be violent
though. Many have been sent over the edge of their place of prayer into
oblivion from a powerful gust. It is assumed that those who suffered this fate
asked questions that angered the gods.
When
first visiting the streets of The Angel’s Burial Ground one might think them
choked with a multitude of winged statues. These are in fact the calcified or crystal
coated corpses of long dead angels. When death comes for angels their bodies
are submitted to some secret ritual that preserves their perfect forms.
Sometimes these are gilded, bejewelled and costumed but often they are left
bare. Always they are used to decorate the streets and buildings of the suburb
Local Landmarks:
The Stairs of Silk.
Once white marble public staircase hundreds of stairs high and
wide enough for six men abreast. The huge bannisters are carved as to be
flowing clothe and curtains. Great holes are bored into these bannisters and
black iron chains are hung from them. Dead and dying beaked-men infested with
black and grey scales wallow in these chains (AC 14, d6HD@d6, Claws: d4
x 2.). They plead to be released or claim they are doctors from clattering
black beaks. They will lunge at any one who gets close enough and attempt to
rend and devour their flesh.
The Stairs of Light.
A dark purple marble public staircase hundreds of stairs high and
wide enough for four men abreast. The railing is lined with tens of ornate
lightning contraptions, sparking energy from the air around it and lighting the
way up or down the stairs. Hung from these lanterns are a myriad of ancient
necklaces, rotting and rusted. They appear to have once been magical but now
drained of all power.
The Stairs Down The Mountain.
A dark purple marble public staircase that winds deep down into
the bowels of the purple mountains. It is hundreds of stairs high and wide
enough for two men abreast. The bannisters were once adorned with the
engravings of fish and snakes, but this has been chipped away and destroyed over
the eons. Dark rubble coats the stairs. d6 storm angels (AC14, d8@d6,
An axe in each hand: d8 x 2) loiter on the stairs and generally don’t
let anyone into their mountain roost without a good reason.
The Foul Scale Lake.
An enormous dome of wrought iron caging covers this black, scum-coated
lake. Branches of eon dead calcified
trees poke out of the fetid water. Squirming through the water, trapped in
their iron cage is an entire town of Scaled Men. Though the cage is all-encompassing,
there are clear bends and breaks in the metal. The water of the lake drains
into building 28, through a thick metal mesh, and back down the gullet
of the mountains, where the cage terminates against the purple stone.
The Bridge of Healing.
This smashed and rotting bridge is contained within the cage of
The Foul Scale Lake. It is engraved with the visage of uncountable happy,
smiling and healthy faces. d20 Scaled Men lurk on the bridge, glaring at
passer-by’s.
The Healer’s Statue.
A three storey colossus, the cage of Foul Scale Lake wrapped
around its ankles. It is the figure of a masked doctor, medical tools in one
hand, screaming infant in the other. Its base is crawling with d10 Scaled
Men.
The Purple Mountains / The Purple Crags of the Storm Angels / Storm’s
Roost.
A miniature mountain range of purple stone and skinny, needle
sharp towers. The entire range is peppered with holes, caverns and tunnels –
some hinting at crude architecture from an age ago. The range is infested with Storm
Angels (the mountain tops), Scaled Men (the wet central caverns) and
Filthy Gangsters (The bowels of the mountain that turns into a running
river feeding nearby, lower suburbs).
The Streets of the Suburb. : Broad cobblestones of eon stained multi-coloured
marble. Piled against every building are the corpses of untold angels,
decorated and grand. These line the external walls of most buildings too.
Local Populace:
A note on HD:
The HD for these beings in a dXHD@dX notation. This simply means
rolling the first d to determine HD and roll the second type of die noted when
determining the amount of hit points for said being. Each level of HD = +1
To Hit.
Neutral inhabitants:
The vast majority of the suburb’s population belong to the angelic
raceoid.
Generic Angels: Annoyingly good looking, with contemptuous features
and wings that allow them to fly short distances. AC 12, d4HD@d6, Dagger or
Sword: d6. Wants: To live their life in peace and practice their
profession, roll a d10: 1) Mind soother, 2) Calming Dust Cook, 3) Crystal
Trader, 4) Scale Remover, 5) Dream recorder, 5) Dead Angel Cleaner, 6) Perfume
mixer, 7) Public stairwell cleaner, 8) Cushion arranger, 9) Reliquary
attendant, 10) Graveyard tender.
The duty of keeping order in the suburb falls to a martial group
known as;
The Protectors of the Wind: Large, round helmeted angels. Elaborate
sculpting exaggerates the mouth and ear pieces of their bulbous helmets, a very
thin slit allows vision. Light weight robes of chainmail covers their bodies
but still allows them to fly. AC 15, d8@d8, Spear: d10: Whispers on
the Wind: The Protectors of the Wind can communicate over long distances to
one another due to their connection to the wind, assisted with their elaborate
helmets. The wind also whispers to them thigs that no one else could know. Wants:
Order maintained in the suburb, all those that disrupt this are evicted via
one of the public stairways leading into the suburb. Those infected with
spreading scales will be chained to the stairs of silk and left to die.
Additionally, there are two mutated groups of angels that dwell in
the suburb:
Halfhere Angels: These angels know the mysteries of
turning a corpse to stone or crystal. This practice appears to shift some of
their very being out of the physical realm and into the formless realm of
death. They tend to be incredibly aloof and are fond of covering themselves in
veils of shimmering opaque silk. AC 12, d6HD@d6, Scythe: d8. Search
Soul: Can communicate with the endless spirits that haunt every living
being to deduce much of a person’s history and personality. Wants: To preserve
the corpse of every slain angel and protect the graveyards already created with
their own lives.
Storm Angels: Wild angels that roost in the purple mountains
of the suburbs. Their burning blue eyes often surge and spark with electricity,
as does their blue tinged wings. They are just as likely to be naked, save for
a covering of scars, as in ragged scraps of leather. AC14, d8@d6, An axe in
each hand: d8 x 2. Summon Storm: Ability to summon a miniature yet
buffeting and upsetting squall or cyclone around a target once a day. Wants:
To clear out the scaled men and the filthy gangsters infesting the bowels
of the mountain. Also the be struck by lightning as much as possible.
Dangerous inhabitants:
The Scaled Men: Ancient humanoids, perhaps at one point
simply humans, covered in thick layers of black and grey scales. They have cruel
hooked beaks and too long clawed fingers. They can just barely croak and clack
words from their beaks. AC 14, d6HD@d6, Claws: d4 x 2. Spreading
Scales: On receiving a wound from a scaled man, test CON at Advantage. If
failure black and grey scales will begin to spread from the wound, eventually
to cover the entire body. Other impacts of the curse are the growing of a beak
which will make it harder and harder to talk and also grant the inability to
die of old age. Wants: To discuss with other scaled men, in hisses and
croaks, the pain they are inflicting on those not affected by the curse. Rumours:
These beings are the survivors of a
plague that wiped out the original inhibitors of the sanatorium. Their curse was
the only cure for the plague that killed everyone else. Some scaled men have
progressed over thousands of years to become half or whole fish, and others have
grown enormous with their undying affliction and lurk within the waters of the
mountains.
Two Angelic Gangs also prowl the suburb:
The Diggers: Pale skin drained of colour, blue veins clearly
visible, noble clothes covered in a tessellating pattern (AC 11) and heavy iron
shovels used as two handed clubs (d8).
- A gang of gruff disaffected angel youth, who vandalize preserved
angel corpses at every opportunity. Will jeer and insult Halfhere angels
whenever they sight one.
- Often fighting one another to prove who the toughest digger
is.
- Offensively, they bury their dead in holes in the ground to
let their forms simply decompose.
- Led by a 1000 year old scaled man, The Swimmer (AC 20, 10HD@d20,
Strangle and suffocate: d10) who lounges in an enormous bathtub with wheels,
handles and curtains. He has about 10 layers of thick scales making his skin
almost impenetrable. These have started to form into fins, giving him the
slight impression of a whale. He abhors any one seeing his form, so keeps his
bathtub curtains drawn.
- The Swimmer knows most of the secrets of the suburb, being
an ancient patient or doctor of the sanatorium. He doles these out to his
followers, who are fond of the caches of exhilarating dust he helps them find.
- Currently the gang is attempting to relocate The Swimmer to
a hidden cavern in the purple mountains that houses a most calming natural hot spring.
The Keepers of Secrets: Stern blue metal face masks, wings
dyed an electric green, gold hued bronze chest plates and chainmail skirts (AC
15) and gleaming flamberge (d10).
- Beneath their all-covering armour, all members of The Keeper
of Secrets are infected with spreading scales. They are utterly ashamed of this
and taken vows of silence to ensure no one finds out the truth.
- Their nameless leader has found a cache of healing dust that
keeps the scales at bay. This is used incredibly sparingly to stop the scales
from spreading across members wings, which will reveal their shame.
- Some members have had their wings removed, the scales
spreading their before it could be treated. Members also painfully saw off
their beaks when they develop, to ensure they can keep wearing their facemasks.
This helps with the vow of silence.
- Recently, the nameless leader found documentation within the
notes of an ancient doctor that a permanent cure for the scales exists. It is
allegedly stowed away beneath the Healer’s statue in the Foul Scale Lake.
