The Fallen City of Menor'cress

Menorcress is a story of the Hubris of the Dral'azie people. Who once believed their great city states in The Sunless Realms were too mighty to ever fall. But one day, one did just that. The doom of Menorcress would be a tragedy they would seldom forget.

The city of the prophet Nemiisae., brought to ruin by the folly of a fanatic queen and a wayward druid.

Menor'cress was formerly an enduring sanctum for the Tahli'cuaiisae; a subset of the Dral'azie people that sought refuge within the bosom of the underworld following the events of The Sundering. Led by the enigmatic Nemiisae., the first families of Tahli'cuaiisae founded a settlement deep within the heart the Sea of Spores, naming it Menor'cress and there upon building the foundations for their unique civilisation. Menor'cress was originally recognized as one of The Sunless Realms' largest cities - however due its rapid expansions due to its' religious significance gave it the exaggerated reputation of being a labyrinthine maze; and during its' peak, those pilgrims and tourists who journeyed into the city frequently became disoriented as they attempted to reach the holy site of The Tower of Neyan’catual. Menor'cress would emerge as one of the most influential city-states in the early Imperium, its position as one of the most revered pilgrimage site and the trade and commerce that came with it made the city and its ruling elite very rich and powerful.
The Fall of Menor'cress was an unforeseen calamity. It was a catastrophe surrounded by a series of interwoven events caused by the paranoia of the Mad Queen Ril’Nyiia Ci’huaturu. Fuelled by the ambitions of exterior powers interfering in the growing conflict between the Dral'azie of Menor'cress and the Dvergar of Xhlar'torre. Records surrounding these events are vague and incomplete at best, so much is mere scepticism and educated guess work. The Tahli'cuaiisae were always a fiercely independent people from the Imperial crown of Dragh'zeruel and outside influences, particularly during this period of their history, leaving many in the dark about what led to the city-states' doom.
Menor'cress now stands as a broken ruin of its former glory, laying in the very epicentre of The Sea of Spores. it has been left to decay and rot. Infested by the dreaded mycelium scourge and the abominations it spawns, no living soul has set eyes upon its walls for centuries.

by Anithecutie

The doom of Menor'cress was a punishment by Aulreth, they defied the Abyss Mother and suffered the consequences for spreading their foul heresy.

— Ulven'rin Palgorn, Templar Cleric of the Mystara Chapter.

Government.

Placeholder

Like most Dral'azie, the Tahli'cuaiisae of Menor'cress were an incredibly insular people, it's government and social hierarchies were strictly controlled by the noble houses and religious sects of the city, nearing the end of Menor'cress almost all religious doctrine was under the sway of The Church of Nemiisae. The house system is atypical to most Ithen'drels, developing their own customs and traditions around them, but the core principle is usually the same as it had been from their ancestors on the surface. While their position in the Imperium was a tedious one, the city-states was preceded over by high matriarch or Ilthicess of the ruling great house Ci’huaturu. The line of Ithicesses from house Ci’huaturu are the blood of Nemiisae, widely accepted by the Tahli'cuaiisae to possess the divine right to rule.

Each section of the city was controlled by a different Noble Family, each with their own specialties and motives, all ruled over by the Ilthicess of Great House Ci’huaturu. Whilst the nobles of the houses and clergy of The Church of Nemiisae jostle for power beneath the Ithicess, the rest of the Citizenry of Menorcress strived to find their place in society, religious dedication and serving the faith or through mercantile ventures. Those who can ill afford such social mobility are either enthralled into indentured servitude or subjugated into the drudgery of slavery. Such is the way of things for the low born in Menor'cress, a common facets found throughout wider Dral'azie society.

The Noble Houses of Menor'cress.

• Great House Ci’huaturu

• House Vlen'shard

• House Meztyl'itta

• House Xi'Huitetl

• House Matlalichtli

• House Tl'Aoxotzin

by Anithecutie

While many Dral'azie great houses cling onto their positions through cunning, guile and manipulation. House Ci'hauturu's position was akin to that of the Exalt of Draal'grondii. The people of Menor'cress believed they were the decendants of Nemiisae, and therefore ruled by the divine right. A belief Ithicess Ril'Nyiia Ci'hauturu would play upon during the final days of the citystate.

— Feiilshin Gluntiir, Overseer of Ajmathi, The Grand Bazaar of Rie’shae.

Tiers of the City

The City of Menor'cress is made of two distinct tiers that increase in elevation with the lowest point being where the city entrance is located, home to the marketplace, apartments, shops and slums. Homes and businesses are located on this tier along with the Academy Cavern. Rumour has it that a number of notable businesses once resided on this tier, the blacksmith The Placeholder and the city's most popular tavern, The Placeholder. The higher palatial tier was the home to the illustrious compounds of the noble houses, the grand Temple dedicated Nemiisae. and the great citadel of House Ci’huaturu, from where the fanatical Queen reigned. Dwarfing everything else in the caverns of Menor'cress, at the very heart of the city stands a colossus, the antediluvian tower of Neyan’catual where the divine Nemiisae. underwent apotheosis, transcending to the promised lands above.

The gates of Menor'cress.

Peoples of Menor'cress.

Tahli'cuaiisae.

The Tahli'cuaiisae are perhaps the most significant peoples in Menor'cress. Like many Dral'azie ethnicities, they were formed from the descendants of the Dark Aelfaune cursed and banished for their part in The Sundering. The Tahli'cuaiisae chose to follow the prophet Nemii'sae into the underworld where they rebuilt a new society in the depths.

Murilath.

A significant portion of the Menor'cress population were Murilath. Aelfaune that had either turned away from the worship of Aushurie during the sundering or were swept up and cast into The Sunless Realms, and subjected to the same curse as their dark kin. Generally treated as second class citizens to the Tahli'cuaiisae.

Goblin.

A commonly phenomenon in most Dral'azie city-states is the appearance of Goblinoids. Menor'cress was no exception, making up the largest population in the city, Goblins acted as the servantile class, doing jobs and tasks that the Tahli'cuaiisae and Murilath thought was either too dangerous or beneath them.

The Melusill'ah District.

Walled off from the clamour of Neyan'atual and the surrounding ecclesial buildings and the geological barrier the tiers provided from the squalor of the slums blow. Only the highborn nobility and their servants were permitted to pass through its gates into the Melsusill'ah district, keeping out the undesirable elements. Living in a quiet and secluded atmosphere. It's inhabitants are few, whose noble households have dwelt here for centuries. Standing resolute among the beautiful gardens, piatzas and elaborate architecture of the noble manses, is the Melusill'ah districts most prominent landmark. The ancient palace of house Ci’huaturu; that once stood as the only compound on the plateau during Nemiisaes' time. Since the apotheosis of Nemiisae, house Ci'huaturu's authority has dwindled and the upstart nobility moved in to stake their own claim in this haven away from the rabble below.

The Pillar Slums.

At the its peak, the prosperity gained through the pilgrim trade to see the holy sites dedicated to Nemiisae and embark on the pilgrimage of the eternal path was tremendous, lining the pockets of the city's elites. Much to the highborn displeasure however, this new found prosperity led to a population boom. As a consequence the slums dramatically swelled in size, absorbing much of the lower city. While talk began of purging the slums and forcing the lowborn beyond its walls, recent excavations on the western cavern wall of Menor'cress had unearthed a large hollow, a chamber supported by one large pillar. It was swiftly decided to move the bulk of the swelling slums into this new cavern, away from the city proper to restore the aesthetic grandeur of the city. Thus, the pillar slums would be born, a ramshackled maze of housing, bridges and gantries, dug in and around the pillar and cavern walls.

The Tower of Neyan’catual

Undeniably Menor'cress' most iconic landmark, the ancient tower predates the rest of Menor'cress by thousands of years. Its original architects are unknown, and its true purpose is an even greater mystery. Scholars have theorised the tower to be some primaeval stronghold or a type of conduit for syphoning the magic from the Effluvium dense cavern Menor'cress is situated in. Whatever it's true purpose, groups of researchers and academics were long defied access to the tower all the way up until the fall of the city. Guarded dogmatically by the Church of Nemiisae., and their belief that the tower contained within it the gateway back onto the world above. Considered to be a holy place where Nemiisae. entered and transcended to the cult's promised lands. Pilgrims come here, surrendering up all their worldly possessions to embark on the same fateful final journey as their divine mother in the hopes they too will transcend.
Today, the city is nought but a ruin, infested by the veracious growth of the sea of spores that all but consumed it. It's once proud walls and powers stand definitely amongst the monolithic caps that smother the rest of the forgotten metropolis. It's once bustling streets now a toxic jungle of fungi thick with miasma, spores and other abhorrent forms of plant life. High above it all, like a beacon amidst the endless corruption stands the ancient tower of Neyan’catual, that remains a constant reminder to those foolish enough the brave the Sea of Spores of the folly of Menor'cress.

Emblem of Menor'cress and House Ci’huaturu.

Table Of Contents

Goverment

History

Tiers Of The City

Peoples of Menor'cress

The Melusill'ah District

The Pillar Slums

Religion

Architecture

The Tower of Neyan’catual

Simultaneously cursed and blessed by their ancient Goddess, Nemiisae, the Tahli'cuaiisae of Menorcress existed for thousands of years in this land, living deep beneath the surface in their caverns that would one day become their tomb.

RUINED SETTLEMENT
4929 ED.

Founders

• Nemiisae

Type

Large city

Location under

The Sea of Spores.

Included Locations

• The Tower of Neyan’catual

History of Menor'cress

These days, Menor'cress and the Tahli'cuaiisae are gone. Yet tales of them, and their worship of Nemiisae., remain.

Founded in 2272 ED by Nemiisae. Ci’huaturu, the first High Matriarch of Menorcress. Each and every Matriarch, later Ilthicess, that followed after Nemiisae was of her bloodline. The city-state proudly displaying its vibrant history and distinguished it from that of the Dral'azie race's founding, the Tahli'cuaiisae kept an extensive library of their ancient history. According to what surviving records were smuggled out of the Menor'cress prior to its fall, after the disappearance of Nemiisae, her venerable status amongst the Tahli'cuaiisae would become venerated, and proclaimed a divine. Quickly seeing rise to The Church of Nemiisae and its clergy.
Menor'cress was once a prosperous religious hub dedicated to the worship of Nemiisae in the emerging Dral'azie pantheons. So prominent and widespread was the influence of Nemiisae throughout the early Tra'vanor Imperium that it made Menor'cress an important pilgrimage site. The steady influx of pilgrims led to the city-state growing rich and prosperous, attracting trade and investments into its infrastructure igniting a cultural renaissance as Menor'cress entered a golden age. This however, would not last.
With the growing schism between The Church of Nemiisae., and The Temple of the Seven Signs. that dominated the rest of the Trav'anor imperium, a propaganda war would be waged that diminished the power and prestige of the church among the Dral'azie. Menor'cress would no longer be deemed relevant in the eyes of the pious and faithful that once came on pilgrimage in their droves. The result was catastrophic, and would see a steep decline of the city states prosperity, the city-stae began to dwindle, its people leaving for other places. In response to this growing crisis, the High Matriarch Ril’Nyiia Ci’huaturu began to exert pressure and threaten the nobility to remain stationary. Using her position of self-declared prophet of The Church of Nemiisae to keep the commoners in line, clinging onto past rhetoric and scripture of the clergy to reinforce the more tyrannical actions House Ci’huaturu would take to hold onto power.
In the final years that followed, the city would completely deplete its natural resources in an attempt to fight several conflicts it was not prepared for, primarily with the Dvergar of Xhlar'torre calling for The Tra'vanor Imperium's aid over the course of these conflicts.. In a desperate bid to restore them the church and the circles of Druids that resided in its caverns attempted to restore the vast mushroom groves that they relied on. What exactly occurred next has never been truly understood. The experiments on the mushroom jungles that once surrounded the city went out of control, swallowing up everything in their path. At the same time, the Dvergar attacked Menor'cress in vast numbers and Ril'Nyiia and her loyalists attempted to lock the city down and prevent anyone from leaving. The entire event was referred to as the Doom of Menor'cress, the city fell, its people fled and the entire region was swallowed up by The Sea of Spores., where it remains abandoned to this day.
The Temple of the Seven signs and the Synod declared the fall of the city as a divine punishment inflicted by Aulreth upon the apostates of Menor'cress. The truth behind how the city-state met its fate disappeared along with the city itself…

Religion.

Religion played a poignant role in the city’s early prosperity. As wealthy and influential The Church of Nemiisae would make Menor'cress, it would equally play an important role in its decline and ultimate downfall. The Church of Nemiisae and the Circle of spores were the two primary religious groups found in Menor'cress, there was a number of meagre shrines to other deities and a chantry built by missionaries from the Temple of the Seven Signs, but these were considered fringe groups outside of the mainstream religious practices of the Tahli'cuaiisae.

Architecture.

Like many Dral'azie city-states Tahli'cuaiisae architecture grew independently during the isolation period away from outside influences. Drawing upon the natural resources harvested and quarried from the surrounding caverns, their builders and artisans primarily worked in stone and mushwood. What developed was a new architectural style unlike any other, with a distinctive old world flavour, characterized by symmetry and elements of geometric designs and sweeping lines. Much of the Inspiration that developed across the city was drawn from the tower of Neyan'caual, perhaps as a subconscious effort to tie their culture in with the monolith. Like much Dral'azie architecture found throughout The Sunless Realms, there are many symbolic elements, typically representing deities or noble families.