Shrine of the Mother
Although serving as a shrine to Shub-Niggurath, this place also fulfils the purpose of a settlement within the mainland, secreted away into a hidden demiplane on top of a leyline this place of worship to the outsider goddess has a small population, but has a quiet renown amidst those of peculiar natures.
Demographics
Those who live in the Shrine are all faithful of the dark tapestry, and favored among them are those whose specific Deity is the dark goddes Shub-Niggurath, there is no especial fondness nor care for any particular race or species amongst those who care the dark seeds in their heart that allow them to enter this warped realm.
Government
This settlement is a theocracy, worshipping Yiv'ough'lu as the demigod to their goddess.
Defences
Existing in a pseudo demiplane the shrine - heavily defended by the numerous undead that roam it's realm, is safe from outsiders such that those who do not bear the blessing of the outer gods may not even find it's location, as it exists within the strange fragmented realms of the mainland's in between. Thus offering the ultimate safety of being hidden, and not found by the ultimate weapons of it's destruction.
Industry & Trade
There are two things by which the shrine primarily exports, and that is complex magical items and complex materials, though both cursed by the intrinsic energy of the plane make it contraband in most locations, save for usage by the already necrotically charged Natura Morta, and the deviants of the isle of Arcanii.
Due to the innate nature of the realm, allowing for an mixture of positive and negative energy, the production of mutated and strange plants makes for a versatile array of unseen combinations using leathers and plant fibers for magical materials and dyes. By exporting both, they import the other materials and matters of obsession that they desire from the outside world.
Infrastructure
The shrine has numerous research halls in which it's denizens often isolate themselves into performing their work, such that each faithful often has a narrowminded goal of pursuit, which allows them their focus. Infrastructure exists in the form of half-paved roads, fragmented floating bridges, and the occasional building for complex artistry.
Assets
The greatest assets of the shrine are twofold, the first of them being the numerous creations which the site produces, haunted and cursed items though they may be, the beneficial effects often outweight the deletrious, especially if used upon the vehicle of a creature short-lived enough to benefit from their usage before succumbing to it.
The second asset, is the numerous constructed undead favored by the undead lich, formed off the bodies of the numerous creatures of the mainland. Whilst those eldest amongst those undead have gained a strange sentience and formed a coalition amongst the residents of the shrine, their servitude towards their father and mother both is immaculate, and their rampages something terrible.
These creatures make for as effective farmhands, gatherers, and maintenance workers as they do for warriors, keeping the inner parts of the shrine safe from the monsters manifested by the demiplane and by it's residents.
Guilds and Factions
Four distictions occur within the settlement, though all worship the mother.
First among them, are the living and the prometheans, those blessed with the mother's collar, and envoloped by her special fascination and madness, they are the most respected amognst the denizens of this world. Each one bearing that of a noble or similar status in their treatment.
Second Among them, are the unliving living, the undead who have obtained flesh, sentience, and hunger. Reborn from unlife they carry the monstrous nature of the mother with them, intertwined with undeath, giving rise to ghoulish natures and expressions of deadly toxins. Serving willingly at the hand of their master.
Third among them, are the unliving, the undead who lack for flesh and sentience, formed from the twisted warped and woven constructs of various creatures of the mainland, they serve at the hand of the lich in the settlement, and move under the animation.
The fourth faction, named only in acknowledging their existance, are the living creatures who have yet to die, or are still experimented upon by the faithful of the mother. Death would be a far kinder fate to any of them, but whilst subject to the corruption their bodies occasionally survive, much to their keen regret.
History
Founded two years after the expedition, the shrine of the Mother was made as the culmination of Yiv'ough'lu's research into Leyline Nexii, and her obsession. The delay was primarily in face of financial concerns, and the careful erasure of her entire history and tracks from those who would stalk her. It needed time, and one day she would just disappear.
The city would then attract purely by reputation those of especial natures, where they would be adopted by their mother, and given collars to signify their obedience and relation to her, though those who bore the collars knew that it was the only method by which the location would protect them, as the unearthly energy could ravage a body, and few could survive the innate ravages of the shrine.
Occasionally, there are those who leave the shrine - hidden under exquisite guise, to go to the outside worlds, but contact with outsiders is rare, and often secretive.
Points of interest
The shrine of the mother is the largest building at he heart of the settlement, and is the location in which Yiv'ough'lu pursues her quest for divinity. Surrounded by a dark energy at all times, it is strangely welcoming to all those who seek her companionship or company.
Though that being said, there is no where in this place that is not particularly interesting, as each place of obsession carries a certain meaning to the inhabitant - all of whom are interesting.
Architecture
Favoring non-euclidian shapes, the architecture of the location favores a strange stone found in the place, as most buildings are elevated so as to avoid touching the ground which is covered by a strange muddy muck, which clings to the skin and flesh, and is often filled with parastic or flesh-eating creatures, making it unpleasant to tred upon.
Climate
The climate of the shrine is almost forever unchanging, save for that it is damp, wet, and with an air so humid it is like walking through sheets of water, making it so dense that it is troubling for most creatures to even breathe. Despite a lack of sun overhead howerver, the place is far from dim, illuminated by fluorescent algae which hangs upon every building and even floats in the air itself.
Natural Resources
Due to the mutative nature of the realm, the natural resources are often entirely based upon the numerous plants and rampaging creatures that dominate the wilds outside the shrine. Creatures harvested from their blood to their bone ,ake it wealthy in terms of offerings for those of mad persuasions. Sustained by the overwhelming energy, each creature lives to consume, grow, and mutate in uncontrollable fashion.
