Tristan's Belltower
Each man's death diminishes me, for I am involved in mankind. Therefore, send not to know for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee.War is a bloody and costly endeavor, no matter what, and far too often it is the innocent and the uninvolved that pay the biggest price. For the peope of Eris who are already intimiate with Death, the biggest cost at the advent of the Border Wars was the potential lack of knowledge about the fate of their family and friends, sent off in a war for greed. Thus, a morose yet kind-hearted Bishop constructed a belltower, to at the very least give the people of Eris the closure of knowledge and the comfort of faith, if nothing else. Unfortunatley, he would not live to see the day where that belltower would not have to ring for death anymore. Still, it is kept and rang in his name and his honor, thus is the origin of Tristan's Belltower.
Purpose / Function
The initial purpose of the Belltower was to ring for citizens of Eris who died in action during The Border Wars, followed by the Archpriest giving the news to the family and aiding them with their grief. As the years went on and the bodycount rose higher, it became yet another symbol of the mass toll the war took on all sides of Edda. Now, with the war over, it rings once daily at noon, both to keep the time and in memoriam of the countless souls lost.
Alterations
The tower was made only 30 years ago, so aside from general repairs and touch-ups, the only alteration made to the tower has been the addition of a memorial plague to commemorate the fallen for whom the belltower stands for.
Architecture
Like most of Eris, the belltower is made with dark grey stone, and is connected to a small office built in the local church style. While it doesn't host usual services, it does host various funerary rites and rituals. The inside is held up with dark oak, which the pews and built-in furniture is made of as well. The bell itself is coated in silver to give it a pure gleam even on the dreariest of Eris days, even if it's made of simple bell metal inside.
Defenses
The tower is within the city limits, so the walls of Eris itself are the tower's defenses. That being said, during the Border War when the invasion of the city was a real threat, one acted upon many a time, it was also guarded by royal soldiers, with at least one ranged fighter being positioned next to the bell itself.
History
When The Border Wars began in earnest following the terrorist attack at the Pan-Eddan Summit, everyone knew that there was going to be a high cost to pay. Atalanta was going to lose many of its children, all because of an escelating disaster that was kicked off by the egregious claims of the then-King of Atalanta, that they owned the oceans of Edda.
Eris had always been a dour city, wracked by tragedy and gloom, but even its gothic drear was deeper when the first calls for the enlisted went out. While many concerns of the war and what the future held could not be assuaged by mere words, there was one that could be undertaken. Many families were used to death already, but feared not knowing when their loved ones had been lost, as communication always got muddled in times of war.
Bishop Tristan Pappas, the primary Bishop in Eris at that time, heard these woes, and figured he could do something about that, if nothing else. The Ascendants Faith had never been the most organized faith, but in times of true darkness faith always carries the torch of hope no matter what, and so to was that duty upon its priests. Tristan had a simple belltower constructed close to the center of town, where a smaller church had fallen into disrepair years prior.
While it was being constructed, the bishop reached out and set up communication with medics on the front lines, those who would know and speak of the dead, and arranged for him to get a list of the deceased from Eris and it's connected townships. By the time everything was built, the casualties truly began.
The bishop spoke to the town and the faithful especially, and told them that at midday each day he would ring the belltower once for each citizen who had sadly departed. When they heard the chime of the bell, they would be tasked with praying for the family and the soul of the departed, as he would comfort them in their time of grief. But, if there was ever a day the bell did not ring, they were to thank The Ascendants for their protection, and pray for it to continue.
Once the war was over, he said, the tower would be taken down and replaced with a monument to the fallen, with the bell being melted and cast into a plague commemerating the names. At the onset of the war, they still expected that number to be relatively few.
And so the daily announcement of the dead began. Unfortunatley, once the combat truly started, there was never a day the bell did not ring. At first, there were less than five names, some days only one. But most commonly, it would be ten or more. During the peak of combat, there would be days where the chimes would go for almost an hour. What was intended to be a beacon of security, or at least catharsis, become yet another grim omen for the people of Eris.
Still, Bishop Tristan kept at the duty, even when it would take him some effort to climb to the belltower, even when he needed his eventual successor to walk alongside him. He would still ring the bell and speak to the grieving with as much heart as he could give.
Eventually, age and health caught up to the older Bishop, and he himself was one of the dead the bell rang for one fateful day. Unfortunatley, he made it almost through the entire war, passing one month before The Calming of the Masses, the first step towards ending the brutal campaign. Still, his successor, Bishop Judicaël St Pierre, rang that bell until the closing days of the war, where it finally stopping needing to be rung.
Once the war was officially over, and the surviving soldiers came home, the people of Eris decided to keep the belltower standing, but still turn it into a monument to not only the fallen of Eris, but to the efforts of Bishop Tristan, who did his best to be a torch in the darkness for the despairing of Eris. It still rings to this day, three times at noon to announce the changing of the hour, but its resonant sounds will also conjure memories of the fallen, the faithful, and the cost of war in those who hear it.
Tourism
Those who come to visit the belltower are often doing so to pay their repsects. Opinions on war may vary, but all know the grief of loss, especially in such a violent way. It is also visited by historians who study the war and responses to it, as well as certain key faithful of the Ascendants who honor it as a holy monument of some renown. For what it's worth, it's not advertised as anything but a memorial to the fallen, left to eventually fade into the ether of history, the same as the dead it stands for.
Founding Date
6/30/955 EE
Type
Tower
Parent Location
Additional Rulers/Owners
Ruling/Owning Rank
Owning Organization
Really good article! The history of the bell and its change from a few chimes to hours of ringing reminds me of Deep Space 9 when Sisko says he used to read every name but now they blur together.
Thank you! The cost of war does hang heavy, no matter the time