The Shadowed Sanctum

Le Sanctuaire Ombragé, or “The Shadowed Sanctuary”, is an ancient, primeval forest, known to the Elves as “The Queen’s Forest” or “la Forêt de la Reine”. The forest sprawls with trees and plants so thick, visitors have a difficult time traversing it. The Sanctuary is a temple complex and graveyard dedicated to “Raag Cor’Etriel” or The Raven Queen/Matron of Ravens. She is the goddess of death, winter and fate. Disciples of the Raven Queen serve a sacred duty tending to the memory of ancestors buried in the forest. Few people know of the temple’s true location or size in the forest due to natural barriers and magical wards. The boundaries are amorphous, the elders of the sanctuary keep verbal histories of grave locations. The Sanctuary rarely has visitors but it can seemingly be found by the people who need it the most.

Culture

The people that live in the Queen’s Forest honor their duties to the Raven Queen or the Matron of Ravens; The goddess of death, fate and winter. The Sanctuary serves to protect the dead and fight against undeath. Many figures in Immelion attempt to bring powerful champions and magic users back from their rest. The forest and elves work together under the Matron of Ravens to ward against such necromancy. People take on many jobs as the time requires. There are druids who speak directly with the plants, there are clerics who divine meaning from symbols given to them by the Raven Queen, there are rangers who protect the woods, etc. There are people who take care of the rookery, ones that tend to the apiary and some that focus on healing magic granted to them from the Raven Queen herself. The temple accepts people’s family members from outside of the community, in the past they’ve buried many great heroes and champions of many gods. People may have different planes for their afterlife, but all of them have physical bodies or living memories that must be protected.

Demographics

The population is mainly Elves, with smaller numbers of people from other ancestries.

Defences

The boundaries are amorphous, the elders of the sanctuary keep verbal histories of locations and egresses, which are difficult to find due to natural barriers and magical wards.

Infrastructure

Buildings are located mainly in the trees. The homes and public buildings look as if the trees had grown around them.

Guilds and Factions

They are a very connected people, family is one of the most important things to the Sanctuary disciples. They follow a kinship structure that focuses on generations, opposed to ones that focus on blood relations. Everyone in a young elf’s generation is a sibling, in the generation above is a parent, etc. They know who their blood family is, the parents they were born to, but don’t see them any differently as other parents in the community.

Points of interest

The shrine to the Raven Queen is located on the forest floor. It is a stave-style building, completely black, with several tiers, topped with a rookery where the ravens of the sanctuary are free to come and go as they please.
The grave sites in the Queen’s Forest, (the cemeteries of the Raven Queen in general, if they exist) are unlike other grave sites in Immelion. In place of headstones, trees or a favored plant of the person or the god they served are planted by the druids of the Shadowed Sanctuary. Occasionally, after conflict or epidemics, there will be many people or their memories interred by large trees in the forest.

Tourism

The Sanctuary rarely has visitors but it can seemingly be found by the people who need it the most.

Climate

Almost rainforest-like jungle.

Founding Date

Time Immemorial

Founders

• The Raven Queen

Alternative Name(s)

Le Sanctuaire Ombragé

Type

State

Inhabitant Demonym

Raag Quessir

Ruling/Owning Rank

Great Elder

Owning Organization

The Elder Disciple Assembly