Shalengrike
The Temple-Monastery of Shalengrike, one among many of its kind, abuts the southwestern coastline of the island, perched high atop limestone cliffs. Its layout is unusually sprawling for a complex of its type, however the hundreds of years since Shalengrike was erected had proven why it covers so much ground. Over time, erosion wore away at the limestone cliffs, and the devoted yet undying servants of the God noted that every few years, huge sections of limestone have fallen down into the ever-hungering sea. Consequently, the aspect of the God of Death that manifests in sky-swallowing waves, impenetrable fathoms, and hidden leviathans remains an ever-present influence on Shalengrike's faithful. One side-effect of the erosion on Shalengrike's western side has been the gradual uncovering of more of the monastery's underground chambers to the open sea's salt and humidity. Many who travel the deeper sheltered tunnels still feel fresh gusts of salt-wind ruffle their vestments, as if the ocean sought to drown those already buried deep.
Emeric Elmsend calls Shalengrike home, and it is fairly isolated, with only little traffic coming from pilgrimages from the City of Censers and Embalmer's Enclave. Still, the community of the faithful is a close-knit one, relying on monthly shipments of supplies in order to stay alive. Some privately suspect that Lilna could attain self-sufficiency if agriculture were not so abhorrent to the more zealous members of the faith.
Shalengrike as a place, is by design constantly reminding those who occupy it of death, austerity, and the tomb that swallows everyone in the fullness of time. Furnishings, by contrast to the City of Censers' more palatial holy sites, are sparse in the extreme. Even the highest ranking members of the cult sleep on simple cots, owning few possessions besides their clothes and the implements needed to accomplish rites and rituals. Rooms are cramped, musty, and with the exception of the gustier salt-wind tunnels, where natural light may creep in, exceptionally dark. Members of the cult are taught at their earliest arrival to learn to navigate through touch, smell, and sound, rather than sight. Even during rites where open flames are lit, the risk (an occasionally intentional one) is that the fire will steal up all available oxygen and asphyxiate any who are nearby.
The isolated nature of Shalengrike within Lilna, and Lilna in relation to the rest of the world makes it so that pilgrimages, journeys, and expeditions to and from the location are noteworthy events unto themselves.
The richly fertile volcanic soil that is present on much of the island could easily support far greater amounts of life. Alas, that would be anathema to the cult's faithful, and so Lilna remains barren. At least, on its surface. The deepest most well-hidden tunnels, some say, to the ridicule and scorn of their fellows, are lush with hidden life, for how could a God of Death remain strong absent that aspect which gives his power its meaning?
Type
Monastery
Parent Location
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