Graveless Halls
History
Up until five hundred years ago, the undead of Menerem were controlled by Torr, the evil god of death and undeath, and he used that power to wreak terror upon the living. Societies among the living learned to fear and hate the undead and gathered in numbers to eradicate any they discovered, for good reason.
A few of the more powerful undead decided that this was a poor long-term strategy and very quiet discussions began to occur. These discussions involved the same eight individuals, gathering in groups no larger than two at a time over the span of a hundred years of planning. Their plan culminated in Torr being slain and Angreal taking the role of goddess of death while Isen ascended to the mantle of god of undeath.
Unlike his predecessor, Isen had no interest in using the undead to fill their realm with more dead souls. Instead, they worked to create a haven for their new followers. Isen’s tower home in the frozen continent of Bessem north of the mainland became the center of their new city. The undead bided their time, moving only small numbers at a time and waiting for an opportunity. That opportunity came when a demon army was raised in the Jikandi Desert. Agents of the Shadow Council discovered and quickly acted on this information, passing it on to the living nations and helping defeat the army.
After the battle, the Council offered a deal to the heads of state, the Council would approach the intelligent undead in all nations, offering them sanctuary on the unoccupied island to the north and taking as many of the unintelligent undead as they could with them. All nations except Ullran eventually signed the Penrook Accords, which among other articles recognized the city state of the Graveless Halls to the north and arranged travel for a mass emigration of undead from the mainland. Ullran maintains that any involved with deposing of a god are evil and destroy all emissaries sent to them. In recent years, some religious zealots have begun an unsanctioned crusade against the undead, declaring them all evil.
Needing little in the way of resources, the Graveless Halls is a form of communal space more than a formal government. Individuals are largely free to exist as they choose in the city and the Shadow Council is only involved whenever a outsider is involved. All deals with foreign companies, nations or individuals must be approved to ensure that hostilities will not be initiated and their neutrality maintained. The Shadow Council also issues passports, the first created in Menerem, to their members who travel abroad so that they can have some backing in the living nations, which still harbor some hesitancy towards a city of undead. Any decisions that need to be decided by the community are done by a liquid democracy, wherein each citizen has a vote they can either use themselves or pass on to another to cast in their stead.
There are individuals who are not only accepting but fascinated by the Graveless Halls and have moved to live among the undead. Some arrive to petition to become undead themselves while others exchange their blood to wealthy vampire colonies in exchange for patronage in the arts or sciences.
The undead of the Grave Halls have created three major corporations: Winterrun Holdings, Bloodbourne Innovations, and Everlasting Advisories.
Comments