The Tomb of Sylvanwroth
In the heart of the Haunted Wood of the Arborvast, a gently sloped hill might escape notice except that one side has been carved away and replaced with panes of reflective glass - the only obvious sign at the surface of the place where Sylvanwroth makes his home. The original tomb is so old that layers of leaf fall and soil accretion have buried it, and the hill shows signs of being much younger - a hundred years or so, at most, based on the size of the trees and growth.
Purpose / Function
Originally the tomb was part of a small ancient necropolis, the burial site of a great king of ancient days, eons past, of whom only the name - perhaps a symbolic title even then - survived. It was adopted as a more pronounceable name by the Drow Lich Sel'adreallarion Inasnuyreth, sharing enough phonetics to seem like a nickname. The new Sylvanwroth massively expanded the complex underground into layers of private spaces including, libraries, alchemical laboratories, and spaces for his various minions to live and to die in while he ever endured.
Alterations
The most recent additions were the castings mound which is the hill that now marks the spot, and into that hill he built a much-expanded conservatory open to the sun, while still maintaining the illuminated fungal gardens below. The mount of earth was made from the soil and rocks excavated below as cenotaphs for the 16,794 dead and dying that he collected from the aftermath of the Battle of Seki Gahan, when both sides foolishly elected to use tree trunks from the Haunted Wood as reinforcement pickets on their siege forts.
Architecture
The Tomb consists of a number of levels, connected by various passageways, reflecting millennia of patient planning and building but also millennia of additions, changes and removals of parts of the tomb. Over the centuries Sylvanwroth has had many architectural and artistic periods, and revivals of those periods, leading to a strange mishmash of styles abutting each other. A merely outdated parlor leads to a truly ancient monolithic armory used by relatively modern skeletons from the recent battle (recent to Sylvanwroth, at least). Some halls are lined with books, or paintings; others have trophies and sentimental trinkets in various stages of decay. Outdated maps wallpaper another room as a purely artistic rather than functional choice. Drow motifs such as spiders and gems are common, as are adopted themes such as the cinnamon lions of Seki Gahan, the Imperial splinter that went to war with the Realm a hundred years ago; and the pearls, loops and golden weaves of Danildee, patron goddess of the nearest Realm province. For a while everything was giants, then dragons, then an interest in Skulls of humanoids, then humanoid monster races, especially gnolls. A large unused worship space called the Yuanteum is replete with snake designed furniture, artwork and carvings into the stone. A gigantic jade plant made of actual jade grows in an underground arboretum, in a red pot inscribed with spells for good fortune and luck in an ancient elven tongue.
Type
Tomb
Included Locations
Owner
Related Report (Primary Locations)
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