The White Tomb

Beyond the northern limits of the lands of the fey where the castle of Jäätynyt Ovi, looks out over a frozen waste that belongs now to the Frost Giants and their allies, there is a sacred track which can only be found and followed at need. This is the Road to the White Tomb and it leads through hostile country into the deep north, before travellers may come at last to the White Tomb itself.

The White Tomb by DMFW with Art Breeder

The White Tomb is the traditional resting place of past generations of fey royalty, stretching back to the beginning of the Age of the First Wars. Although, since the Second Frost War, it now lies far inside the domain of the Frost Giants and the Ice Sprites, these ancient enemies of the Fey have never dared to disturb the White Tomb itself, since it is protected by the Isotherm treaty and guarded by potent ancient magics.

Design

The major part of the tomb lies underground, where six side vaults project out of a central circular chamber at sixty degree intervals. In the centre of the main chamber there is a perfect circle of dark reflecting water which is called the Pool of Lost Memories. The water is always still on the surface and cold but it never freezes and it is reputed to be of great depth. Around the walls are sconces for torches, eternal flames, kept burning at all times by an enchantment as old as the tomb itself, so that their light never goes out and their fuel is never consumed.
The side vaults house elaborately carved stone coffins where the remains of the dead kings and queens of the Court of Fey now rest. According to long established custom, each chamber is reused in turn when there is a new death. At this time the former occupant is ritually exhumed and whatever remains of them is consigned in a simple ceremomy to the Pool of Lost Memories. In this way the White Tomb is but a staging post in the journey after death into the final destination of lost memory.
A custom has arisen in which the entire fey nation participates in a form of ceremonial and theraputic amnesia, linked to the surrending of an old ruler into the waters of the Pool of Lost Memories. This is called the ritual of Lost Memory.

Entries

A tall circular building decorated with fluted columns, stands over the stairway leading to the underground. None can pass through the doorway, save those of royal fey blood, or those under their direct protection.

History

The White Tomb was built by Acynte Hequindos in the Age of the First Wars to be the burial site of her beloved partner Dovrim Lauram, the First King of the Fey who perished in combat in the First Rift War.
Telberon, the older brother of the former king, Oberon was the last fey to be buried here. His tale is a sad and troubling one, described more fully in the historical article for Iteration Three under the section concerning the recent past. Although his life ended in the disgrace of execution, since he had, if only briefly, been king before his brother, he was granted the rights of all royal fey to lie in this tomb after death.
The former king Oberon preceeded his older brother, interred in the White Tomb after he fell in battle at Caer Cathasach in the closing stages of the Second Rift War.
The other four occupants, awaiting consignment to the Pool of Lost Memory, are in ascending order of the age of their reign, Quathooma Xinva, Iceina Lanti, Bronwyn Glathkind and Akasuki Ellethra.
Vilandiss Kanlaw, who has a right to lie here beside his life partner Quathooma Xinva, since he ruled the fey after her death, had no funeral because he went missing in mysterious circumstances. There are very good reasons to think he is dead but his body has never been found.

Founding Date

The Age of the First Wars

Type

Room, Religious, Mausoleum

Owner

Queen Mab

Related Tradition (Primary)

• Lost Memory

Related Historical Events

• The Age of Lost Memory
  The ritual of Lost Memory is first practiced in its current form.
• The First Wars
  The White Tomb is built

Acynte Hequindos by DMFW with Art Breeder

Dovrim Lauram by DMFW with Art Breeder

Some of the recent royal ancestors of Queen Mab are shown in the family tree below. With the exception of Vilandiss Kanlaw (whose body has never been found), those who ruled over the fey as king or queen are currently lying in the White Tomb and short articles about them are linked at the bottom of the page. Earlier kings and queens, not shown in the tree have been consigned to the Pool of Lost Memories and belong to the Age of Lost Memory.
More details about the recent history of the kings and queens in the White Tomb as well as the more ancient history of the fey can be found under the article about historical iterations linked at the bottom of the page.