College of Reanimation

Bordering the city of Khem-Ra, the capital of the desert nation of the same name, is the ancient necropolis now known as the College of Reanimation. In the center of the necropolis is a large temple dedicated to the Goddess of Spiders that acts as the center of the Cult of the Spider, an ancient religion revolving around death and undeath. Surrounding it is what could pass as a small city of crypts and mausoleums. The largest graveyard on the planet, with winding roads and small buildings housing tens of thousands of residents, all of which are quite dead. The only living to be found are the occasional spider priest tending to the graves and performing spiritual rites to appease the long dead. The actual college exists beneath the sands. Below the main temple is a long, labyrinthine series of secret tunnels that lead to a variety of ancient rooms and halls. There are three stories, each of which expand out beneath the above ground necropolis where the faithful toil away with their prayers and rituals. This is where the reanimators have been trained for thousands of years, powerful death mages who specialize in corpses. Though once a firm part of the Cult of the Spider, in the last half century the temple has opened itself up to non-believers to cast a wider net over potential students to better compete with the more secular colleges.
In the under-layers light is emitted by the eyes of various carved skeletal figures along the walls and ceiling. Why this is has been a subject of discussion among the students for years, but most just disregard it as spooky ambiance to unnerve visitors and new students. Air is circulated through the halls magically, and skeletal janitors wander the halls picking up after the living (and non-living) residents without a word of dissent, all wrapped in white linen bandages for the purposes of hygiene.
Temple of the Spider: This is the great temple in the center of the necropolis. Students often pass through here to reach the actual college section of the campus, but beyond that it is entirely ruled by the priests and priestesses of the Spider Cult. The building is made of a gray-black stone engraved with a web-like pattern that dominates the walls of the structure. Large pillars adorned with carves spiders and walls wreathed on tapestries woven from fine silks decorate the great hall of the ancient holy place, every silken scroll unveiling a story from ancient times. As one of the greatest repositories of history in the world classes can sometimes be found touring the main hall, though the deeper sanctums are off limits to all but the actual priesthood.
First Under-layer: The is an expanse of tunnels directly beneath the main temple itself. It is the smallest of the three under-layers and used primarily for teaching. Students are often limited to this layer or lower unless they have permission to enter the temple proper. There are multiple exits around the necropolis that lead directly to the First Under-layer for emergency exits, as well as for better ventilation aided with the use of magic.
Second Under-layer: Larger than the First Under-layer, the second is where most of the housing is kept. Rooms for students, teachers, and other faculty is plentiful here, as well as eating areas, kitchens, and other such necessities. A great library sits at the very center of this layer, free to be used by the mages as they wish. Many of the books are on loan from the Temple of the Spider’s legendary library itself and are quite old.
Third Under-layer: The largest of the three layers by far, the third is used for research facilities for those who have already graduated and students preparing their masterwork. There are many large, spacious labs on this floor, as well as storage facilities filled with well preserved corpses generously donated to the college by the people of Khem-Ra. Many undead abominations are sewn together here, many of which get sent to the Menagerie for safe keeping or further study.
The Menagerie of Flesh: This is a large area in the center of the Third Under-layer where all manner of undead chimeric beasts are kept. Though partially for show, it also serves as an excellent way to observe these creations from behind thick bars and magical defenses to judge a creature’s behavior. While it is generally ill-advised to enter the Menagerie physically there are many eye-bats in the area that magically connect to observation rooms where the creatures can be observed more closely, both for study and entertainment. There are also bone-carriages, domed cages with six skeletal legs, that can carry small groups inside for a more hands on viewing.
The Corpse-Garden and Blood Cauldron: There is a final layer beneath the third within which mages rarely enter. It is called the Corpse-Garden, so named because it is an expanse of fields from which body parts are grown as plants. The walking dead tend to the garden non-stop, planting the black seeds and fertilizing the soil with the strange, alchemical mixtures necessary to produce the effect. The process is slow and time consuming, hence why the undead are tasked to work the field rather than a mage. Though flesh isn’t grown with enough haste to fund the entirety of the research done by the college the fields can be used to request organs or parts of a certain type ahead of time if none can be found in storage. Primarily however, the fields are used to grow the organs of unlife used in the reanimation process. Similarly, at the heart of the corpse-garden, is the Cauldron of Blood. A magical artifact said to be a gift of the Spider Goddess herself that is used to brew the black blood that runs through the veins of every undead creature.

Type

College / Academy

Owning Organization

College of Reanimation