Constructed millennia ago by an ancient race of war wizards, the Sunken Sanctum is a foreboding monument resting deep within the dreadful marshland of ruins called the Wastes. It is a fortress built to contain the greatest treasures of the ancient Celestial Empire, worshippers turned foes of Nexus that have vanished from existence. Filled with the tombs of eternal guardians and sealed with arcane wards, this dark bunker of corrupted reverence has repelled entry by the greatest champions of Terminus. And to those few that entered the abyss and survived, a cursed life was their fate. Only the foolish or desperate dare to brave the Sunken Sanctum.
“Imbue this sanctum with the greatest of magic so that it may hold fast its secrets for an eternity.” – Emperor Vitus the Brave of the Celestial Empire
Within the ruined riddled marshlands called the Wastes rests a large headland named Heroes End, sacred grounds of the defunct Celestial Empire. When the planar collisions erupted, this land was torn asunder by the arrival of the fragments of other worlds. Much was buried or lost, but Heroes End and its ancient sanctum remained intact through the aid of the powerful arcane spells used to create it. Triundan (Human) historians have discovered evidence that this was a vault and sanctum for the Celestials. The halls within hold the tombs of great warriors, placed to guard the temple for eternity. The sanctum has slowly been sinking into the muck and mire of the land, leaving much of it beneath sea level. It is rumored to have hundreds of chambers that reach deep into the ground. What little knowledge has made it out from cursed explorers details an eerie and deadly place. The first levels of the sanctum are the mausoleums of the war wizards, the revenant guardians of the sanctum that still march the halls. Those that survived beyond the tombs find the vaults of treasures with chambers being bound by complex locks and powerful arcane wards. The ultimate discovery is only hinted of and never seen: the Temple of Nexus. The Celestials revered the Lost Goddess, but turned against her after falling prey to the corruption of Myraxys and its Dark Lords. Once twisted by the Dark Lords, the corrupted Celestials sealed the sanctum with a divine ward that would keep Nexus from entering, (or escaping) her temple. If the temple does exist, what secrets and treasures would it reveal about the Lost Goddess? Only the bravest with good fortune are apt to find out.
“Let her shrine stand so that we may seal her away with all the other relics of the past.” – Primus Otho Dekanos, newly corrupted by Myraxys
The Celestials were the original followers of Nexus and natives of Terminus. They were a race of arcane beings whose bodies were partially formed of magic. They became the first and most powerful followers of Nexus. Their war wizards were a supreme martial force and the backbone of the Celestial Crusade. Unfortunately, due to their arcane nature, they were among the first to be corrupted by the dark forces of Myraxys, turning them into twisted overlords. These newly sinister beings aided the Dark Lords in nearly conquering and corrupting the entire universe until Nexus vanquished them in a divine strike that also extinguished all life. Believed to be extinct, some whispers in taverns speak of their return following the new wave of planar collisions. Ethosian mages say that these sinister Celestials currently reside within pocket worlds of the Myraxyan Arcana, a twisted flip side of reality that can open up anywhere.
“I cannot shield you within the walls of the sanctum. I am powerless beyond its ravenous maw.” – Nexus, the Lost Goddess
The Militicon (Tome of Myraxys)
The Militicon is an ancient book of martial spells created by the Dark Lords of Myraxys. The spells contained within are meant to give an advantage through the use of death magic. The creation of undead armies and flesh eating mists are just a couple of examples of the horrors that can be spawned from the Militicon.
The Helm of Dekanos
The Helm of Dekanos is the war helm of one of an infamous commander of the corrupted Celestial Army. It has the power to create 10-20 duplicates of the wearer to be used as minions in battle.
“I shall send my Divine Guard to acquire the tome. They are my most loyal and the best Marata has to offer.” – Oranthel the fallen Maratan God of Warfare
this is the type of stuff we have been waiting to sink our teeth into!
