Ancient Irthos: Upon the Ruins of Entioc
Entioc
Beyond the dense tropical forests of Terruizeng kingdom’s western frontier is the karstic mountain range of Onesu. Here the Aleph river surges down a series of hanging valleys and into the wide Sengdalan river which defines the kingdom’s southern border. The verdant lands where these two rivers meet is known as the Veiras river valley and across it’s terraced slopes and broad valley floor looms the remnants of the towering city of Entioc.
The city was ravaged during the age of demons but most of the central megaliths and the surrounding tiered complexes survived intact amidst mounds of rubble and piles of shattered stone. As the wild reclaimed the city, so to did the creatures it accompanies. The city is far from uninhabited and when the calls and activity of wild beasts and insects begin to stir, the valley falls into a primal rhythm. During the day the sounds of nature echoes the weather that allows it to thrive, while on quiet nights the nocturnal denizens of this region celebrate in serene exultations which in the dead of darkness can become nearly deafening to the senses.
On an unusually clear day the ruins appears almost supernatural, but year round the rain never seems to relent against the forest entangled ruins that sprawls across and up the mist covered valley floor. The sudden torrential downpours that periodically assault the city year round has permanently flooded much of the walled in city streets on the valley floor while heavy humid mist and the thick impenetrable waves of fog that the region is known for makes navigating the network of stone bridges and metal walkways of the upper levels somewhat akin to walking with a torch in the dark.
Entioc is defined by four distinct characteristics: the seven central megalithic structures that arcs over and above the steep cascading cliff side of the second waterfall; the subterranean complexes that takes root deep in the valley’s tiered floor and walls, the sprawl of rune covered stone walls, sky high bridge connected towers and tiered buildings that radiates from the city’s center; and lastly the Sengdalan forest that has already reclaimed the ruins of the city all the way up to the segmented and gradual slopes of the first waterfall.
Ancient roads criss cross the valley floor with main roads leading from the top to the bottom of each waterfall as well as a trade road leading through Aleph’s pass to the east. Dotting the slopes of the valley walls are massive tiered structures several stories high, each dwarfed when beheld in comparison to the central megalithic towers. Radiating from the central towers are broad stone walls averaging forty feet in height with walkways atop about thirty feet wide that connects the upper levels of the outlying structures. Gated openings in the walls arch over the main roads, and the ruins of smaller buildings, no more than twenty to thirty feet are densely packed within each of these segregated districts.
The seven central megaliths were each the throne for the seven major deities of this region: Avandra, goddess of space and the fates; Corellon Larethian, sovereign king of the fey; Erathis, the grandmaster architect; Ioun, the omniscient; Moradin, lord of the forge; Pelor, god of light; and Sehanine, the muse of transcendence. These celestials formed the pantheon of the ancient planar empire of Nerath which lasted for three centuries across the multiverse.
Upon it’s founding, worshipers flocked to the celestials mortal domain and within a generation the Veiras river valley was home to millions from all over the world and beyond. By the end of the first century the gods had bore many children who built their own temples on the outskirts of the throne towers. The descendants of the celestials were known as godlings and their decadent reign inevitably heralded the age of demons.