Name: Salek-Torval
Population Size: 64.
Settlement Type: Camp, by technicality (See Below).
General Visual Description: Nestled in a large crevice in the side of a tall mountain, Salek-Torval is a monstrous palace and fortress, built of blocks hewn of the granite plentiful in the Cragspire range. The outer wall is imposing—easily fifty times the height of an average man. Its bricks are larger the main structure’s, being just over half a man’s height. The gate is left open, so that shipments of supplies can reach inside.
Beyond the wall is a large courtyard. Here, an expedition consisting of the entire current population of Salek-Torval has made their primary encampment. This expedition, led by the world-renowned wandering scholar Akthlotep Ter’ras, is here to study Salek-Torval, after having initially discovered the site in the autumn, but having been forced out of the mountains by the onset of winter. Also strewn about the courtyard are what appears to be stables for some sort of large mount.
The entrance to Salek-Torval proper is a monstrous edifice, covered in myriad carvings and stonework that reveal the first great mystery of the place—be it through luck or (more likely) some enchantment, it has not been decayed or eroded in the slightest. The detail on the carvings is staggering; many full-body images (at what appears to be life-size) have been carved to show individual scars and, in the case of the larges image (easily thrice what would have been Giant’s height) individual hairs atop the figures head and its beard. The edifice itself extends no taller than the wall, but only just so.
The impressive stonework is a constant throughout Salek-Torval. In the first of what totals three levels, Statues of warriors, life-size for a Giant, with swords planted in the ground at their feet and long-unlit sconces in their cupped hands. On the floor all throughout the first level are swirling carvings, painted in deep violets, blues, and dark grey-greens. Aside from the statues, this level is sparse—this is where the soldiery here operated, using long-rotten wooden furniture that did not ecieve the same protection as the stone. In the room furthest from the entrance is a massive iron door, sealed shut by some puzzle mechanism, that leads to the catacombs.
Up a flight of—befitting the place—tremendously large stairs is the second level. While—much like the level below—only stone remains, there are a variety of clues that this was where the general populace of Salek-Torval lived and worked. Nooks in the wall with holes leading up to the open air that must have been for cooking, shelves carved it no the walls, and so one. The statues of the previous level are gone, but in their place are normal sconces protruding from the walls. There are a number of spiraling staircases leading to the next level.
Here, there is not any discernable means of lighting. Nevertheless, the walls were clearly meant to be seen. They are covered with murals, depicting battles, funerals, coronations, peasant farmers, craftsmen, and so on the list goes. In short, it was a scholar’s dream come true. On this level is the largest room in all of Salek-Torval—the altar-room.
Settlement Garrison and Defences: While, like the rest of structure, Salek-Torval’s defenses remain entirely intact, they were also designed for individuals with twice the height and thrice the strength of its current occupants (if one ignores the catacombs), and render the indomitable wall all but useless by leaving the gate open so that supplies can come in unimpeded. As a result, those who now live and work within Salek-Torval are protected by little but their remote location—itself a non-insignificant deterrent to would be attackers—and weapons with which no more than ten of their number have properly trained.
Structures of Interest:
- The Wall: The Wall of Salek-Torval is easily fifty times the height of the average man, and cannot be scaled because of its smooth exterior. If the gates are closed and barred as designed—no mean feat for its current occupants—than it would be impenetrable to almost any attacker. Furthermore, something about the wall has given it a resistance to magic. Though any mage strong enough to topple a whole section in the first place would little trouble overcoming this defense, anyone else would find it impossible to punch a hole in the wall. The gate is easily four times a man’s height, and thus roughly twice the height of a Giant. It is left open, so that shipments of supplies can reach those inside without the immense difficulty of actually opening the gate.
- The Encampment: Where the expedition studying Salek-Torval is currently camped. It is itself is nothing impressive, pitched tents of leather, lined on the inside with fur for the colder nights. Food is stored and prepared off to the side, under the watchful eye of Telerius Voth, camp cook.
- Akthlotep’s Tent: As both the leader and wealthiest member of the expedition, Akthlotep possesses the largest tent of everyone there. It is tall and broad (for a tent) affair. The outer layear of leather, to keep out rain, has been dyed swirling colors reminiscent of dawn—which is entirely out of place in the stark grey of the outer stonework. The interior is lined with all manner of fur, to keep warmth in during the night. To one side is an organized mass of crates containing various papers and artifacts. In the middle is a table, on which is, at various times, a map of the surrounding mountain range, maps of Salek-Torval itself (made by members of the expedition), and documents related to the supplies in the encampment and those scheduled to come up the mountain. The tent both serves as his place of sleep and the hub of the expedition—being where ventures into the main structure of Salek-Torval are planned and recorded, and where all notes, drawings, and recovered artifacts from such ventures are stored.
- The Altar-Room: The walls of Salek-Torval’s altar-room are adorned with the gods worshipped by the Giants—A man, blue of skin, wearing a crown of stone beneath the sea; A man sitting on a throne of clouds; A man, frozen in ice, wearing a crown of iron, and holding a scepter; A woman, clothed in mist and fog; A woman, smeared with the grey-black of ash that extends beyond the discernable edge of her body. At the center is the rooms namesake—the altar. It is, as one shoucl really expect by now, a massive thing. The base is clearly granite, like everything else, but the altar-top itself is made of quartz. It appears to be removable, but the expedition team has yet to successfully remove it. Were they to do so, they would find the mechanism to reveal the path to the embalming chamber, hidden in the wall on the far side of the altar-room.
- The Embalming Chamber:
People of Interest:
- Athklotep Ter’ras, The Wandering Scholar. See Below.
- Telerius Voth: An imposing man, serving as cook for the expedition top Salek-Torval. He always acts like a jovial man, but rumors abound of the horrible things he’s done to people who try to take more than they are rationed. In truth, most of these are lies he spread himself, to dissuade people from doing just that. He has served with Akthlotep for years as the cook on his expeditions, and is one of the few people in the camp with any true combat experience—having served as camp cook in a mercenary company before joining on with the wandering scholar (“You don’t get by with those sorts of men without knowing how to fight,” he is known to say).
- Zhesan Hooth, Priest-Lord of Salek-Torval:Zhesan is, by all accounts, the last living Giant in the world—though “living” may not be the right word. He was sealed in the embalming chamber by the one who would become the Great Lich in the Catacombs, and it is by his direction that the spirits sealed away with him keep the Great Lich confined down below. While his own spirit is still tied to his body, it is only barely kept as such—his physical form is necessary to keep the Great Lich and its undead contained.
Settlement's Leader: Athklotep Ter’ras , The Wandering Scholar: A dark-skinned man from a land far to the south, Athklotep is well known amongst the academics of the world for his discoveries and theories of nations and peoples long lost, and none have brought him greater acclaim than those he has made about the Realm of the Ancient Giants—as well as being one of few people alive who are fluent in the Giants’ language.
While beginning to grow advanced in years, his life on the road has helped him develop a strength and skill that still remains. While time will inevitably wear away what he is physically, the day wear he hangs up his travelling cloak and his blade is yet far off.
He came to the Cragspire Mountains on a shadow of a rumor that his instinct, well-honed over the years, said was worth looking into. He found Salek-Torval.
Location: Deep in the Craspire Mountains, a very sparsely populated mountain range in the northeast of Eramar.
