Deep in the heart of Mount Skyinarta among the Inarta people of Wind Reach lies a chamber devoted to the dead. It is said to be a place of gathering for the spirits of Wind Reach. This natural rock gallery has a floor that has been polished flat and infused with a high shine that reflects its cathedral like ceiling. For all that it’s tall, the Shrine itself is not a large chamber. It holds a central altar that is constantly burning incense, while circling around it, shelves line the walls holding nicknacks and things the living have brought to remember the dead.
The Shrine holds most if not all of Wind Reach's truly important artifacts and most certainly a great many of the spirits of the dead.
It is a place of ghosts - and haunted by those living and those who have died. People come and go in the shrine, sometimes to talk to the dead, sometimes to find a way to muddle through life and keep living. The Shrine had denizens all its own. It had lightkeepers and statue polishers, and ghosts... lots of them. Sometimes, within Wind Reach, there was a lot of unfinished business. People carefully guarded themselves and their secrets, and often take them to the grave inadvertently. The shrine itself is decorated with some of the greatest treasures and magical items the have Inarta produced.
Clocks and timepieces - made of gathered watchstones - decorated the walls. There are mirrors forged from glassworks that have twins elsewhere in Wind Reach that allowed communication between them. There are weapons and jewelry and even kneeling benches for prayer that said to open direct portals to the ears of the Gods and Goddesses. Basically, whenever a master dies, something of him or herself is placed here by the other artisans to honor their name. And if that item was still functional, then it is here it is used - also in honor.
One of the most important artifacts in the Shrine To Those That Have Passed is the Weather Stormvial. A Stormvial is a barometer of sorts, that gauges Zulrav's moods and relays the information accurately to the readers. The idea is to note the location on the neck of the flute where the fluid fills the closed vessel. Then, according to where it is on the neck (higher or lower) than the actual fluid in the vessel itself, that's what the weather would be. Traditionally the Stormvials are filled during good weather. It consists of a glass container with a sealed body, half filled with a secret liquid. The Stormvial consists of a narrow open spout connected to an oblong body which is closed to the atmosphere and made all of special glass. When the air pressure is lower than it was at the time the body was sealed, the water level in the spout will rise above the water level in the body; when the air pressure is higher, the water level in the spout will drop below the water level in the body. High pressure = good weather. Low pressure = storms coming. There are levels in between, denoting all sorts of weather accurately etched on the glass.
The Shrine's caretaker is a Konti who appeared one day claiming to have traveled all the way from Mura on having been Called.
Whisper
Race: Konti
DoB: 410AV
PoB: Mura
Title: Keeper of the Shrine
Skills: Spiritism 81, Harp 53, Incense Making 45
Gnosis Marks: Avalis 1, Dira 2
Whisper showed up in Wind Reach in the heart of winter banging on the gates. She was only a child of 23 at the time. She told the gatekeeper Val Imsun that she was there to answer "The Call" and create a shrine to the dead. She's been a whisperer of ghosts ever since. Some say she's perhaps the leading authority in Wind Reach on the spirits and what they want and need. She rarely socializes, but mainly that is because Whisper is busy maintaining The Shrine of Those That Have Passed. If approached, she'll gladly speak to a person about the spirit realm and teach them if they are interested.
Moderator Note:
This is perhaps the single most important place in Wind Reach in regards to Spiritism and ghostly encounters. Feel free to socialize as well. And if PC's want to play ghosts, they are welcome to make the shrine their haunted home.
Original location credit: Gossamer
