Mount Æsgard

In the northernmost mountain range of Mycenae lies **Mount Æsgard**. Rising up like a monstrous fang from the earth, it is nearly 6000 metres high, its tip disappearing amidst the clouds. For many tens of thousands of years it has towered over the lands and seas of Mycenae and it will doubtless continue to do so for many tens of thousands more years. However, in recent centuries it has become more than just a mountain. It has become home to the Crimson Lions, who have carved their fortress monastery from its sheer cliffs, on the one side of it Mycenae's turbulent seas and to the other one of Mycenae's many vast, sprawling forests.

The entrance to Mount Æsgard, the Lion's Gate, is carved from the steep lower slopes of the mountain. The gate itself is "guarded" by two enormous statues of lions, each over 10 metres tall, their heads roaring to the sky. Beyond the gate is the grand hall of heroes, a larger mirror version of the one found on board the *Lupa Sanguis*. Whereas that onboard the Crimson Lions' flagship is packed to bursting, that within Mount Æsgard is empty by comparison. An enormous corridor, it has often been compared to a spine of Mount Æsgard for tunnels spread out from the Hall of Heroes like a spider's web to the rest of Mount Æsgard. Lining this corridor are hundreds of 15 metre tall statues, each one a dead hero of the legion. Halfway down the corridor is the Mycenor's Hearth, an enormous conical dome carved from the mountain. At its centre is a 40 metre tall statue of Hectarion as he had been at the height of the Great Crusade, his head tipped back as he roars to the sky, his hair and pelts blowing in the wind, Godstooth in his clenched fist. Carved from the rock of the dome's ceiling are statues of every single Myrvallen in the legion's history. Beyond the Mycenor's Hearth are yet more statues of fallen heroes and beyond even them there are walls of bare rock, waiting to be carved into the image of as-yet unborn heroes.

Higher up in the mountain are the Halls of the Crimson Lions various clans. Each hall is a fortress in its own right, with the Myrvallen's Great Hall at its centre and the Clans armouries, dwelling space and all else they require contained within its precincts. Each clan has its own hall in Mount Æsgard and every time a new clan is formed, a new hall is carved from out of the mountain just as if a clan is annihilated no Mycenaean would risk angering the dead by making their homes within their hall, which is left empty.

Higher up still are the halls of the Sagartaiathi, Leighai, Cneassai and Ersa Laoch (*revered fallen*). The hall of the Ersa Laoch in particular is a cold place, with there being no hearth within it and no warmth from its inhabitants, for the dead can give no warmth, lost as they are to their dreams and reveries until awakened from stasis to do battle once more.

If one climbs even further up, then you reach the High Hall of the Ruirech and the Grove of the World Tree, each equally sacred to the Crimson Lions. The High Hall of the Ruirech is a grand hall without equal in all the galaxy, for at its heart is a long table with twenty places, built to the accomodate the size and bulk of primarchs. Stretching out for miles around this table are many dozens more tables and between them the enormous thick pillars of stone that hold up the High Hall's ceiling, with their being sufficient space to accommodate an entire legion of space marines and the vast chamber being heated by a thousand hearth fires the size of a land raider tank.

The Grove of the World Tree by comparison is a place of tranquility in Mount Æsgard. At its centre is the Moon Lake, whose silvery waters reflect Mycenae's twin moons. Yet the spiritual centre of the Grove is the World Tree itself. Rising up many hundreds of metres, the World Trees trunk is as wide as ten dreadnoughts standing shoulder to shoulder.

Far below the High Hall and Grove of the World Tree, beneath even the Hall of Heroes, is the Forge. Buried beneath the earth, the Forge is the hall of the Madrai and where they work metal to forge and repair the legion's weapons. Stretching out like roots of a tree beneath the Forge are hundreds of mine shafts in which legion servants mine for the precious metals and stones used by the Madrai to embellish the legion's tanks and armour.

Next to the Forge are the legion's enginarium and the legion servants quarters.