Roreg Logh

Capital
 Language

Roreg Logh is the name given to the vast subterranean necropolis which houses the adherents of Dorrod Muth the Long-Abiding, King of the Underworld. From above, Roreg Logh is a wild and sweltering jungle, rife with deadly strange beasts and crumbling ruins. It is an unwelcoming place, and few dare attempt to inhabit it. Far beneath, however, deep within the cold and quiet embrace of earth and stone, a society thrives, a blazing beacon of life in the dead gloom which surrounds them. The city is a vast complex of massive caverns and grottoes, transformed into a sanctuary for the defenders of the House of the Dead. From this hidden sanctum, the holy Solemnus rallies the city's faithful priests, warriors and scholars all, to journey out into A'therys, tending to the dead and dying, comforting the grieving and accursed, and waging eternal war with the undead thralls of Shol.

## Barrows

(( Add short snippet about barrows ))

* Ceidh Fel
* Ddratllagh
* Rhyn Ueald
* Theris-obr-Calon

## History

Unlike the other nations of A'therys, Roreg Logh was a country born of men and not of a god. Dorrod Muth did not care for the living, and so paid little attention to the followers he amassed during the Winnowing. Humans praised him as the King of the Underworld, and wished to worship him while alive, but even this did not interest him. Even before Llyrrh called for the first time, he did his duty to those who had passed on. However, part of Llyrrh's mandate required him to hold court on A'therys in some way, and so he constructed the Halls, a great subterranean labyrinth in the deepest jungles of the mortal plane, the bottoms of which scraped upon the borders of the Underworld. He instructed his followers in the way of funerary rites and preparing them for their passage into his domain, but little else. They built up a nation and claimed lands in his name, but he saw little use. All such things would dissolve in time as the mortals of A'therys came to meet him in his own demesne. Even so, he chose a Solemnus to be his hands within the realm of the living, and guided them from beyond the veil in this manner whenever he could be bothered to do so.

Interestingly, perception of Dorrod Muth has changed much over the millennia of the Age of Balance, and so too has the worship of him. In modern times, he is seen as a passive, enduring god who understands the inevitability of death. He is a guardian, a patriarch, and cares little for anything outside of his domain. However, perceptions of the Long-Abiding were much different just after the First Calling. Dorrod Muth was once a god of fire and brimstone, actively stewarding those to death instead of waiting for them to come to him in time. These actions spawned a cult which continued to exist beneath the Halls until recently, the Umtrahd Ruul, who continue to carry souls to death whether or not they are ready. Dorrod Muth mellowed in time, as many of the gods did, and this image of him is all but forgotten, save among the Forgotten Hand.

## Geography

The country is so thickly covered in jungles and generally impassable terrain that any regional allocation of land for governmental purposes must be rather simple. As such, Roreg Logh has four "Laoner," or Barrows in Common. The one most familiar to those outside the nation is Tehris-obr-Calon, or "Heart of the Earth." It is through this Barrow that the Halls of Dorrod Muth primarily run, though they do spread much further across the country. It is where the main seat of power in the country is, in any case, with the main temples to the House existing here alongside the residences of the Solemnus and the high priesthood. It is the most modernized Barrow as well, as one of the few that trades with the outside world on a regular basis. To the north across the river is Ddratllagh, a remarkably isolated Barrow given its prime location between Ar-Selukk and Aloreh. The upper arm of Shol's Teeth take up most of the land here, with few entrances to the nations across the border to be found among them. They do however have a reasonably strong trade agreement with the city-state of Nandar in Ar-Selukk, and as such most Loghec goods found in the desert nation are from Ddratllagh.

In the central part of Roreg Logh is Ceidh Fel, one of the more open regions in the otherwise impassable jungles. The few above-ground settlements in the nation that are not mountaintop monasteries can be found here, growing much-needed food supplies for their compatriots beneath the earth. The region has lately become well-known as being receptive to tourists, such as it can be in Roreg Logh, and is the most visited region in the country as a result. The fiercely protective priesthood typically looks down on this practice of welcoming foreigners, but many see the necessity in allowing their borders to be crossed. The current Solemnus, Tholses Murrhon, can be counted among these progressives. The final Barrow of Roreg Logh is a long peninsula to the northeast, Rhyn Ueald. It is isolated in a similar fashion to Ddratllagh, thanks again to Shol's Teeth, but its proximity to Methes Avonthes gives it access to trade routes by sea. As such, Rhyn Ueald is the only other Barrow that consistently uses sea travel in Roreg Logh besides the capital docks in the Halls, even if they are smaller vessels only outfitted to sail to the Alor coasts.

## Society

As makes sense, Loghec society is incredibly religious and church-oriented. Society also operates as an extended family, much like a larger Vrovonic Clan. Children are raised by their town as a whole, rather than necessarily by their parents. They are also schooled collectively in the same fashion, as the isolated nature of Roreg Logh makes it difficult to have any sort of centralized structure for such things. In modern times, after this religious education, many Loghec children go on to learn more worldly traits; some even travel A'therys to gain a larger perspective than their subterranean homes can provide. This movement is small, but growing. The priests of old know that their nation needs to face forward if it is to survive in an Age without ever-present deities.

Incredibly important to ancient Loghec society, but less so now, is the Hauad Logh. The ancient language of the Loghec priesthood, there was a time when every citizen spoke the language fluently. However, with the advent of A'therian Common and the globalization of A'therys, the language has begun to die off as all the other ancient languages have. So complicated that none could hope to learn it unless raised Loghec, the Hauad is now guarded closely by the priesthood. While most in the country still understand it when spoken, almost nothing is written entirely in the tongue any longer, and even the Book of Echoes has been largely translated into Common.

## Government

The government of Roreg Logh is based entirely within the priesthood of Dorrod Muth. In the seat of power is the Solemnus, a holy figure to whom all owe their allegiance. Outside the Halls, communities exist in relative isolation deep beneath the earth, and their political structure reflects this. Each of these local enclaves has has a church structure, with the head priest dictating all laws for the region centered about that particular enclave. The position is usually hereditary, being passed down to the first-born of the priest upon his or her death. In any case, these head priests pledge support to the Solemnus, whomever that is at the time, and carry out his or her word over their own when a decree is made. Since AU 239, the Solemnus has been Tholses Murrhon, a powerful if reserved orator who has no qualms about raising his voice against outsiders who presume too much of his country.Overseeing each of the four major Laoner is an Auldur of the brotherhood. Several times a year they travel all the settlements of the Laon to which they are assigned, generally checking up on things and ensuring all is well.

When a new Solemnus is needed, all the high-ranking priests in the nation come together to decide on who will take the seat of power. They descend into the catacombs beneath the Halls, to the darkest depths where the walls between A'therys and the Underworld are the thinnest, and commune with Dorrod Muth. They partake of a special ceremonial tincture designed to sharpen their every sense, and they spend as long in the Urth as is necessary for Dorrod Muth to speak to them. But in time, Dorrod Muth will always give them a new Solemnus, even now after his departure. Among those who do not understand, it might seem as though this system is easily corruptible. However, the priests each enter the catacombs in different places without light or sustenance, completely independent of one another. And, without fail, all return to the surface at the same time, often not coming back up from the entrance they once took down. To this day, there has never been a disparity between the names the priests give on returning from the process: it is always unanimous, even if the name has never before been uttered within the Halls.

*Originally written by OccidentalAnvil for the more official A'therys wiki*