The Ancient Den was once the capital of a large catfolk empire, home to some 2,000 members of that race. The empire itself is long gone, but not through any normal means. The den is now locked in the middle of a crumbled empire, sands all around, with nothing more to remember it than the history books.
Lay of the Land
The Ancient Den protrudes hundreds of feet above the area surrounding it. The Ancient Den is in perfect condition, but the buildings and roads that surrounded the ancient city have crumbled to dust. When one enters the city, they’ll see the citizens stuck, in the middle of their work, caught in some time-destroying calamity that has frozen them forever. Walking through the streets, one can see everything that was going on at that moment, and none seems to have been spared, whether high or low-ranking. Even the animals are caught in this. And none of them can be damaged by any means, with any damage instantly being restored.
All the streets of the city lead to a central structure, the palace. All the doors there are open, and in the center, seated upon a mighty throne, is a single figure. An Agathion Leonal named Deliverance. But, unlike the other residents, he is able to move. He does not look like a normal Leonal–the normally golden and clean fur a dirty brown, and the lustrous mane a dirty faded grey.
Dangers
The city itself is safe, though at times robbers and others have taken up residence in the eerie city. The main threat comes from Deliverance, as he is utterly mad. He was the cause of the city being encased in this time-prison, evidently as a way to save the city, but it turns out that he had been tricked by a devil into trapping the city for all time. He sees any other creatures as devils, obviously out to trick him, and cause his perceived empire to crumble. Anyone able to watch him without being noticed will see that he patrols the city each day, talking to “his subjects” and acting as if they talk back, complete with making up voices for each of them. From these conversations, it seems clear that he is a good ruler.
Anyone discovered by Deliverance is perceived as being an intruder to be destroyed, and he will instantly attack. Once killed, however, the spell ends, and the city takes its place in the time-stream once more.
Treat Deliverance as a normal Leonal Agathion, but with an alignment of Chaotic Neutral and his heal ability replaced by harm.
Kim Frandsen
Latest posts by Kim Frandsen (see all)
- Finder’s Archive – Crypt of the Eternals - June 2, 2023
