Darak-Kel

Darak-Kel
City	Kar-Thal
Function	Governance and Ritual
Notable Locations	Grand Hall of Oras • Kel-Vorun • Tharakul

Darak-Kel, known as the "Echo Seat," is the political and ceremonial heart of Kar-Thal. Anchored around the sacred Great Hall of Oras, it serves as the core site of governance, oath-making, and ancestral continuity. This district is regarded not merely as a seat of authority, but as a resonant chamber through which the will of stone is interpreted and enacted.

Function

The district functions as the locus of civic decision-making, ritual pronouncement, and intergenerational stewardship. Within its halls, the Council of Stone deliberates beneath ancestral effigies and memory-stones. Major legal and ritual decrees are inscribed upon oath-steles, which are ritually harmonized to preserve civic memory through resonance.

History

Founded at the inception of Kar-Thal during the Era of Isolation, Darak-Kel has remained unchanged in form and function for centuries.Darak-Kel resists alteration as a deliberate act of continuity. It has borne witness to every major oath, law, and proclamation since the city's founding.

Notable Locations

• Grand Hall of Oras: The central chamber where the Council of Stone convenes. Its basalt columns are tuned to amplify spoken words, allowing declarations to reverberate across the chamber.
• Kel-Vorun: A secluded chamber used for the sealing of ancestral pacts and high oaths. Designed to capture and repeat vows whispered into its walls.
• Tharakul: A series of terraced platforms carved into the bedrock, used for public pronouncements and ritual ascents during times of civic renewal.

Cultural Practices

Access to Darak-Kel is tightly controlled. While the inner sanctum is restricted to officials and oath-bearers, citizens may gather in outer halls to listen to resonance-broadcasts of council proceedings. Speaking within Darak-Kel follows strict cadence traditions, with silent intervals observed between statements as a form of civic respect.

Ceremonial roles here are hereditary, passed down through stone-oaths. Echo-scribes maintain the oath-steles and ensure that no declaration is made without acoustic transcription.

Bibliography

• Stone as Witness: The Ritual Architecture of Kar-Thal by Lorewarden Evasul
• Chronicle of the Echo Seat (Ashlar Vaults, Record Layer II)
• Resonance and Rule: The Rituals of Darak-Kel by Lorewarden Vem Taarak