Ashlar Vaults
| Ashlar Vaults | |
|---|---|
| Image |  |
| District | Kel-Siruun |
| Settlement | Kar-Thal |
| Realm | Terasil |
| Constructed | Era of Isolation (c. 200–3000) |
| Cultural Origin | Duranthi |
Introduction
The Ashlar Vaults are the sacred civic archives of Kar-Thal, located at the center of the Kel-Siruun district. These subterranean chambers preserve the legal, genealogical, and geological memory of the Duranthi people. Access to the innermost chambers is tightly restricted, permitted only to sanctioned Lorewardens under formal stone-oath protocols.
History
Over centuries, the Vaults became the structural and ritual anchor of Duranthi law and lineage. Each generation of Lorewardens has contributed to the vaults using inherited ritual tools and unbroken chisel-traditions.
Architecture
The Vaults are composed of concentric gallery chambers descending around a central axis of weight. Walls are etched with continuity inscriptions, and ceiling arches are shaped to disperse spatial pressure.
At the lowest level lies the Chamber of Binding—a perfectly silent room used for sealed testimony rites.
Function
The Ashlar Vaults function as Kar-Thal’s primary archive and legal repository. Their contents include law, lineage, other historical records.
Cultural Role
The Vaults embody the Duranthi belief that law, identity, and remembrance are inseparable and must be preserved in stone. Lorewardens are not merely archivists but memory stewards responsible for ensuring that all civic knowledge is inscribed with structural clarity and historical fidelity.
Ceremonial readings from the Vaults occur during foundational anniversaries and judicial restorations. The inscription of a new civic decree into the Vaults is considered a generational event.