#starfallenoprestei

Carved around a massive sapphire that serves as its seat, the Sapphire Throne was the symbol of Oprestei’s monarch-priests. The royal family clustered there as Oprestei sank, and their skeletons became sapphire inlays in the throne. The throne room now orbits the labyrinth, empowering Gethel and hunted by the Congregation.

Several royal guards broke ranks and tried to flee Oprestei, only to be caught by demonic attackers and torn apart just as the island sank. Now, their fragments walk the labyrinth on limbs of clotted blood, seeking living bodies to graft themselves to, take control of, and use to escape.

Cutting through the impossible geometry of Oprestei, the Vents offer access to every part of the labyrinth. They are hideously empty, burned so wholly that even Chaos cannot reclaim them. Anything within slowly decays to ash; it is immediately painful, and lethal to stay for more than an hour.

In 888 FS, a sorcerer founded a school of sorcery on Oprestei, reasoning that eight was a mystically potent number that guaranteed success. Eight months and eight days after its founding, the school ignited so thoroughly that even the names of the school and its sorcerers were reduced to ash.

The number eight has been an omen of disaster in Oprestei for centuries. Each year, the eighth gemstone mined was ritually buried in a warded chamber. Since Oprestei’s fall, some delvers have tried to break into the vault and steal the Eights; all have suffered horrific misfortunes and died.

Once a massive geode, the god Gethel broke into three fragments as he sank Oprestei. Each holds part of his desires - to protect, to grow, or hold tight to his treasures. The three cannot communicate with each other, setting Gethel's servants to contradictory tasks as their strength waxes and wanes.

Divine servants of Gethel, vespers are small blueglass orbs with dozens of downy wings, who once drew gemstones from Oprestei’s volcanic depths. Now, they patiently follow the conflicting orders of their broken god, venturing up for weeks-long attempts to recover souls interrupted by sudden foolhardy assaults against the Augur’s demons.

A vesper was working to awaken Arne’s ghost when it was obliterated by the demon that devours him nightly. Now, the potter is caught on the edge of awakening. If he could be kept safe for one day, he would recover to be sent to Gethel or released from Oprestei.