Dolurrh

The Great Fade and Its Mists

The fundamental reality of Dolurrh is defined by the Great Fade, embodied by Mists that permeate the plane. These Mists are agents of entropy, subtly eroding the identity and memory of souls without any discernible struggle. Within these Mists, souls manifest as faint, bioluminescent motes, gradually diminishing as they are consumed by the planar forces.

The Grey Expanse

Beneath the pervasive Mists lies the Grey Expanse, a desolate and featureless plain composed of calcined dust. This expanse lacks any discernible geographical markers, and even the faintest echoes of footsteps quickly vanish, underscoring the profound impermanence that defines this realm.

The Still River

Cutting through the Grey Expanse is the Still River, a motionless waterway with an obsidian-like surface. This river significantly accelerates the fading process of souls, reflecting only the oppressive atmosphere of the plane. Crossing the Still River poses substantial risks to living beings, with the potential for severe severance from their memories and identities.

Cairns of Lost Memory

Scattered across the Grey Expanse and occasionally emerging from the Still River are the Cairns of Lost Memory. These peculiar formations are aggregations of psychic residue, representing the final imprints of souls that have traversed the Mists before their dissipation. Constantly shifting and non-solid, these structures assume various forms—spires, crumbling arches, or indistinct masses—offering no tangible shelter or treasures. Instead, they evoke fragmented impressions of forgotten lives, such as dying wishes or echoes of regret, serving as unreliable and mutable markers of Dolurrh's entropic nature.

Undulating Thresholds

Within Dolurrh exist Undulating Thresholds, ephemeral zones where the Mists exert an intensely oppressive influence, leading to heightened dissolution. Individuals entering these areas experience a fraying of their essence and a weakening connection to the Material Plane. Visually indistinct from the surrounding Mists, these thresholds are marked by a darker hue, profound silence, and sharp fluctuations in planar resonance, signifying an intensified presence of negative energy—the very essence of "unmaking."

The Boneyard

At the center of the grey expanse, encircled by the placid waters of the Still River, lies an impossibly large Necropolis. As one approaches the city, the first thing to catch the eye is the vast, imposing wall that encircles it. This barrier is not made of stone or wood, but of the skeletal remains of countless creatures, each fused together into a seamless fortification. Towering spires of femurs and tibias stretch towards the sky, while the gates are framed by the skulls of dragons and other colossal beasts.

Upon entering the city, one is greeted by a sprawling metropolis of macabre beauty. The streets are paved with the polished bones of the departed, their intricate patterns and designs a testament to the skill and artistry of the unseen architects. Along the sides of the roads, the remains of once-mighty warriors and sorcerers stand as silent sentinels, their skeletal forms frozen in eternal vigilance.

The buildings of the Boneyard are equally awe-inspiring. Constructed from the bones of giants and other massive creatures, these structures are a marvel of engineering and design. From the towering cathedrals of vertebrae to the humble cottages of ribs and pelvises, each building tells a story of the lives that once inhabited them.

The Catacombs

The Catacombs comprise an endless labyrinth of tunnels carved into gray stone. These passages vary dramatically in size, from painfully tight squeezes to expansive halls where ceilings are lost in darkness. The Catacombs are densely populated by the dead, with shades pleading for release and husks keening in the shadows. Specific chambers may contain vast wells of moaning mist, or serve as areas where nalfeshnee herd shades into pens or scrape lemures from the walls. While seemingly without logical structure, the Catacombs are vast, potentially exceeding the size of continents like Khorvaire or even Eberron. Junction points exist, marked by specific symbols, allowing for rapid traversal or passage to other layers.

The Kennel

Similar in appearance to the Catacombs, the Kennel is specifically dedicated to the shades and husks of beasts and monstrosities. It resonates with the howls of fading wolf spirits and features spectral flocks of birds traversing grand halls, alongside larger, more formidable creatures. Beast spirits typically linger for shorter durations in Dolurrh due to having fewer memories to erase. The Queen of the Dead may employ special servants, such as clever ravens with the souls of poets, within these halls, alongside more common denizens like nalfeshnee and quintessence golems.

The Crucible

The Crucible is a comparatively smaller but still grand foundry layer, where the immortal spirit known as the Smith of Souls refines the essence of faded spirits into "husksteel." The Smith is responsible for forging armor and weapons, and for creating the quintessence golems from the husks of brave souls. She also crafts a variety of smaller, more unusual items from husksteel. This layer is tended by psychopomps and guarded by newly forged quintessence golems. The Smith herself is a shapeshifter, appearing as a giant when forging quintessence golems and a gnome when crafting delicate trinkets, wearing a mask of black steel and an apron resembling dragonhide. It is theorized that she may collect the memories of mortal artisans to replicate their works.

The Vault of Memories

The heart of Dolurrh, the Vault of Memories, is a colossal tower built from the bones of ancient dragons, their immense skeletons forming the very walls and pillars of the immense structure, exceeding the size of any of Sharn's great spires. It is from this building that the psychopomps are directed by their nameless commander: The Queen of the Dead. Little is known of this feminine being, though she does not claim to be a deity. She is unbothered by mortal concerns, only motivated by the completion of a soul's destiny.

• The Library: The lowest levels of the Vault constitute the Library, where the spirit known as the Librarian interviews each shade, meticulously recording its life. The Librarian's power is such that an entire life can be condensed onto a single large page, with each inscribed sigil holding a crucial memory accessible to those who understand the arcane. Countless books of preserved lives fill the many floors, diligently tended by psychopomp scribes. The Librarian is a massive, hooded figure whose books are enormous, and a pervasive legend suggests he can be in multiple places simultaneously to converse with every shade before it fades.
• The Queen's Chambers: Above the Library, the Queen of the Dead keeps her vast collections. What appear to be obsidian statues are, in fact, crystallized shades, preserved to prevent their fading into husks. Paintings and crystals contain memories that the Queen has chosen to isolate. Beyond these are countless trinkets and oddities, artifacts collected by her psychopomps over the vast expanse of history. The highest chambers are reserved for the Queen herself, where she typically sits in silent contemplation, listening to the countless whispers of the shades within her dominion.

Conclusion: The Geography of Finality

Dolurrh possesses a geography defined not by mountains and rivers of material substance, but by the relentless, all-consuming process of entropy. It is a plane of absolute finality, a cosmic reset button where all identities, all memories, all echoes of life are ultimately unmade.

One does not settle in Dolurrh one dissolves. My brief ventures into this realm reinforced the profound nature of death in Eberron; not a journey to a divine afterlife, but a return to fundamental non-existence. It is a stark landscape, utterly devoid of the vibrant chaos and potential of the Material Plane, a testament to the ultimate and unavoidable end awaiting all things. And for this very reason, it is perhaps the most humbling, and terrifying, "place" in all of creation. Do not linger, for Dolurrh wishes to claim not just your soul, but your very capacity to have a soul.

Effects on the Material Plane

Coterminous

When Dolurrh becomes coterminous, the boundaries between the two planes become thin. Spirits and other creatures from Dolurrh pass easily into the world of Eberron, becoming ghosts and worse. Spells designed to resurrect people become more potent, often inadvertently bringing back the wrong soul, other ghosts or shades, or even a demon inhabitant of Dolurrh. Dolurrh is coterminous once a century, for a duration of exactly one year, with periods exactly a century apart, and exactly fifty years after being remote.

Remote

When Dolurrh is remote, resurrection spells no longer work, though spells like plane shift still allow for resurrection. Dolurrh is remote once a century, for a duration of exactly one year, with periods are exactly a century apart, and exactly fifty years about being coterminous.

Manifest Zones

• The Harvest of Pain, a blasted wasteland on the continent of Argonnessen, is a manifest zone of Dolurrh.
• In Q'barra, many animals travel to the Ivory Mountain to die. Scholars from Morgrave University believe that there is a manifest zone to Dolurrh either near or within the mountain.
• The Lair of the Keeper in the Demon Wastes is a powerful manifest zone to Dolurrh.
• Many believe that the ghosts that come out of the pitch black waters of Lake Dark in Karrnath do so because of a Dolurrh manifest zone.