Monastery of Still Ash
Sanctuary of Unspoken Names
“Here, no judgment follows you. Here, only the echo of what you chose to carry.”
The Monastery of Still Ash is a secluded Arcanii holding buried within the volcanic foothills of Mount Vardun. Though officially designated as a retreat for convalescent Magisters and failed arcane initiates, its true purpose is far more solemn — it is the final refuge of those whose souls survived the Visioning, but did not return whole. None are imprisoned within its wards, yet none who enter ever leave without escort. The Imperium does not speak of them. The Arcanii do not write of them. And still, the monastery persists — a silent threshold between what was almost greatness and what must never be again.
Traditions & Rites
Within the monastery, tradition flows not from dogma but from the quiet rhythms of recovery. The rites observed here are not meant to heal — only to hold.
Ashfasting is one such rite — a time of deliberate silence, where each inhabitant burns pages of their own past. Letters never sent, confessions never spoken, names that no longer belong. The ashes are gathered in a communal basin, never stirred, only watched.
On the night of each new moon, the monastery observes The Ember Vigil. Every soul within lights a single coal and places it along the rim of the Ash Garden. No words are spoken. Each coal is a vow: a thought too dangerous or sorrowful to share, released into the dark.
Finally, there is the Remembrance Bowl, a blackened vessel resting beneath the Garden’s only tree — a twisted ash whose roots drink only from volcanic heat. Each week, the silent offer their grief upon parchment, which is then placed within the bowl and consumed by unseen flame. No one reads these writings. No one records them. They vanish, and that is enough.
Cultural Perception
To the public, the monastery is a myth — a tale to frighten careless apprentices. To the Arcanii, it is a mercy sealed in stone. Some Magisters believe the monastery itself is alive, absorbing the residual echoes of those within.
The Codex Exilia does not mention it. That is, perhaps, its greatest protection.
Purpose / Function
To outsiders, the Monastery of Still Ash is a place of quiet rest. But those who know the truth speak of its fourfold burden — a tapestry woven from mercy, fear, duty, and despair.
It is foremost a sanctuary: not for the body, but for the soul flayed by contact with truths the world is not ready to hold. Here, the Arcanii send those touched by forbidden power or shattered by failed ascension — not to die, but to disappear with dignity.
It is also an observation post, where scholars in silence study rare magical afflictions: minds fractured by Visioning, wills broken by arcane overreach, and whispers that linger long after the caster falls silent.
Thirdly, it serves as a place of exile, cloaked in kindness. Those whose presence in the world may spark unrest — or worse, uncontrolled resonance with Rift energies — are kept here not through chains, but through understanding and resignation.
And finally, it is a containment. Not overt. Not hostile. But necessary. The walls of the monastery hold more than stone — they hold memory, regret, and the potential for disaster, gently muffled in ash.
Architecture
The monastery coils like a serpent of silence, winding downward through the warm stone of Mount Vardun. Its architecture mirrors a spiral — not just in design, but in intent. Each tier leads deeper into seclusion, into surrender.
At the edge lies the Outer Walk, where the newly arrived — those still grappling with loss, or confusion, or the fractured remnants of self — first begin their descent into stillness. There are no sentries, only wind-chimes made of bone and copper, sounding the rhythm of solitude.
Further in, the Hall of Echoes waits. It is not named for sound, but for memory. Here, unmarked doors line a circular hall, each concealing a solitary chamber where a Magister may dwell unseen, undisturbed, and — if fate allows — unburdened.
At the spiral’s heart lies the Ash Garden. A sunless hollow beneath the earth, warmed by slow volcanic breath, where sorrow is not spoken, but burned. Scrolls of memory, letters unsent, symbols of guilt — all are turned to ash in ritual silence.
Nearby, within a blackened arch of basalt, rests the Ember Library. No catalogue exists. No light glows save for the coals set beside each reading alcove. Here lie forbidden writings, half-forgotten incantations, names too heavy for law. No book may leave. None are ever censored.
History
Founded in 203 AR by Magister Tiro Sallan following the first failed Visioning. He wrote only one surviving line on the subject:
"We do not bury the fallen. We give them silence to mourn what never lived."
Built upon ashfields sacred to the Riftborn Romans, the monastery was carved into obsidian and basalt. Its outer walls are etched with soot-stained prayers in ancient High Latin.
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