Nightlife defines the city of Atur, which has frighteningly short days due to a combination of the weather, the position of the mountains, and the Mabaran manifest zone. Many in Atur still feel the effects of the war, in particular the Cyran attack in 993. While the critical infrastructure of the city was swiftly repaired, less well-to-do and well-connected residents feel neglected by restoration efforts.

Source: Cultures of Karrnath


Also called the City of Night, Atur sits in the shadow of the Ashen Spires, near the great Karrn Falls that spill out of the mountains and flow into the Karrn River. The close peaks of the Ashen Spires, the constant mist rising off the swirling waters of the Karrn, and the oppressive brick buildings make for a place that has relatively short periods of direct daylight and consequently long nights. But the City of Night was named more for the fact that the place seems to come alive when darkness overtakes the land. With the city’s temple to the Blood of Vol (called The Crimson Monastery) and its massive Vaults of the Dead, where corpse collectors store the fodder for Karrnath’s undead armies, Atur has a definite connection to the twilight and midnight hours. A significant portion of the population follows the teachings of the Blood of Vol and attends the daily rituals in the Crimson Monastery.

Otherwise, the City of Night has a rhythm and pulse that seems to increase when the sun goes down. Fest halls, taverns, theaters, and bordellos of all descriptions open their doors after dark and stay active until the sun struggles back up and over the mountains. For many visitors, the city seems to operate in a way opposite to the other metropolitan centers of the Five Nations. Everything appears quiet and deserted by day, but by night the various shops and businesses open to crowds of people.

King Kaius III maintains Nighthold, a retreat in Atur. He uses it when he wants to get away from the bustle of Korth, though he can hold court in the City of Night if circumstances warrant.

Source: Eberron Campaign Setting


The City of Night stands in the shadow of the Ashen Spires, cloaked in mist from the Karrn Falls. For all but a few hours each day, Atur lies shrouded in gloom, a nearly perpetual twilight that gives the city its moniker. Oddly, during the day’s brightest times, the city is quiet, seemingly deserted. Only at night does Atur come fully to life.

This atmosphere suits the people. At night, they frolic in fest halls and taverns, sampling the forbidden delights of Atur’s infamous bordellos. Even Kaius III is not immune to the city’s allure, and he finds refuge in Nighthold, a royal complex where he sometimes holds court.

Beneath the hustle and bustle of this curious community lie the Vaults of the Dead, where Karrnath’s undead legions await the day when war rages anew. Overlooking the city is the huge Crimson Monastery, one of the greatest bastions of the Blood of Vol in the nation.

Source: Eberron Campaign Guide

Keith

Source: https://keith-baker.com/ifaq-atur/ 

The Grand Duchy of Atur is infamously a stronghold of the Seeker faith and a center for necromantic research. Its association with the Blood of Vol long predates Kaius I’s embrace of the faith, and its status as a palatinate means it remains a safe haven for Seekers regardless of how they are viewed elsewhere. Because of the strength of Seeker traditions, undead are found throughout the city. Knowing this, many who hear the name “City of Night” think Atur must be a grim, miserable place. Nothing could be further from the truth. Atur is a city that looks death in the eye—and because of that, it is a city that CELEBRATES LIFE. Karrnath as a whole is a stoic and austere culture; Atur is a place that celebrates all of the joys of life. Food, sex, art—all are enshrined and presented in a spectrum of delights. That spectrum means that there are definitely seedy elements in Atur, and if you’re looking for decadence you can find it. The quote above calls out that Atur is home to entertainments of all descriptions and that’s the key; there are taverns so fine your adventurers will surely never be let through the door, and some of Thuranni’s finest artists only perform at the grand Palace of Shadows. This is something that has evolved over the course of a thousand years, again with Atur running at odds to the generally stoic persona of the typical Karrn; the City of Night is a place for a Karrn to escape their lives for a few days, and tourism is its primary industry. So certainly, outsiders often call Atur “seedy and decadent”—but that description fails to grasp how seriously Aturans take their duty of celebrating life, and the quality of the food, music, and other performances that can be found in the City of Night.

Atur has been a bastion for the Blood of Vol since it first took root in Karrnath. The Crimson Covenant was first formed in the great monastery of Atur, and that Crimson Monastery has grown into the largest temple to the Divinity Within in Khorvaire. It was in Atur—in the palace of Nighthold—that the leaders of the faith forged their alliance with Kaius I. However, while a majority of the citizens of Atur follow the Blood of Vol, it’s not exclusively tied to the faith. The Great Hall of Feast and Fortune—commonly referred to as the Feast Hall—is one of the grandest temples of Olladra in the Five Nations; in addition to traditional services, it’s the finest venue for parties in the city, and the sounds of coins and dice can be heard at all houses in the gaming hall.

Thanks to the influence of the Blood of Vol, undead are a common sight in Atur.

  • The Seekers have no attachment to corpses and most are happy to donate their remains to serve the greater good. As a result, skeletons are found performing menial tasks and manual labor across the city. Because they serve many different functions, they’re generally painted to indicate their service; blood-red for those associated with the Monastery or other temples, dark green for sanitation, black and gold for those tied to the city watch, blue for this tied to commerce; artists add often secondary designs that give each skeleton a little personality. However, these are standard skeletons, possessing limited intelligence; they are managed by Bone Wranglers, specialized magewrights who effectively program the undead. As noted in the Monster Manual, “Although they lack the intellect they possessed in life, skeletons aren’t mindless. Rather than break its limbs attempting to batter its way through an iron door, a skeleton tries the handle first. If that doesn’t work, it searches for another way through or around the obstacle.” So a sanitation skeleton is focused on collecting garbage and disposing of it, but it can show limited initiative to overcome obstacles.
  • The Vaults of the Dead are a vast complex that served as the center of Karrnath’s necromantic war machine. Its fortified facilities include workshops for the production of undead, warehouses for storing bones and bodies, and the vast catacombs that currently hold the Karrnathi undead that have been sealed below since the Treaty of Thronehold was found. While the vast majority of the Karrnathi Undead are sealed in the vaults, the Atur Watch has a significant corps of these sentient undead, and they can also be found protecting the Ministry of the Dead, the palace of Nighthold, and other important locations. The Vaults of the Dead are maintained by the Ministry of the Dead, NOT by the Blood of Vol. While many Seekers serve in the Vaults, they serve the Crown and the Vaults are a separate entity from the Crimson Monastery.
  • The Crimson Monastery has its own corps of undead—Seeker martyrs who have devoted their endless lives to service to their faith. Most of these are Oathbound, a form of mummy; most have greater intelligence and lower strength than the typical mummy in the Monster Manual, but the principle is the same. Oathbound are sustained by the oaths they’re sworn to uphold and the restrictions placed upon them; many can’t actually leave the Crimson Monastery, while others are bound to their service but can roam the city. Oathbound can also be found in other roles in the city; the oldest tavern in Atur, The Old Bones, is maintained by Grethan and Talan Todar, two oathbound who’ve been serving Seekers for centuries. Unlike skeletons and Karrnathi undead, Oathbound do maintain memories of their former lives; but their oaths place considerable limitations on their activities.

Because of this, there are a number of businesses that cater specifically to undead. Second Life is an Oathbound salon. Despite what you may read in the Voice of Thrane, there’s no zombie bordellos in Atur (or ARE there…?) but there are a few establishments that are devoted to entertaining the undead. Oathbound can’t eat or drink and don’t experience physical pleasure, but they can still feel desire; Eulogies specializes in storytelling and roleplaying, helping the Oathbound remember joys they can no longer experience directly.

As called out above, Atur celebrates the arts. Before the Last War, Atur was the seat of House Phiarlan’s Demesne of Shape, devoted to physical arts—painting, sculpting, ceramics—as well as to the creation of costumes, props, and other supporting goods. In the wake of the Shadow Schism, House Thuranni claimed the demesne, now known as the True Shapers Enclave. This is a center for production and education, but it’s complimented by the Palace of Shadows—One of the grandest performance spaces held by Thuranni. This is not to be confused with the actual palace of Nighthold, a secondary seat for the royal family. As Atur is a Grand Duchy, it is semi-autonomous, but the presence of the Nighthold has always been a source of pride and a sign of the importance of the city. Kaius III has spent little time in Atur over the last decade, but Queen Etrigani loves the City of Night.

This only scratches the surface of the many wonders of the City of Night. You can be certain that in a visit to Atur you will see wonders you’ve never seen anywhere else. Is it seedy and decadent? It can be, if that’s what you’re looking for. But it can also be a place of astonishing beauty, a chance to experience meals and joys you won’t find anywhere else. And it is certainly a place to find forgotten secrets in the vaults of the Crimson Monastery, or to speak to an oathbound older than Galifar itself. But remember, what happens in Atur doesn’t always stay in Atur…

Am I correct in remembering that Atur is a major mabar manifest zone? If so how does that effect it’s status as a party scene and its culture more generally?

You are correct: Atur is in the most powerful Mabaran manifest zone in Karrnath, which is why it’s the seat of the Vaults of the Dead and the center for the production of undead. Which sounds bad, right? The key comes from the Fort Bones article in Dungeon 195: “Temples of the Blood of Vol are often built in manifest zones linked to Mabar or Dolurrh. The Seekers have learned to harness the power of (these zones) and to protect their comrades from their dangers.” This is WHY Atur is the site of the Crimson Monastery—the largest temple of the Blood of Vol in Khorvaire—and why Atur was left inviolate even when the nation shifted away from the Seeker faith: they need the Seekers to continue their rituals to keep the dangers posed by the Mabaran zone contained. This is also a concrete reason for the revelry in Atur; just as the Aereni veneration of the Undying Court generates the positive energy needed to sustain the Deathless, the ongoing celebration of life is part of the equation that holds the power of Mabar at bay. Incidentally, this is the underlying reason Queen Etrigani is fascinated with Atur and spends a significant amount of time there. She shares the common Aereni belief that Mabaran necromancy and undead pollute the world, but she is intrigued by the techniques the Seekers have developed to contain these energies… and she appreciates the active celebration of life even in this place of death.

I’m running a session in Atur and I’m trying to think of who would be memorialized by statues in the city. Does the BoV have any saints?

One of the basic principles of the Blood of Vol is that dead is dead—that Dolurrh eradicates the soul. The Seekers seek to unlock their Divinity Within, and clerics and paladins are partially doing just that. If someone truly did unlock the full potential of their Divinity Within they would in theory have the power of a Sovereign, but personally, I DON’T want to say “There’s a bunch of people who have already done that and we get power from them” because that fundamentally alters the flavor of the faith and because I always prefer to have things happening NOW than to have happened sometime in the past. I’d rather have your Seeker cleric potentially being the first to accomplish this. Some might believe that someone HAS unlocked their full divinity in the past—but that if so, they are locked in battle with the Sovereigns and unable to help mortals. The main point is that the Blood of Vol doesn’t have Saints in the sense of people who have died but who are still invoked to provide supernatural assistance. The dead are DEAD. You don’t pray to Malevanor hoping he will grant you favor; you go talk to Malevanor at the Crimson Monastery, because he became Oathbound precisely so he could continue to help Seekers after death.

So, the Blood of Vol doesn’t have saints in the sense of people-who-may-intercede-on-behalf-of-the-living. But BECAUSE dead is dead, the Blood of Vol does believe it’s important to remember the dead and to honor their memory and works. It’s the same way that WE have statues of founders and heroes; we don’t pray to them, but we want to remember them. Gyrnar Shult and Malevanor are two examples of recent people who could have statues honoring their achievements in Atur (a statue of Malevanor as he was in life, not reflecting him as Oathbound!). There could be statues of other great priests, philosophers, or soldiers; even in Atur, Karrns still respect martial prowess and courage.

Duchy of Atur

Source: Cultures of Karrnath

The only grand duchy in Karrnath, Atur was an independent bastion of the Blood of Vol long before Kaius I turned to the faith. Although small, the duchy enjoys the rich onyx mines of the Ashen Spires which—in conjunction with the Mabaran manifest zone that blankets the city—have long fueled the necromantic magic Atur is known for. The duchy’s southern and western borders end at the edge of the Nightwood. Despite the Nightwood’s connection to Mabar matching Atur’s specialties, Atur long ago conceded the spooky forest to Korth.

History

Little is known of Atur’s history during the Age of Monsters; archaeological evidence from that era is simply missing, a gap that most scholars attribute to the area’s Mabaran influence. When humans expanded east from Korth, they found a large, barren plain shrouded in eternal mist. The region was a font of undead monsters and became known as the “Lake of Shadows.” Recognizing the influence of the Eternal Night, the human colonizers avoided the area and settled elsewhere. 

It wasn’t until the elves arrived from Aerenal, exiled for their alliance with the line of Vol, that Atur could be settled. Human industriousness met elven magic, channeling the energies of the manifest zone into structured necromantic magic and allowing this otherwise-desirable location to blossom under the leadership of the necromancer Duran (human he/him). Many Phiarlans chose to settle in Atur as well, comfortable in a new kingdom with strong elven representation.

Atur’s first major challenge came with the rise of Karrn, five centuries after its founding. While Karrn’s armies were mighty, the potent power of the city’s harnessed Mabaran manifest zone made an assault against it costly. Furthermore, any attempt to bring the city’s rulers and their grim faith to heel would render the area uninhabitable once more. Negotiations led to Atur’s designation as Karrnath’s one and only Grand Duchy, a free bastion that would meet the crown’s troop obligations but was otherwise independent.

The coming of Galifar did little to change Atur’s independence, although the expanded reach of the kingdom allowed for sensational stories to spread. Tales of midnight debauchery, skeletal servants, and all sorts of other ideas spread throughout the Five Nations, earning the city a reputation as an amoral abyss. “What happens in Atur, stays in Atur” captures both the festive nature of the city and its cloying darkness and embrace of undeath. 

The onset of the Last War and Kaius I’s embrace of the Blood of Vol transformed the city from a culturally unique bastion of independence to the most important city in the nation. Necromancy—which had been a longtime specialty of the city but generally reviled by the nation’s Vassal majority—became Karrnath’s most important asset of the war. Atur Academy, once a small educational institution, began churning out state necromancers to fill the arcane needs for more reanimated soldiers. While battlefield necromancy could help, it was the rituals developed with the help of the Mabaran manifest zone in Atur that could produce an army. Lightning rail cars full of coffins traveled to Atur, returning with standing-room-only legions of skeletons for the frontlines; and the lightning rail between Korth and Atur was expanded and improved to match the needs of the nation. 

The end of the Blood of Vol’s status as the state religion in 976 did not end Karrnath’s need for reanimated soldiers to fill its ranks. While the state ended its direct funding for religious institutions like the Crimson Monastery and the integration of Blood of Vol clerics with regular military units, the necromantic functions of Atur Academy and the Ministry of the Dead continued.

Atur mostly avoided the ravages of war, but its fortunes shifted at the tail end of the conflict. In late 993, a Cyran army backed by the newly constructed WX-31 Colossus invaded Karrnath, taking an eastern route around Karrlakton, hugging the edge of the Nightwood, and largely bypassing Vedykar en route to Atur. WX-31 earned the nickname “Karrnslayer” during this assault, massacring the forces that rallied to stop its invasion. Once the force arrived at Atur it sacked the city, taking vengeance on the reanimation facilities that fueled the legions responsible for sacking Metrol previously in the war. Once the Cyran forces reached this objective, they recognized they could not occupy the city. The Cyran military retreated back across the border only to be obliterated a few months later on 20 Olarune 994 YK, the Day of Mourning. Since the war‘s end, the city itself has largely been repaired, benefitting enormously from royal attention as well as the city’s undead laborers.

Under the general disarmament included in the Treaty of Thronehold, Kaius III agreed to inter Karrnath’s standing reanimated armies in the crypts below Atur, where they await new orders. 

Governance

Rulership of Atur is not hereditary. It is a position granted to the Warden of the Lake of Shadows—a meritocratic title granted to whomever can survive the festering darkness found beneath Nighthold. When the Warden dies, any citizen of the duchy may seek to claim the title. This lethal process requires descending into the unnatural darkness and plunging a dagger into your own heart to consume and contain the unraveling shadows—those who fail are consumed by the shadows and never seen again, while those who succeed straddle the line of life and death, neither fully living nor fully undead. All Wardens learn to harness this power, but the depth of their mastery varies. Regardless, the title is both a blessing and a curse—it protects the bearer from age and disease, but slowly replaces their corporeal form with shadow. Only Duran has ever managed to escape this fate, which required even greater necromantic mastery through becoming a lich.

The current Grand Duke of Atur and Warden of Shadows, Warlord Syele Balich (reborn khoravar they/them), came into power five years ago after the previous Warden, Davian Karla, was killed in the Cyran offensive. A young prodigy, Syele represents a vibrant new movement to reclaim the Blood of Vol from its dark wartime history and affiliation with the Order of the Emerald Claw. Unfortunately, Syele must also contend with learning the ins and outs of diplomatic procedure; they come from common lineage and did not receive the education in high society that other warlords receive from birth.

Atur has relatively few counties, as its small size is largely taken up by unlivable terrain like the Ashen Spires. Some of its best land lies in the Ashen Valley, nestled between the peaks of the Ashen Spires. Land disputes between minor nobles over mining rights are common; veins of resources rarely respect pre-drawn borders.

Cultural Hallmarks

Celebration of Life. While Karrns have a reputation for being emotionally closed off, life in Atur is the opposite. The Mark of Shadow has an ancient presence here, but less refined pleasures are abundant. Sex, gambling, feasts, and other indulgences are all found aplenty in Atur. The tourism and hospitality industries are core to the city’s economy. Even the rural areas surrounding the city offer Ghallanda-licensed retreats for urbanites seeking to escape the city atmosphere.

Embrace of Undeath. Death is not the end in the duchy of Atur. Color-coded skeletal laborers clean city streets, till fields, and perform other menial tasks. Magewrights known as bone wranglers raise and maintain these skeletons, taking artistic pride in painting their creations. Citizens happily turn their bodies over to the state when they die, knowing that it will put them to good use to aid the living.

The Order of the Onyx Skull. After the Order of the Emerald Claw, the second-most prominent Seeker chivalric order was the Order of the Onyx Skull, which disbanded in 976 YK per Moranna’s edicts. Its members pioneered the techniques of the Bone Knight, and many have retired to become mentors to the next generation, as knight-errants. The headquarters of the order, just outside Atur’s walls, has been seized by the Karrnathi state and is currently uninhabited.


Great Hall of Feast and Fortune

While Olladra is generally disfavored by Karrnathi Vassals, Atur’s temple is the exception that proves the rule. While the building does have some spaces set aside specifically for sacred rituals, it largely functions as a high-class social establishment. Unlike some other venues of vice, the priests of Olladra care deeply about the well-being of its participants; people struggling with addictions are given assistance rather than exploited.

Despite the general animosity of Seekers to the worship of the Host, the Great Hall has a good reputation within the city. High Priestess Lorelea (halfling she/her) has successfully boosted the Feast Hall’s profile with charity auctions and dinners, integrating the artistic and festive parts of the city. 

Source: Cultures of Karrnath

Nighthold

A great rift to Mabar lurks in the depths of Nighthold, the royal retreat in Atur; while the Crimson Monastery channels the epicenter of the manifest zone, this rift is where the Warden of Shadows seals their life away to contain the Mabaran energies. While the Warden of Shadows lives, the rift is almost entirely dormant, but when the Warden dies it begins to fester—if selecting a new warden takes more than a few weeks, it begins to disgorge life-sapping undead.

Shortly after embracing the Blood of Vol, Kaius I began construction of a retreat for the royal family built atop the ancient ceremonial structure that holds the rift. During Davian’s long tenure the rift had become an idle curiosity and attraction, allowing Nighthold to provide the royal family with a place to escape from the bustle of the court in Korth. The building is very defensible and was not breached during the 993 attack, but after Davian sacrificed himself the palace was evacuated until Syele claimed the title of Grand Warlord and Warden of Shadows. 

Queen Etrigani has come to favor this residence, fascinated by the techniques and rituals the city’s residents use to contain and channel the Mabaran manifest zone as well as the rift in the basement.

Source: Cultures of Karrnath

Palace of Shadows

While the shadow schism cut House Thuranni off from the majority of performance spaces in Khorvaire, it retained control of those in Karrnath. The Palace of Shadows is an enormous theater in the heart of the city, hosting all sorts of performances that would be taboo in the refined halls of Korth and Karrlakton. The storytellers of the Palace of Shadows push the boundaries with graphic displays of humanoid bodies in ecstasy as well as horror, leveraging the city’s necromantic specialties as well as the Mark of Shadow’s traditional capacity for illusion.

The Palace is connected to the True Shaper's Demesne. Prior to the Shadow Schism, it was the home of the physical arts for all of Khorvaire, but after the split House Phiarlan founded a new The Demesne of Shape in Thaliost. The renamed True Shaper’s Demesne is a multi-level structure; the ground level has space for both a museum and several galleries, while the second floor serves as administrative offices. Below the structure is an extensive series of studios, workshops, and other creative spaces that expand far beyond the footprint of the ground floor.

Source: Cultures of Karrnath