1. Locations

The Crimson Monastery

Temple

This pyramidal building made of bloodred brick and ebon-black mortar seems to faintly glow within Atur’s twilight. The smell of incense is almost overpowering, and you can hear the low, droning chants of the Vol worshipers within. Red-robed guards—some living, some not—stand at attention to either side of the main entrance, and wild-eyed priests beckon passersby to enter and take part in the evening’s rituals.

The Blood of Vol’s official authority ends at the Monastery’s walls. The city of Atur is part of Karrnath, and King Kaius is no friend of the Blood of Vol. But the cult has infiltrated the city watch and much of Atur’s civic government, so the PCs can never be sure when they’re dealing with a mere worshiper of the Blood of Vol, a loyal member of the cult, or a secret agent whose life is pledged to Vol herself.

Source: Five Nations


The Blood of Vol might not have the influence it once did, but the crown’s distancing from the faith did not sway the bulk of Atur’s citizens, where the Crimson Monastery remains the largest temple to the faith in Khorvaire. The Crimson Monastery perches above the city, a sprawling complex spanning several acres and serving as the heart of the blood-centered religion. Inside is a maze of worship halls, ritual chambers, shrines and vaults, cells, and residences.

Source: Eberron Campaign Guide


While the Blood of Vol largely practices in private elsewhere, the religion is celebrated in Atur. The Crimson Monastery, an enormous pyramid made from blood-red bricks and ebon mortar, is the center of worship for Seekers of the Divinity Within. Headed by the mummy-priest Malevenor and staffed by skeletons and oathbound mummies, the parallels to Shae Mordai are obvious—it is a deliberate mirror to Aerenal’s realm of the Undying. 

The monastery itself is the central focus of the region’s manifest zone; its pyramidal shape helps channel the energies, with the most potent focused into a shrine encased in the building’s apex. The entire structure benefits from a hallow spell (undead are excluded from the spell’s first effect, and its second effect grants resistance to necrotic damage to Seekers of the Divinity Within). This spell can only be dispelled by destroying the bricks embedded into the structure that serve as permanent foci.

The interior feels cramped, despite having 15-foot ceilings and 10-foot-wide corridors. Small ritual chambers litter the building, also serving as private rooms where one can seek council with the undead inhabitants of the structure. Alternatively, a handful of larger shrines—each capable of seating scores of people—serve as more public areas where petitioners can make blood offerings. Either way, despite its imposing form, the Crimson Monastery has been built to serve the public. 

The apex of the structure is a hollow room that serves as the high priest’s ossuary; it has the Necrotic Power, Radiant Void, and Hunger of Mabar planar properties (the building’s hallow spell protects Seekers from the Hunger of Mabar property). Here, Malevenor and the high priests before him have reached incredible heights of necromancy, performing feats impossible anywhere else on the continent. 

Source: Cultures of Karrnath