Matrim, God of Death

Matrim, the god of death, resides in the negative plane which is where the shades come from.

(More suitable description to come soon.)

The Grand Temple of Matrim
(Written and provided by Arcane Valour)

Forty miles south-west of Mitus in the Mythlyn region is a canyon system that is a natural maze. There are only two ways into this maze, one from the east, the other from the west. At the mouth of each entrance there is a temple of Matrim. Each temple blocks the way into the maze of canyons, the only way to enter the maze is to pass through the temples. Once inside the canyon system, one can see that the walls of the canyons are riddled with caves, some natural and some man made. These caves are used as tombs for the deceased followers of Matrim. At the center of the complex canyon system is the Grand temple of Matrim.

Built from black granite and white marble, it has been described as one of the most beautiful structures in the known world. Beyond the alternating black and white columns, in the center of the temple is a room known as the Hall of Matrim. The roof of the hall is a dome some 150 feet across, and embedded into the dome are countless diamonds, rubies, sapphires and emeralds that glow with an inner fire. But these gems are not mere decoration, for each gem holds the soul of a deceased High Priest or High Priestess. Generations upon generations of priests and priestesses have made pilgrimages to this sacred hall.

For those followers of Matrim who are skilled at communing with spirits, they can hear the whispers and murmurs of the deceased priests and priestesses as a constant background noise just at the edge of awareness. The Hall of Matrim is a strong link with the past as some of the gems have souls that are thousands of years old and those within the gems continue to guide and advise the followers of Matrim, even beyond death.

Many have often wondered why the Grand Temple of Matrim was in such an inaccessible location. The reason for it's odd location is buried deep in the past, before the Temple was built and there was only one temple of Matrim in the area, at the eastern entrance.

The canyon system had long been used as a place to entomb the dead, a popular method of disposing of the dead, long before the first temple was even there. The first Matrim temple in the area was built at the eastern entrance to the canyons, providing valued services to the funeral processions, as many of those been entombed were followers of Matrim. But the first temple had a side effect, it also cut back on incidents of tomb robbing.

Tomb robbing had been a major problem, but with the temple blocking the eastern entrance, robbers were forced to either give up their thieving ways or force the eastern entrance. A hard core group emerged among the robbers, a group that encouraged the rest of them to storm the temple. However, Matrim wasn't going to let one of his temples be desecrated. Needless to say, not many of the robbers survived. The remainder sought other ways into the canyons, some tried scaling the cliffs, others tried tunneling directly through the walls. Neither method worked. In one last desperate bid, the robbers circumvented the entire canyon system looking for an alternative way in. The found it, the western entrance. With a back entrance to use, the tomb robbers were back in business.

While the tomb robbers had been looking for ways in, the priests in the Eastern Temple were exploring the inside of the canyon system, mapping every twist and turn, every gully and every cave. More importantly, they mapped the location and condition of every tomb. So when the priests started finding tombs that had previously been sealed forced open, they realized the robbers had found another way into the canyons. Within a few weeks the followers of Matrim had found the western entrance and proceeded to build a second temple to seal off the western entrance. Despite several raids during construction, the second temple was completed and the robbers were defeated in their attempts to gain entrance to the canyon and the tombs within.

However, trouble began to brew within the ranks of the Matrim clergy. There were now two temples of Matrim in the area and those in the Western Temple believed that they should manage themselves separately from the Eastern Temple. Those in the Eastern Temple believed that those in the Western Temple should fall under their jurisdiction as the Western Temple had been built to stop the tomb robbers and was essentially an extension of the Eastern Temple.

Matrim decided that infighting between his temples was not something desirable and so sent one of his Angels of Death to mediate between the two parties. The Angels message was blunt; stop messing around or feel Matrim's displeasure. The Angel then directed the priests and priestesses to build a third temple, one to unite not only the two temples guarding the canyons, but every other Matrim temple in existence.

Since this third temple had been ordered to be built from one of Matrim's Angels, the priesthood spared no expense and proceeded to build a Grand Temple at the midpoint between the Eastern Temple and the Western Temple, in the center of a canyon system that had long been a place to bury and pay tribute to the dead.