“Few theocracies in history fared well past their first few centuries of existence. The Lichdom of Ptolodecca was the one notable exception, though in its case, it was helped by the fact that the ruler was never the type to meddle too much on how the people lived, thus avoiding the mistake that often led to the downfall of most others.” - Excerpt from “History of Theocracies in Alcidea and Ur-Teros” by Ardath Unglois-Meyer, historian and former high priest of Pesca, from the Kingdom Down Under, circa 502 FP.

The sight of the massive, heavily decorated obsidian walls of Tohrmutgent was one that caused Celia to stare slack-jawed at the imposing sight.

It was a reaction Aideen had expected. The walls of Tohrmutgent were easily thirty meters tall, and every part of its visible surface was decorated by murals, carvings, as well as arrangements of onyx and obsidian, a great canvas to display all sorts of artwork, besides its obvious defensive purposes. The city had expanded a bit more over the Century Aideen had been gone, as she noticed the new sections of the walls where the decorations were not quite as complete as the rest.

Whereas many places built their walls out of many smaller pieces, Tohrmutgent’s walls were made from multiple massive sections of solid stone, each of which had a base as wide across as it was tall, that tapered towards the top from the inside, resulting in a massively sturdy wall with a vertical outer section, broad walkways that could easily accommodate ten men walking abreast, and a sloped incline on the inside.

Every time the city expanded, The necromancers would move the wall sections outward through the labor of countless undead, a feat that would have been unthinkable elsewhere. Each of the wall sections were built to such precise specifications that once they were laid down, not even a razor blade could be forced into the gap between two sections.

All of which were tidbits that just made Celia’s look of awe deepen.

The spotlessly clean roads that greeted her once they entered the city proper – courtesy of the swarms of undead who cleaned the roads every hour or so – had not surprised Celia much. That standard of cleanliness was not unlike the other towns and even small villages she had seen in the Lichdom so far. What surprised her more was how the locals had not taken it for granted, but also did their best to help lighten the workload of the undead cleaners by keeping their trash in neat piles at specified corners.

Another thing that caught Celia’s rapt attention however, was the architecture. While she had seen similar sights in the smaller towns and villages, nowhere in the lichdom was the local architecture so prominent as in Tohrmutgent. Not a single wall on any building within the city was left bare. Every one of them were filled with various murals and other artistic depictions, carvings and reliefs, all lavishly decorated with chunks of onyx, obsidian, or bones of every sort.

The only surface that was left undecorated were the smooth roads itself, left bare out of practical considerations, no doubt. Every single building Celia laid eyes upon, from the small houses that probably housed single families to large multi-storied buildings, were so decorated that they would have passed for artwork exhibits in most other places.

And the deeper they went into the city, the more lavish the decorations got.

Celia only listened half-heartedly as Aideen introduced the innermost circle of houses in the city, a district generally reserved for the clergy and their families, though the unliving had since also made their home there. Somehow, the decorations in those areas retained their lavishness while taking a more subdued appeal, one that gave no sense of opulence or excessiveness of all.

Of course, the grandest example of that particular style graced Celia’s eyes as Aideen brought her straight to the Palace of Bones itself, the greatest and largest cathedral dedicated to Tohrmut in the world, as well as the Bone Lord’s seat of power, where he held his court. The sight of the massive edifice was not comparable to any of the sights Celia had seen thus far.

It was naturally decorated in the same style as the rest of the city, though with the more subdued appeal of the inner district, with the majority of the decorative parts being made of bones, rather than gemstones. The walls often had those bones form reliefs depicting skeletal figures in all sorts of activities, as if they were living beings.

Oddly enough, it was also the one place in Tohrmutgent where Celia did not see the usually omnipresent undead sentries around.

As such, she almost mistook a skeletal figure that crossed their path – the robes worn by the figure should have been a giveaway – as such a sentry. At least before she noticed Aideen walk over to the diminutive skeleton – it couldn’t be more than a meter or so tall at most – and embrace it in a warm hug, that was.

“Aideen! You’re back! Why didn’t you send us news?” she heard the skeletal figure exclaim in an uncharacteristically deep, echoing timbre.

“Missed you too, Grandpa,” replied Aideen as she warmly embraced Grandpa Aarin after a century of separation. “Wanted to give you a surprise, is all.”

“I see you ran into Yvgenia’s whelp along the way and brought him along, that’s nice,” noted the skeletal figure with a nod. “Who’s the other one?”

“Oh, that’s Celia. She’s sort of a disciple of mine I guess? I ran across her shortly after she turned unliving and brought her along my travels in the north for the past seven decades or so. Thought she could benefit from coming here, so since she wanted to come, I brought her along.”

“Never a bad thing to have more people around. Even with Mimia and Èirynn’s brats this place can feel too quiet at times,” commented the small figure. “Why don’t you introduce us properly?”

“Sure thing, Grandpa. Celia, this is Grandpa Aarin, my mother’s master,” said Aideen in introduction, in a deliberately teasing manner. “Though you might recognize him better by his title. Grandpa is better known as the Bone Lord, ruler of the Lichdom of Ptolodecca.”