The Cathedral of the Lost

A strange shrine to what once was, this ancient monument is carved literally out of a mountain on the farthest northern edge of the mountains. Beyond it lay the foothills that lead to the ice fields of the true north. It is a barren bleak place unheated and desolate. Hardly any but dragons even know of its existence and even dragons rarely come here.

The Cathedral itself is as cold and rocky as the mountain it inhabits. From the outside there is little evidence of existence especially on approaches from the south. Only a small narrow winding trail leading up to a pair of massive stone doors hewn straight from the mountain give any side of anything being there at all. The doors are decorated with depictions of fierce dragons that have no match to any of the current speices known to inhabit Autumnhold. Their size towers far beyond even the greatest dragons' height and would be nigh movable to anything short of small army of men or several power dragons. They have stood ever so slightly ajar for centuries now allowing man sized creatures or smaller to slip in.

Inside is dark. Giant pillars tower up into the darkness above ending where noone on the ground can see. Each pillar is a highly stylized version of strange, nearly demonic, dragons similiar in vein to those on the door. Their wings spread out to touch their neighbors wings in spans that surpass their height in width. Around each of these pillars are smaller forms, in various sizes and shapes, of demonic looking beings who seem to watch any who enter while standing gaurd around the base of their given pillar.

The inside appears to be one great nave that stretches literally through the entire mountain on a north-south axis. From the south doors a dim light can be seen at the far end of the cathedral. As one approaches two giant stain glass windows slowly come into focus. A great arched window of stained glass towers up into the dark topped far above by a rose window of equal width. The towering arched window depicts a giant white dragon reaching up as if to grasp the rose window. It appears to be strained as far as it can reach with the rose window just out of reach. In large plain letters below the dragon reads: "Semper Contingere" (To Reach Forever). Surrounding the dragons are broken towers which are depicted in such a way as to seem if almost metallic. All are fallen and ruined. The rose window depicts a sphere with great patches of blue, brown continents, and white wisping clouds. Any observer from Earth would recognize a badly rendered globe centered roughly on Europe.

At the base of this window and about 5 meters from it the floor is raised up by about half a meter. On the very edge of this raised platform sits a statue of a normal grey wolf. It is sitting looking directly south away from the stained glass its head hung low as if in pity and great sadness for some event. When the windows are lit it casts an incredibly long shadow into the gloom.

All lighting comes from the two great windows although it is not much considering how far north the cathedral lies. Yet at least once a year the sun is strong enough and angled such that the shadow of the wolf carries across the entire nave all the way to the great doors. Much of the time the chamber is barely visible at all and the shadows all blend into one dark mass.

For all its grand gothic appearance the Cathedral of the Lost shows obvious signs of neglect. Huge boulders and chunks of masonry dot the floor. Many of the pillars are beginning to crumble. Only the great windows and the statue of the wolf remain in pristine condition.

This is the home of the Lost.

Airships

Humans found a unique way to get from places that in some aspects tops even the vaunted tram system that connects their cities: airships.

Immense steel shells flying through the air these vessels are still an uncommon sight. Each is unique making each its own legend and story. Some have travelled greatly while others stick to specific runs like clockwork. The people aboard tend to be as unique as the vessel. It takes a special breed of folk to ride the clouds where normally only dragons tread. Several of the vessels are known to be sea-worthy as well acting like the old Earth submarines that they mimic in shape. Some are reportedly crewed primarily by ceteceans and ply the undersea depths more often then the lofty heights.

The airships differ greatly in functions owing to their varying designs. Some are lumbering cargo ships moving freight back and forth that won't fit on the trams. Others explore the lands answering to the human knack to want to see everything for themselves. Some have gone beyond the ocean to the south and the mountains of the north and never returned. Others are built to fight although it is exceedingly rare to see them active in any sort of combat due to the peaceful nature of life. Their existence is a remindor similiar to those of the Aegis that life was not always as good as it is now and may someday return to that state.

Whatever their purpose the airships are a welcome sight in any human settlement representing the most human technology has to offer and always news from somewhere else and sometimes tales of new places and things.

The basic technology of the airship are four anti-grav pods that adorn each end of the craft keeping it aloft and propelling it. Some craft have additional means of the thrust others rely entirely on this alone. All have a conning tower of some type harkening to their submarine roots. Although they mimic old Earth submarines all the airships dwarf their predecessor's in size.