Valley of Sleeping Dragons

From the Golden Age, until sometime in the mid Fifth Age (over 4,500 years), the Slayer Dragons who died had their remains mummified and interred in a series of crypts in a valley connected to Stormreaver, known as the Valley of Sleeping Dragons.

In the early Second Age, a few high-ranking Alliance officials would have their remains interred there, but it was already known as the necropolis of the Slayer Dragons and the practice soon ceased.

Tombs

The tombs were all rock-cut and usually consisted of a long sloping shaft into the mountain side, with a chamber or chambers at the bottom. Once intended burials had been placed in the tomb, the main shaft would be filled with careful brickwork that completely sealed the way. This brickwork would sometimes fill more than 50 feet of tunnel.

The entrance on the surface would be filled with stone chips and covered over with dirt. Finally, the area was replanted, completely hiding the tomb. Surveyors kept detailed notes and tried to avoid digging where old tombs were, though sometimes a new excavation would break into a much older tomb.

Monuments on the surface were placed throughout the valley, never near a tomb entrance. These ranged from simple to elaborate. Some of of the greatest artisans of the era donated their skills to remembering the Slayer Dragons.

Contents

The bodies themselves were carefully embalmed and preserved, though for no specific religious reason. Some theorize that this practice began so that in a major emergency, Necromancy could raise an army of Sayer Dragons.

After being embalmed and wrapped in linens covered in resin, the Slayer Dragons were armored and placed in a sarcophagus. Many of the burials contain powerful magical weapons that belonged to their wielders in life. The sarcophagi would be placed in niches in the wall or in shrines, depending on the wishes of the occupants and the customs of the era. Other weapons and ceremonial items such as the traditional regalia would be laid around the crypt or preserved in whatever fashion the owner preferred.

Statues of the deceased were also commonly included. These were elaborate and finely carved, richly-painted pieces that would sit in the ground for all eternity.

Burial method

At first, a tomb would be dug for the ten Slayer Dragons who served together. However, as time passed and Slayer Dragons lived longer with their titles, it became difficult to tell who belonged in which crypt. Some had tombs constructed solely for them; others were happy to be buried in group tombs. Some were said to contain as many as two hundred burials.

When a group tomb was "full" it would be sealed, and the stone cutters would move on to the next.

Cult of the Craftsmen

A sort of cult evolved, not around the Slayer Dragons themselves, but around their dead. The artisans and craftsmen who built their tombs held a great reverence for the work they did. Though they did not directly worship the Slayer Dragons, their deep devotion to their work bordered on religious fervor.

This was why, during the more than 4,500 years the Slayer Dragons were buried in this valley, not a single tomb was broken into.

Legacy

Around the begining of the Fifth Age, the practice of ash pits found its way to Arindell. Though the Slayer Dragons and most high-ranking Alliance officials would resist this method for another five hundred years, it slowly became tradition, and by the A.Y. 5600s, the burials in the valley ceased.

However, monuments to fallen Slayer Dragons continued to be erected in the valley, and the artisans and craftsmen continued to guard the tombs. Around two hundred years after the burials stopped, the tomb of Pendragon Lal Soratami was broken into. This caused a massive uproar from the cultists, who shifted their focus from building monuments to carefully patrolling what to them was a sacred valley.

By the mid Sixth Age, the fact that there were tombs there was all but forgotten by everyone except the craftsmen's cult. Only three had ever been broken into, and very few items stolen. It is thought that the cult tried to erase the existence of the tombs from public awareness to prevent further attempts.

In the late Sixth Age the valley was opened to the public as a park. It had been guarded and off-limits since Eieber was interred there over 6,000 years earlier. For the first time, the general public was allowed to walk among and appreciate the beautiful monuments to the many Slayer Dragons of the past.

Eieber's Tomb

Eieber, first Pendragon of Slayer Dragons, was the also the first Slayer Dragon to be interred in the Valley of Sleeping Dragons. The rest of the Ten were later moved or buried there, but Eieber's tomb was the first. Descriptions of its interior and contents claim that it was quite grand, and its location was known until at least the early Second Age. The location has since been lost.

His monument on the surface still stands, carefully maintained by the cultists.