¶ 🔹The Baptisterium
| Type | Retirement Keep |
|---|---|
| Faction | Caravaneers |
| Location | High Hill, Athkatla |
| Former Use | Chapel of Waukeen |
| Purpose | Care, convalescence, artisanal production |
Atop Athkatla’s highest hill stands the Baptisterium, a stately keep overlooking the city, river, docks, and the desert road.
Though now Caravaneer-run, the building began its life as a chapel of Waukeen, abandoned long ago when the Temple shifted its interests elsewhere.
For decades it remained neglected — until the Caravaneers claimed it, restored it, and transformed it into a sanctuary of rest and healing.
The Temple of Waukeen has since expressed discreet interest in reclaiming the site.
The Caravaneers, however, find this notion amusing and respond only with laughter.
The towering statue of Waukeen atop the keep — once an expression of devotion — now gazes down upon the city as an unspoken reminder that the Caravaneers hold what the Temple lost.
¶ 🔹Purpose
The Baptisterium serves as a retirement and convalescence sanctuary for elderly or wounded Caravaneers.
A skilled staff of medical practitioners ensures that those who spent their lives on the road receive comfort, dignity, and expert care.
The resident monks are famous across Athkatla for their artisanal food and drink, producing:
- Malt beers
- Berry wines
- Aged cheeses
- Dense, fragrant breads
These offerings sometimes appear in limited quantities in the city’s markets.
¶ 🔹The Statue of Waukeen
Atop the highest tower stands a colossal stone statue of Waukeen, arms outstretched over Athkatla as if presenting the city to itself.
- Originally part of the chapel’s iconography
- Polished and restored by the Caravaneers
- Lit by lanterns at night so its silhouette watches the city
- Visible from the docks, markets, and even Old Town
To the Temple of Waukeen, the statue’s presence atop a Caravaneer fortress is an embarrassing historical wound.
To the Caravaneers, it is an accidental trophy — an elegant, unmoving reminder that the Temple abandoned what they now hold.
¶ 🔹Defenses
Though devoted to healing and peace, the Baptisterium is strongly fortified.
¶ 🔹Structural Defenses
High Hill Position
The keep’s elevated vantage point offers a sweeping view of Athkatla and the surrounding region. Approaching forces are visible hours before arrival.
Reinforced Walls
The outer stonework is reinforced with chatan-laced stone, lending it obsidian-like hardness and extreme heat resistance. Siege flames and spellfire leave only scorches.
Murder Slopes
The winding ascent to the keep consists of steep, uneven switchbacks. Siege engines struggle on the incline, while defenders can safely unleash:
- Arrows
- Oil
- Rocks and debris
upon aggressors with minimal risk.
¶ 🕵️ The Social Ruse (Secret)
The Baptisterium has many secrets, but the biggest one is the true reason the keep is used by the Caravaneers.
- Beneath the keep lies a huge tunnel network, connecting to places such as:
- The Arcanists College in the city center
- The eastern Caravaneers’ Keep
- The Wyrmtail River
- And most importantly: through the mountains out of the city
- The Caravaneers use these tunnels for smuggling goods and people, but that’s not their only function:
- The Baptisterium is also a training center
- It’s the best defensive building in town
- Hidden in the keep are:
- Cannons
- Barrels of tar and oil
- Rumors say a family of Rocs nests in the mountainside, sworn to protect the keep
- The Caravaneers’ strongest warriors hone their skills here with the training masters of the Baptisterium.
¶ 🕵️ Defenses of the Baptisterium (Secret)
¶ 1. Structural Defenses
- High Hill Position: Built atop Athkatla’s highest hill, the keep commands a full view of the city, river, docks, and desert road. Any force approaching the gates is seen hours in advance.
- Reinforced Walls: The outer walls are lined with Chatan-laced stone (obsidian-like and heat-resistant). Siege fire and magic scorch them, but rarely break them.
- Murder Slopes: The hill’s roads are narrow, switchbacked, and deliberately uneven, making siege engines difficult to drag up. Defenders can rain arrows, oil, and debris down with little risk.
¶ 2. Weaponry & Siege Countermeasures
- Cannons & Bombards: Hidden within the wall recesses, iron cannons can turn to cover both city and countryside. They are rarely revealed unless war is inevitable.
- Tar & Oil Reservoirs: At least three sealed cisterns of burning oil can be loosed through spouts in the upper battlements. Defenders call it “Waukeen’s Wrath.”
- Alchemical Grenadiers: A monk-order in the Baptisterium trains with pitch-jars, thunderstones, and smoke bombs—perfect for breaking sieges or ambushes in tunnels.
¶ 3. Tunnel Network Defenses
- False Passages: Many tunnels are rigged with collapsible ceilings or deadfalls. Enemies who discover them are as likely to be buried alive as to break through.
- Kill Pockets: Some passages bend into narrow killing corridors, designed for bowfire or boiling sand drops.
- Hidden Escape Routes: Certain tunnels lead outward through the mountains, guarded by illusion wards that make their exits look like solid rock.
¶ 4. The Rocs (Legend or Reality?)
- Local whispers speak of Rocs nesting in the mountainside, bound by oath or pact to the Baptisterium.
- Whether real or not, the shadows of massive wings at dusk have been seen, and that rumor alone makes most besiegers think twice.
¶ 5. Elite Defenders
- The Silent Guard: Veteran Caravaneers too wounded for the road but too deadly to retire fully. Each has mastered one weapon style to perfection, and they serve as the Baptisterium’s “immovable wall.”
- The Training Masters: Those who instruct Sadiki Shadid initiates are themselves legends—trained killers, tacticians, and survivalists who can turn a siege into a bloodbath.
- The Monks of the Brew: On the surface, they seem like peaceful cheesemakers and brewers. In truth, many are trained in quarterstaff fighting and pressure-point strikes. Even their brewing cellars are rigged to collapse in case of invasion.
¶ 6. Arcane Defenses
- The Mirror Room: A chamber lined with silvered glass where illusions cloak the keep’s true layout—anyone scrying the Baptisterium sees only harmless monks and peaceful gardens.
- Seal of the Coin: A permanent glyph carved into the entry arch. If triggered, it summons a golden barrier of force that seals the gates for three days and nights.
- Whisperstones: Messages can be carried through enchanted stones set into the walls, allowing commanders to give orders silently across the keep.
¶ 7. Psychological Defenses
- The Baptisterium is whispered to be “where secrets go to die.” Most citizens believe anyone attacking it would not just face warriors but also invoke Waukeen’s curse.
- Its reputation alone makes it untouchable in Athkatla politics—temples and guilds fear what retaliation the Caravaneers might unleash.