Deep within the upper galleries of Gloomdeep, the Ashen Vigil has carved out a small bastion known as **the Emberhold**. It is less a fortress than a scar — blackened walls reinforced with ash mortar, lit by eternal pyres that never die. From here, the Vigil launches its purges deeper into the necropolis, burning corridors and sealing chambers. The Emberhold stands as both a beacon of defiance and a mark of heresy: the **Order of Last Light** condemns its very existence, warning that disturbing Gloomdeep risks awakening the horrors sealed within.
- **Outer Barricades** – Charred barricades of stone and scorched timber form a crude perimeter. Braziers line the chokepoints, kept burning at all times. Beyond these barricades lies only endless darkness and revenant-haunted streets.
- **The Ash Gate** – A sealed breach into Gloomdeep’s walls, blackened by years of fire. The Vigil has runes carved into its stone to repel the Corpse Plague, though their effectiveness is questionable.
- **The Pyre Court** – Central courtyard filled with roaring pyres where corpses are brought, stacked, and burned. The smoke chokes the air, leaving everything reeking of ash.
- **The Ember Chapel** – A blackstone chapel where the Pale Knights hold rituals, mixing fire rites with forbidden rune-work. Its altar is scorched and cracked, said to conceal a fragment of a demon-core.
- **The Dormitory Vaults** – Small, austere chambers carved into the walls. The Vigil lives spartan lives: stone pallets, ash-stained armor, and the constant stench of smoke.
- **The Watchfires** – Towers and platforms where archers and torchbearers keep constant vigil. The fires here must never go out — many believe that if the flame dies, the Plague will surge through the breach.
- **Fanatic Discipline** – The Vigil lives by strict, harsh routine: watch, burn, purge, rest.
- **Ash Diet** – Supplies come rarely; most Vigil soldiers subsist on smoked rations, fungus harvested from scorched tunnels, and water gathered from condensation.
- **Rotting Neighbors** – The sound of revenants scraping against barricades is constant, a reminder that the Emberhold is never safe.
- **Recruit Trials** – New initiates are often sent here from frontier pyre-camps. Surviving a month in the Emberhold is considered proof of devotion.
- **Order of Last Light** – Outraged at the Vigil’s persistence inside Gloomdeep. To them, the Emberhold is a blasphemy, disturbing the dead that should remain sealed.
- **Mage Guild** – Interested in relics smuggled out of the Emberhold. Some Vigil leaders quietly trade rune fragments and plague-tainted artifacts for Guild wards and coin.
- **Crimson Standard** – Uneasy but pragmatic allies; Crimson commanders acknowledge the Emberhold keeps revenants occupied, even if its very existence is reckless.
- **Goblins of Gloomreach** – Despise it. To them, the Emberhold is a desecration of their ancestral dead.