A Refutation of theories presented within "The Tomb of Stone: A Concise Summary of the History of Dunwarren, followed by Speculation", written by Aleczumberzeil te Esoterotept.

Set to paper on this day, Eleasis 29, 1374 DR by Dawnbringer Helio Ravi, Sanctuary.

The Tomb of Stone - A Theory

Dunwarren is a tomb like none other. An entire civilization and society of gnomes have expired within our walls. The gigantic lizards of the wild caves have, for time immemorial, been drawn to make their way to very near outside our gates in order to die. Surfacer-mortals have been drawn here unerringly for generations, and the dead rarely rest easily. Life is drawn to the tomb of Dunwarren, and once drawn it rarely leaves.

There is no monstrous appetite, no monster, no great foe. What there is a peculiar geographical and magical feature that makes this place so very unique. It is said that the boundaries between the planes are worn thin, here and there. It is likely that here in Dunwarren, perhaps at the very bottom of the appetite-pit, the negative plane (the plane of death) and the material plane (our own plane) find themselves far closer than other places. Whether this unique gateway has always existed within Dunwarren, or is instead a symptom of the catastrophic history of this place, has yet to be discovered. But just as water will flow to fill an empty hole, so will life be drawn to a place of utter death. For generations at the least, life has flowed to Dunwarren to confront death. Just as there is no escape to the surface-lands above, most who perish (even animals and goblin-kin) rarely pass on to whatever after-life awaits but instead become a creature of undeath.

It is here in Dunwarren, the Tomb of Stone, that we confront the final reality of all mortal life.

Aleczumberzeil te Esoterotept

In this treatise, "A Tomb of Stone", the Necromancer posites that Dunwarren is accursed by the tragedies of the svirfneblin, that at the bottom of the appetite-pit, there lies a spot where the negative and material planes are closer, and that life is drawn here to fill the void that this nearness creates.

While his paper is an entertaining work, it should be read with the same scrutinizing eye of disbelief that one uses when he reads graffiti on a wall in a midden. Life is not drawn to Sanctuary to confront death. It flees from death towards hope. Sanctuary embodies light for surfacers. It is a place where those that have been maligned by the savage races of the dark can find rest and comfort, and perhaps a measure of healing for the hurt in their souls before they pick up their burdens, and continue to whatever end lies before them. Some may make for the surface. Others may settle here and eventually find a quiet and dignified death. Others still may die as they lived, troubled and disquiet.

So it is in Dunwarren, and so it is on the surface. To attempt to sensationalize the ills of Dunwarren into an all encompassing theory that we are nearer to the plane of death as a result of a tragedy here is ridiculous. Men live and die in great numbers all throughout Toril. Creatures of all sorts perish on unimagicable scales, bloodying fields, streets, and courtyards. More often then not, within a generation those fields are being tilled again, those streets bustle with life, and those courtyards are filled with the joyous upraised voices of good folk.

We live in a world where great evils will do what they can to decieve us into not fighting, and to abandon hope that life may hold more for us if we strive to carve from it that which we all deserve. These evils have, over time, discovered methods to bring into doubt the basic tenets of life behind the veil of "science" and by calling something a "fact" because they have observed it and would have you believe it to be so.

Great tragedies have happened here, but so too have great victories. Sanctuary has prevailed against many a foe that thought they could trod the good men and women here into the ground. One-hundred and fifty years after the arrival of the founders, Sanctuary is as strong, or stronger then it ever has been. The Chosen, the Undead, the Drow, the Lizardfolk. All have been pushed back and will continue to be pushed back. This is the true nature of Sanctuary and Dunwarren. Goodly folk standing shoulder to shoulder against those that would wreak evil upon us, saying in one voice "No!"

Not all who die here return with the curse of undeath. Many, many more rest easily, their souls having returned to the bosom of their patrons and matrons in the afterlife. It is true that sometimes the dead are restless in Dunwarren, but this behaviour is no more pronounced here then on the surface, and can be traced directly back to the hands of the many necromancers within the Chosen, as well as the efforts of servants of death such as Thomas Alqvin and Aleczumberzeil te Esoterotept.

A time will come when the necromancer will stand before one who will not flinch before his decrepitude, and will not flee before the scent of death. Then we will see the true reality of mortal life; that a man pure of motive and conviction, who holds the gods close to his heart can make a difference and leave the world a better place for his works.

Dawnbringer Helio Ravi