Finder’s Archives – Ancient Amphitheater

The Ancient Amphitheater is, as the name implies, an ancient site where judgments are rendered, fates are decided, and on occasion, festivities and plays are held. The latter were far more common in the past, however, as the Amphitheater now serves as neutral ground, for those who have run out of options in the legal systems, one final place of judgment and law, where the verdict must be followed.

The site is thousands of years old, and inhabited only by a single creature, a Titan named Galanda Feudkiller, whose wisdom is legendary and respected, even by the gods themselves. Galanda is bound to a stone throne, unable to rise, except in certain circumstances, and she spends most of her time in magical slumber, awakening only when it is time for a hearing.

Lay of the Land

The Ancient Amphitheater is an enormous collection of standing stones, built in the long-forgotten past by titans and giants, and to a scale that matches their physical size. It is difficult for most mortals to navigate, even though the path has been used a lot and is well worn. (This should be adjudicated by the GM, but should require a minimum of doubling the movement cost for anyone below size Huge, or frequent Climb checks (at a low DC) to cross). Once at the top, those unaccustomed to the heights are quickly fatigued due to the high altitude (due to the grace of the gods, there is no risk of altitude sickness, but the air still feels uncomfortably thin).

Climbing the actual stone plinths requires mountaineering gear if the climber is below size Huge. It is also considered sacrilege by most of the cultures living around the Ancient Amphitheater, and anyone caught climbing the stones faces severe punishments (though climbing them does not awake Galanda).

Dangers

The only danger, apart from wild animals and the surrounding cultures, is Galanda Feudkiller herself, and only under specific circumstances. Anyone making the climb, can prostrate themselves before her, and plead for her to hear their case. Galanda only awakens if both accuser and defender are present, so it is usually a mutual agreement, though on extreme cases (such as genocide or war crimes) either side can awaken the titan. She will then hear their case and carry the person unerringly to the other involved party, and hear their side of the story, before rendering her judgment.

Once Galanda has made her judgment, she asks both sides if they’re willing to hear the judgment. If both accept, the decision is final and her word will stand. She then returns to her slumber.
If either side, at any point, breaks from the judgment (whether by word or by spirit), Galanda once more awakens, this time to punish the transgressor. She picks up her maul of the titans, and strides to the oath-breaker, to deal with the ultimate judgment: Death.
Should anyone, somehow, manage to defeat the titan, she reappears in her stone throne exactly 100 days later, once more asleep. She’s only been asked why she is bound to the throne once, to which her answer was “This is MY punishment,” though she will not give any details as to what her crime might have been.

Treat Galanda Feudkiller as a normal Elysian Titan, but with a Wisdom score of 40, and a Charisma Score of 36.

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Kim Frandsen

40 years old, and a gamer since I was 13. These days I freelance as a writer for various companies (currently Fat Goblin Games, Flaming Crab Games, Outland Entertainment, Paizo, Raging Swan Games, Rusted Iron Games, and Zenith Games), I've dipped my hands into all sorts of games, but my current "go-to" games are Pathfinder 2, Dungeon Crawl Classics and SLA Industries. Unfortunately, while wargaming used to be a big hobby, with wife, dog and daughter came less time.

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