Certosa (the Graveyard)

[Tarot]

Certosa was the name of Chelseanna's only graveyard. It rested outside the port, halfway between it and Mount Tuli, and could easily be reached by taking a short detour from the main cobblestone road. This was where the dead were brought to their rest. Certosa had been created with the rebuilding of Port Chelseanna, and few people remembered now where corpses used to be buried, though someone was quoted mentioning far older burial sites in the Southern wilderness where hardly anyone set foot nowadays.

The place was walled on all sides, and strangely triangular. The graveyard was almost entirely comprised of family tombs and chapels, and each family on the island had its own. Some, like the Vidocais and the Konstaninous, were more richly decorated and had been recently repainted. Others spoke of more ancient wealth that had since diminished, such as the Lordship of Doni. A corner of Certosa was spared for the occasional tourist who happened to die on the island. The chapels could not have been more different from one another. They represented that family's unique talent and role in society. The Alberti family tomb had a stone violin engraved on its door. The Delot one featured crossed swords as a recurring theme.

But what would really strike the visitor as soon as they realized it, was that the shape of Certosa, this placid town of the dead, mirrored that of Port Chelseanna. This explained the roughly triangular shape. Many tombs were located in the corresponding place where their family lived in Port Chelseanna, making Certosa into a miniature version of the town. The city of the dead mirrored that of the living. The only entrance gate was exactly where the Cancello del Passeggero should be, and an obelisk standing in front of an open clearing reminded of the Thanal Tower and Piazza del Mare.

The graveyard was usually a quiet place, the living and the dead respectfully avoiding each other except during certain festivities such as Selheim. The caretaker of Certosa, Urbo Moongazer, was a halfling turned away by the local, tightknit community of the Kountouras fields because of certain... mental issues of his.