The Pest Pillar of Nyermersys was erected just after the Great Plague of Nyermersys to represent the terrible event that may very well have been lost in history had it not been for the grotesque pillar. For many people the pillar also represents a kind of Shrine to Queprur, Goddess of the Dead and Patron of Nyermersys. The pillar is located in the Main City Plaza of Nyermersys, in the Nermeran province of Santharia.

Image description: The famous Pest Pillar of Nyermersys. Picture drawn by Faugar.

Description. The Pillar is made of beautiful grey-hued granite and holds amazing detail as well as exquisite smoothness. The Pillar stands well over three peds. The shapes of skulls, bones and mainly rat and mouse corpses (representing Queprur's pets) piled upon one another form the main structure of the Pillar. To further represent this, the Pillar is wider at the base (1.5 peds in diameter) than the top (0.5 peds). At the base of the tower is a wide, smooth platform which has the following statement of the Great Plague written in Tharian, Styrásh and Thergerim on three sides of the column:

"In 1046 CC Queprur took 4500 lives by the Plague of Thevelin. Only her Clerics came and saved those ailing when others turned away. Her touch taught us and in return we honor Her."

Note that "Thevelin" was the ancient name of the town of Nyermersys. A fourth etching is rutted around the base, it is the translation of the statement in Browniin, not included in the original design. At the pinnacle of the tower you can see the hand of a corpse protruding from the heap of skulls and rats. Many believe that this tower was where the representation of Queprur as a rat came from, though most believe that the Grave House and the Pest Pillar were erected at the same time and therefore with the same thought in mind.

Also corpses of rats and other small animals litter the base of the Pillar, as do boquets of flowers and letters to the dead. While few actually visit the Pillar like they do the temple, it seems as if people do stop by and look upon it and leave tokens of faith there.

Location. The Pest Pillar of Nyermersys is located in the Main City Plaza of the town. Nyermersys itself is located in the province of Nermeran, in Santharia. The province is the northernmost of the United Kingdom and borders Northern Sarvonia. 

Image description: Details of the Pillar. Pic by Faugar.

Myth/Lore. As Nyermersys is a mostly human town in which many believe that Queprur visits regularly, the thoughts and images of Queprur run rampant in the city. Not in the way of a spirit like many elves think of the Silent Goddess, but as a monstrosity that is aloof and cold, even calculating. The image of the Queen of the Dead as a rat did indeed start here in Nyermersys, with the Plague: It is said that it were the rats that brought the Black Death through the sewers to Nyermersys and thus the image of Queprur in rat-form developed in the heads of the artists of this town.

Many locals also claim that Queprur visits the Pillar regularly. Those that live in homes facing the Pillar claim that a beautiful, pale woman in a dark cloak regularly visits the area at late hours, pausing at the pillar for a short time then moving on. The peoplesay that in the morning that all that was left at the base of the pillar had disappeared.

An elderly local ("Old Red" was what he called himself ) laid out a particular story:

"Every great while, usually the years of bad harvests, thousands of rats will go to the pillar a night of the Full moon.

They will scramble for hours at its base, never touching it. They climb around and among one another as if a great pilgrimage of all the rats of Caelereth had gathered here at the Plaza for a grand homecoming. And right before the sun rises all the rats will begin climbing on top of one another, as if trying to recreate the pillar itself! They waver and lean for the longest time, and just before they are touched by the first rays of the sun, all the rats seem to turn into the form of a single living creature, taking on the body of a woman.

And as the light hits them... they vanish... It is said that rats that don't leave before the first rays of sun during the "Night of Returning" freeze on the pillar and become part of the monument. Sometimes inhabitants who look at the column regularly may discover a rat being part of the composition they have never seen before... Legend or reality? Noone knows..."

Also nobody knows when the rats return to worship their Goddess, but whenever people hear strange noises at night, they are superstituous and stay inside, fearing that seeing the rats might bring back the plague or at least is a bad omen. Also it is rumoured that the sudden disappearance of a night watchman is related to this strange returning of the rats. But in the City of the Dead strange things happen...

	Time Table of the Pest Pillar of Nyermersys Date Incident 560 b.S. Erection of the Pillar The Pest Pillar of Thevelin (later Nyermersys) is erected 42 years after the Plague hit the town and killed 4500 of the 6000 inhabitants. While it seems to apall the visitors and the tasteful, the townspeople find it eerily suiting. 501 b.S. Erpheronia surrenders Thanks to the strong armies defending the city, Thevelin is the last city to fall when Epheronia falls. The defenses keep the pillar safe within city walls. 500 b.S. Thevelin is renamed to Nyermersys The city name on the pillar is not changed, to represent the past. 482 b.S. The Founding of Tharania The Founding of Tharania causes Nyermersys to now represent the second to largest city to Voldar in the new kingdom. While many of the citizens from further south are disgusted by the Pillar, the Quepruran clerics and the families of those that survived the Plague keep it safe. 290 b.S. Attack on Nyermersys during SW III Nyermersys falls to orcs and barbarian tribes. While few orcs can read the inscriptions on the pillar, they seem to respect the monument and do not destroy it. The barbarians fear and respect it. 230 b.S. Brownie Etchings added The first time it is noticed that the translation of the text into Browniin is etched into the face. The small size, low height and crude skill of the writing prove that it was indeed a Brownie who wrote it, but who it was is impossible to tell.