The City of the Dead
The one structure on the ../PlaneOfSepulture that has not fallen to ruin, the City of the Dead is a colossal superstructure miles tall and wide that is home to most denizens of Sepulture. Due to a planar anomaly (the nature of which is hypothesized by the living and dead alike), the City of the Dead co-exists on both Sepulture and the ../PlaneOfExis, although it is certainly native to Sepulture. On both planes, it rests in the northeast of Exis' explored territory, nestled between the massive ../GreatNorthernDesert and sizable desert ../DeathsShadow.
The City takes on the traits of its home plane with its cold iron walls and spires, and the majority of the City is virtually inaccessible by physical beings — large portalless rooms (allowing only incorporeal creatures) suspended in space house Sepulture's administrative facilities (which are rarely needed). Nevertheless, the dead are not outwardly hostile towards mortal visitors, although only few outright welcome them. For most, the sight of mortals, even loved ones, walking through the City evokes emotions ranging from bittersweet to agonizing.
The City of the Dead is densely populated, as much as a city of incorporeal beings can be considered dense. The vast majority of deceased humans reside in the City, and in common areas, the space can contain many times the number of souls than would fit in the space physically. Mortal visitors in particular have been known to be taken aback by the dizzying wave of ethereal souls constantly washing over and through them, unable to entirely discern one from the next. Generally speaking, the population in the City thins out as it progresses upwards, and few (alive or dead) have bothered to count the many floors of the superstructure or determine how far it stretches into the empty sky.
The City, being coterminous with both Sepulture and Exis, is reachable via mundane travel from Exis, although the long march is not taken lightly or often. On Exis, the area around the City of the Dead is pale and fragile, reflecting Sepulture's nature more than Exis', and the living generally tend to steer clear of it. The stigma is not one of fear but practicality; not only does life struggle to sustain itself in the areas nearest the City, but aging is quickened for mortals. Indeed, many who have visited the City or the areas surrounding it have found themselves subject to Sepulture's accelerated aging properties, in rare cases losing up to a decade from their expected lifespan.
This change from natural life on Exis to desolation near the City is gradual, as the degree of planar strands interweaving is greater where the City of the Dead rests. Those on Exis living near the (undetermined) border of the weave age only slightly faster than the ordinary person on Exis, but they may show other slight signs of Sepulture's influence; their hair may be naturally more pale, or their skin tighter to their bones. As life gets closer to the actual City, these influences become more apparent, and it is not long before it becomes obvious where one is headed, or from which forests a stray deer has wandered from.
The City of the Dead is maintained mostly by its residents, but due to the coterminous nature of the City, a small number of people in the area on Exis are born as ../True20Customization#Deadwalkers, those immune to Sepulture's aging properties and allowed seats in Sepulture bureaucracy. These souls serve mostly as emissaries for the City and are tasked with duties on the Material Plane of Exis that elude the dead, such as organizing and initiating mortal visitors to the City, guiding them through the plane safely, and otherwise tending to the sometimes bizarre relationship between the living and the dead found in Exis.