Arch of Aroden

The Arch of Aroden is a partially ruined, monolithic arch hundreds of feet in height and 15 miles in length that stretches across the Hespereth Strait in far southwestern Cheliax, connecting the northern continent of Avistan to Garund. Both ends have been a part of the nation of Cheliax since their victories in Garund, much to the consternation of the neighboring nation of Rahadoum. Through the heavily fortified port city of Corentyn, which controls the northern end of the arch, and the town of Khari on the southern end, Cheliax can effectively regulate all trade and naval traffic through the western part of the Inner Sea.

History
Avistan and Garund were not always separated by water. Before the impact of the Starstone, a land bridge connected the two continents, exactly where the Arch is now located.

Thousands of exiled clerics and faithful worshipers fled north across the straits as the Laws of Man spread from the city of Azir throughout the entire nation of Rahadoum, ending the Oath Wars. These refugees fled intense religious persecution in their homeland and poured across the strait into the city of Corentyn, to the great dismay of the local Chelish authorities. Amidst the religious upheaval and civil unrest their emigration had caused, a plan for the construction of a bridge connecting the continents emerged under the leadership of Lord Kevid Chemoch, ruler of Corentyn. Lord Chemoch succeeded in finding a way to focus all of the city's religious fervor and created a combination large public works project reliant upon slave labor, and a tribute to the god Aroden. Numerous invasions from the south were attempted using the Arch, until Cheliax seized control of its southern terminus.

After the collapse of the Arch, the keystone was dragged from the seabed by gillmen and given as a gift to Andoran. The Archstone bears the symbol of Aroden and was used in the construction of a monument to Talmandor in the Field of Concord known as the Archstone Monument.

The Arch today
Ships pass near the southern end of the Arch of Aroden in Khari.

With the center third of the arch collapsed, the Arch is no longer an effective bridge between the continents, even though it remains a dominant visual feature of the settlements of Corentyn and Khari. The Arch also acts as an important marker of the end of the Inner Sea's relative security before entering the more dangerous Arcadian Ocean, or vice versa.