Monument to Fallen Allies

Monument to Fallen Allies Споменик на паднатите сојузници
The monument at night
General information
Architectural style	Classical
Town or city	Zovahr
Country	Syara
Construction started	15 September 1948 (initial) 12 July 1991 (modern)
Completed	15 March 1993 (modern)

The Monument to Fallen allies (Syaran: Споменик на паднатите сојузници, Spomenik na padnatite sojuznici) is a war memorial in Zovahr, Syara. It is dedicated to fallen soldiers of nations allied to Syara in war time. An underground vault contains the remains of over 500 military personnel that perished while serving with or alongside Syaran forces. The monument was originally constructed in 1948 to commemorate soldiers of the Shirvani Dominion. The monument underwent singificant redesign and expansion after the Refusal War, and was further expanded following the Zemplen War. Urns containing the remains of allied soldiers are preserved in an underground vault located underneath the monument.

Background

Funeral rites are an important element of Syaran culture and are heavily based on Zobethos teachings, the state religion of the Syaran Commonality and the most common faith of the Syaran people. Cremation is the most common form of disposing of the dead and is typically carried out in open-air funeral pyres, accompanied by the appropriate prayers. Zobethian scripture explicitly states funeral rites are to be given even to "enemies of the Chosen Children", i.e Syarans, and thus foreign soldiers fallen in battle are entitled to a proper funeral. The cremians (ash and bone residue), are then placed in urns and buried either in underground either in individual or group graves, or in vaults, depending on the availability of resources and time. If urns are not available, the ashes are to be collected and buried. The Zobethos faith offers few exceptions for funerals, and failure to provide a proper funeral even to enemies of Syara and criminals is considered a major taboo in Syaran culture.

The Republic of Syara did not engage in war alongside a foreign ally until 1934 with the oubreak of the Siduri War, which saw the Republic ally with the Shirvani Dominion as part of the Inner Sphere. Following the defeat and subsequent Occupation of Syara there was little formal effort made to commemorate Shirvani dead in Syara, until the first proposals for a memorial were publicly debated in 1945. A plan for a small obelisk located approximately 1.5 kilometers from the Shrine to Foreign Soldiers was accepted in 1947 and completed the next year. The design for the obelisk was submitted by Galanian artist Miladin Boikov Rusev, while an underground vault was dug out to host the remains. Urns representing the remains of 57 Shirvani soldiers were interred between 1948-1949. Plans for further remains to be interred were halted by the dissolution of the Shirvani Dominion in 1950.

The site remained unchanged until after the Refusal War, when the memorial fell under the auspice of the Commonality's Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Faith. In 1989 the High Council acknowledged a public proposal for an expansion of the memorial, which was finalized in 1990 with construction beginning a year later. The overhaul saw the installment of a new obelisk 40 meters tall, topped by a 12 meter tall statue of a nondescript soldier meant to represent a foreign warrior. The underground vault was redesigned and expanded to accommodate the addition of urns representing 81 fallen Cacertian service members killed during their countries involvement in the Refusal War. Construction was completed in 1993 and opened to the public shortly afterwards.

The underground vault underwent further expansion after the Zemplen War (2008-2010). This expansion, meant to host the remains of 362 Æþurheim soldiers killed in the conflict, nearly quadrupled the size of the vault. Construction was completed in 2013. Further repairs to the monument were carried out in 2019 to battle erosion of the soil and supporting structure.

Complex

The Monument sits atop a marble platform, the center of which is occupied by the obelisk and its supporting rectangular base structure, raised atop steps and supported by columns. An extended marble and stone pathway leads to the obelisk, broken up with sections of grass and flowers. The interior of the monument is relatively small owing to the strong support structure needed for the obelisk. A bronze sculpted plaque sits before the base of the obelisk, written in the Symmerian language and modern Syara, and reads:

This monument is dedicated to soldiers of allied nations who fought and died in defense of our soil and sovereignty. Here they rest, their sacrifices remembered and their deeds honored.

A contingent of the Sacred Guard remains permanently stationed within the memorial itself. An underground vault located underneath the pathways leading up to the obelisk contains the remains of the fallen, organized by nationality. It is located approximately 1.5 kilometers from the Shrine to Foreign Soldiers, which commemorates fallen enemies of Syara killed during wartime. The main complex is open to the public, but access to the underground vault is restricted. Per Syara tradition, the monument is consecrated on the solstice by Predicants and acolytes of the Zobethos faith.

Interred remains

Three nations are represented in the monument; Æþurheim, Cacerta, and the Shirvani Dominion. The cremains of 501 soldiers are interred in the vault, the majority from Æþurheim. Cacertian remains represent the only nation whos' fallen are found both in the Shrine to Foreign Soldiers, and the Monument to Fallen Allies, owing to Cacertian hostility towards Syara in the Divide War and Siduri War, and support for the Wardens during the Refusal War.

The breakdown is as follows:

• Æþurheim: 362 (Zemplen War
• Cacerta: 81 (Refusal War)
• Shirvani Dominion: 57 (Siduri War)