Question about Plane of Celestia

[Freelance Henchman]

I need to know this for a game, can someone clarify what the following bolded sentence means:

From Wikipedia:

The second layer, called Mercuria is also known as The Golden Heaven, so called because a mysterious golden light permeates everything within it. Gentle hills and lush green valleys comprise this layer, dotted with small settlements of archons and other good-aligned beings. Mercuria is known for its great tombs and monuments to noble fighters and paladins who now rest on this layer. These warriors are honoured during an annual Day of Memory.

Isn't Celestia where the souls of goodly people go (and they turn into Lantern Archons immediately on entering?) What exactly is in a tomb in that very plane? I mean, it could hardly be an actual body in a sarcophagus, right? And the souls of these heroes (especially of Paladins) must have gone on to become Archons of some sort I'd imagine. And how would a Paladin "rest" in this layer at all? If he's dead, he's an archon, if he's alive he's somewhere on the material plane isn't he?

If anyone can explain the tomb thing or maybe could tell me what other kind of "dungeon" adventurers might encounter that managed to come to this plane, I'd be grateful.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

It could be an "Unknown Soldier" kind of thing, where there isn't an actual corpse in the tomb, but it still stands as a monument to that person. It could also be the tombs of exalted who gave their "lives" in the defense of Celestia. Or maybe they're replicas of the actual tombs of those heroes converted into a kind of palace for the hero to reside in, kind of like the afterlife for the Pharaohs.

[KillianHawkeye]

Isn't Celestia where the souls of goodly people go (and they turn into Lantern Archons immediately on entering?) What exactly is in a tomb in that very plane? I mean, it could hardly be an actual body in a sarcophagus, right? And the souls of these heroes (especially of Paladins) must have gone on to become Archons of some sort I'd imagine. And how would a Paladin "rest" in this layer at all? If he's dead, he's an archon, if he's alive he's somewhere on the material plane isn't he?

First off, the souls of the LG don't immediately turn into Lantern Archons. Most of them linger about for a while before eventually melding with the plane itself. In general, only the "best", most archetypical souls (such as Paladins for LG, but it varies according to the plane in question) are turned into Petitioners (Lantern Archons in the case of Celestia). From there, they are capable of earning advancement by proving their worth over time. Although probably not even all Paladins would meet the requirements of being the highest order of pure Law and Good to become Archons in the first place.

Second, there are other living creatures on Celestia besides Angels and Archons. Even mortal creatures like humans, such as those who have travelled the planes to reach the Seven Heavens. I think one of Celestia's layers is nothing but a huge city, even. The point is that there's more going on up there than just souls arriving and transforming into Archons.

If anyone can explain the tomb thing or maybe could tell me what other kind of "dungeon" adventurers might encounter that managed to come to this plane, I'd be grateful.

You're right that we are probably not talking about physical remains like you'd find in an earthly tomb. It's probably leaning more towards the side of monuments and such, but there could be some symbolic sarcophagi there as well. I would say that the "tombs" mostly stand as a rememberance to those who have become one with the plane, but I bet there are some monuments to great heroes who really have become Archons there as well.

I'm not sure how "dungeon-like" these places would be, but I guess it's possible that there are treasures or relics and such being watched by holy guardians of some sort, making it kinda like a normal tomb with a really "divine" flavor. Or possibly some scrolls or tablets with some vital information about some godly artifact or dire inter-planar threat or a demonic prophecy or the lost city of Atlantis that the players need to find.

[jcsw]

If anyone can explain the tomb thing or maybe could tell me what other kind of "dungeon" adventurers might encounter that managed to come to this plane, I'd be grateful.

How about: Upon entering, you trigger the alarm spells. You now have 10 rounds to loot all you can before the entire forces of good who happen to be in the vicinity all come to investigate.