Temple-Fortress of Bar-Choteh

Beyond those peaks is a place where no sane man dares to tread. A place beyond salvation. Where the echo of a fallen Goddess lurks amongst frozen ruins.
— Mora Daresh, Guardian of the Third Pass

In each culture, there is a place considered to be cursed. Places where spirits, gods or even humans have tainted ground and air, creating only doom for those that follow them. For the people of the West, there is only one true answer to that question. Uniformly they will point towards the high peaks of the Dusk Wall and whisper a name abhorred in a thousand languages: Bar-Choteh.

Cradle of the Cult

Unlike the sickly waters of the Ahari Azda or the unnatural darkness of the Night's Tomb, the evil said to surround Bar-Choteh is entirely man-made. It was once home to the Daughters of Cybelle, the seat of that wretched cult and the greatest of its temple-fortresses. Among the peaks of the Dusk Wall, the Daughters build a number of these complexes. They were places of worship and arsenals of war, the core from which they would spread their reign of terror across the world. And Bar-Choteh was the greatest of them all. From here, the leaders of the cult waged war upon the people of the West for centuries until they were destroyed in the 1500s DA.

Cyclopean Ruin

From the pages of "Mountains of Madness" by Horatianus Pius Lascanis:

"...When our expedition arrived after weeks of travelling, I could not help but feel awed at the weight of time pressing down upon us. The Daughters had been dead for nearly 2.000 years yet their temple-fortress remained. A name that does not quite fit, in my opinion. The ruin is cyclopean in the truest sense of the word. It fills a valley surrounded by a ring of five mountains, covering their flanks entirely and leaving only the peaks and very bottom of the vale untouched..." "...Walls of titanic height bar the passes leading inside and are further reinforced by artificial lakes fed by meltwater from the mountains. Down in the valley, where temperatures are warmer than they should be, one can find the remnants of vast farms that once fed several hundred thousand people. Streams of water coming from the mountains have carved deep trenches into the earth there, each of which is filled with the ruins of terrace farms and fishing huts..." "...Where these streams unite to form the mighty river Andhras, the Cybellians have constructed a large floodgate. Although now broken, it once seemed able to restrain a truly vast amount of water. Was this perhaps another of their weapons? A tool to flood the passes and cause untold devastation down in the plains of Illigara? One can only guess. The fortress itself seems to follow no plan or order. Streets and buildings spread in chaotic fashion..."
"...Factories mingle with temples and civilian houses, all of whom seem built like miniature castles. There is only one place where this chaos ceases. On the flank of the tallest peak, a monstrous pillar of black stone that stretches west toward the burning Sea of Sand, there stands the heart of this gargantuan complex: a temple carved from the mountain in the form of a woman, her hands stretching wide over the valley..." "...What was once the dark heart of an empire, a metropolis of millions, is now a grave. The once grand structures are in ruins and cowered in snow and ice. It is an empty spot where even the howling mountain wind seems cowed into silence..."

Unknown Terror

From the pages of "The Lost Notes of H.P. Lascanis" by Arcadian Morea: "...Standing here amidst the cyclopean remnants of ages past, one cannot help but feel small. But above all, the city just feels...empty. There is no echo of the hundreds of thousands that once lived here. No whisper of the millions of slaves that were devoured by the Cult's infernal machine. Not even a hint of the great battle that eventually brought them all down. Only a few broken buildings. And silence... Oppressive silence. I feel it more the longer we stay here... I've noticed myself taking glimpses at the great statue more often these days. I don't know why. It is almost subconsciously... But I do know one thing. She is smiling back at me now...

Brother Lascanis and his entire expedition went missing some time after these notes were completed. A circumstance that makes them particularly valuable.
— Archival note

RUINED STRUCTURE
1501 DA

Founding Date

ca. 1007 DA

Alternative Names

Heart of the Cult
Altar of Cybelle

Type

Temple / Religious complex

Owning Organization

Daughters of Cybelle

Heart of the Cult

While Bar-Choteh is impressive, it is far from the only temple-fortress. The Daughters of Cybells built dozens of them throughout the western lands to cement their hold on conquered areas. Fortification, industrial hub and temple in one, the fortresses were the spine of their organisation. The majority of temple-fortresses were located deep within the Mountains of Dusk, hidden bases where the Cult could survive should things turn sour. Many were consumed by plague, earthquakes or volcanic eruptions, and by 1400 DA, only half a dozen remained. When their empire collapsed in the late 15th century DA, these bastions were lost one by one until only Bar-Choteh remained until it fell in 1501 DA.

Remain silent! Do not even pray. Your gods are not the only things up here that might hear you.
— Andharan Guide

Mountains of Madness

The Walls of Dusk and Dawn have been hives of ominous legend since their emergence over 4000 years ago. Cyclopean masses of black stone, their very essence, seems tainted by the cataclysm that gave birth to them. They are too tall, misformed in many places and active in a most unsettling manner. Even before the Daughters chose the Dusk Wall as their home, the mountains were infamous as a breeding ground for evil creatures and vengeful spirits. Dark tales about them can be found among every culture that settles in their shadow.