Rooks and Kings Ruins
The ruins are dominated by four long columns of pillars arranged in the manner of a gigantic chess board, most of which have almost completely crumbled (3635 AA/SA). The tallest pillars at the centre and to the right of each column accentuate this impression, and gave rise to the name "Rooks and Kings". Most Amnari refer to it as R&K. The ruins themselves are not considered to be owned by any individual, and their care is the joint responsibility of the Rooks and Kings Clinical Provision Team and the Union of Nurish Clans local Committee of the Union.
Purpose / Function
The exact purpose of the ruins is unknown, although most Amnari archaeologists suggest that it was either a customs house/staging post at the border of the Central Tir during the High Keshwari Period (Era of the Five Empires), or a temple of some kind. There are arguments for and against both theories, both of which centre on the structure of the ruins themselves, their location, and the evidence for prior use (or lack thereof).
Rooks and Kings as a Temple Complex
The main argument in favour of Rooks and Kings being a former temple complex is that its structure and architecture resembles that of Temple Red and Temple Blue in the Duum Canyon, which also feature pillar columns with bas relief decoration, some of which are coloured.
Those who argue against this use point out that the temple is a long way from any other known settlement of the period, or at least that no evidence survives of there existing a settlement for a temple to serve at the time. The majority of the stable population at the time lived close to the banks of the River Duma, and few would have had reason to live so far out into the desert, even with the presence of a oasis nearby.
A second argument against Rooks and Kings as a temple highlights that in other temple complexes, it was typical for the Keshwari to position to temples opposing each other, as at the Temples Red and Blue, which emphasised the various dualities of their religious structure. No such oppositional structure has been identified, and the prevailing proponents of the temple theory tend to assume that all four columns once belonged to the same temple. A final architectural point has been raised that while there are circular pillars at Temples Red and Blue, the predominant features are squared pylons.
Customs House or Outpost Theory
Opposing the temple theorists are those who believe Rooks and Kings was most likely some kind of customs house, or possibly the remains of a smaller caravanserai taking advantage of the nearby oasis as a fresh water source to serve travellers to and from Keshwar's Central Tir along the River Duma.
Most of the evidence in support of this theory comes from the positioning of the ruins close to the oasis, the longstanding presence of the Nurish trading routes through the desert and the Nurish Camel Express running between Bat Nur and the Rooks and Kings Oasis from at least the mid- or high Imperial period. The lack of evidence of any settlement to support a temple complex has been seen as possible evidence for the ruins' use as a customs house or trading post of some kind.
One argument against this theory is that in fact the ruins are not well positioned for a customs house or trading post either. They are too far south from the oasis to truly benefit from convenient use of the water supply, and are off the Nurish Camel Express route by approximately half a mile. The current position of the caravanserai is well-protected from sand storms by natural rock formations, and can easily make use of the oasis waters, whereas the position of the Rooks and Kings ruins at the eastern end of the Field of the Red Queen suggests that the whole feature may in fact have some relationship to this geographical feature rather than a practical purpose.
Architecture
The pillars are set onto large supporting plinths on a stone causeway that is now cracked and well-worn. The stone from both of these features is of the same type as the pillars and not local. There is faded evidence of decorations on the plinths, possibly writing or artwork, but this too has been very much ablated over time.
500 EFA
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