Grand Temple Of Luxor

The Grand Temple Of Luxor.

Also known as Ra's Temple, Temple Of Pharaohs and the Great Temple. Each name denotes the importance of the massive structure which dominates the skyline of the ancient desert city which resides as the capital of the country of Yesmos.

The temple's foundations were placed on the northern border of the capital city only five miles away from the main river through Yesmos, known as Nahr-Mayit "Dead River". The banks of the Nahr-Mayit are located only two miles behind the foundations of the temple, but the river itself is used as a method of disposal for the unwanted scraps and remains of the rock and other materials that are used in the building of the massive, towering pyramid.

The construction for the temple began in the year 1055 S.A (Second Age) following the death of the pharaoh's father who had been the previous pharaoh of the city. He and his wife - the previous queen - were buried in the center of the foundation grounds, and the temple would soon go on to hold the coffins and bodies and treasures that had belonged to the past pharaoh's and their lifetimes. The temple was meant to stand at a full height of five-hundred and fifty feet, crowned by a fifteen-foot tall piece of gold that was meant to catch and reflect the light of the sun during the day and the glow of the moon during the night, acting as an official (although primitive) clock device which could tell the time by the hour as the light of the sun shifted across it's surface. A notable event surrounding the construction of the Temple took place in the year 1150 S.A., and saw the arrival of a band of adventurers who quickly disrupted the construction and were the indirect cause of a great skirmish known afterwards as 'The Battle Of Angels'. 

This battle took only a few hours time during a single day but resulted in major casualties for the Yesmos armies which fought against the band, who numbered only eight strong. They were barely armed with weapons and had no proper armor, but the angel was the turning point and was easily able to defend against the army while the remainder of the band escaped.

The temple was completed twenty-five years after the battle in Yesmos, in the year 1175 S.A. But the end of the Third Age (T.A.) saw the abandonment of the great temple and the citizens of the capital city as a whole. Afterwards, the temple and the surrounding city were forgotten, and no man or woman ever made a settlement around the ruins ever again.

Purpose / Function

The Temple Of Pharaohs was started in 1055, and was intended to be a grave site for the pharaoh's and queen's of Yesmos and the capital city of Luxor, and was announced by the new pharaoh, Pthah-Nefer and his wife, the queen Pthah-Thmei. The secondary mission of the Temple was as a way to keep time in the city, with the large fifteen-foot tall pyramid of gold that crowned the five-hundred-fifty foot tall pyramid which would become the largest construction project ever undertaken in the country in it's history or the history of the continent of Rethium as a whole.  Over ten pharaoh's and their wives are buried in the depths of the Temple, deep inside hidden chambers and tunnels which are blocked off from the major tunnels and rooms that can be accessed through main entrances on the North and South faces of the Temple and it's foundations. Several large chambers built inside the temple itself serve as vaults for gathered gold and other possessions which were rumored to have belonged to the previous rulers of Luxor, as well as a throne room near the summit of the pyramid which acts as a secondary throne room for the pharaoh if for whatever reason the throne room in the Imperial Palace Of Luxor became inaccessible by the pharaoh or the queen.

Alterations

Over the years of construction, various materials such as stone, limestone, bedrock and marble were tested as building blocks for the temple, but due to their nature as being much more unstable to carve and solidify into smoother shapes - due to the lesser technology of Yesmos and Luxor - they were put aside. Sandstone blocks were chosen as the primary building block of the temple which was shaped into a perfect pyramid with no steps on the exterior. The large pyramid that sits at the top of the temple is made of pure, solidified gold which is polished and cleaned twice every month on the same day, taking at least an hour and a half to properly clean before being left to the elements before being cleaned again.

Architecture

The temple is shaped as a perfect pyramid. The surface was smoothed as more blocks were added throughout the years to achieve a smooth and fine finish to the construction, with the same shape being used for the crowning jewel of the temple, which is a golden pyramid standing fifteen feet tall from base to tip.  Wood and stone were only employed in the making of cranes and ramps and stairways which accessed the upper reaches of the temple, as well as a long stone ramp which was continuously altered and shifted to follow the angle of the pyramid as it's height was increased.  The temple was built at a perfect fifty-degree angle.

History

The foundations of the Temple were laid in 1055 S.A.  The Battle Of Angels took place in the year 1150 S.A., and was the only major pause in the construction of the Temple which was finished in 1175 S.A., twenty-five years later. The temple was officially abandoned at the end of the Third Age, and was left as a monumental ruin, along with the capital city that surrounded it. The capital of Yesmos was changed to Nosmon, which was a city constructed along the coast over a hundred miles to the east of the previous capital.  The temple took a total of one-hundred and twenty years to complete, with a crew of one-hundred and forty-nine thousand workers, including the girl that the band of seven were searching for. The girl was forced into labor for the temple after her capture in a distant city in Yesmos, before being found by the band a long period of time later and rescued during the events of the battle in the city of Yesmos.

Tourism

Adventurers and hunters will often seek out the ruins of the temple and the city of Luxor, but otherwise the only people who were known to visit the temple during it's time as a capital monument were the officials of Luxor, the Imperial Luxorian Guard and the pharaoh and the queen. The natives of the city were only allowed inside by invitation or official request by the pharaoh or the queen directly.  The people who search for the ruins are often seeking the hidden treasures of the pharaoh's and their spoils, as well as charms, materials, magical books and other items which can be used in spells, magics, healing potions and other creations of man and beast, as long as those creations are able to feed and grow the wealth, power and lifespan of the people who employ those magics. Many of the adventurers who travel to find the hidden chambers never return to where they started, and many bodies can be found surrounded by abandoned backpacks and travel equipment near or on their bodies.

RUINED STRUCTURE
2500 T.A. (Third Age)

Founding Date

1055 S.A (Second Age) - 1175 S.A. (Second Age)

Alternative Names

Temple Of Pharaohs - Golden Pyramid - Ra's Temple

Type

Natural Wonder