Chafa Temple
Originally called by its Tabaxi name, Tcha-i-F’ha — after an ancient local folk hero who is said to have stolen a whole series of useful crafts and tools from the gods, one at a time — the Chafa Temple is probably the most beautiful structure in all the Utterends. Nearly 100 feet tall and more than 300 feet per side, this stepped pyramid spirals upward from the more solid earth of the north-central Utterends. Its top is capped with a graceful stone dome and spire above a ritual space dedicated to all ancestors and their knowledge. The path up to this shrine moves in a long, squared spiral from the ground, and every wall of the pathway is lined with ancient bas-reliefs depicting the history and legends of those who built the temple long ago. Built before the influx of humans to the Utterends, the bas-reliefs notably depict mostly tabaxi and lizardfolk, with a few tengu at the lower levels where the most recent sculptures were placed.
While a few other ruins from that era dot the Utterends, only Chafa Temple was built of an imported stone from the Odarnadar Mountains located hundreds of miles to the north. This stone has withstood the test of time in a way that the other temples of the era have not, and it is a source of great pride for the Guivoc people. As nomads, they have made few permanent structures over the centuries, and the Chafa Temple is precious to them.
The only year-round inhabitants of Chafa are the priests of knowledge, but all nomadic groups stop here once a year just before monsoon season to consult with the priests, exchange community books at the temple library (a more recent but still beautiful stone outbuilding surrounded by the clergy’s modest dwellings), and to celebrate the ancestors in a huge, multi-community festival.
Settlement
Chafa Temple
Type
Temple / Religious complex
Owning Organization
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