Temple of Draoses
It's not happy to see visitors…
The ruins of the Temple of Draoses lie in the northern section of the Chivit continent. Like any part of Chivit, the area is thick with a vibrant, if not aggressively growing, rain forest. Only the most sturdy of structures withstand the ravages of time, weather, and the environment. This temple is one of those.
Deceptively Simple In Design
It is a squat, three story structure braced on either side by rain forest and covered in monkey brush vines. The bulk of it is above ground with one level below. Walls are made from the native rock found on Chivit with the blocks fitting with mathematical perfection using a tube-stud arrangement on either side of each brick. These tubes along the bottom and raised studs at the top allow the bricks to fit with no need for mortar or other sealer to fill imperfections.
But, despite not needing it, there is a thin mortar between the stones. This mortar isn't the typical slaked lime and sand. Instead, this has the feel of rubber, yet seems to resist the damp environment of the Chivit rainforests with ease.
Narrow, vaulted windows are spaced evenly along the walls on both above ground floors and a wide, double door sits on the eastern side. Interestingly, all the windows have been bricked closed. Only the chambered recess of the window frame remains. The doors are not blocked but were barricaded.
Some would say that's a warning. I just call it a challenge... all right, and a warning.
Part Of a Greater Whole
There are hints that the vine-covered structure may have once been part of something larger. A thin walkway of stone leads away from the front of the main doors, vanishing beneath the soil and grass of Chivit. At the top of the temple, strange stubs of rock protrude a hand's width out from the building. These could be support struts for archways that have long since fallen away.
Such minor details are where the term 'temple' comes from along with a mysterious image of a snarling sun over the doorway. The prevailing theory is that the building is all that remains of a greater temple, perhaps even settlement, that Chivit has long since reclaimed since the Great Collapse.
I mean a snarling sun doesn’t exactly mean ‘welcome’, no matter who you are…
Mages have studied the samples brought back and estimate the structure may date from just after the Great Collapse. If so, this would make a surprising revelation and suggest that there might have been an attempt to rebuild after or during the cause of the Great Collapse. But this attempt was unsuccessful.
Even more perplexing is who created the structure. There are samples of language, which all appear to be a dialect of the language used by the Ancient Order. So far it's resisted translation and so it cannot be determined if this is a new dialect or more of an existing one already discovered.
Let's not forget that the place is trapped from front to back to try to kill anything that comes by. Someone just did not want anyone wandering in there without permission.
RUINED STRUCTURE
Estimated 10 AGC
Estimated 10 AGC
What's in a Name?
The name 'Draoses' is taken from a word scrawled in the stones around the door just inside the structure. Carved repeatedly by several people or just one whose mental faculties were deteriorating over time, it provides an unnerving greeting.
So far, there has been no successful translation of the word. There two current theories. One is that the 'Draoses' may have been a local culture in the region during the time of the Ancient Order but were wiped out during the Great Collapse. A second is that this 'Draoses' may have been a faith that has been long forgotten and that the vault may what remains of a temple.
Whatever it was, it turned into a tomb. Not that I'm complaining.
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