History of Twelve Islands Lake
The Twelve Islands Lake was discovered early in the Fourth Age by explorers from further south (need place). The discoverers, whose names have been lost to time, noted the unusual aspects of the lake and its twelve constituent islands (the current, the placement of the islands, the lack of inlet or outlet for the lake) and determined that these islands must be representations of the Twelve Gods and reported them as such back home.
The religious caste of (place) sent a number of expeditions to the lake, each with a priest and a religious scholar (often they were the same person). After the expeditions and much discussion, it was determined which island was for which god. Priests for each god took teams to their corresponding island and built temples to their gods. Each temple would house resident priests, followers, and students of the god, as well as be a destination for pilgrimages for other devoted followers.
While construction of the temples started nearly immediately, it took many years before all the temples were completed. Each temple had it's own set of hardships in its construction. And over time some additional temples have been built and others destroyed. However, each island still maintains at least one temple to its patron.
The Temple of Fire — The Temple of Fire was the first and long the only temple on the island. It was built on the edge of the caldera of the active volcano on the island. Because of the heat put out by the lava within the caldera, and the occasional eruptions of lava and ash, it took lots of engineering build a temple that would last. After several false starts (and destroyed efforts), the temple was constructed of basalt, with large cut quartz crystals as windows. All the corners are have embedded joto crystals and various structural elements are built with fonujajo. These elements allow the temple to hold a continuous magical charge to protect it from the heat of the volcanic magma. The construction was finally completed after 48 years of work.
The Temple of Metal — Located at the at the near a protrusion of large, unusual crystals of fonujajo (fonujajo is normally not found in crystalline form), the Temple of Metal is dedicated to learning the arts of metalworking. It is located on top of a geothermal vent that provides the heat necessary for the forges but allowed it to be constructed without all of the protections required by the Temple of Fire. It was built several hundred years after the temple of fire. The biggest hurdle was the construction of the main forge. The first several attempts failed disastrously. A stable forge was built after decades of attempts. However, that forge has had to be replaced a number of times over the years.
The Dwarfish Master Forge — Called Igidav Maho by the dwarfs, the Master Forge is located opposite the Temple of Metal, the Ujajoxoro constructed their Master Forge on a second thermal vent near the crystal field. It is the most recent temple, built during a period of dwarfish expansion when the normally xenophobic Ujajoxoro spent time looking for new sources of fonujajo. An agreement was made with the priests of the Temple of Metal that this site could be a pilgramage location much as the Temple of Metal is.
The Temple of Earth — Started at the same time as the Temple of Fire, the Temple of Earth was built into the side of a basalt cliff by enlarging a small existing cave using stoneworking tools and magic. Support columns were moved in from a site of columnar basalt elsewhere on the island. Unlike the Temple of Fire, the Temple of Earth only took about a year for the initial construction, although many expansion projects have occurred over time.
Nép's Respite — A home away from home for Nép. She is known to visit this temple from time to time. It simply appeared one day within a new mesa after the Temple of Earth had been around and occupied for a few hundred years.
The Dwarfish Stone Master temple — Called Ifanunix Maho by the dwarfs, construction of the Stone Master temple was undertaken by Ur Umuti in dedication to Nép. It was built several decades before the Master Forge.
Temple of the Sun — The first temple built to Ŗažu, the Temple of the Sun was the first temple built on Twelve Islands Lake. It is constructed in such away that the sun focuses on certain locations on specific holy days.
Temple of Life — Built with the help of Hak, the Temple of Life is a temple of healing.
Temple of Wisdom
Temple of Learning
Temple maintained by the Gitchyi va Tsadza is a recent construction, only about 100 years old.
Temple Histories
Bolo
The island of Bolo is dedicated to Valak, the god of fire and metalworking. There are currently three temples here.Bālomā
The island of Bālomā is dedicated to Blodä, the goddess of peace. There is only one temple dedicated to Blodä on the island.Bomālo
The island of Bomālo is dedicated to Árak, the god of corruption. Due to his standing among his fellow gods, there is currently only a small temple to Árak on Bomālo, home to two dedicated priests. There have been uncounted temples dedicated to Árak built on Bomālo. All but the current one have been destroyed by forces allied with numerous other gods.
Show spoiler
The Shiŗoshodai are secretly working on a much larger temple in preparation for the coming of Kai Dīnanil. It is being called Yiŗishodai, the Castle of the Dragon.
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