Darkbough Ziggurat Ruins
An ancient, ruined ziggurat, partially swallowed by the Darkbough Forest. This ancient temple predates the history of even the local Vass'anasss Tribe, who brag of maintaining an old oral tradition that goes back millennia. More shockingly, the temple - while undoubtedly built by ancient lizardfolk - contains altars to primeval versions of Golarion's major deities, including Desna, Irori, and Erastil.
Architecture
Though weathered by thousands of years of disuse and almost completely overgrown by the Darkbough Forest, the structure is clearly a ziggurat by design, with both above and below ground sections that reach skyward like a pyramid. In its heyday, the building itself contained expansive balconies, alchemical laboratories, worship rooms, and even a central elevator, powered by magic, that moved between the temple depths and the pinnacle of the structure. The greatest marvel, however, was the existence of a second crystalline tree - similar to, but in several ways distinct from, the mighty Crystal Tree found inside the Arboris Ruins.
History
During their attempt to discover the fate of the Anasss'gura Tribe, the Red Blade Outkasts explored the temple, finding it filled with feral beasts, twisted undead, and worse. While they were eventually able to cleanse the ruins of their millennia old taint, driving out the damned souls that had dwelt there since time immemorial, they discovered some shocking revelations about the temple, as well as the lands that it sits upon.
The ancient ruins turned out to be built by an ancient lizardfolk people from "across the sea," thousands of years ago. The colony was growing in strength and power, using the temple at the center to delve into research about the gods, cosmology, and similar other-wordly powers. Eventually, however, a terrible accident visited the temple, tainting the priests and magi within, resulting in the collapse of the colony as the citizens fled from the corrupt monstrosities their leadership had become.
Whether the Vass'anasss are directly descended from these people, or are derived from an entirely separate stock, is still unknown. However, the presence of such an advanced and previously unknown lizardfolk people in Coralous's southern lands has created a flurry of academic debate among both the storytellers of the local lizardfolk and the scholars in the Coralous Union alike. In either event, with the temple cleansed the ancient colony is once more opened up to further exploration and resettlement.
RUINED STRUCTURE
Unknown when it was abandoned, likely thousands of years ago
Unknown when it was abandoned, likely thousands of years ago
Founding Date
Unknown
Alternative Names
Kran'gesh'doul'neli'nohstok (Great Sun Tower beyond the Sea), Ress'dal'sala (Stones of the Ancients)
Type
Tower
Parent Location
Related Report (Primary Locations)
Comments