Temple crossing

Temple Crossing lies in the northern reaches of the Schwarzwald, where the forest presses in close and the paths grow uncertain. The “crossing” itself is not a bridge, but a meeting of roads—several worn paths diverging in different directions, used by traders, hunters, and the occasional traveler brave enough to pass through these woods.

At the very heart of this junction stands a modest temple to Ilmater, built of pale stone and marked with faded red cloth that stirs gently in the wind. It serves as a quiet sanctuary for those in need, offering rest, healing, and solace to any who arrive weary or wounded.

Beside the temple lies an old cemetery, its weathered gravestones and crypts leaning at odd angles and half-swallowed by roots and moss. The graves are far older than either the temple or the nearby hamlet, their origins long forgotten. The caretakers of the temple tend to it as best they can, though few dare linger there after dark.

A short distance down one of the dirt paths sits the hamlet itself—a small cluster of simple homes and outbuildings, connected to the crossing by a well-trodden road. Its residents live quiet, cautious lives, shaped by the isolation of the northern forest and the constant awareness that the roads beyond their doorstep lead to places unknown.

Despite its size, Temple Crossing holds a quiet importance: a fragile point of safety and guidance in a wilderness that offers little of either.