Ataroun, Temple of Hopheht

Ataroun was once a place of pilgrimage. With great white walls painted with vibrant murals, the temple paid homage to the Angel of Light. Anyone seeking guidance and comfort from their dark places came searching for answers in Ataroun's walls. In the evening, the great stained-glass roof would capture the last rays of the setting sun and splash an array of colors across the entire temple. In the age beyond the gods, the glass roof is shattered, and the temple serves as nothing more than a desolate home for the estranged médōnai.

Purpose / Function

Built into the cliff side of Motasicre, the Great Plateau, the temple is the place of Light, where the sun touches most. There, it served as the mouthpiece to Hopheht. People who paid homage to the angel and gave them offerings did so in hopes of receiving their guidance by way of dream or vision. The temple was most often sought out by those who were lost in a spiritual or emotional sense—although someone seeking something physical was not too uncommon. Amidst the sun-washed tiles and stones, people would sleep after giving their offerings to receive the words of Hopheht.

Alterations

The temple started as a humble altar of stone carved from the cliff side by the ever-faithful médōnai. As word of the altar's divine location spread, people gathered and set about making the location more welcoming to Hopheht. Great stone pillars were carved and placed, and tiles and murals were painted everywhere, depicting Hopheht's benevolence and helpfulness. With the disgrace of the gods, Ataroun fell into disuse and then into ruin. The glass ceiling was shattered, many of the great pillars crumbled, and the murals faded with age. For years, the temple laid abandoned until the exiled médōnai arrived in search of sanctuary. Slowly, they began to spruce it up, but it still remains wholly forgotten.

Architecture

Much of the building is carved straight from the cliffside, although smaller details such as the brickwork and the tiles are marble dragged up from Pageneid. The interior is laced with delicate carvings and statues, and the ceiling is arched with great curves and bends. In the highest reaches, the ceiling is filled with a rainbow of stained glass, now jagged with broken edges. Once well-kept and cared for, ivy now overtakes much of the lower pillars. Where the walls are not faded back to their white marble or ivory stone, flaking paint of gold, red, and brown adorn the bricks. The only instance of wood in the temple is the old, rotting beds and benches which once held many pillows and woolen blankets for pilgrims to sleep upon.

RUINED STRUCTURE
15 r.e.a

Type

Temple / Religious complex

Included Locations