Goz Tik'as dun Nahstaba
The Ziggurat at the centre of Tik'al, used as the main temple to the sun and the seat of power from which the Emperor of the Sun reigns. This stepped pyramid is probably the largest building in the whole of the desert, with only the Headmaster's grand library in Qadim, or the rebuilt palace in Goz Alaar coming close.
Purpose / Function
The building of the temple was begun by the First Emperor with the express purpose of honouring the sun, of bringing to life a vision they had. The construction lasted one hundred years, and the thirteenth Emperor was the one to walk the Steps of Ascension first.
Nowadays, Emperor Ztina performs his daily prayers and any ritual sacrifices at the very top of the Ziggurat during the sunrise. He does his actual ruling from within the room at the top called the Solarium, whose entrance faces the rising sun.
History
Contrary to popular belief, the ones who worked on building the ziggurat were not slaves or poorly paid. They were quite the opposite, in fact, to the people of the empire at the time it was the greatest honour to be able to put their hands on the stones to build the temple. Similarly, it was not true that the construction workers were always sacrificed to the Bleeding Sun, rather, only those who were willing. Those who did volunteer were put to rest within the inside of the temple as it was being built.
Though, these things changed over the years as the Empire grew and slave numbers grew with it. The eighth emperor saw things differently, and made the able bodied workers go to war for him rather than build, and forced the slaves to do the hard labour instead. They were worked to death so as to speed the construction up tenfold.
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