The Mountain Stele
"Here is inscribed what was and what is.
For what is godly is true, and what is true is godly.
Here stands eternal Legend."
The Mountain Stele is an enormous stele erected in the courtyard of the Temple of the Holy Mountain. A titanic slab of granite over 10 meters tall, the Mountain Stele is carved from top to bottom, and remains empty in its bottom half. The stele is over 3 meters wide at the base, and bulges outward slightly, being around 40cm thick at the edges. The edges are decorated with gold and silver inlays, but for the most part the stele is raw, polished granite. Each word on the stele has been personally carved by a Voice of the Mountain, and indeed holders of that singular rank are the only ones permitted to alter the face of the stele.
The stele has been inaccessible to the lorechanters for 70 years, as the Monastery of the Holy Mountain stands at the heart of the domain claimed by the bronze dragon Inkrimane.
Purpose / Function
The Mountain Stele exists to record events of great importance to the Thaner. In it is recorded the coronation of every king of Deim't and Agbith, and indeed their reigns would not be considered legitimate without being carved into the stone of the stele. The Voices of the Mountain likewise carved their own accession into the stone as their first act as Voice. Other important events also found their way into the stele. Major discoveries would be dated. Great social changes would be chronicled, though usually after the fact. The Wise in History and the Voice of the Mountain would discuss and debate what should be added, but the Voice would ultimately make a decision.
Like other stelae, the text of the Mountain Stele is considered authoritative. As the Mountain Stele is the holiest and truest stele, miscarving it would be the most heinous sin a Thaner could commit. Fortunately, nobody has ever miscarved the Mountain Stele.
Comments