The Guiding Spire
Approaching the Guiding Spire and you can feel the emotional energy this would have given. The sand has settled in some places, blowing off into the courtyard with each gust of wind. This was indeed a pilgrim's destination. Each step becons the character to get to the top and read the Words of the Gods
Secret
DC 18 would notice that there are a few blood drops on every step. They lead from/to the obelisk. At the top of the spire, there’s still a dusting of sand. Near one of the corners of the obelisk there’s a hole smashed into the limestone leaving a narrow opening to a chamber below. Sticky blood fingerprints and a rope lead into the gap.
Purpose / Function
Through visions, Aolis had been given signs, that the temples that once stood here in Wati were to ward off a great evil. By the old gods, he was told to build a new temple on this hallow ground and pray that the young god is strong enough.
Architecture
One large piece of limestone, twenty-five feet high has been carved with a spiral staircase around it. every step of the staircase has a prayer to the dead carved into it. No names, as this is for everyone. While Aolis was a Hyborian priest of Ades, he had commisioned the language to be of Late Khemitian. The wording of the prayers are similar to today's prayers to the dead, but there are more of them. There are eleven prayers that aren't used today. Either they weren't popular, or they were taken from some other god. Thirty steps circle around before reaching the top of the stone. At the top is a large twenty foot obelisk made of black granite with a capstone of translucent crystal. Each face of the obelisk is carved with the Words of the Gods. These are not Ades words, but older and more powerful ones.
History
With the Hyborian occupation of Khemit, the old religions being banned as the army moved through. Aolis, a humble Sem Priest of Ades was an early pilgrim to Wati in the 1500s. he befriended the priests in Wati, with his “open mindedness” to other religions. In 1534, Aolis was saddened to see the Vizer Ataturk (put into position by the Hyborian Emperor) bring in men and ropes into Wati to pull down so many temples. A week after the destruction of the temples, Aolis had a vision of prophesy: That the Khemit dead would rise, lead by an abomination with a golden face. So Aolis commissioned the Guiding Spire Temple built over the old temple complex in 1536
The Mosque style temple has a unique open center where an obelisk was placed. Rituals by the Wa'eb would use torches, smoke, and mirrors to create a column of light surrounding the obelisk. For Historians, 1536 is just four years after the fall of Khemet under Hyborian rule and the death of Menedes XXVI (aka the Fallen Pharaoh).
The Vizer Ataturk thought the construction of an extravagant monument would convert the Khemitians to the Hyborian gods. And Aolis allowed the Vizier to think that and to not look too closely at the design. the Wa'eb at the temple would perform monthly rituals so that the obelisk would shine even on the darkest days to guide lost spirits to find rest in the elysian fields (and not the bone tower of old Ades).
RUINED STRUCTURE
1655
1655
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