Watu Ta'eti (ˈwa.tu taˈʔe.ti)
"As the tombs hold the past of our mawuliwuli, Watu Ta'eti holds the past of all the Taula."
Watu Ta'eti is the highest point on the island of Hubba, and the most sacred to the Taula people. It is where the spirits of their ancestors reside, and every tomb on the island is engraved with the mountain's image and contains stones quarried from Watu Ta'eti. It is also the focus point of the Mekongga scheme to stabilize Kosalo. They have constructed a version of the Kosalo Astrolabe within a cave somewhere in the mountain, to receive and project the stabilizing energy generated by their restoration of Hubba's ancient state. The placement of this device was not disclosed to the Taula, and it is likely that they would consider it an insult that profaned the sacred mountain.
Notable Spirits
The gods of Watu Ta'eti are the most ancient ancestors of the Taula. While those who have recently died will linger near the tombs to watch their family, over time they will all move on to the great chambers beneath the mountain. There they will embrace their divine lineage instead of their living one, and become a part of Lahutmawuli, the communal god of the Taula dead.
Lahutmawuli is not a god of the living, and the living do not worship them. Lahutmawuli is the god of the ancestors, born of their congregation, made from them but also separate and apart from them. Only the dead worship at Lahutmawuli's feet. Those who still walk in daylight can only approach the great god through intermediaries - they address their prayers to the ancestors of their line, that they may bring them to their ancestors, passing the prayers to older and older hands until they are placed into the keeping of Lahutmawuli themself. Each prayer-bearer will judge the petition and decide whether to pass it on; sometimes, the ancestral spirit may have the power to address it directly, or may consider it frivolous and discard it. Only the most important and difficult prayers will reach Lahutmawuli. According to the stories, these are most often the prayers of young children, whose youth brings a clarity lacking in their elders.
Geography
Watu Ta'eti is a cone-shaped mountain, and heavily forested. Visits to the mountain are considered sacred pilgrimages, for to walk on its slopes is to mingle with the ancestors. It is heavily forested, and no tree may be taken without permission, nor may the stones or soil be gathered and carried away. Only when a new tomb is built will the Taula ancestors permit stones to be quarried from the mountain, that the paths the spirits walk from death to divinity be maintained.
Geographic Details
Location: Southwestern RegionLatitude: 23.58 degrees North
Longitude: 57.44 degrees West
Average Elevation: 4,019 ft
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This article was originally written for Spooktober 2024. You can find all of my Spooktober Articles at Spooktober Central.
This article was originally written for Spooktober 2023. You can find all of my Spooktober Articles at Spooktober Central.
I love the idea of the prayers rarely reaching the god themselves, but that young children are more likely to. I wonder what would happen if the device was discovered, though.
Explore Etrea | March of 31 Tales
It wouldn't be good. The Taula haven't been informed about why the Mekongga have restored Hubba, and wouldn't appreciate being essentially mechanisms in their machine.