The Old Stratus Temple
Past
Donstropian Rule: ca 1000 B.C. to ca 5 A.C.
The Old Stratus Temple is an ancient tower located on the west side of Afersis, reaching all the way up to The Cloud Kingdom, piercing through it. It was constructed by The Donstropians in 1000 B.C. as a way to try and reach closer to their lost gods: Suneru and Moneru. However, it, like all their other ancient monuments, failed. The temple was left dormant for hundreds of years until Proposal of Remembrances was written. It was the start of a movement to try and use the newfound and researched power of Remembrances to try and reach their gods. After heavy debate, leading to the further fracturing of the already falling apart civilization, it was decided that The Old Stratus Temple would be refashioned into a factory for Remembrances (Ca 70 B.C.). Using The Mountain Remembrance to reinforce the walls of the temple, it worked as a big funnel for blood. Dragons would fly up and drop sacrificial creatures through an opening at the top of the temple. Victims would either die due to the fall or be crushed by the next sacrifices. What was left would be a gory pile, which was then filtered through a long line of both physical and magical filters. Out came pure blood, simmering down and pooling up at the bottom in a giant container. When enough blood had been assembled, a group of Expert Elementalist could together activate a mechanism forcing all the blood to be compacted into one point. With a success rate of around 10% a new Remembrance would be created. The nature and Element of the remembrance, as well as the chances of success, were determined greatly by what creatures were sacrificed. After a Remembrance had been created, its shape and power were usually quite lackluster; therefore was sent to be refined by scholars specializing in the most prominent Element found in the Remembrance.
The majority of Remembrances were created with The Old Stratus Temple including; The Cloud Remembrance, Earth Remembrance, Snow Remembrance, Water Remembrance, Wood Remembrace, (1st) Swamp Remembrance, Fire Remembrance, Time Remembrance and Blank Slate Remembrance. Production ran smoothly for the most part, aside from the fact that the majority of the Afersis populus was getting slaughtered. None were safe, humans, dwarves, elves, and even dragons themselves. Eventually, the temple would be put out of commission due to the growing concerns and weary times. As war broke out between the different Districts in Afersis, the temple was left to be forgotten. The 4th King, current leader of The Earth District (where the temple was located), had decided to flee and lock himself and his people away, leaving the temple and letting production screech to a halt.
Arisophes Discovery: ca 5 A.C. to 50 A.C.
The Old Stratus Temple would stay abandoned until Fonos arrived. His 4th child Arisophes, together with a group of Expert Elementalist mages, would use Cloud Magic to raise what would become The Cloud Kingdom out of the ground next to the temple. They used the temple and its heavily dense magic, remnants of the many who had been laid to die there, as a stepping stone to support the massive chunk of land they raised. It's unclear if Arisophes was oblivious to the carnage which had taken place in this ancient structure, non the less was, he wasn't against using it to his own benefit. He managed to raise an entire new kingdom for himself out of the ground thanks to those remnants. Perhaps he saw it as a way to honour the dead? The whole process took a week to fulfill, and a small town was constructed next to the base of the temple to accommodate the mage's needs. The spell drained the temple of its magic and left a land full of craters in its wake. Stripping it of its unique magical filters, protection, and design. All that was left was a barren tower serving as a support beam to the new kingdom. The structure became a bragging right of sorts as its unique architecture drew in people from all around Afersis. In the year 50 A.C. Arisophes invited the other kings and queens of Afersis to hold the next Decadal Meeting in The Old Stratus Temple instead of Warina, where all the previous ones had been held. This was mostly a publicity stunt and worked; people and some of the leaders had grown tired of having it in the same place, and most weren't against the idea, except for Leila, who was openly criticizing her half-brother for going against the wishes of their father. Although many didn't believe her wishes were as pure as they seemed, the flocking to The Water Kingdom each decade was certainly beneficial for her. Why would she want to give up that? Nonetheless, it was decided that the Decadal Meeting in 50 A.C. was to be held in The Cloud Kingdom in The Old Stratus Temple. This stunt was never repeated due to what would transpire on that faithful day... For more info on said decidal meeting: WW1
The Dormant Times: 50 A.C. to 830
The Old Stratus Temple would eventually be abandoned due to the bad taste it would leave in people's mouths. Additionally, over the years, the structure and its purpose would be mostly forgotten, or rather, so covered up. The traces of magic found in the temple would inspire scholars to research Elemental Magic and attract many curious about the temple's origins, including Mova. It would be multiple generations before the Cloud Kingdom realized what the structure had been originally used for. By then, there was no sure way it would even work *if* they wanted or knew how to use it. Scholars in Penrith pondered that firing up the old machine would result in a shockwave and earthquake strong enough to jolt the entirety of Cloudia out of the sky. Dragging down everyone and everything on it. Due to this risk, it was decided that the Old Stratus Temple was to be left alone. A "no entry" rule was decided on, and the punishment for setting foot within the temple was set to be a year in prison. A lot of actions were taken to ensure as few people as possible would set foot there. The official reasons for the "no entry" rule were that it was a "holy place" as well as being damaged and dangerous. "It could collapse any day now, we don't want anyone to get hurt!" -Charles Shroud Mc Aflee IV (The then-current leader of Cloudia). The actual reasons for the "no entry" rules were naturally kept secret and hidden, only available within the royal family, for the safety of the people. No real attempts were made to try and re-activate the temple. Even during war times, The Cloud Kingdom chose not to. Instead, they vowed to stay neutral during conflicts, knowing what cataclysm would unfold in the world if they were to go to war and try to use the temple again.
Modern Times: 830 A.C. to 853 A.C.
That was until WW3 when the Wardians Humblegray and Andreus Stream created Lowest Point, a settlement located at the base of the temple. Andreus used his awakened changelling abilities to cover the entire area in a blue mist, and Humblegray amplified the magic to make it last longer. This mist created what would be known as The Depths. Creatures walking into the mist get disoriented and confused, often dying due to starvation after aimlessly wandering in the depressing lands. The water vapor in the mist keeps them from dying of dehydration, prolonging their suffering and making the area to quite the treacherous place. The point of the mist was to steer people away from the base of the temple, and it worked since people in Earthsandia avoided the place at all costs. Humblegray additionally decided to set up his camp in the area when he became internationally wanted, using the remnants of the small town left from when Arisophes first created Cloudia. It was at this point that he began researching the temple in and of itself. Perhaps he could use it...?
Afersis Act 3
Confiere "spawned at"/"teleported to" the top of The Old Stratus Temple at the start of the Afersis Campaign after all dreaming the same strange dream of The Ninth Kingdom. They were all up to different activities and in different parts of Afersis when the teleportation happened. All of them fell into an unavoidable sleep, even the elf Ayen Pafir who never slept in his life up until then, lost consciousness. One of the biggest mysteries of the campaign was how and why the group was transported there.
