It’s important that we talk about the Temple of Ascension, though I must be careful not to give away any spoilers.
This is because the Temple is central to the plot. In the article on the Valley of the Summoners, we already touched on this mythical building, so now it’s time to dedicate some exclusive lines to it.
As we’ve seen, the Temple is central to the training of the Ethereants, and it carries with it an aura of mystery that many characters would give their lives to uncover.
About the Temple
The Temple of Ascension is located in the center of the Valley of the Summoners, on an islet reachable by four bridges of ancient and archaic architecture.
The temple itself follows this same architectural style and is the only structure with such features throughout all of Khäria. This uniqueness has sparked endless speculation regarding its origin, but the lack of further clues and data leaves archaeologists and researchers baffled.
Most Summoners simply accept its existence and its status as a sacred place, a sanctuary where magic flows and feels almost tangible.
The building is circular in layout, with eight wings aligned to the cardinal points, like a massive compass rose. Each wing is dedicated to honoring one of the eight elements.
The decoration in each wing looks as if thousands of spells had been cast upon the walls, and the essence of each element had been “petrified” into the structure.
Experts in the element of earth claim that the rock with which the Temple is built does not belong to the material plane. In fact, they have never found a similar mineral in any other world.
Temple Structure
I’ve made many sketches for the layout and structure of the Temple of Ascension, but I’ve finally settled on the following:
Let me explain a little:
The Temple has a conical structure, with a flattened peak that serves as a terrace for celebrating the Ascension ceremonies, which we’ll discuss later.
The cone’s walls consist of a series of circular stairways that encircle the entire Temple, allowing access to the central terrace from any point.
The Temple itself is open to the sky, except for the eight towers around its perimeter. The only way to access these towers is via the bridges connecting them to the central terrace, forcing anyone wishing to visit them to ascend to the top of the Temple.
Each tower represents one of the eight elements.
Inside each tower is a circular chamber with six pillars or monoliths, each representing a Ünim, or magical creature.
Function
Despite its name, the Temple is not a place of worship. Summoners generally use it as a place for meditation and even training.
All brotherhoods peacefully converge around it; there is no room for discrimination or prejudice, as anyone who wishes to visit the Temple is welcome.
It has no priests or guards, no sentinels or monks to tend to its steps or clean its columns. The Temple maintains itself, pristine and standing; it is the magic itself that gives “life” to this ancient building.
Its name comes from the sole ritual that Summoners perform at the top of its steps. When an apprentice is ready to officially become a Summoner of one of the four brotherhoods—in other words, to “Ascend”—the rite is conducted at the Temple of Ascension.
The Ascension of an Ethereant
For the Ethereants, this rite is far more spiritual, as they interact directly with the Temple. Wizards, Druids, and Corsairs may Ascend anywhere, regardless of location; however, Ethereants require the Temple.
It is there where they are chosen by one of the eight elements, and then by one of the six Ünimi of that element, something we already described when discussing the Knights of Enären.
This tradition is extremely ancient, dating back to the founding of the Order.
When an apprentice recites their oath to the Ancestors, creation, and balance, one of the eight wings comes to life, igniting with the powers of its element, and shows the path to the new apprentice.
There, the new Ethereant is imbued with the powers of the element and the magical beast that has been assigned to them.
From that moment on, the apprentice has definitively become an Ethereant, and the second stage of their training begins.
The Temple Throughout History
The Temple has always been at the center of the most significant conflicts in the history of Magic.
Whether as a refuge or a neutral zone, the Temple has always been closely associated with peace, rest, and armistice.
Even in the most recent conflict of our era—the rise of the Hierarchs—the Temple remained outside the political intentions of all sides involved.
The Hierarchs, Summoners who claimed the divine duty to rule over various peoples and, therefore, over creation itself, argued that the Temple should become the mandatory nucleus of any entity related to magic.
Only through the Ascension rite could a Summoner receive the divine gift of superiority over ordinary humans.
This gives us a general overview of what is conceived around the Temple, even by extremist, authoritarian, or disruptive factions.
The Temple will undoubtedly play a leading role in the story we are going to tell with the Harbinger of the Ancestors books.