Sun Temple Colony

Sun Temple Colony

(City)

Nation

Andoran (lost contact)

Region

Azlant

Population

600 (estimated)

Demographics

400 worshippers of Nuruu'gal, 200 outcasts, several shining children

Ruler

Nuruu'gal;

Leader

Olibrax Muulenaar, cult leader;
Kjel Vanderholt, outcasts

Source: Lost Cities of Golarion, pg(s). 34–43

The Sun Temple Colony was a colony of Andoran in the continent of Azlant, founded in 4246 AR when Andoran was still a province of Cheliax. The colony remained in contact with Andoran for centuries until the early 45th century AR, and little is known about its continued existence.

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History

Ancient Azlant

The Azlanti Empire city of Nal-Vashkin was once a holy city of temples and shrines. It was also the site of an Azlanti experiment of divine magic in which they attempted to focus light from celestial conjunctions through the massive floating celestial lens and onto the crystaline dome of their Sun Temple, where they worshipped six Azlanti deities of the sun.

The purpose of the experiment is lost to history, having been interrupted by the devastation of Earthfall in -5293 AR, which destroyed the continent, sank much of Nal-Vashkin beneath the Arcadian Ocean, ended the Azlanti Empire, and started the Age of Darkness. But even through this devastation, the result remained: a manifestation of a protoplasmic proto-god that called itself Nuruu'gal.

Arcadian colonization

In 4246 AR, the Chelaxian province of Andoran sent out a fleet of ships to build a colony upon one of the few remaining islands of Azlant. Over a dozen ships sank in the voyage over the treacherous Arcadian Ocean, and the rest wrecked upon the sharp reefs near the coast.

When the 200 survivors landed, they thanked Abadar for having survived and climbed the nearest high hill. There they found an ancient temple dedicated to some forgotten Azlanti sun god, and founded the Sun Temple Colony on the site.

The colonists did their best to sustain the settlement through harsh conditions over the following three centuries, while also facing repeated attacks from elves of the Mordant Spire. Contact between the colony and the homeland became more sporadic in the late 44th century AR until all communication ceased sometime in the early 45th century.

Ruins and mysteries

The colonists' final message, later dubbed the "Blessing of the Sun", was incomprehensible; it referred to a "weeping gate" and warned of "an inner eye in the minds of us all". Since then no one has heard from the colonists, although passing ships report still seeing strange lights coming from the island from time to time. To the wider world of Golarion, the colony's ultimate fate remained a mystery as of 4711 AR.

In truth, the surviving colonists sought protection from the Mordant Spire elves' raids by praying inside of the Sun Temple of Nal-Vashkin. In the process they exposed Nuruu'gal to sunlight, nourishing it for the first time in millennia and enabling it to telepathically offer protection in exchange for worship and its presence in their minds as an "inner eye".

Nuruu'gal guided the colonists toward finding the flame of guidance, which controlled the celestial lens, and then used the lens to sustain Nuruu'gal and fend off the Mordant Spire elves. This continued for decades until Abadarans amongst the colonists declared Nuruu'gal to be a blasphemous false god and eventually left. In response, the proto-god developed the tears of Nuruu'gal, parasitic ooze hosts that could inhabit and control those it deemed insufficiently loyal.

This schism has remained intact through centuries of conflict between the two sects as of 4711 AR, with the cult colonists occupying the larger landmass nearest to the Sun Temple, and the outcasts scattered across smaller islets to the west.

References

Paizo published a major article about the Sun Temple Colony in Lost Cities of Golarion.