Temple of the Sunken Sign

The Temple of the Sunken Sign is a Ghol-Gani temple complex dedicated to Azathoth, hidden in the Sodden Lands.

History

The Temple of the Sunken Sign was built by a cult of Ghol-Gani cyclopes who abandoned their original religion to worship Azathoth. As their evil and depravity spread, Ghol-Gan slid further into ruin, before its destruction during Earthfall. The Temple of the Sunken Sign was hidden and forgotten for millennia.

Millennia later, the nation of Lirgen developed in the same area. An outcast band of Saoc Brethren, known as the Eight Stars, stumbled upon the long-forgotten temple, and the knowledge about how to contact great beings in the Dark Tapestry, to whom the future is clear. Instead of insight, however, they gained nothing but insanity and depravity. The Eight Stars turned into the Followers of the Sunken Sign, a mad cult of Azathoth that seeks to contact him and see the entire universe laid out through his eyes. When the Eye of Abendego destroyed Lirgen, and with the scrutiny of their kinsmen gone, the Followers of the Sunken Sign became less secretive, and have been operating openly until today. This maddened sect of Saoc Brethren point their telescopes toward the stars, work corrupt rites, and wait to become one with their unspeakably alien patron.

Construction

Prior to the formation of the Eye of Abendego, the Temple of the Sunken Sign sat on a low rise in a valley shrouded in mists and trees, near the Lirgeni capital of Hyrantam. After the catastrophe, the region became a coastal swamp, and a large part of the complex was flooded.

Great Ziggurat

A monument from the time of Ghol-Gan, built from a white stone not native to the area. Atop it is a white altar bearing strange sigils, stained dark from numerous blood sacrifices. Halfway up the steps are doorways leading to secret mazes. The whole ziggurat magically disorients the depth perception of visitors, but not cultists.

Lesser Ziggurat

A trap-lined ziggurat, only partially explored by the cultists before the Eye of Abendego flooded most of it. The surface around it has been colonised by giant flytraps and mosquitoes, while the halls within are home to strange aberrations and lead to an underground passage to the Darklands, from the time of Ghol-Gan.

Tower of the Sunken Sign

A tower southwest of the Great Ziggurat, connected to it via a crude suspension bridge and carved with numerous sigils. Cultists live, research, pray, and torture prisoners in this tower, and atop it is an observatory. The cult's library, located in the lowest levels, was flooded by the Eye of Abendego.

Cairn of Lost Cataclysm

A vast underground library, hidden under a square cairn, recording thousands of prophecies, all concerning disasters that would befall Golarion, other planets, or planes. It has never been discovered by the cultists, and has remained dry even as the waters rose around it.

Necromancer's Perch

The tree house, built on a cypress, of Thruuga: a vile boggard ally of the Followers of the Sunken Sign.

Nest of the Marsh Witch

A fetid hovel of fallen logs and mud, situated just a few inches above the water in a cypress and cattail grove and hidden by thick vines. It is home to Guige, a hermit who hates everyone and everything.

References

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