A New World

Piasa touches down a bit behind Arcantos, letting his passengers off. Once Arc was finished with the skull, Piasa shares what he knows of the Sun and Moon, their temples, incarnations, and enemies with his companions.
 
(Because I don't quite have the skillz to write out a full history lesson full of all the pertinent knowledge totally in character)

Ch'aska shrugged. It sounded like both would be tricky, and that was as good a reason to pick a temple to explore. The mention of traps did catch her attention. " If any of those defenses are magical, I might be able to disable some of them, although not all of them."

"Considering that most interpretations of the Sun and Moon have them depicted as equal and opposite, we may as well start with the sun temple, if only to save us the trouble of flipping a coin. We should be wary of how hot it gets there, though. And if we can deactivate even one trap before stumbling into it, I'd say that's a plus."

Spoiler:

You approach the Pyramid of the Sun, which is visible at practically any point in the city. Occasionally it shines glaringly, the sun hitting some reflective surface not covered by vegetation.

While clearly the largest building in the city, you don't appreciate its enormity until you get closer: at a distance, it doesn't look that bad, as it is much wider than it is tall, but as you approach and enter the plaza in front of it it hits you how large it actually is. The steep staircase ascends into the sky: you can just barely see the top of it, and doing so can make you somewhat dizzy- not to mention the sun reflects somewhat painfully off of some of its exterior, though many parts are dulled from time, covered or shaded by vegetation. However, most of the structure towers over the invading jungle.

At the various levels of the pyramid, you can see a number of alcoves surrounded by carvings, presumably dedicated to various gods of or relating to the sun. All of them are likely empty by now, their offerings rotted or stolen. At the top of the pyramid would be the altar used for public ceremonies, and the main temple.

The sun is high in the sky: It's around mid-day.

Ch'aska hadn't expected the temple to be quite so...big. She reflected on the differences in the way Father Sun and Mother Moon were worshiped back home.

ooc:

In the presence of this magnificent draconian monument, all thought of her own peoples' gods were pushed aside. Whether overwhelmed by its physical form, looming over her like a mountain, or by some lingering spiritual effect of the jealous gods of it, Ch'aska is unable to recall what she was trying to remember.

Arcantos is sure he's correct- the entrance, or at least an entrance, is certainly at the top.

Spoiler:

"Certainly. Care for a ride, Ch'aska? Just be sure to hold on." Piasa grabbed Rufus, and knelt down to allow Ch'aska back onto his back.

Ch'aska didn't respond for a ssecond, still feeling slightly overwhelmed. "Good idea"

Piasa chuckled at the awestruck llama. "I know he constructions of the Dragons of old are wondrous in design, but you'd best keep your wits about you. I've no doubt this temple could easily burn the unwary. He then nudged Ch'aska with his wingtip. "Now hurry along and get on."

Ch'aska nodded sharply, then move to get on. She needed to focus. They all needed to focus.

As you fly up in an attempt to reach the pyramid summit, you notice something odd. It's getting hard to see, and as you get higher you realize that the temple is becoming blindingly bright. Through magic or architecture, it seems that the temple is designed to reflect sunlight back up into the sky.

Spoiler:

Ch'aska shut her eyes tight, both to protect her eyes and to focus her magic. Her destructive power might not have been ideal for healing, but it could often destroy magical effects, if that's what this was.

ooc:

Ch'aska can feel her (anti-) magic struggling against the vast and ancient enchantment on the temple. After a moment of uncertainty, something snaps- and she feels a lifting of pressure as the enchantment is lifted- while still reflective, the temple is not so glaringly bright- magic had clearly been intensifying the light as the architecture reflected it. Still, they had best hurry- she can tell she hadn't completely destroyed the magic, merely subdued and displaced it.

Spoiler:

Piasa started as the temple's glare was reduced significantly, and nodded at the llama's words. "Understood." He flapped his wings harder, rushing for the entrance before the disenchant wore off.
 
 

OOC:

You all make it to the top of the pyramid, several hundred feet in the air, with more than a few moments to spare- Arcantos racing ahead of Piasa (who was also carrying Ch'aska), reaching the summit a few seconds earlier.

Before you is the altar used in public ceremonies, and behind it is the open doorway to the main temple area- a room which looks small compared to the great volume of the construction, but still about a hundred feet wide on each side, and tall enough to comfortably fit dragons even larger than Piasa or Arcantos. From here you can see another smaller altar inside, and also the mechanism tracking the solar calendar.

Ch'aska wasreminded of her brother, and all those tapirs, being dragged off to be sacrificed. "Good plan. The sooner we finish the better."

You step into the main temple- while seeming a little dark compared to the outside, it's plenty bright to see by, as there is a giant circular skylight in the middle of the ceiling shining down upon the Solar Calendar and the altar, which is made of white marble and appears perfectly clean and unmarred by age. There are several other small holes in the walls, from which some sunlight is coming through.

The calendar shows the current month- Uayeb, the 5-day (in)auspicious month at the end of the year, and day- 1 -, perfectly accurate (or off exactly a number of years). The days and months have alcoves beneath them as well- though only the past few and next few months and days are visible.

As far as you can tell at first glance, the entrance you came in is the only way into or out of the room (other than the skylight, which would barely fit any of the dragons in the group, and certainly not ones any larger.)

Ch'aska glanced around the room. "Well, I don't see anything that looks removable, do you? She moved to study the calender more closely.

ooc: