Importance

The Azira Temple was an ancient structure created by the first nomadic tribe of humans to reach the southern coast of The Human Basin.

History

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Fertility

Built sometime long before the year 400 BVE, The Temple was constructed by a tribe of humans to honor their gods. As the tribe was nomadic, the temple was left abandoned for long periods of time, though the tribe returned periodically. They often brought captured women, conducting rituals that blessed the wombs of the women before their warriors bred them. As the temple was accidently built upon the mating grounds of a species of blue worms, known as Azira Worms, the healers of the tribe learned to use the slime of such worms, which held a toxin that acted as an extremely powerful aphrodisiac, to greatly arouse their captives and warriors before mating rituals. The worms gradually became an important aspect of their culture, and thus they carved depictions of the worms upon the outer walls of the temple. They adopted their color as their own, dying their clothing and painting the artwork of the temple a light blue color.

The breeding ritual gradually became one only the ruling Chief of the tribe was permitted to enjoy. When seeking an heir, Chiefs of the tribe brought the most desirable captive to the temple where her womb alone would be blessed before The Chief attempted to impregnate her while the tribe watched. They worship of other gods began to fade as they focused their worship upon a fertility goddess, hoping each generation that she would bless the tribe with the conception of a leader that would lead their people to greatness.

After the founding of The Valia Settlement nearby by Chief Garix II, one of the many Chief who had been conceived within The Temple’s chamber, The Azira Temple’s purpose faded.

Cult Of Azira

In the year 309 BVE, a cult arose within Valia which worshipped the local Azira Worms as living incarnations of their goddess. Known as The Cult of Azira, they became the primary belief system for the people of Valia when the reigning Chief, Lavix, accepted their teachings. Believing their ancestors had used The Azira Temple nearby to worship a goddess named Azira, Lavix was convinced that he would be granted a worthy heir if he honored his goddess. He selected one of his daughters to be sacrificed by binding her and submerging her in thousands of Azira Worms within the ancient temple. She was left for several days to be sexually stimulated by the worms, believing the goddess herself was caressing and exploring her body. After being freed from the pit, Chief Lavix allowed the men of Valia to violate her until she was proven to be pregnant, convinced Azira had been satisfied and would permit the best seed to take hold to conceive an extraordinary heir for Lavix. His resulting grandson and successor, Lavix II, committed the same deed by sacrificing his own daughter within The Temple, sealing the ritual as tradition.

After the ascension of Chief Garix IV’s grandson and successor, Lavix III, in the year 183 BVE, the beliefs of The Cult of Azira gradually began to falter. Left without a purpose once more, the crumbling temple was gradually forgotten by the population of Valia until it was outright abandoned.

Left as a ruin, The Azira Temple was reclaimed by the rainforest.

Structure

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Overall Shape

The temple was a circular and squat structure made of weathered grey stone bricks and toped with a wooden dome. Its curved outer walls were decorated with many images depicting Azira Worms, as well as women in various stages of pregnancy and birth. The artwork consisted of deep lines carved into the stone walls, and every line was painted with light blue paint. An archway served as the structure’s only entrance. Fires were ignited in shallow pits against the curved walls of the structure during rituals.

Over the generations, the wooden dome and the blue paint of the artwork was repeatedly repaired and replaced. Sometime around the year 300 BVE, the wooden dome had entirely collapsed and was cleared away, leaving the interior open to the sky.

By the year 200 BVE, the walls had long begun to crumble, leaving chunks of fallen stone in the mud surrounding the structure, and much of the entrance archway had collapsed as well.

Many decades later, after being abandoned, the ruined structure was gradually reclaimed by the rainforest as what remained was overgrown in vines and plants.

Interior

The interior of the structure was a single circular chamber. Stone tiles decorated the floor, leading to a shallow circular depression in the center of the room that was lined by two steps. The pit was knee deep, and contained three fist-sized stone rings that protruded from the depression’s floor near its edges that allowed rope to secure a captive within the pit with their limbs spread out.

In the year 403 BVE, the circular pit was temporarily filled with a mat of woven vines atop a flat cushion of leaves. By the year 206 BVE, the circular pit was kept bare and primarily used during rituals in which the pit was filled with Azira Worms.

Appearances

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• Vaid Empire: Legends
  • A Father’s Agony (First Appearance)
    • Valia Was Bound & Violated Inside The Temple By Garix To Conceive Garix II While Lavil Was Forced To Watch.
  • A Sacrifice To Worms
    • Lavia Was Bound & Sexually Stimulated By Azira Worms For Ten Days Inside The Temple.

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