TOTEH: The Temple
April 2, 2011
"The Horned God" by Fantasio
The Monama peoples of the south of Kana know of the temple, have hinted at in their ancient writings and whispered of it in their most private moments. They claim it is a place of bluestone deep in the ground where the Horned God lives. They say all of the demons and haunt their nightmares come from the temple. They say it is a nexus of many places given life by the Horned God who is repaid with fire and blood. The Monamas claim his angels have been engaged in bloody worship and sacrifice in the cavernous belly of the temple continuously, without pause or breath, for thousands of years.
The Temple is a deadly place for both the victims dragged there in chains to be sacrificed, and for the worshippers as well, for death can strike anyone at any given moment.
Of all Elder folk on Kana, the men of Calvert know most of the temple, having heard of it from the Monamas, whom they often hire as seers and prostitutes. Whenever space and sea-faring mariners from Calvert come to harm the old salts by the docks shake their head and proclaim: “Another one for the Horned God.”
The great professor from the Calvert University of Dee, Grand Dame Hannah-Ben Shurlamp, EvoR, conducted a seminar on the Temple of the Exploding Head before a gathering of her peers in St. Edmonds, however, she treated the temple as a purely allegorical reference using it to highlight the evils and dangers of sin and unbridled lust. At no time, did the EvoR proclaim the temple as an actual place.
The great Remnath hero, Atrajak of Want, sought out the temple at the behest of his dying wife, Tiverlan of Nebulon, who was a Monama princess. She said all the woe Kana had ever known came from the bloody environs of the temple and she begged him to locate and destroy it. Atrajak searched the whole of Remnath, finding nothing but ghosts and rumors. Eventually, Atrajak came to grips with the Sisterhood of Light at their stronghold of Twilight 4, where he was killed in a terrible battle. His search was the last real effort to locate the temple and discover what is done there.
The Temple of the Exploding Head and the Horned God remain objects of whisper and speculation.
copyright 2011, Ren Garcia and Fantasio
The Temple of the Exploding Head 
I love the combination of mystical and futuristic in this post. It reminds me of all those really cool movies which came out in the early 80’s like “Red Sonja” “BeastMaster” and “LadyHawk.” Maybe I’m just a dork–but there is something so exciting about the secrets which surround these stories which makes anything possible!
Oh gosh, I know what you mean, Chris. When I was in college, my roommate took me through a D&D adventure called “The Temple of Elemental Evil” and I remember being enthralled. The temple was a horrible place, and I literally tingled listening to my roommate describe it. I still remember it all these years later. I remember my favorite part of the adventure was simply finding the temple. I love whispers and rumors of places that may or may not exist–Atlantis, Lemuria,El Dorado, I love it all and I wanted something like that in my story.