Background: At the end of Saun, Arc 721, the Immortal Balaera perished, betrayed and murdered by Kata using an Original-made device known as the Ascension during the events of Ruin’s Dawn. Five heroes who participated in the events of that trial absorbed the Domain of Sacrifice, released by Belaera’s passing: Oram Mednix, Nir’wei, Varlum, Zoro Astrian, and Cail Qy’Jihai. One consequence of this was that the five heroes gained access to a portion of Belaera’s erstwhile Emean realm.
Description: Upon entering the realm, the heroes would find themselves standing on a desolate sacrificial plain dominated by an enormous five-sided step pyramid, atop which sat the Fane of Five Faces, a pentagonal temple with an entrance in each wall, one for each of the heroes. Although any of the five could ascend and descend any staircase, or enter or exit the Fane through any door, there were hints that one specific side or entrance was intended for each hero, for they would all find that, whenever they entered the realm, even if they came in together through the same portal, they would always arrive in Emea facing their respective sides of the pyramid.
Pyramid and temple alike were built in alternating courses of black and white stone, perhaps a tribute to its former master’s duality. And both were similarly-aligned regular pentagons. Inside, the fane was arranged in three concentric rings. The outer one was devoted to separate rooms that could afford each hero such privacy and security as they wished. Further inside was a gallery, flanked on one hand by the solid walls of the private rooms and on the other by an arcade that connected the gallery to the central sanctuary, in the midst of which sat an enormous burn pit ringed by altars.
There was little else within. The Fane awaited its new masters and their offerings.
Other: The Fane and pyramid are built over older sacrificial sites. It is possible that mysteries left over from Belaera’s tenure here lie within, awaiting excavation and exploration…
