Tales of Cubonia

The Golden Hourglass 1 (Prologue) - The Temple Raider

The air around Ka'li'Na Rock was stagnant, oppressive, and just all-around miserable. So thick one might be able to reach out and scoop it away with a hand. A thick haze was continually plastered around the top of the sacred rock. Hanging lazily in the miasma as if suspended in mid-air were over-sized snowflake-like bits of ash. Breathing in one of the giant flakes of ash would mean certain death by suffocation. Many a traveler and pilgrim had forfeit their lives to the ash storms after the extreme heat had made them delusional and believe they were amid one of the legendary Frostmoorean blizzards. That was, however, exactly the kind of thing that the gods who kept watch over Ka'li'Na Rock wanted. To get to the top, a traveler or pilgrim had to be quick of wit and sound of mind and body. It was no easy task.

The great mount had sat in the Saavedran desert since time immemorial. It had been there since before the Saavedrans had even come to the desert continent. The Saavedrans worshiped the great rock, which was actually a very unstable volcano with a very cantankerous disposition. The Saavedrans believed the spirit of their god, Ma'on'Al, lived at the heart of Ka'li'Na Rock, and would send regular sacrifices into the mouth of the volcano to please her. Upon their twelfth name day, Saavedran children were required to make a pilgrimage through the vast Saavedran desert and pray for three days without food or water in the Temple of Ma'on'Al. Those who returned were deemed blessed by the Great Mother of the Sands and welcomed back with open arms. The ones who did not return were mourned silently and remembered only by those that begot them.

Currently, there was a man – who was undoubtedly not Saavedran and undeniably older than twelve – scaling the face of the massive rock. He had removed his tunic, cut it into strips with his dagger, and wrapped the strips around his head, leaving only a small slit for him to see. The rest of his body was nearly bare. Having removed his tunic, the man's upper body was bare except a pair of dragon hide gloves to protect his hands from the scorching stone. His legs were covered only by a pair tattered longpants and his feet a pair of well-worn dragon hide boots. Even though he didn't put much stock in the gods and their dealings, he said a silent thank you to Ma'on'Al for the dragon hide as it was the only thing keeping his hands and feet from being singed on the rock.

Thin slivers of molten rock ran down the side of the mount, making the going difficult, but not unmanageable. The man had made it half way up the holy edifice. Time was difficult to judge through the smog, but from what he could tell, it had been hours since he started at the bottom. There was a rather convenient stairway built into the opposite side of the rock to serve as a tourist entrance, but when you've come to steal something, it was best not to walk right in the front door.

He'd spent weeks in the desert hiding from the Saavedran people. They didn't like outsiders coming onto their land without their permission. Anyone wishing to see Ka'li'Na Rock who wasn't of Saavedran birth, had to first visit a shaman to receive their blessing before continuing on. It had been a harrowing few weeks for the man, but he got by with a little help from a nice colony of talking cacti.

He reached up and grabbed hold of rock that was jutting out a foot or so above his head. One of the lava streams was running excessively close to his right. Heat poured off the magma, making him sweat even more than he was before. He pulled himself up to the rock with a forced effort. He was beginning to lose most of his strength.

Luckily, the rock he'd gripped actually lead to a small ledge. He pulled himself up and sat down for a brief respite. The ledge overlooked the vast Saavedran Desert. Through the smog he could see very little, but his sense of direction was excellent and he could easily imagine the Saavedran Mountains in the distance as well as the oasis to the southeast. It would have been a great view had it not been from the side of a very grumpy volcano. Saavedra wasn't on many travelers' must-see lists due to the heat and the creatures living in the desert, but it had its own form of beauty. It certainly beat the environs of Ka'li'Na Rock.

After taking a moment to regain his strength, the man began to climb once more. He was near the top, and growing anxious to reach his destination. He took a deep breath, and began hurling himself upward toward the top of the rock. If he hadn't just spent the last few weeks in the desert, he might have had the strength to do this in the first place. The journey was much more pleasant when it was going faster.

After another hour of concerted effort, he had reached the top. Perched perilously over the gaping mouth of the volcano was the Temple of Ma'on'Al, held aloft by a network of ropes thicker than the man himself. A simple rope bridge led from the rim of the volcano to one of the temple's three entrances. The man made his way easily across the bridge and through the western entrance. The walls inside the temple were unadorned as the Saavedran people did not believe in unnecessary accoutrements. The only light came from the white-hot magma churning below. After a short jaunt down a twisting corridor, the man had arrived at the temple's main chamber.

The main chamber consisted of nothing more than a raised dais that stretched nearly a hundred feet above his head. Thankfully, the dais was tiered and easily traversable. At the top sat a plain slab of mud-rock where sacrifices were sent to the Great Mother of the Sands. On a small pedestal behind the altar sat a rough golden statue of Ma'on'Al. It was placed there as a physical representation of the god for the ceremonies of the Saavedran people. Ugly though it may have been, it was precisely what the man had come looking for.

Without further ado, the man strode across the top of the dais, around the altar, and snatched the statue from the pedestal. In its place he dropped a small wooden carving of an ottsel as a kind of calling card. The man took one step from the pedestal and the whole temple began to rumble. The Great Mother of the Sands was angry.

"Oh boy," the man said.

He dashed toward the exit. He could actually hear the volcanoes contents grumbling below. Stealing a religious artifact from a temple isn't the best idea in the world, but he certainly didn't think anything like this would happen. It was something often overlooked by those who didn't think the gods were of much use. The floor began breaking away under the stress, leaving the man to leap from place to place to make his way to the exit. Behind him, the dais crumbled and fell into the hungry mouth of the volcano.

Even though fire was now ravaging the rope bridge, it manage to hold his weight long enough for him to cross. The moment he set foot on the rim of the volcano, the bridge also gave way. He turned for only a moment to watch the Temple of Ma'on'Al topple in on itself and plummet into the magma below.

"Oh, I'm going to get blamed for this," he groaned to no one in particular, and began descending the side of the mountain. Before he had made it fully over the edge, the volcano violently erupted, spewing lava hundreds of feet into the air. The force of the blast sent the man hurtling through the air in the direction of a very jagged, very painful landing zone. Before the man could even comprehend what a grisly death awaited him at ground level, a massive gryffon swooped down through the falling debris and lava, and caught the man easily on his back.

"You're going to get blamed for this," the gryffon said wryly.

The man kissed the statue of Ma'on'Al and slid it into the leather bag tucked behind the gryffon's right wing.

"That's what I said," he replied, patting the gryffon on the neck. "How was the vacation?"

"Could have been better," the gryffon said testily.

"Sorry to hear that," the man said indifferently. "Things didn't go so well for me while you were gone either."

"What's new?" the gryffon asked sarcastically. He banked to the left and set a course for home.

"Thanks for the save, buddy," the man said after a moment of silence.

"Don't mention it," the gryffon replied.

Behind the two travelers, Ka'li'Na rock was spewing molten lava in all directions. The temple was nowhere to be seen.