Temple of Sukri - Locations

The Temple of Sukri is an unearthed ruin located in the heart of The Sands of Serrakhan, buried beneath centuries of shifting dunes until its re-emergence during the Conjunction of the Realms. Once the spiritual center of the now-vanished city of Sukri, it was one of the first known sanctuaries dedicated to Malekith, revered at the time as the Sun God. The temple served not only as a monument to divine worship, but as the covert resting place of a greater secret—the Vault of Talus.

Though its outer halls are now half-sunken and fractured by tectonic upheaval, its subterranean sanctum was revealed intact, sprawling beneath the sands like the petrified memory of a forgotten age. Here, ancient frescoes, golden sun disks, and prayer-etched columns mark the fusion of reverence and arcane cunning.

Origins & Historical Significance

The city of Sukri was among the earliest desert settlements to emerge following the Fourth Age collapse of Solir civilization (Itela), populated by mixed descendants of devout Vanir refugees (from Tolria), and desert folk who turned to Malekith during his rise as Avatar of the Sun. Constructed under the early suns of Serrakhan Sultanate, the temple was a crown jewel in the Sultanate’s efforts to sanctify Malekith’s divine dominion.

However, the temple was more than a holy site.

Later this same era, the legendary Talus—elder Runewright—secretly constructed a hidden vault beneath the temple foundations. Under the guise of religious devotion, Talus embedded the vault beneath the altar, cloaked in powerful illusion wards, warded runes, and elemental traps. Here he stored unstable rift matter, incomplete enchantments, and his most dangerous creations.

The temple would fall to ruin shortly after Malekith's dissapearence when he was sealed in the Tomb of the Twin-Spirit by Avatar Rok. For centuries the city was swallowed by desert winds. It lay forgotten—until the Fifth Age.

Recent Rediscovery

The Conjunction of the Realms shattered the veil between planes across Osira. In Sukri, it ruptured the sands above, revealing a yawning stair descending into the undercroft of the temple.

It was here that The Sunsations descended into the Vault of Talus, facing a gauntlet of ancient sentinels, collapsing runes, and temporal anomalies. At its core they found not only the writings of Talus, but a living mind—Goldbrand, an immortal being and Archon of the Ether, who had made a lair of the vault’s innermost sanctum to continue his studies into elemental convergence (see: Traversing the In-Between). Goldbrand’s cooperation was hard-won, but he provided invaluable insight into the elemental harmonics unraveling across the world.

Structure & Design

The Temple of Sukri is composed of three layers:

The Upper Ruin – What remains above ground is a fractured courtyard of worn sandstone, half-buried pillars, and broken statuary of Malekith in his radiant prime. It faces east, aligned precisely with the former route of the Pilgrim’s Path.

The Inner Hall – Still largely intact, this chamber includes stone pews, a shattered sun mosaic, and a collapsed dais where worship once took place. Faint golden glyphs still shimmer beneath the dust.

The Vault of Talus – Accessible only through puzzle-locked doors hidden beneath the altar. A vast subterranean complex of forged alloys, obsidian glass, and molten conduits. The architecture here is not Solir, but Runewright—precise, symmetrical, and arcane in function.

Current Status

Though largely sealed now, the Temple of Sukri is under watch by scholars from the Emris Adventuring Guild and patrols of the Sultanate, wary of looters and Bastilian operatives seeking ancient technology. The remaining wards still pulse faintly, powered by buried sunstones and geothermal rift energy that survived the ages.

The name Sukri itself has become synonymous with secrets buried beneath sanctity—its history a symbol of both spiritual deception and the pursuit of forbidden knowledge.

Beneath the temple's sun-kissed ruins lies the recently uncovered Vault of Talus, a hidden chamber of immense historical and magical importance. This vault, named after the elder runewright Talus, was ingeniously concealed beneath the temple, amidst the fervent worshippers of Malekith. Talus, renowned for his unparalleled mastery of runic magic and elemental realms, chose the temple as the perfect guise to safeguard the potent artifacts he amassed and created throughout his lifetime.

The Temple of Sukri served a dual purpose for Talus. On the surface, it was a place of worship, drawing in devotees of Malekith and allowing Talus to blend in among the faithful. Beneath this veneer of piety lay the vault—a sanctum of arcane knowledge and power. Talus's ingenuity ensured that the secrets and artifacts within remained hidden, protected by puzzles, traps, and enchantments that only the most worthy or knowledgeable could navigate.

The Vault of Talus, with its trove of arcane artifacts and runic knowledge, represents a pivotal chapter in the history of magic and elemental mastery. The items and secrets contained within hold the potential to unlock new understandings of the elemental realms and the Weave itself. The discovery of the vault beneath the Temple of Sukri invites adventurers and scholars alike to explore its depths, unravel its mysteries, and perhaps uncover new truths about the ancient world's magical heritage.

The Temple of Sukri, with its dual legacy of devout worship and arcane safeguarding, continues to captivate the imagination of those who tread its sands. The uncovered Vault of Talus beneath its foundations adds a new layer of intrigue to this ancient site, bridging the realms of religion and arcane knowledge in the ever-unfolding tapestry of history. After delving into the vault, The Sunsations came face-to-face with Goldbrand, whom had taken residence in the subterranean complex for his own elemental studies (see: Traversing the In-Between).