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The Monolith of Malekith was a colossal temple-fortress and ritual stronghold raised by the Holy Order of the Sun during the reign of Sultan Hakim Atis, nestled deep within a crescent cradle of desert mesas just north of The Serrakhan Scar. Built to venerate Malekith as the living Sun God, it stood as the greatest monument to the solar cult's dominion across Osira.
Crowned by a radiant yellow amethyst sunstone and veiled in the illusion of divine benevolence, the Monolith served both as sanctuary and seat of spiritual power for the Sultanate's inner solar court. It has since been destroyed.
Construction & Doctrine
Commissioned in the twilight years of Hakim Atis’ rule and directed by Ishmael—a necromancer in secret fealty to Malekith—the Monolith was intended as the centerpiece of a new solar theocracy (see: Shadow of the Sun's Eclipse). Carved directly into the crescent basin of the northern mesas, its foundations stretched down to ancient geomantic leylines once used by Solir priests during the Third Age (Age of the Elves).
The structure was vast. Central stairways rose between carved sandstone ziggurats and radiant courtyards of heat-hardened goldleaf tile. Its inner sanctum housed a solar engine beneath a monolithic golden gemstone, which captured and magnified light, powering the lush gardens and radiant wards within.
Beneath its beauty, however, lay rot.
The Cult of Malekith
Though proclaimed by the Order as a temple of peace, the Monolith functioned as the command center of the Holy Order of the Sun—a fanatical priesthood whose members carried out purges, silence campaigns, and elemental experimentation under Ishmael’s orders.
It was here that the cult propagated the “Divine Sun Doctrine,” framing Malekith not merely as an avatar but as a returned deity—master of light, arbiter of fate, and source of all life. Pilgrims traveled from across the Sands of Serrakhan to kneel before its grandeur and offer sacrifices, unaware that the sunlight bathing them was filtered through necromantic ley-crystals buried beneath the ziggurats.
High Priest Ishmael’s true nature—as a lich in service to Malekith—was unknown to all but a chosen few. Under his command, the Monolith became a convergence point for undead rites cloaked in solar worship.
Collapse & Ruin
The fall came swiftly. After Talyen, rightful Solir heir to Itela and newly awakened Avatar of the Sun, exposed Hakim Atis’ betrayal and slew him in single combat, the truth of the Order’s deception came to light (see: Sultans Showdown). Word of Ishmael’s true identity and his role in twisting the Sultanate's doctrine shattered public faith.
The Monolith became a flashpoint.
Talyen led a procession of sultanate citizens, artisans, sun guard, and loyalist Jannisaries to the crescent mesa. They found the gardens already withering, the stone beginning to bleed light as the false Sunstone above cracked. In a final act of purgation, Talyen channeled a solar invocation of raw elemental purity into the Monolith's heart, overloading the solar engine and rupturing its ley-core.
The structure imploded from within, consumed in a blinding plume of radiant fire. The surrounding mesas were scorched black.
Current Status
Nothing remains of the Monolith but a basin of fused glass and blackened stone. The crescent walls surrounding the ruin now glow faintly at dusk—residue of the solar rites burned into the land itself.
The site is considered cursed by most pilgrims, though some scattered factions still journey there in secret, hoping to reclaim remnants of Malekith’s doctrine or rediscover the cryptic geometries etched into its foundation.
Talyen has forbidden its reconstruction.