Temple of Numbers

The Temple of Numbers was a construction of awesome magical power in the Ancient World and beyond, supposedly built by the gods on the site where the zarum first received the gift of magic from Ioun. It figured prominently in several key events throughout Echelon's history, including the Dawn War, the Ultima War, and the Melding. Furthermore, the Temple was "unstuck" in time and, as a result, was a central apparatus used to bring about the end of the Shattered Prophecy and reconstitute Echelon's timelines.

Above all, the Temple was said to be unknowable to mortals. The concepts, items, beings, and even constructions that lived in, around, and beyond the Temple were incomprehensible to mortal minds. Except on a handful occasions, any being coming to the site could perceive only what scholars called the "foyer" of the Temple itself-- a small, nondescript ziggurat with stone-like arches and pillars at its peak. Careful excavations by the Harpers in the Light Age revealed no substructures in the hill on which the Temple was built. If not for its cosmic significance, it may have been nothing more than a curiosity.

Several small settlements, usually charter towns or colonies, sprung up on the tiny island on which the Temple was housed. A few settlements would sometimes last for centuries; most others would simply cease to exist, with no trace of settlers, materiel, or buildings.

During the Dark Age, the ancient dragon Teonidé the Gold made his home there in an attempt to unlock the secrets of the multiverse. This study lasted for thousands of years, well into the Epoch of Undine. It was toward the end of the Light Age that Teonidé, in a rage over losing his human mate, used the wish spell uncovered from the Temple to exterminate the Krinth civilization.

The Temple of Numbers was theorized to be the center of the multiverse.