Temple of Lost Death

The legend:

The Temple was supposedly founded 600 yrs ago by a traveller named Zenobiun Padamun'der'adanum. He was an Aerdian who gave up his country and all that he owned to study under Zen, the Father of Discipline. He later started adventuring and exploring the unknown regions west of the Lortmil mountains. In his travels he encountered a great many things including an entity calling himself Baccob. This entity desired to frustrate and drive insane all those he encountered. The Baccob tried to trick Zenobium into frustration perhaps to drive him away from monkdom but Baccob repeatedly failed due to Zenobium's superior discipline. Confounded in his attempts, Baccob was impressed. He told Zenobium of a place where a great monastery could be built, one that would become a bastion of enlightenment for the world. He also told Zenobium of a sage that knew the path to that enlightenment and then Baccob went on his way.

Zenobium travelled at great distance and after many perils eventually found the sage and convinced him to come to the temple he and his disciples would would build. It would be the Temple of Enlightenment. When the temple was near completion, with only the inner sanctum yet to be finished, Baccob again appeared to vex Zenobium. Baccob summoned Death and entreated him to take the lives of Zenobium and the sage when the temple was completed.. Not to be confounded, Zenobium continued work on the temple but in place of the inner sanctum he began building a great maze beset with riddles and deceptions. The Temple was completed from the inside and then Death entered to take the builders souls. So great was the maze and the path to enlightenment that Death never found them. He became lost within the maze. Zenobium and the sage lived a great number of years, far past the lifespan that humans normally live. Finally, when Zenobium became weary of life he called out to Death in the maze and made a deal with him. He would come to Death and allow Death to take his life and be done with that part of Baccob's task. In return, he asked Death for the scrolls Death had managed to take from the many sages he had called upon in his existence. Frustrated, Death agreed and Zenobium came to him (after bringing the scrolls back to his disciples) and Zenobium died. Death however, was still lost within the maze and is to this day it is said.

The Reality:

However it came to be, the Temple did become a place of knowledge. Monks from the temple adventured far and wide to perform services for sages and scribes to gain copies of their writtings for the temple. In return for access to the scrolls, mages also performed services for the temple - enchanting dooways, setting up wards, etc. Over time, the temple has become a grand repository of prophetic writtings that is heavily guarded by the monks of the order and the magics placed on the temple.

No one not of the order is allowed in to peruse the scrolls. Only the monks who are in charge read them and decide if and when a particular scroll or prophecy should be revealed.