:: Random Location—Temple of Ulemu ::

 Temple of Ulemu

by Wm Jay Carter III, 5/15/15

Monument: Pyramid

Weather: Rainbow

Conditions: Occupied, Wild

Color: Pastel Yellow

Keyword: Honor

The wall of dense jungle vines seems to thicken the further you proceed. At last you tumble out into the open. Picking yourself up, you behold a large squat step-pyramid of expertly carved sandstone sitting in the exact center of a perfectly square clearing. Silence pervades. The long, untidy grass does not even sway a little, and a bright rainbow arcs overhead, completing the idyllic scene. But your attention is suddenly drawn away as scores of dark-skinned warriors soundlessly present themselves on the pyramid’s steps, weapons drawn, fierce gazes levelled at you. One warrior advances a few paces—body decorated with paint the color of chick’s feathers—and speaks in an unknown tongue. When she sees that you don’t understand, she repeats herself in your language, but with a heavy accent: “Speak: whom do you honor by your actions here?”

Members of the Ulemu tribe do not claim to have built the temple others have named after them. According to their history, the literal incarnation of honor descended on the world at some point after life came into being and made the temple for herself so that she would have a place to observe the Ulemu tribe, her children. Members of the tribe claim that she still sits inside.

The carvings on the outside of the temple appear to tell a story, starting at the bottom and working its way around each level before moving up to the next. But the bottom level of carvings appears to be in the middle of the story, with characters and situations that are only contextually important. Indeed, the temple itself actually continues under the earth, with larger and larger levels buried under millennia of sediment deposited into the jungle basin by the nearby river.

The Ulemu tribe tells that the carvings on the temple describe the life of their founding member and primal ancestor, Wodzipereka Ndimoyo, who performed every honorable act that could ever be performed. The carving on the doors of the temple depicts Wodzipereka delivering his soul to Honor Herself so that she could use it to carve the history of his life on her temple, and thus teach all Ulemu to follow his example.

All are invited to enter Honor’s temple—Ulemu and outsider alike—when they feel they have done all the honorable things they are able to do in their life. By walking through the doors, one is symbolically joining Wodzipereka Ndimoyo and delivering one’s soul to Honor herself. The warriors of the tribe wish to ensure that those who enter the temple accept the cost willingly. For this reason, they ask “Whom do you honor by your actions here?” The correct answer to this, of course, is: “Honor Herself.” Any other answer is a sign of dishonorable intentions and demands that the tribe execute the false believer for his pretense.