Encyclopedia Hiigara
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The Star-Metal Scrolls were sacred artefacts and relics in the possession of Kiith Somtaaw. The scrolls were brought with Somtaaw out of the desert on Kharak and placed in the Temple of Mysteries, the most sacred Somtaaw religious site, located atop the mountain Lungma Jun. Thirty-three temples were established along the pilgrimage route leading from the sands of the Kasaar to the peak of the mountain. This route became known as the Shimmering Path. Most pilgrims ended their route at the Dome of Heaven, the Seventh Temple, located within the city walls of Gydeo. Only a few, incredibly devout followers would brave the thinning air and howling blizzards to reach the very peak of the mountain.

The Scrolls consisted of several metallic objects, consisting of a material not known on Kharak, with inscriptions on them that no Kushan could read. According to Somtaaw legend, the Scrolls were created by Jakuul himself (a variant name for Sajuuk).

The Shimmering Path was closed during the Heresy Wars and almost no-one ascended the mountain after that time. After the discovery of Khar-Toba and in light of the discoveries of the origin of the Kushan people, the legend was re-examined. The historian Mevath Sagald petitioned the Daiamid to be permitted to examine the Scrolls, but the Somtaaw representatives initially refused the request on religious grounds. They eventually allowed that historians and archaeologists could examine the Scrolls, but only if they approached the temple in traditional pilgrim's clothes and on foot.

This triggered a great controversy in the Daiamid between those kiithid of a religious mind and those of a scientific bent. The debate was still raging when the Mothership was launched. The Scrolls were presumed destroyed in the Kharakian Genocide that followed.[1]


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