Eidolons of Seqal

The Eidolons of the Goddess, commonly called the Eidolons of Seqal, are a triptych of ancient statues carved into the rocky riverside at the city of Seqal in Ororr. The figures are a renowned symbol of the city, being the first thing seen by visitors travelling upriver to the city.

The Eidolons are colossal caryatids, columns over 18 metres high, supporting the portico of the ancient Temple overlooking the river. The portico and its sculptures were carved into the living rock face, so that the portico roof protects the carvings from weathering. The temple was once a simple cave, consecrated to the worship of the river goddess some time in the Beryl Epoch. It was later expanded and embellished as the city of Seqal grew more powerful as an economic and religious centre.

The first Eidolons were carved around 2500 BME. Originally they depicted fertility goddesses as large, naked Issid women, which were crudely shaped and probably painted in bright colours. They were later resculpted and refaced several times into more slender and graceful forms, ending in their current shape around 1400 BME.

The resculpted eidolons were dressed with a mosaic of jade and precious jewels, so that they glinted in the sun and presented a powerful symbol of the wealth and importance of Seqal as a city-state. Originally the the were decorated with a combination of true jade, white jade and greenplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigGreen

The Green Kingdom of flora and fauna includes humans, mammals, birds, whales, greenfish, and most green plants and crops cultivated by humankind. quartz. Later right-hand eidolon was blue jade representing water, green jade representing life, fertility and the green world. The left-hand was red jade, representing blood, death and retribution. The rare red jade was mined from the valley of the Red Wiyel, upriver of Seqal, a particularly valuable export of the city. Together, the three jade eidolons were a dazzling display of the city-state's wealth, trading reach and moral power. It is often thought the the branches of the Well, were named after the colour of the Eidolons, rather than vice versa.

After the decline of Seqal and its domination by the Empire of Dor-en-Sann, the temple fell into disrepair and the jade mosaics were either looted or fell away. By the time the city was visited by the Great Prophet it was a shadow of its former grandeur, but the Prophet was so impressed by the vista of the Seqal that, despite the destruction of hundreds of grand Imperial temples to the north, he ordered the Eidolons be spared.

As such, the Temple at Seqal is one of the chief stopping points on the Shouft or great pilgrimage, and one of the Protected Treasures of the church-state.

Today the rock of the Eidolons is topped with a Therist padata of modern construction, called the Jade Flower Temple. The cave-temple of the Eidolons was once closed and used for storage, but is now a museum of ancient history.