Temple of Ubtao

The Temple of Ubtao, also known as the Maze of Life, was the very center of the hidden Tabai city of Mezro in Chult.

"There is no exaggeration in the bold claim that Ubtao founded Mezro. The great god of the Tabaxi built the core of the city himself, the temple and amphitheater rising first from the chaos of the jungle."

- An excerpt from The Eternal Life of Mezro

Location
The center of Mezro was a round cobblestone plaza with the magnificent Temple of Ubtao standing in the very middle with four avenues stretching from the center to the city's rim, separating it into quarters: Agricultural, Residential, Market, and Scholars' Quarters.

Structure
The Temple was intricately constructed building of nine stories rising above the ground. The temple's architecture was accentuated by many flying buttresses. The temple had rows of large windows of stained glass and a glistening golden dome crowing the structure. The Temple of Ubtao was the tallest t structure in Mezro.

The magical walls of the temple had disorienting effect on outsiders. Whatever part of the city they were looking at the temple, it always appeared to have only one wall and looked exactly the same from any angle. These magical walls were constructed using triangular crystal bricks dovetailing together into one smooth surface with one lonely door leading inside. Upon closer examination, the crystals of the wall appeared fragile and delicate as the finest Sembian lace.

The enchantments of the Temple's wall could enthrall onlookers. If affected by the images in the crystals, the viewed could stand entranced staring at the walls, until forced to look away. The images that were created in the wall reflected the onlooker's deepest desires.

Due to the divine origin of the temple, any person or thing within its walls was shielded from scrying.

Interior
Past the lone Temple door laid the Hall of Champions, a long hallway decorated with glossy black stone statues and pillars on both sides. The statues depicted deceased barae of Mezro, the paladins of Ubtao and guardians of the city. The statues included the original seven barae who died and having only empty pedestals for those still living. Some of the statues included a woman dancing while engulfed in flames, a boy surrounded by raptors, flying in the clouds, an old man with an anvil and a hammer, a thin woman racing a jaguar.

The Hall of Champions ended in a black archway, a magical gate that allowed passage into one of countless rooms Ubtao built for his worshipers. Reaching the rooms via the portal was easy, one just needed to think of the destination. If a person passing through the gate had no destination in mind, they were transported into a random room within the temple, such as libraries, kitchens, bedchambers, storages, the meditation hall, healer's apothecary, or the King's audience chamber.

The audience chamber of king Osaw I, who's ruled Mezro for over fifteen hundred years in 1362 DR, was a spacious triangular hall with windows of stained glass and an enchanted mosaic depicting Mezro and its every inhabitants in real time as the chamber's floor. The throne stood in the center of the triangular chamber.

The only room within the Temple of Ubtao was the barado. The archway in the Hall of Champions never randomly led to that part of the structure. The barado was the dark audience hall for communing with Ubtao directly and was never used unless a new bara was to take the god's test.

Services
The Temple offered many services to citizens and travelers and was open to them all day and night. The clerics provided guests with healing in exchange for a donation to the temple. Servants and bara of Ubtao were healed for free. Travelers were never allowed to sleep in the temple especially without the King's permission and were always removed from its grounds.

Members of Sseth, Thard Harr and Ubtao clergy were allowed to worship in the Temple of Ubtao. The temple held no organized services or ceremonies, apart from selecting the next bara.

History
The Temple of Ubtao along with the city of Mezro was created in -2637 DR by the deity himself. Over the centuries, the temple survived wars, goblin attacks, dinosaurs, and many other threats.

Appearances

 * Novels
 * The Ring of Winter