The Ziggurat of Kauket is the deepest and culminating level of the Ardis Vala Mega-Dungeon: a vast cavern holding the Mephitic Marsh, with the ziggurat of the demon prince Kauket rising over causeways and bridges. It is 3,400 years old and wholly under Heqeti control.
| Type | Place (dungeon level) |
| Setting | World of Archontos, Ardis Vala |
| Controlled by | Heqeti |
| Custodian | Reepsiq, the Great Tongue |
| Houses of the Cycle | ☷ House of the Descent |
| Spanish entry | Ziggurat de Kauket |
History
The site was cleansed twice in antiquity, once by the Rudishva and once by the Archonteans. The Heqeti have returned from their hidden homes in the Underearth to resanctify it. It had not yet been visited by the Seekers by the return after the Hiatus.
Inhabitants
The current custodian is the Great Tongue Reepsiq, high priest of Kauket, assisted by several powerful sorcerers and a mixed group of Heqeti hoppers, chosen and builders. Minor pilgrims occasionally ascend from the Underearth. Other named figures: Caudatssa the Tongue, second in the Heqeti hierarchy after Reepsiq; Pikaressa the Second Tongue; and Qassapik the Weaver.
The Heqeti are hostile to humans and demihumans arriving from the Floor of the Great Chasm, cautiously neutral toward Underearth visitors (duergar, svirfneblin, kaliyani and others), and have no declared allies in the dungeon.
Zones
- Western Approaches: the west entrance, patrolled by Heqeti guards; reached from the Floor of the Great Chasm.
- Mephitic Marsh: the great swamp, crossed by raised causeways; acid salamanders, hopper pilgrims, warning salamanders.
- Eastern Halls: pilgrims, weavers, occasionally Underearth races; access to the Underearth.
- Northern Chambers: Reepsiq and the high command.
- The Ziggurat itself: the cult’s center, at the heart of the marsh.
Notable areas include the Heqeti Road Up, an ascending corridor lit by green bioluminescent pods, and the Hall of Mouths, with a damaged statue of Kauket in a pool of warning salamanders.
The Ziggurat
Its third tier holds magic statues. The Summoning Chamber is where Kauket is invoked. A dark consecration sixty feet around favors the faithful of the dark pole and hinders others.
The horn of Kauket
The summoning of Kauket has always failed for lack of the pale green spiral horn the ritual requires. The Rudishva took it when they defeated the Heqeti millennia ago; it now lies in a high-security Rudishva vault at the Obsidian Gates. Only two Rudishva AIs know the vault’s access code: RAJ-750 (the insane AI, in the Lock Cavern) and AKL-600. Inserting the horn in the Summoning Chamber summons Kauket instantly. The Beacon is loosely connected to the Rudishva system.
Weakening the Heqeti
- Cleansing the dark consecration of the Upper Temple in the Court of the Thegn silences the unholy words of the third-tier statues.
- Poisoning Rimmaq-Isfet in the Lower Confines dispels the ziggurat’s dark consecration.
- Destroying the giant statue of Kauket on the Floor of the Great Chasm, or consecrating it to the light, weakens Kauket’s magical armor.
Connections
- A teleporter links to the Troll Elevators and the Court of the Thegn.
- The west corridor and the river lead to the Floor of the Great Chasm.
- The river leads to the Silent Sea in the Underearth; the east tunnel to the rest of it.
- Heqeti teleport wells from the Forum, the Troll Elevators, the Court, the Lower Confines and the Lizardfolk Caves all arrive in the marsh antechamber.