The Black Pyramid

The Black Pyramid
In between the deep crevices and steep mountainsides obscuring the City of the Sun God from the eyes of the world, there is an ancient and grand pyramid rising from the depths.

Built from a peculiar, seemingly foreign material, the pyramid looks dark and foreboding at dusk and night, almost black, but when the sun reaches its zenith it reflects off the crimson surface with the disturbing colour of blood, covering its surroundings with a warm, red glow.

The mastodontic construction sits in a shallow, shining pool of water. Called the Divine Lake, it surrounds the great pyramid creating the illusion that what is above continues below. Tainted water, the run-off of Filth, works its way to the surface of the lake, creating a greasy film. During Akhenaten's reign, the Atenists would collect traces of Filth here for use in their solemnities to the sun god.

The pyramid was constructed as the ultimate house of worship for the Atenists, sheltering the holiest of their holy places - the altar, the sanctuary.

The sanctuary was the black heart of the Atenist religion, a place where the devout could be in the presence of their great and terrible sun god.

Inside, it's different from all other pyramids. The huge chamber in the centre houses a chase that stretches downwards, like a black hole dropping into nothingness. At the top, the pyramid lacks a capstone, allowing the moonlight to penetrate deep into the eldritch darkness.

The air here is dusty and tomb-heavy: gravity's pressure is tangible and all sound rings dull in the ears. The chamber reverberates with noise from deep down in the chasm - mechanisms adjusting and readjusting, metal straining under pressure like a submarine's hull. Though this unnatural place should be dark, it is cast in eerie twilight - if brave eyes had time to adjust, they might make out the impossible shapes below.

The upper level is only decorated with low stone blocks. Here, only the most dedicated of the devotees were allowed in to meditate and fast, some starving themselves to glorious death, others inspired to throw themselves into the bottomless pit, following the mad whispers of their god. Those who entered did not come back out - except Akhenaten, who spent more and more time here as his insanity grew deeper.

When he died, the sarcophagus of the Black Pharaoh was placed within the pyramid. Since the City of the Sun God was sealed and Egypt returned to its worship of the old gods, the pyramid and Akhenaten have wasted away, waiting for the day when the sun god would once again whisper. Now, as some knotted voice twists its way from the hollow dark, it seems that day has risen.