Page 14 - Brugger Karl The chronicle of Akakor

The Chronicle of Akakor
plain in the south. These were the terrestrial residences of the Former Masters and forbidden ground to
the Ugha Mongulala. A giant pyramid was erected in their center, and a broad staircase led to the
platform where the Gods celebrated ceremonies unknown to us. The main building was surrounded by
smaller pyramids interconnected by columns, and further away, on artificially created hills, stood other
buildings decorated with glittering plates. In the light of the rising sun, the priests relate, the cities of the
Gods seemed to be aflame. They radiated a mysterious light, shining in the snowy mountains.
Of the sacred temple precincts, I have seen only Salazere with my own eyes. It lies at a distance of an
eight days’ journey from the city that the White Barbarians call Manaus, at a tributary of the Great
River. Its palaces and temples have become completely overgrown by the liana jungle. Only the top of
the great pyramid still rises above the forest, overgrown by a dense thicket of bush and trees. Even the
initiated have difficulties in reaching the dwelling place of the Gods. It is surrounded by deep swamps,
the territory of the Tribe that Lives on Trees. After this tribe’s first contact with the White Barbarians,
they retired to the inaccessible forests around Salazere. There the people live on trees like monkeys,
killing anyone who dares to invade their community. I only succeeded in reaching the temple precinct
because thousands of years ago this tribe was allied with the Ugha Mongulala and even now respects the
secret signs of recognition. These signs are engraved on a stone at the upper edge of the pyramid
platform. Although we can copy them, we have lost all understanding of their significance.

The temple precincts have also remained a mystery to my people. Their buildings are testimonies to a
higher knowledge, incomprehensible to humans. For the Gods, the pyramids were not only dwelling
places but also symbols of life and death. They were a sign of the sun, of light, of life. The Former
Masters taught us that there is a place between life and death, between life and nothingness, which is
subject to a different time. For them, the pyramids were a link with the second life.
The Subterranean Dwellings

"Great was the knowledge of the Former Masters; great their wisdom. Their vision reached to the hills,
the plains, the forests, the seas, and the valley. They were miraculous creatures. They knew the future.
Truth had been revealed to them. Farsighted they were and of high resolve. They erected Akanis and
Akakor and Akahim. Truly, their works were mighty, as were the methods they used to create them:
The way they determined the four corners of the universe and the four sides. The lords of the cosmos,
the creatures of the heavens and the earth, created four corners and four sides of the universe."

Akakor now lies in ruins. The great stone gate is broken. Lianas grow in the Great Temple of the Sun.
On my command, and in agreement with the Supreme Council and the priests, the warriors of the Ugha
Mongulala destroyed our capital three years ago. The city would have betrayed our presence to the
White Barbarians, and so we relinquished Akakor. My people have fled into the underground dwellings,
the last gift of the Gods. We have thirteen cities, deeply hidden inside the mountains that are called the
Andes. Their plan corresponds to the constellation of Schwerta, the home of the Ancient Fathers. Lower
Akakor is the center. The city lies in a giant man-made cave. The houses, arranged in a circle and ringed
by a decorative wall, surround the Great Temple of the Sun in the center. Just like upper Akakor, the
city is divided by two intersecting streets, corresponding to the four corners and the four sides of the
universe. All roads run parallel to them. The largest building is the Great Temple of the Sun, which
towers above the dwellings of the priests and their servants, the prince’s palace, the lodgings of the
warriors, and the modest houses of the people. In the interior of the temple are twelve entrances to the
tunnels that link lower Akakor with other underground cities. They have sloping walls and a flat roof.
The tunnels are large enough for five men walking upright. Many days are needed to reach one of the
other cities from Akakor.

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