Emergency Ritual Tablet of the Fifth Temple

Written in haste as Mount Serath erupted, this tablet reveals a civilization confronting the destruction of its religious foundations. The scribe writes of emergency rituals — evidence that the Kethari had no precedent for their own sacred mountain turning against them.

Inscription

Keth-shal-an sha meren bel-esh kov kin-na. Keth ash-keth-na. Bel-na ven shal-an keth-na, thul-thar-an nara sha-na.

/keθ.ʃal.an ʃa meɾen bel.eʃ kov kin.na | keθ aʃ.keθ.na | bel.na ven ʃal.an keθ.na θul.θaɾ.an naɾa ʃa.na/

Translation

“The great spirit of the flame-temple observes the seven blood offerings. The flame does not extinguish. Sacrifice is made and the temple burns; the sky of the great mountain speaks.”

Interlinear Analysis(click to expand)

Form	Gloss	POS
Keth-shal	flame-temple	noun
-an	GEN	suffix
sha	spirit	noun
meren	great	adjective
bel-esh	blood.offering	noun
kov	seven	numeral
kin-na	see-PRES	verb
Keth	flame	noun
ash-keth-na	NEG-burn-PRES	verb
Bel-na	sacrifice-PRES	verb
ven	and	conjunction
shal	temple	noun
-an	GEN	suffix
keth-na	burn-PRES	verb
thul-thar	mountain	noun
-an	GEN	suffix
nara	sky	noun
sha-na	speak-PRES	verb

Script: top-to-bottom, right-to-left

Description

A hastily inscribed clay tablet found in the rubble of the Fifth Temple (Temple of Healing). The text, partially translated, describes emergency rituals to be performed when "the mountain speaks in anger" and the Flame-Speaker is "silenced by ash." This is the only known Kethari text that directly references volcanic activity threatening the temple system.

Scholarly Analysis(click to expand)

This tablet is Dr. Okonjo's most cited piece of evidence for the religious crisis theory of Kethari collapse. The handwriting is notably different from standard Kethari administrative script — larger, less regular, suggesting urgency or panic. The phrase "silenced by ash" is interpreted as the death of the Flame-Speaker during the eruption. Carbon dating of the destruction layer places this event at -1120 ±30 years, predating the final military collapse by approximately 30 years.

Provenance(click to expand)

discoverer: Dr. Emeka Okonjo
discovery date: 2023-02-14
condition notes: Lower-left corner missing. Some signs obscured by fire damage. Approximately 75% legible.
excavation team: University of the Ashenmere Delta
discovery location: Fifth Temple rubble, Kethport, Stratum II