Temple of Kossuth (Escalant)

The Temple of Kossuth in Escalant, Thay, was a place of worship dedicated to the fire god Kossuth. It concealed a secret portal to the Elemental Plane of Fire, known as the Portal of Fire.
==Interior==
A vault inside the temple contained the permanent one-way Portal of Fire leading to the Plane of Fire. The portal was a stone archway that was always aflame, an effect achieved via a clever system of small tubes within the stone through which slow-burning alchemist's fire was regularly piped to the arch's surface.
==History==
The portal was created during the Salamander War in the , in a joint effort between the Red Wizard Aznar Thrul and the Kossuthan clergy of the temple. After successfully beseeching Kossuth to send fire elementals to drive back Thay's salamander foes, Thrul arranged for this portal to be created so that the salamanders could be forced back to their home plane. The existence of the portal was kept a secret, at least in part because Thrul hoped to one day find a means to use it to his advantage against his rivals by creating a return portal. Thrul was able to monitor the portal's use, and was aware if anyone passed through it. Meanwhile, the banished salamanders remained bitter, and would slay anyone who dared cross the threshold into their home plane.
As of , Thrul recognized that he would need to expel the Kossuthans and seize control of the temple if he wished to realize his ambition of creating a two-way portal. However, the existence of the portal was no longer a secret by this time, and tales and rumors about it had spread throughout Escalant. Such rumors often misunderstood the purpose of the portal, and frequently speculated that it allowed creatures from the Plane of Fire to travel into the Prime Material plane (whether on behalf of Kossuth or on behalf of Thay's salamander enemies). Still other tales had begun to suggest that the portal did not lead to the Plane of Fire at all, but instead to a secret treasury of dark Red Wizard secrets.
==Inhabitants==
The temple's Kossuthan priests were tasked with defending the Portal of Fire. However, they were amenable to negotiating access to the portal for those looking to sneak out of Escalant, and were especially willing to help followers of their god or his allies. These priests were also known to enjoy a trip to the taverns, and were thus responsible for creating some of the rumors about the portal.
==Appendix==
===References===
Category:Temples
Category:Temples to Kossuth
Category:Kossuthan locations
Category:Locations in Escalant
Category:Locations in the Priador
Category:Locations in Thay
Category:Locations in the Unapproachable East
Category:Locations in East Faerûn
Category:Locations in Faerûn
Category:Locations on Toril
Category:Year of Metropolises