Dominion Prologue

July 14, 1923
The Temple of the Serpent's Breath, somewhere in the Lambayeque Valley, Trujillo, Peru

After years of scouring the unforgiving landscape, we have found it.

The guide’s map led me here—half legend, half cryptic directions—to what I was beginning to fear was a mere fable. But now, standing within these ancient stone walls, I feel a tremor of awe that I can hardly put to words. The Moche, whose mastery of ceramics and architecture we have long known, were not only great artisans. No, they possessed secrets far deeper—darker, even—than we had ever dared to imagine.

I can only hope my soul will be forgiven but the images are explicit in their intention and I cannot tear my eyes away. Carved into the temple walls are the unmistakable depictions of rites unlike any I have seen in all my years. Their figures are entwined in acts not of simple worship, but of something far more profound. These are not mere scenes of fertility, but ceremonial, deliberate. Ritualistic. It is clear now—what the rumors hinted at and what I have suspected for some time—the Moche practiced what can only be described as orgasmic transcendence. I have seen references to sex magic, but always as an accusation against an enemy. This is the first depiction I have encountered of a civilization owning the practice themselves.

The carvings are detailed, with individuals depicted mid-ritual, their bodies positioned in ways that suggest the use of climax as a conduit for some greater purpose. Above them, serpents coil and stars are etched, as though the energies released by these acts were believed to reach beyond the earthly realm, into the heavens or the underworld. One particular set of inscriptions shows a priest or shaman, surrounded by acolytes, invoking what appears to be a god of duality—both creation and destruction—through these very acts.

What astonishes me further is the precision of the symbolism: the merging of opposites, the transcendence of boundaries between body and spirit, and the implication that these rituals were meant to control or influence forces beyond their understanding. The Moche, it seems, believed that sexual energy could manipulate the very fabric of the cosmos itself. And this symbol…It encases some kind of orb with energy directed to a rune I have never encountered in my years studying the Moche culture. I will include a sketch of it here in my notes.

My hands still tremble as I write this. I must document every inch of these walls before time, or worse, erases this history. The church cannot learn of this temple. They will raze it to the ground to destroy these images. I cannot yet comprehend the full depth of what we have found here, but I know it will change everything we thought we knew of the Moche and their relationship with the spiritual world.

There appears to be an odd element to the entwined figures, something featured around their neck. The Moche have not been known for their practice of jewelry making. This would be the clearest and earliest depiction of ritualistic accessories in pre-Columbian culture. I must note this for further research upon my return to the university.

Tomorrow, we venture deeper into the temple’s heart. There are chambers yet untouched by light—perhaps there, the greatest secrets remain waiting to be revealed.

—C. Montoya