A pyramid built from enormous stone blocks stood before Aaron. Its architecture bore the earliest Sarrukh style: simple and plain, with almost no decoration beyond a holy symbol of the World Serpent.
A long road led up to the pyramid. Its center was clean and tidy, with stone statues lining both sides.
Every statue looked different, but Aaron soon recognized the pattern.
The outermost statues depicted typical humans: a naked man and woman kneeling prostrate on the ground. Judging purely by the carvings, aside from the weathering on their surfaces, they appeared to be entirely human.
The second row of statues kneeling toward the pyramid showed changes. These two still looked human, but subtle differences were already visible-scales had grown along the sides of their shoulders.
The changes in the third row were more obvious: scales, serpentine eyes, forked tongues, and venomous fangs.
In the fourth row, the human traits diminished further. Serpentine limbs replaced human arms, and snake tails replaced human feet.
The fifth row had snake heads on human bodies. The sixth had snake heads and tails, with only humanoid arms and torsos remaining.
Their postures differed as well. The outermost humans knelt on both knees, as lowly as ants.
The serpentfolk in the middle knelt on one knee, like servants awaiting orders.
From the fifth row onward, the serpentfolk stood upright, merely lowering their heads slightly in submission, like vassals with status and rank.
Only in the seventh row did creatures distinctly different from the serpentfolk appear. Although similar in appearance, they were clearly more magnificent and noble, wearing robes studded with gems and golden crowns on their foreheads. Exquisite rubies formed their eyes. They stood upright, clearly possessing a higher status.
The stone statues ended there. At the pyramid's entrance stood not another stone statue, but