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Temples
An overview of the major temples located in Coeur d'Ennui. Many wealthy citizens keep private shrines in their houses, but the relatively small size of the city (roughly 20,000 inhabitants) and the diversity of deities worshiped ensures that there is only one major public temple to each.
Evil gods have no public presence in Coeur d'Ennui. Although they may have worshipers in the city, any evidence of their religious centers is kept concealed, lest they be hunted down and destroyed. Potentially troublesome neutral gods such as Keros and Osajin are also barred from establishing public temples (although it seems unlikely that either of them would care to do so in the first place).
Other deities, such as Eoshdorr, Bleggissammabub and Luorre, do not have temples simply because the number of their worshipers is too limited to build and maintain such grand edifices. The expense of supporting a Temple and its clergy is considerable; only widely-worshiped gods with affluent supporters can afford the cost.
The Citadel of the Lawgiver
Located near the Duke's Palace and the Courts of Justice in the heart of the Coeur's government district, the Citadel of the Lawgiver is a stern edifice built of cold white marble. The Citadel resembles a fortress more than it does a temple; only the fact that they are built of pristine, snowy marble and accented with coldly glittering gold gives the Temple's fortifications any pretense at being ornamental. Although the two buildings are separate and freestanding, the Citadel of the Lawgiver stands so close by that the Courts of Justice are literally in its shadow.The Shadow Network
While it is widely accepted that the Betrayer maintains a clandestine shadow network in the city, no one knows where it meets or who its members are. It is rumored that the Temple of Anvhad is divided into isolated cells, none with more than a dozen members, who are deliberately kept ignorant of each other's existence in order to maintain absolute secrecy. On the rare occasions that a servant of the Betrayer has been captured and subjected to official interrogation, even magic has been unable to reveal the details of any cell outside of the individual's own.Athyria's Keep
The Maiden of the White Rose has the largest temple complex in Coeur d'Ennui. Although the Citadel of the Lawgiver is larger in its single building than the Keep's main church, Athyria's Keep encompasses a broader space with its auxiliary buildings. Carefully-tended rosebushes, their flowers chosen for pale pinks and purest whites, bloom in the courtyards between the buildings.The Sanctuary is the main place of worship. Public services are conducted in this vault-ceilinged church, illumined by white candles and sunlight filtered down through richly stained windows. Near the Sanctuary, but housed in separate edifices, are the spartan barracks, refectory and training halls used by the paladins dedicated to the Maiden's service. The Halls of Healing are located in the same complex; this is where the ill and injured are taken to be tended by Athyria's priests. A sanatorium with private meditation gardens is enclosed within the Halls of Healing, although this luxury is restricted to the very wealthy and those who have suffered in the goddess' service.
The Dome of the Sun
Built on a low hilltop next to the Duke's palace and the Athyrian and Ahlrighan temples, the Dome of the Sun presents a striking contrast to the more conventional buildings around it. Celestia's temple is constructed entirely of imported, honey-golden Helia stone. Sixteen thick pillars support a central dome atop a round, layered floor of the same yellow stone. The inside of the dome bears an immense wavy-rayed sunburst in gold leaf, capturing and reflecting the light of the sun as it pours through a central skylight.On the eastern side of the hill, where the sun shines brightest, is the Dome of the Heliae. This dome is a smaller replica of the original, with the single major difference being that the sixteen support pillars are represented as spears wreathed in fire rather than bare columns. The Dome of the Heliae has three wavy-edged circles interlocking upon its floor, each representing one of the order's three Tenets (Sunrise, Highsun and Sunset); these are also used as practice circles for their weapons training.
On the western side of the hill, where the light lingers longest, is the House of the Illuminers, a library and scriptorium surrounded by a garden of lesser healing herbs. This building is constructed of yellow Helia stone along with the others, but the practical necessities of sheltering large numbers of books require it to be built along more traditional lines than the two Domes.
The Gardens of the Moon
Also called the Taleweaver's Hall, the Temple of Cherek is not so much a temple as an open-air performance hall for poets and musicians. Located in the western district of the city, near the famed Reed Piper, the Gardens of the Moon consist of several interconnected meditation gardens with paths of crushed white marble to reflect the blue moon's light. Artfully placed ruins and crumbling statues add a touch of nostalgic romanticism to the gardens, and the colonnaded Temple at the center is adorned with white-veined climbing ivy.The Gardens do not have traditional healing facilities, and there is no hospice on the grounds. They are primarily frequented as a quiet, romantic place to escape the bustle of the surrounding city; poets in search of inspiration often haunt its grounds by night. Aside from the occasional performances in the central Temple, virtually no services are conducted here.
The Westgate Temple
Lavish gardens surround this beautifully ornate temple, as is common for all Phaera's temples, with stately fruit trees interspersed among edible and healing plants. The green-and-gold-robed priests offer healing freely to all comers, as is also mandated by the gentle Lady of the Harvest. A few observers have remarked on the slightly peculiar location of the Westgate Temple. As its name hints, it is located near the city's west gate, rather than the north gate leading to the farmlands where Phaera's worship has traditionally been strongest. It is sometimes further noted that the plants in the Westgate Temple's gardens are flawlessly beautiful and arranged for stunning aesthetic effect, but their healing properties seem to be somewhat more diluted than the norm. The success rate for cures done at the Westgate Temple is oddly irregular, as well. The wealthy, young and beautiful are flawlessly healed by the priests there, while the poor, disfigured and homely tend to remain in the same condition or even worsen, sometimes fatally.The House of the Books
The four slender towers flanking the Temple of Phet-S'nar are the highest points in the city, and can be seen from miles away on clear days. Connected by arching bridges on several levels -- the lowest of which is dozens of feet above the ground -- the Cardinal Towers are centers of magical experimentation and academic study.Standing in the center of the four Cardinal Towers is the comparatively modest, narrow-windowed House of the Books, which contains the books, scrolls and other manuscripts collected and maintained by the servants of Phet-S'nar. Although not as extensive as the Great Library in V'tavia, the House of the Books maintains an impressive collection and is often consulted by wizards from far-flung lands as well as scholars residing in the Coeur.
The Cardinal Towers and the House of the Books are located in the northeastern quarter of the city, next to the Collegium where students are trained in philosophy, logic, and the natural sciences. The wealth of the Collegium and the wizards of the Cardinal Towers assures them a place in the affluent northern districts; however, their tendency towards the occasional alchemical or magical mishap relegates them to the eastern side, nearer the swamplands, where they are likely to do less damage.
Wayfinder's Hall
Supported by generous tithes from merchants anxious about new voyages or grateful for profitable ones, the Temple of Rathenor is second only to Ahlrigh's for size and Phaera's for popularity. The Wayfinder's Hall is one of the grandest buildings in the wealthier, mercantile section of the South Side. As the Coeur is a port city, Rathenor's clergy here tend to look outward toward the sea, and their Temple is decorated with seascapes in blue and green mosaic tiles. White marble lions flank the central entrance, each with one paw resting atop a pedestal showing the compass rose; a soaring albatross is carved above the doors.Though their healing facilities are limited -- the Temple of Rathenor does not specialize in tending the wounded, as some other faiths do -- the Wayfinder's Hall does have the ability to counter magical and exotic afflictions which are beyond the power of other deities' servants to heal. Their rates are not cheap, but Rathenor's widely-traveled faithful are often able to cure maladies that leave other Temples utterly baffled.
Shrine of the Stars
The Shrine of the Stars, a classical building of pale blue marble set near a silver-rimmed reflecting pool, cannot be considered a temple in the conventional sense of the word. It has no dedicated clergy, accepts no tithes, and offers neither service nor solace to most visitors. It exists only as a place for quiet, introspective meditation and reverie; though there are no gates to exclude those who are not of Syalus' chosen people, none but elves find the Shrine to be at all restful.The House of the Lady's Delight
Beautifully decorated and illumined by paper-covered lanterns like multicolored fireflies at night, the Temple of Tharacia is located slightly north of the city center. Tiny, manicured gardens dot the temple complex, separating the central House of Delights from smaller, freestanding houses designed for expensive private parties. A veranda restaurant overlooks many of these gardens from the main House; summer celebrations often spill over into them at night.The Temple of Tharacia does not, as a rule, offer traditional healing services to its visitors. The priestesses will heal their own faithful, and (perhaps unsurprisingly) are the foremost experts when it comes to dealing discreetly with certain potentially-embarrassing conditions, but for the most part the servants of the Gilded Lady prefer to deal with less unpleasant matters.
The Eastern Flame (Church of the Four Children)
The Eastern Flame is a large building set upon the outskirts of the northwestern section of town, with high granite walls and a generally Gothic architectural theme. Guards in subdued regalia stand watch by the gate door, intimating the clandestine and vaguely hostile air of the Church. An oddly arranged garden flourishes behind the temple, visible through the iron fence which encloses it. Borage, birds of paradise, and orchids, among other plants of similar colors, are placed throughout in obtusely symbolic patterns. A stained-glass window of brilliant scarlet is set near the apex of the temple's facade, the only thing visible over the walls, which glows eerily through all hours of the night.Little is known of the nature of the Church itself, though it is generally perceived as more of a cult than a religion. While it has done nothing overtly illicit, its presence within the Duchy has been met by most with cautious suspicion.
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