Temple of the Mother's Sight
The Temple of the Mother's Sight is a temple famous for having a large number of Greymoria-affiliated oracles.
Greymoria's primary followers, the Children of the Dark Mother or simply the Children are often embroiled in intercine factional conflict, but the Temple of the Mother's Sight is neutral ground for factional divisions. To pursue conflict on the temple grounds is an insult to Greymoria. This tradtion goes back many centuries regardless of what nation controlled Narecht City.
Some of the local Children moonlight as magical brokers with various underworld interests, but there is little the Swynfaredian Dragonbloods can do to stop it for all but the most flagrant offenses.
A few dragonbloods are concocting schemes to remove or at least reduce the temple's religious political immunity. Many are hoping to insinuate the more pliable informal Swynfaredian Children faction into the temple's leadership. Thus far, they have not met any success.
Poltical Immunity of the Temple
The region is sort of haven and political shield for Children and their allies to get a little bit more autonomy from meddling from the Swynfaredian government. Essentially the detente between them is "You all can have free access to our oracle and in exchange you cut our members some slack" The Magna Frenhinol of Swynfaredia (along with informal elitist prejudices) basically establishes that sorcerers are better than non-sorcerers. Draconic sorcerers are better than all other sorcerers. Draconic sorcerers with bloodlines tracing back to the Founding Dragons of Swynfaredia are better than other draconic sorcerers.Non-sorcerer mages are tolerated in Swynfaredia but they face intense scrutiny from the Arcane Registry and also have to pay fairly high fees and taxes. As a favor to the temple, mages who are priests and priestesses trained by the temple are exempt from the reporting and fee requirements set by the Arcane Registry and they have more autonomy to conduct their own affairs without interference than priests in the rest of Swynfaredia have.
Swynfaredian Coat of Arms by Me with Worldspinner's Heraldry program
Purpose / Function
To provide a safe space for Greymoria's followers to worship and meet.
To provide easy and reliable access to Greymoria's oracles.
To provide training and support for Greymoria-affilated mages.
Architecture
The temple complex is built around a triangular plaza of laid stone, with the main entrance to the plaza at one of the triangle’s points facing southeast. In the center of the plaza is a raised stone area service as an arrival and departure point for flying visitors, more common than usual given how many dragonblood sorcerers like to visit.
Three quarters of the way across the plaza from the main entrance is a large statue of Greymoria in draconic form. Lines of large braziers run along the edges of the plaza from the main entrance to the opposite corners, then curve in gentle arcs to Greymoria’s statue, creating a representation of Greymoria's inverted flaming heart.
Across the plaza from the main entrance on the northeast side is most recent version of the main temple. This was built by the Swynfaridians and displays their preference for large vertically oriented public structures. The main sanctuary has a large open area for commoners with spacious galleries on the upper levels for dragonbloods to use.
Along the south side of the plaza is a former iteration of the temple, now given solely to the use of the oracle. The former sanctuary is now the oracle’s audience chamber, and there are antechambers for waiting petitioners, quarters for the oracle and support staff, as well a crypt which serves as the final resting place of past oracles.
The current oracle usually greets petitions in a foyer with an indoor fountain and reflecting pool lined with marble.
The east side of the plaza is lined with support buildings, such as meeting rooms, offices, quarters for the priests, and storage. The main temple buildings outside walls are paneled with black marble, unadorned but well-polished. Intended for elegance in simplicity (and as a flex because black marble is expensive). Every nook and cranny of the temple interior is beautifully adorned on the inside, even the service areas.
The interior of the temple is made of common stone and plaster, but it is decorated with intricate murals and tapestries depicting symbols of Greymoria and allegorical morality tales of the Children.
Ravens are a holy animal associated with Greymoria and ravens are all associated with wisdom and sight.
Raven iconography and statuary is a common motiff in the temple architecture. The area is also a hub for ordinary ravens who the temple staff feed. Raven spirits commonly flit in and out of the flocks of mortal ravens.
Defenses
While the area is rumored to have all sorts of secret magical defenses ranging from living statues to exploding doorways, the area is ostensibly open.
The main defense of the temple is the fear that Greymoria will horribly curse anyone who messes with the social order of her holy temple.
History
The Temple of the Mother's Sight is one of the oldest Greymoria temples, in all of West Colassia, predating the death of Vladimir the Conqueror. At the very least, a temple has all been on the same grounds in Narecht City. It has existed under multiple names though it has been remodeled and rebuilt so often that no one remembers what the original temple looks like. The Greymoria temple was part of a full Nonagon in Narecht City but after Vladimir conquered the city most of the other priesthoods abandoned their public temple in Nonagon Plaza which is a reversal for what is the norm in most cities where the public Greymoria temple is either a public farce or is missing altogether and the other public temples are the central locus of their deity's worship. While Vladimir was trying to court the Children the priests and priestesses of this temple (and the smaller temples they politically influenced) couldn't agree on whether they should support or oppose Vladimir's campaign or simply stay neutral. Greymoria has never forbidden her Children to fight, dabbling in her sometime consort's Maylar's belief that some in-fighting lead to the collective being stronger, but the in-fighting intensified around the time of Vladimir's campaign of conquest. When it was clear that Vladimir the Conqueror's empire was on the decline, the anti-Vlad faction of Children converted most of the fence sitters to their side and a lot of Vladimir's supporters among the Children tried to switched sides or withdraw, but the anti-Vlad faction kept after them anyway. A lot of old tensions among the Children that had nothing to do with Vlad resurfaced and Children on Children infighting reached epidemic levels until the Dark Mother spoke through an oracle and gave us all a direect order to stop killing each other, at least not within the vicinity of this temple. The oracle stayed in the temple for the rest of her natural life. Over the centuries, more often than not, the temple had an Greymoria oracle in it. A fair number of oracles were born in or near Narecht City, but in most cases Greymoria oracles migrated here. This happened s often and so regularly that we rechristened the temple 'the Temple of the Mother's Sight.' At this point you'd have to look in a dusty old tome to recall what the temple used to be called. Control of Narecht City changed hands many times between many petty kings and queens, but few conquerors choose to mess with a holy temple with an oracle in it, fewer still choose to mess with a Greymoria temple so the temple was left alone. The wider political region was unstable with Narecht City rarely lasting more than a century under the same flag, until the Swynfaredians eventually reigned in the chaos here. The Swynfaredian dragon bloods in their wisdom, decided not to mess with the status quo, but the local priests did one better and managed to not just maintain the temple's political immunity, but expand on it, wining privileges for non-sorcerer mages affiliated with the temple. Affiliations that the temple will sometimes sell to the highest bidder." -Glynnis, Swynfaredian Priestess Of Greymoria
Tourism
The main draw to the temple is the oracle. Many people travel hundreds of miles to see the oracle. Greymoria powered oracles tend to specialize in harsh truths. Many who have the means to visit the oracle here choose not to.
The current oracle is a Swynfaredian-born human named Elan.
Anyone with five silver pieces can theoretically schedule an appointment with the oracle. A sum of money that is difficult but hardly impossible for most Scarterran commoners to scrape up. Wealthy Scarterrans can drop five silver coins down like it's nothing. Wealthier visitors are encouraged but not required to give larger voluntary donations. Sometimes wealthy visitors will literally pay it forward to give a discount ot poorer visitors can plop down five silver coins and find four of them refunded back.
by Me with Midjourney
Type
Temple / Religious complex
Parent Location
Owning Organization
Contested By
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