Monastery

A monastery was a type of religious community consisting of a building or complex of buildings.

Etymology
Monasteries with a solely female clergy were referred to as a nunnery. The mixed clergy exceptions to this were the Church of Sharess and Church of Sune. In the Tabotan language, monasteries were referred to as gompa.

Description
Monasteries always incorporated a temple and living quarters as part of their design. They were often walled in and usually had some means of sustaining themselves, such as a farm, sheep pastures, or by cultivating mushrooms in caverns. They also typically had some means of supporting themselves monetarily, such as a mill or tannery, producing goods they could sell to generate income.

Monastic Life
These communities were places of learning and strength, offering inhabitants peace and isolation from the outside world, where one could receive religious instruction and in some cases harsh training in martial arts.

Those who dwelled in monasteries were avengers, shugenja, sohei, and most typically monks  or monastic priests. They would live on site for years at a time or for the rest of their lives. However, monasteries were also open to anyone who required advice, assistance, or shelter. And in Kozakura particularly, monasteries in peaceful areas were often seen as a fashionable place of retirement by emperors, nobles, noble widows, and samurai. The number of people who lived at a monastery varied, but it could go as high as over three thousand people.

Those who lived in monasteries did so under a strict regimen of routine rituals and prayer. They also worked to advance the influence and wealth of their faith's priesthood. Though monasteries devoted to evil deities would often selfishly hoard knowledge and wealth for their own order's use.

In some nations that had theocratic governments, such as the Kuong Kingdom and Ra-Khati, monasteries served as administrative centers.

Faiths
Faiths in Faerûn that were noted as having monasteries included the Church of Amaunator, Church of Deneir, Church of Helm, Church of Ilmater, Church of Loviatar, Church of Oghma, Church of Sharess, and Church of Sune. The faiths of Chauntea, Loviatar, and Selûne had monasteries hidden in the farmlands of Turmish. And the Halfling pantheon had some of its own monasteries in the halfling homeland of Luiren, through means of a monastic order known as the Hin Fist.

In the continent of Kara-Tur, faiths that were noted as having monasteries included the Eight Million Gods, the Lords of Creation, the Padhran religion, the Path of Enlightenment, and the Way.

Monastery Sites
Monasteries were generally built in secluded or remote locations, though some were located within or near towns or villages. The latter were generally on good terms with their neighbors, providing various services in exchange for food or other resources.

They could be found throughout all of Toril, though most commonly in Amn, Calimshan, Damara, Kara-Tur, the Lake of Steam region, Mulhorand, and Silverymoon.

In the continent of Kara-Tur monasteries could particularly be found in Khazari, Kozakura, the Kuong Kingdom, in each major town of Ra-Khati (dedicated to the Padhran faith), Shou Lung, Tabot, and Wa.

Beyond the Prime Material plane, githzerai built monasteries in the planes of Limbo and Warrior's Rest. And on the Solania layer of Mount Celestia, one could find monasteries that were under the control of demigods.

Notable Monasteries
Main article: Category:Monasteries