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The Monastery of Saint Domin, also known as the Holy House of Domin, was a cloister, school, and orphanage of the Church of Ilmater that stood just off the Firedrake Road, approximately 20 miles to the Northeast from the Tethyrian town of Mosstone.[1]

Location[]

The monastery was about half-a-day travel from Mosstone along the Firedrake Road, a humble trail road that wrapped around the coast of the Firedrake Bay.[1]

Structure[]

The monastery was a sizable stone structure that once was a baron's manor. The main structure was the monks' home, while the outlying wing was repurposed to be the chapter house. Behind the manor was a small structure used by the inhabitants of the Monastery of Saint Domin as a chapel. The manor was connected to the Firedrake Bay's shore via a set of stone stairs and further into a sea cove underneath the cloister.[1]

The walls and the interiors of the Holy House of Domin were decorated with the monastery symbol. Each cloister of Ilmater had a unique symbol - always a flower. This particular monastery's symbol was the image of three mountain daisy, depicted in a realistic tangle of ochre and yellow flowers.[1]

Services[]

On occasion, the monks offered navigation and seamanship lessons to the non-Ilmatari for a steep price, which increased depending on how suspicious the monks are of the outsider asking for lessons. The fees were quite egregious, from 300 to 600 gp per student, and they never took more than three guests on the voyages to the Saint Cabram's Missionary. Such trainees were not allowed to bring any weapons along, apart for bell knives that were kept with the monks until their voyage and lesson were complete. Additionally, one guest was allowed to bring one chest, coffer, or a smaller container aboard with their belongings.[1]

Activities[]

The Dominian monks ran a school and an orphanage out of the restored mansion. The small chapel of the monastery rang its bells thrice a day to summon the monks and their charges to the worship of Ilmater.[1]

A big part of orphans' education was the art of shipwrights, the monastery's dedication. The monks' charges spent a big part of their time in the cove, down the stone steps, learning the shipbuilding coast from the Dominian monks. The completed ships were sailed by monks and older charges around the Starspur and along the River Ith, eventually docking in the Saint Cabram's Missionary, County Elemetar. There, the ships were sold to benefit the cloister and the orphanage.[1]

Eventually, children who aged out of school left the cloister to work as coopers for various barrel-makers. Some graduated into a boatbuilding career outside the monastery, settling all across the Sword Coast. Their expertise was so renowned, it gave birth to the phrase "Domin bold," which stood for a sturdy barrel or a chest that remained undamaged after a long fall that destroyed lesser containers.[1]

History[]

The Holy House of Domin was dedicated to its namesake in 1361 DR, the Year of Maidens. Before that, the monastery was the manor and the seat of baronial power of the County Kargrove. Eventually, following the events of the Black Days, the manor was burned out and abandoned, becoming a home for wild dogs. Sometime circa 1361 DR, a group of monks of the Ilmateri faith repaired the mansion's structure and walls, turning it into a cloister. The monks dedicated the monastery to Saint Domin, a shipwright from Velen who gained the status of a saint for his charity towards children in centuries past.[1]

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References[]

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