A temple of Deneir lay in the Temple District of the city of Procampur in the Vast.[1][2][3][note 1]
Structure & Interior[]
The temple structure included a main hall. The front entrance consisted of a portico with a very loud doorknocker, attended to by a clay golem porter. There was also a small side-door. Inside the hall was a shrine to Deneir, and upon the altar were arranged a thousand votive candles.
It also had a tower, accessed with a winding staircase, with small rooms with single small windows. They had good views over the city of Procampur. These rooms were inhabited by priests and guests of the temple.
Attached to the temple were a number of secure vaults, for the storage of books and for working on projects such as the creation of golems.[3]
History[]
At some point, the Hierarch of the temple commanded the scholar-monk Vilhiard of Procampur to set out on a number of lengthy and hazardous journeys into the East. The Hierarch was, in turn, thought to have received commands from the Thultyrl of Procampur. The Thultyrl granted Vilhiard a supply of wealth for expenses. Although he later wrote of his travels in A Discovery of the World, Vilhiard remained quiet about the actual purposes of these missions.[1] His writings became the basis for the majority of Faerûnian scholarly knowledge about the Hordelands and the Tuigan people.[1][2]
Following the rise and fall of the Tuigan Horde under Yamun Khahan in the Year of the Turret, 1360 DR, Prelate Wenslan Amthur of the temple of Deneir allowed a historian researching the events to examine the temple's complete manuscript of Vilhiard's A Discovery of the World. This helped him understand Tuigan life and set events in their proper context.[2]
Later, the temple invited Koja of Khazari, once scribe to Yamun Khahan and then living in Suzail, Cormyr, as a guest of King Azoun IV, to join them in Procampur. By the Year of the Helm, 1362 DR, Koja was living at the temple of Deneir. The priests appointed Foxe to be his secretary and aide while he was there. Here, Koja worked on his next book, A History of the Tuigan.[3]
Around this time, Sister Deara fashioned a clay golem, intending that it be a perfect scribe. In one test in the temple vaults, it rammed a quill through a wooden writing desk, and smashed the desk. It was promptly put into service as a porter and doorman at the temple.[3]
Although the temple was willing to make and send copies of A History of the Tuigan to every of temple of Deneir in the Heartlands, Koja sought to have his work mass-published and widely circulated, to present an honest version to the public, rather than be buried in temple libraries. His efforts to raise funds culminated in the god Deneir himself appearing before Koja outside the temple. Deneir granted him the necessary funds and bade him stay in Faerûn to educate people. Later, Koja paid to have his book printed before he and Foxe planned to travel to Waterdeep.[3]
Inhabitants[]
The high priest of the temple was called a hierarch,[1], a prelate,[2] or a high scrivener.[3] Circa 1360 DR, the temple was lead by Prelate Wenslan Amthur.[2] [note 2]
Appendix[]
Notes[]
- ↑ No canonical name has been given for this temple. The title of "temple of Deneir" has been adopted based on text and descriptions.
- ↑ Faiths & Avatars page 54 confirms that a high scrivener is the leader of a temple of Deneir, but the precise roles of hierarch and prelate, mentioned in The Horde and Horde Campaign respectively, are unclear. Given their respective importance, they are assumed to refer to the same position, but it is possible they represent different steps in a church hierarchy, or different structures of this hierarchy over time.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 David Cook (August 1990). “Volume I”. In Steve Winter ed. The Horde (TSR, Inc.), p. 8. ISBN 0-88038-868-4.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Curtis M. Scott (1991). Horde Campaign. (TSR, Inc), p. 2. ISBN 1-56076-130-X.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 David Cook (February 1993). “Patronage”. In James Lowder ed. Realms of Valor (TSR, Inc.), p. 121–147. ISBN 1-56076-557-7.