Straznicy Gwoazd Sventove
The Grand Shrine of the Guardians of the Stars.
The largest, most elaborate shrine in all of Toresta dedicated to the Twins. It is located in the center of the Sun Moon district.
Purpose / Function
Like all shrines dedicated to the Celestial Patheon the Twins shrine acts as a sacred portal for the Twins. The the Ludzie people, the human ancestors of Toresta's Founding Families and their gnome companions believe that shrines act as a portal for the deities, and are places of worship, important rituals and connecting with the deities in prayer and petition. People visits shrines to seek blessings, offer gratitude, perform purification rituals and sometimes participate in festivals.
Design
Like all sventove (Grand Shrines) the shrine is made up of several buildings which are open to the outside. The boundaries of the shrine itself are delineated by a boundary wall, only 3 feet high and penetrated by a celestial gate. This serves to separate the secular form the divine.
The shrine consists of a pair of icons, one for each of the twins, Astraios and Noctis. In the case of this shrine the icon is not a statue, as it is in most shrines, but instead an illusion sculpture in which the shapeshifting twins morph between their male and female selves.
Next to the icon is the worship hall. Separating the two is dividing rail. In this shrine it is gilded with gold.
Like all shrine buildings this one has no walls, only a broad roof supported by marble columns. The floor is likewise marble, the tiles decorated with images of the sun and the phases of the moon.
Entries
Like with all shrines the building is always accessible. Entrance is traditionally made through the celestial gate. A path leads from the gate to the shrine buildings. To the right is the Icon Chamber and to the left the Worship Hall.
Sensory & Appearance
In the space between the Worship Hall and the Icon Chamber are the tubular bells. In the case of Straznicy Gwoazd Sventove the bells are of the finest quality, dwarven forged, with mallets made of North Grove Hardwood. Their sound is said to rival the tones of the bells at the Star Temples om the Toresta Temple District, said to be the most perfect tubular bells ever constructed, and known the world over.
Special Properties
The icons of the Straznicy Gwoazd are an arcane illusion created by the noted cleric artist Stanisław Holszański, under the patronage of the Saphieha family. As noted this icon is said to represent the Twins most accurately in their ever altering aspects. The illusion is powered by a Ley Energy Collector and is expected to never disperse, or at least last hundreds of years.
Architecture
The style of the sventove is ancient, brought to Toresta at its founding from the Aerusia home of the Ludzie people. Unlike most budlings in Toresta, which are constructed of red brick and slate, it is constructed of marble, imported from East Aerusia.
Sventove are typically plainly decorated, with the only images being the deity or deities to which it is dedicated. Floral imaging is permitted and the rail between the Icon Chamber and the Worship Hall is decorated with sculptures of moonflowers in white interspursed with sunflowers with gilded petals.
The bounding wall is decorated with the image of dandelions, considered a symbol of the Twins, with its yellow flower representing the sun, its spherical seed head representing the moon, and the way its seeds disperse like stars the celestial patheon overall.
History
A shrine was first constructed at this location in 7 ATC, by the Founders. Two years later a temple to the twins was built in what would become the temple district almost 2 miles away, near the neck of the Monteplane Peninsula.
The shrine was built in its present form in 570 ATC. The Bagdonas, Heartfield and Saphieha Families were instrumental in its construction, not only financing its building, but finding an architect to design it, and artist to create the icon.
Tourism
Although primarily meant for the use of the local Torestan population, particularly the residence of the Sun Moon District which surround it, the sventove is famous enough that many visitors to Toresta, particularly those who are worshippers of the Twins, visit the shrine while they are in the city.
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