"The temple came before the Dwarf."
- - - Dwarven Saying of the One True Eye
DWARVEN TEMPLES
Probably 75% of all Dwarven temples serve the Eye, while others are more specialized to the nature of their deity. Dwarven temples in general--especially those Lawful--are highly prescribed spaces, with particular protocol and layout. The temples of chaos, or the holy places of the other deities, vary according to the nature of the deity themself. Temples are traditionally places in which one can communicate with the deity. Especially in urban centers, temples might also have a resident priestly caretaker.
“The temple came before the Dwarf” is a phrase often quoted among the lawful devout. The temple is a revered and sacred place. (The gods of chaos and their followers can see this sideways however, sometimes developing an irreverence and even a sense of humor--the latter a bit of a suspicious thing in dwarven society.)
Temples, like most other things dwarven, are almost always built into the sides of mountains. Urban temples are in a way exceptional to this, although urban centers are themselves tunneled into mountain rock. Old Legends say that the Mountains came even before the Deities; Mountains thus being a kind of divine being in themselves. They say that each Deity was fashioned by the Eye from a great mountain, each based on a True Great Archetype of existence. As to who created and fashioned the Eye: Such speculation is generally discouraged.
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