Monastery of the Yellow Rose
Also known as the Citadel of the White Worm, the Monastery of the Yellow Rose was founded before either Vaasa or Damara. The monks who established the monastery more than a thousand years ago crossed over land that would become Damara when that unborn nation was still overlain by the Great Glacier.
Their order is devoted to Ilmater, the god of suffering and endurance. These fanatical devotees sought the most inhospitable and difficult region they could find as the place to locate their temple. Not surprisingly, they eventually came to the highest peaks of the Earthspur Mountains.
The building itself is enormous. Each generation of monks adds new structures and digs out deeper chambers. Built on the stony side of a jagged mountain peak, the monastery overlooks the Glacier of the White Worm. About half of the rooms look out into the daylight; the other half are underground chambers dug right into the mountain.
The monks of the Yellow Rose are ascetic and simple, but they are determined to create beauty in hardship. Their toils are matched by their stamina, and both seem boundless. No monk works less than 16 hours each and every day. The lower initiates are responsible for the bare necessities of survival. They labor in the meager gardens, haul ice to be melted for water, or forage on the bleak mountainsides.
Their efforts enable their more skilled superiors time to concentrate on creating sculpture and tapestries.
Few visit this place casually, for the trails are not easily found or followed. Those who do manage it, find the journey worthwhile. The monastery is a spectacular museum, with every room exhibiting artwork and architecture reflecting the supreme discipline of the order. It is a monument to the ages, an ever-growing tribute to the painstaking stubbornness that has allowed mankind to rise to dominance in the Forgotten Realms.
Extensive catacombs twist through the mountain under the monastery, threefold in purpose. Some sections serve as burial vaults for deceased monks. In another wing, a vast cellar holds vats of wine that the monks make from blueberries they collect. Finally, the catacombs house the most complete archives of the Bloodstone Lands to be found anywhere.
Each year, mid-level monks lead expeditions down the mountain to gather data in the cities of Damara, Impiltur, and in even Vaasa and Narfell. They concern themselves with news of local births and deaths, travelers passing through and newcomers settling in the region.
Architecture
Built on the stony side of a jagged mountain peak, the enormous fortress monastery overlooks the Glacier of the White Worm and houses as many as 750 monks. Each generation of monks add new structures and digs out deeper chambers. About half of the rooms look out into daylight, the other half are underground chambers dug right into the mountain. The interior is a spectacular museum, with every room exhibiting artwork and architecture reflecting the supreme discipline of the order. It is a monument to the ages, an ever-growing tribute to the painstaking stubbornness that has allowed mankind to rise to dominance in Faerun.
Extensive catacombs twist through the mountain under the monastery, threefold in purpose. Some sections serve as burial vaults for deceased monks. In another wing, a vast cellar holds vats of wine that the monks make from blueberries they collect. Finally the catacombs house the most complete archives of the Bloodstone lands found anywhere.
History
Nearly 600 years ago, Saint Dionysus was given a vision by Ilmater, he told his followers a monastery should be built in the Bloodstone lands and be dedicated to Saint Sollars. The monastery should be a place of learning, politically isolated, that would keep the true histories of men's lives uncorrupted by outside influences. Now also known as the Citadel of the White Worm, the Monastery of the Yellow Rose was founded in the Year of the Yellow Rose (1236 DR) by followers of Saint Dionysus.
Comments