The Temple of Heironeous
The Temple is the city's bastion of law and order. Located near the Castle, the Temple looms impressively over most nearby buildings casting a constant impression of order of the large city.
Design
Layout
The center and most common entrance to the Temple is an impressive double door to the Central Cathedral Hall where the public sermons take place. Surrounding the front of cathedral are one of many lush gardens upkept by a team of 5-10 gardeners depending on the time of year. Connected to the sides of the main hall are the Paladin (West) Wing to the left, and the Cleric (East) Wing to the right. Seperated from the main building north of the main hall is the Monk (North) Wing. In these wings the servants of Heironeous are trained and raised in the hopes they can help and enrich the world with what they learn.
Designed in a manner similar to historical gothic stylel, the central cathedral stands taller than most buildings in the city possibly could. Only the castle is taller than this cathedral, but far less lit. The nave seats 300 people as well as the entire religious staff. Stained glass windows light the walls decorated with famous heroes and tales of Heironeous' past. A gigantic pipe organ resides near the head, while a wholly accomodating common area sits just before the doors into the nave. Sermons are held every day, but the largest and most attended happens once a week. During this time the seats are filled and the bell towers ring as a pillar of religious strength for the whole community. Donations supply food and drink in the common area allowing visitors to stay and discuss religious and community matters into the evening.
The west wing houses and trains the current and new paladins. A fair portion of the land outside the structure is converted into an equestrian training field complete with pits, hurdles, and training dummies. Inside the structure lies the diplomatic meeting halls where paladin leaders discuss matters of importance with powerful figures. Beyond that lies the training grounds. Here target dummies are arranged along with a few ranged targets. Arenas are also positioned nearby for matches between paladins. Not everything is geared toward fighting however. Flanking the training halls is a limited library and a classroom. Beyond those at the end of the wing are the quarters for the paladins and their armory. Ranking paladins have private quarters, but trainees live in group halls. Each one keeps their armor and weapons personally and are responsible for their upkeep. The stables are last in line, located behind the quarters and only partially sheltered. Students are then taught the importance of caring for their mount by living in such close proximity to it. In fact, the trainee halls are located directly next to the access to the stables are trainees are often kept up by the horses at night.
The east wing houses and trains the current and new clerics. Very much similar to the west wing, the east wing features an armory, training halls, quarters and the like. However, instead of having stables and an equestrian training area the structure expands into a massive library. This library holds all of the information the temple could acquire on religious matters. Ranging from the gods of the pantheon to the connections they hold to the mortal world in any form. Classrooms are also far more expansive here, showing much less of a focus on fighting and more of a focus on knowledge. Studious clerics are sometimes not even reprimanded for skipping combat training because they were reading religious texts.
This wing belongs to the monks and is more secluded than the others. Not actually connected to the main hall, this wing is seemingly simplistic and open. Once explored however, a visitor would notice that it is far more complicated internally than it appears. Monks use this complexity as a task of memorization. Focused entirely on self improvement and dicipline, monks will sometimes as personal challenges be blindfolded, disoriented and dropped off randomly in the wing to find their way out in the shortest time. Inside the wing there is suprisingly little actual equipment. Most of the rooms are for sparring and contain whatever padding and equipment the room is meant for. Each room is specialized and unlabeled, making the whole complex rather confusing for a newcomer. The monk's quarters are extremely limited, usually only containing a bed and a change of clothes. As they grow to learn the ways of the order, they progress from room to room until they symbolically make their way from the quarters in the back, to the open air at the front. While they may walk by that path every day, it is the act of completing the training in each room that makes the progression a feeling of accomplishment and readiness.
Landscape
The temple is surrounded in gardens and fields used and visited by the people who stay there and those that visit. No less than five gardeners are always at work tending to the many flowers, vines, trees and bushes that form the garden. Half of the work is usually repairing the damage done by trainees, such as a paladin that lost control of his or her horse, or a monk that was practicing and accidentally kicked a foot sized divot into the grass. The entire area is fenced in, although only lightly by decorative rod fences rounded so as not to hurt any children that thought to climb them.
Surroundings
Due to its importance not only as a symbol for the city but as an arm of the state, the temple is located in the middle of the city near to the castle that couses the royal family. Here important figures can be entertained close to their usual locations and people can be brought closer to the royalty than they may have been anywhere else. One of the defining features of the temple, rarely ever told to a pretentious noble but well known by the common folk, is its proximity to the royalty combined with its open arm policy. No person will be turned away, no matter how poor or destitute. This brings poverty to the nobility, where they can't hide and pretend it doesn't exist. If it weren't for the influence of the temple, Juno may have never become as successful and diverse a city as it is.
History
Juno's temple owes much to the kingdom it is a part of, for as most religious centers it started with nothing more than a meeting in a rented room. Over time the lawful people of the budding city came to agree with the ways of Heironeous and the gatherings grew. In time, they couldn't fit into rented halls, but infortunately most attendees weren't wealthy enough to donate what was needed to move to larger facilities. If it weren't for the king at that time, the temple may have never gotten as large as it did. Seeing the influence of a god dedicated to law, order, and particularly justice, located right in the middle of his country, the King sought out the tiny city of Juno. When he got there, he saw much potiential for the land, and even more in the religious support. At the old, tentative capital created after recent wars, law was often confused by revolution and reluctance. In Juno, there was a solid backing of order on which the capital could be build. Siezing the opportunity, orders were given for the royal castle to be build along with a temple befitting the patron deity of the country.
While the original construction contained only the central cathedral, the rising center for Heironeous gathered monk, clerics and paladins from all over the land. Soon enough, and with royal support, the three wings of the temple were added and the gardens put in place. The city has been peaceful ever since. Well, for a city anyways.
Influence
Due to the royal support, the Temple became a diplomatic bastion for the country. Foreign diplomats felt comfortable knowing they were discussing controvercial and probably heated matters in the halls of a god dedicated to justice. The feeling of safety is a double edged sword for the diplomats however. While the Temple remains neutral in matters most matters, should it ever agree with one side of the debate then that side will surely prevail. The warriors of Heironeous pose no threat, but their diplomatic backing gives them silver tongues and their size a little bit of intimidation.
Not only serving as a meeting ground, the Temple often sends paladins and priests out to discuss matters with other cities, fuedal lords, and even other countries. Some openly welcome these visits, others begrudgingly accept. No lord ruling by anything but tyranny can openly refuse an emmesary of Heironeous. These emmesaries can often divulge to the populace information the ruling class would rather keep quiet, making them even more of a niusance to people with secrets. None such emmesary is feared more than a visit from Dame Helga. Known for talking even the wiliest of people into a corner, Helga has toppled governments single handedly by causing them to openly admit their wrongful acquisition of power.
Needless to say, the influence of the temple is welcome by all who have nothing to hide, and feared by the rest.
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