Mosque of Zann the Wise
High Priest Imam Renn supervises 12 associates, 80 clerical brethren, and 120 lay brethren.
Zann sponsors learning and intelligence, and his followers respect those who are expert in their subjects. A high percentage of sages in the City of Delight are Zann worshipers.
The lower level of the mosque is given over to a large lecture area. Services are short and quickly give way to a lecture on some subject or another. Popular subjects are the works of the Loregiver, the history of the Grand Caliphs, the founding of Huzuz, genies and their customs, and mortals and their customs.
The upper level of the mosque is filled with a library. The mosque also owns many other libraries throughout the city, and it sponsors several universities. Since Imam Renn is also keeper of the mosques, he leads the services in the Golden Mosque. The leader of services at the mosque of Zann is his able second in command, Imam Samia al-Risik an expert in languages. It is said that Imam Samia can speak any language still spoken today, and a few that are not. This is not far from the truth, for a new language is an irresistible challenge to her. She has recently mastered the language of far-off Maztica, and Aklan, the nomadic language of Dambrath. At last count, she speaks 27 languages, including two dead ones - Noga and Chun. She would pay many dinars to someone who can teach her Drow or Affa.
The mosque also has quarters for a group of mystics, called the Readers. This sect believes that comprehension is not important, merely the act of reading. Some of them can always be found in the library, furiously paging through books one after another. This quest may or may not lead to a vision of one's fate or future, but the Readers have a strong following in Huzuz.
The mosque is a place where those seeking answers come. If it is possible, the brethren deliver. They are not foolish philanthropists, though. If an answer requires time and work, the charge for it is high. If it is an easy question, the charge may be only a few bits. Learning and study come first, so a poor man may get an answer for only a few bits while a merchant would pay hundreds of dinars for the same answer. The key is that the knowledge should not be given easily, but it should be given. All of the priests of Zann in the city have this attitude. Recently a member of the court, Badiat al-Farif, brought a question that most of the brethren are now working on. She wanted to know why the Grand Caliph has been unable to produce an heir. The clergy have not yet found the answer, but they intend to keep working on it until they do. Five of the Readers have been reading for months, hoping for a vision to answer the question. More on this situation is presented in the description of the Grand Caliph and his harim.
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