The Priory of Nola Dei
This small priory sits on top of Mount Nola Dei, from which it takes its name, overlooking a sparsely-settled green valley, whose river swells and recedes every year.
A few small winding dirt paths weave their way up the mountain to a tiny village which once housed no more than 300 people, most of whom worked directly for the priory. With its vaulted temple and high belltower, the priory is the clear centerpiece of the village.
In addition to study and worship, Nola Dei also became well-known as a place of combat training. During political and religious upheaval, the priory was often called upon to defend itself, and through the process of intensive martial training and conditioning, produced several warriors and a new form of martial art called deep soul movement.
Currently, the Priory at Nola Dei stands empty, abandoned in 1353 after a series of harsh winters and plagues which nearly wiped out the local populace. Although over a dozen attempts have been made to re-establish the priory, they have all failed, generally due to disease, starvation, or attack by outside forces. Some believe the site has become cursed by fiends or that the gods themselves no longer wish for worshipers to use the priory.
The Priory of Nola Dei is probably best-known for its most famous historical member, Saint Lise of the Golden Arm, a human woman raised at the small orphanage attached to the priory, who would later go on to become a Champion of the Gods. Her remains are buried in the Tomb of Saints beneath the priory, along with the remains of several other notable holy people of Nola Dei.
Architecture
The majority of the Priory at Nola Dei is built in the early 10th-century dwarvish style known as Ninehammer, with thick walls made from enormous bricks, heavy, squat stone arches carved from a single block of stone, and five-foot thick square or circular stone pillars. There are few decorative carvings or ornaments in the Ninehammer style, and much of the stone is unworked, letting the stone speak for itself.
The walls are all made from local stone, mostly granite and marble, much of which was carved or shaped using magic by human and dwarf experts, although the final laying of the stonework was always performed by hand. Carved wooden parts of the priory are mostly made from local alder from the valley.
The temple is oriented east-west, with the altar and side chapels pointing towards the east, and the main entrances to the temple and priory located at the western end. The priory and village are located on the southern slope of Mount Nola Dei. Part of the northern chapel is carved directly into the side of the mountain.
The main sanctum and both side chapels boast 28 stained glass windows, hand-created by dwarven artist Udroc Bronzearm, between them. Bronzearm's unique tinting mixtures and methods have been lost to history, and there have been no adequate recreations of the brilliant color and translucency of his stained glass. Twenty of the windows cover the eastern wall of the main sanctum, portraying the Divine Family and the creation of the world. Despite harsh winters and the now abandoned state of the priory, only one window has ever been broken - the image of Zargedge as he is cast to the hells by Suris, which was shattered by a branch picked up in a harsh winter storm.
The priory grounds are surrounded by a 10-foot tall wall of stone, with a gatehouse on the western edge and entrance through the temple. They contain all of the priory's buildings except the Prior's House, as well as a deep well and space for a large kitchen garden.
In addition to the temple and its wing chapels, there is an outdoor chapel, a large circular building with no walls, supported by tall arched columns with a domed roof.
There is also a large training room and meeting house, a kitchen, mess hall, and dormitories. The ground floor of the dormitory building is a common room, dominated by a large hearth, while the second floor has a series of small dormitories. The dormitories which face the interior of the priory have shuttered windows without glass, while the dormitories on the exterior have no windows at all.
The Prior's House, a later addition to the priory, is built in a more elvish-influenced style, with more ornate, curling trims and interior walls covered in decorative wood paneling.
Beneath the temple is a crypt, containing two chambers. The first chamber is called the Hall of Priors, and houses the remains of each of the former priors and prioresses, along with small paintings of each one. This leads to the second chamber, the Tomb of Saints. Directly below the temple and dug into the mountain, the Tomb of Saints is a large hall with stone columns supporting it. Within the hall are housed ten stone sarcophagi, containing the remains of various saints and holy people, including those of Saint Lise of the Golden Arm. The northern, eastern, and southern walls are lined with shelves used as ossuaries.
The western wall of the Tomb of Saints is dominated by two large statutes of people in full plate armor, gesturing at the space between them as if inviting the viewer to look at the empty, solid wall. Speculation abounds at to what these knights may have been indicating, but even the recovered writings of former priors and prioresses reveal nothing.
History
In the late 200s or early 300s, a young human cleric whose name is lost to history took the arduous journey up Mount Nola Dei. At its summit she built a small shrine to the gods out of local stone, and legend says she lived in a tent at the base of the shrine for nearly four hundred years, granted an unnatural lifespan by the gods due to her great piety. Many climbed the mountain to seek out her wisdom, and some of those who reached the top stayed and formed a small group devoted to her teachings.
By the year 912, the community at the base of the summit of Nola Dei was developing into a thriving religious order. Unusually for the time, it was a space of mixed gender - both men and women lived and worshiped at the site. One of the adherents, human Rebecca d'Montaigne, later called Mother Prioress, proposed the building of a great temple to the gods. With a handful of the faithful, she solicited money and materials from the surrounding countryside and the Temple of Seven in Granru.
Returning in 917 with the necessary funds and various architects and builders, Mother Prioress Rebecca d'Montaigne oversaw the construction of the temple and its associated priory. The construction of the temple alone took 28 years, with an additional 8 for the completion of the surrounding grounds and outdoor chapel. A full three of those years were required merely for the creation and installation of nearly thirty stained glass windows, as each piece of glass had to be transported up the mountain and installed via magic, the area being too fragile for normal transport.
In 1067, a separate house for the use of the prior or prioress was built and completed in 1071. Prior to that point the prior or prioress lived among the monks and nuns in the dormitories.
By the early 1300s, the priory was already in decline, as Saint Lise's popularity dwindled and regular incursions of halflings and kobolds made pilgrimage dangerous. Between 1341-1353, the priory suffered some of the most devastating winters in the history of its existence, as well as a severe plague. In 1353, after the deaths of the previous prior and a full three-quarters of the remaining monks, nuns, and village inhabitants during the worst winter yet, Prior August called for an evacuation of the mountain. The survivors of the twelve-year decline - numbering only 53 - left the mountain that winter, and the priory has stood empty ever since.
Fourteen separate attempts have been made to reestablish the priory, in 1357, 1361, 1368, 1370, 1379, 1382, 1388, 1394, 1400, 1421, 1436, 1462, 1475, and 1500 - however, none lasted through the winter before either being completely wiped out or forced to once again abandon or evacuate the priory.
RUINED STRUCTURE
1353
1353
Type
Temple / Religious complex
Owning Organization
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