The Glorious Temple of Faisky
Home to the Homeless
Sitting in the elven area of the Platforms in Highport, the Glorious Temple of Faisky is ironically named. Impressively sized, but ultimately little more than a warehouse sized shelter with an attached shack with an altar, and a sideroom for the High Priestess, the temple provides free food to the starving and, cots to those seeking shelter. A popular place for the poverty stricken to shelter, there is a strictly enforced limit of one meal a day and two non-consecutive nights of cot space enforced. Those who attempt to game the system are forgiven, but prevented from using the temple for shelter for a period decided upon by High Priestess Jenel Trisperios.
Purpose / Function
The church began life as a shelter, really just a place to get out of inclement conditions for a while. From there it developed into a soup kitchen and eventually the followers of Faisky took over the running of it and converted it for use as a place of worship without abandoning its other functions.
Design
The temple takes up some 150000 square feet with the original shelter of approximately 500'x200' forming the main area that remains primarily a shelter and soup kitchen, incorporating double stacked cots around much of the room separated by burlap screens. At capacity, the temple can sleep 432 people. The sacred part of the temple is a roughly triangular area built onto the rear of the original structure with an anteroom for the use of High Priestess Jenel attached to the northern side.
Entries
Entry to the structure is through two immense, though rather flimsy, double doors, that remain unlocked at all times and wide open from sun up until sun down except in extreme weather. Devotees of Faisky can enter directly into the sanctuary through a locked door to which only a handful have magically controlled access. Jenel can come and go from her anteroom through a secret entrance.
Sensory & Appearance
The temple is usually bustling and noisy, with the poverty stricken and homeless milling around for food, warmth and the opportunity of a cot. Large windows in the west wall, either side of the doors and above the altar in the east wall provide good light during the daylight hours. The aroma of the constantly simmering soup fills the old shelter and mingles with incense in the sanctuary. The combined body heat of those gathering for shelter and the constantly burning cooking fire keeps the building consistently quite warm.
Valuables
Alterations
While a shelter and a soup kitchen, it was little more than a roof held up by some pillars. When the followers of Faisky decided to turn it into a temple, they added wooden walls and a triangular sanctuary with an attached small anteroom for use by the High Priestess. The sanctuary was built up on a platform for the exclusive use as a place of worship. The original part of building has double decker cots added for those who need shelter as well as the shoring up of a large open fireplace over which a giant cauldron of soup is constantly cooking. A stone chimney was built for safety and to move the haziness of the fire from the structure.
Architecture
The original cedar roof of the structure remains, but the walls were built of a cheaper lumber which is constantly under repair and patch as both the elements eat it away and the local populace damage, vandalize or outright steal portions of it. The chimney that sits over the large open fireplace was put together with rocks brought in from the farmland outside the city to the north. The builders who worked on the conversion of the temple were either amateurs or donated their skills for the honor of Faisky, and thus no cohesive style can be attributed to the building. It's most striking feature is the large polished metal symbol of Faisky hanging above the immense double doors.
History
The Platforms have always been a place of poverty and scraping a survival. A half-elven philanthropist from the Southern Ward funded the building of a crude shelter on the elven platform for the protection of the homeless during more inclement spells of weather. Although they chose to remain anonymous, the benefactor apparently had enough pride in the project that they funded a sturdy cedar wood roof on the shelter. The shelter was crowded, often full, and it became clear that those it attracted were often starving. An acolyte of Faisky named Jenel Trisperios began bringing cauldrons of soup three times a day to the shelter to feed the hungry. In time, Jenel became a figurehead and, claiming to be inspired by the god, developed quite a following. Eventually her followers proclaimed her High Priestess of Faisky and set to work on converting the shelter into a temple to the god. Jenel remains high priestess and a strong advocate for the poverty stricken populace of the platforms, welcoming all who wish to come and hear her preach and lead worship of Faisky.
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