Temple of the Sacred Vines
The Temple of the Sacred Vines is a sacred site for the Way of the Biocosm located in the municipality of Craterhold. It is a rare example of an agri-mine constructed for spiritual - rather than purely agricultural, defense production, or resource-oriented - reasons.
Architecture
The Temple of the Sacred Vines is around two-thirds concealed by the surrounding street-level crust, the majority of the structure lying within the avenues and catacombs of the underlying city ruins. The overall floorplan of the temple is rectilinear, with a, cathedral-like main greenhouse hall abutted at either end with rooms for administration, private rituals, and the residences of the coven members who watch over the place. The central part of the structure is a high glass vault which comes to a peak above street level, with the very top adorned with a ventilated steeple. This allows visitors to the temple to stroll among the many raised and hanging planters in the subterranean cathedral hall while still enjoying the rays of sunlight trickling in from above.
The partially subterranean location has the additional advantage of helping to maintain a comfortable temperature and, most importantly, conserve moisture; the Eastern Tesseract is arid by default and made only more dessicating by the broad swings in temperature between day and night. Thick, insulating walls of bricks decorated with pale white stucco lend the place an ethereal, otherworldly atmosphere - especially during a winter's afternoon - while also helping to scatter light more evenly onto the cathedral hall's flora. As the name implies, planters at the base of the buttressing columns contain vines which climb almost to the ribs of the vaulted ceiling.
Defenses
Like most with agri-mines, the Biocosmist coven in residence in the Temple of the Sacred Vines can fully rely on the fruits (and vegetables) of the gardens to sustain themselves in perpetuity. If not for the impressive central vault, the Temple could even survive all but a direct Voxelian bombardment. The rising threat of the Daughters of Misfortune has caused the local coven to put more thought into their security measures, however, and plans are being drawn up to both vet visitors more thuroughly and shore up the facility to survive a bombardment without impeding the beautiful view of the sky above.
History
The land upon which the Temple of the Sacred Vines now rests was once a sinkhole near the outskirts of town. As the municipality of Craterhold is built upon consecutive layers of ruins, sometimes it can be difficult to ensure that a given patch of ground wasn't, in times immemorial, undermined or otherwise destabilized. As such, when the ground collapsed during the construction of a new factory, few others saw any value in purchasing the lot or its environs for fear that it would still prove unstable - few, that is, but a local coven of Biocosmists.
To these religious folk who regarded the Manifold Sky (whom they called the Biocosm) as a living, breathing being, witnessing the ground swallow up the 'follies of man' was like unto witnessing a prophecy. The coven subsequently bought the land at a bargain price and, rather than shoring up the surrounding terrain for surface-level development, set about constructing a unique agri-mine in the depression formed.
Tourism
The Temple of the Sacred Vines is not widely discussed with the public, but those who know of its existence are welcome to come in peace to enjoy the gardens and, hopefully, recieve the message of the Codex Biocosmia at the same time. The coven welcomes all walks of life to the Temple, but is especially keen to draw the attentions of wealthy benefactors among the Craterhold Moot, local intelligensia, and entertainment industry, as this might lead to a greater dissemination of the faith among citizens of Craterhold from higher up the social class system.
Biocosmism by BCGR_Wurth
Comments