The Pantheon of Mundeen
Purpose / Function
The Pantheon is a vast temple, originally designed with the goal of honoring all the major gods on Muxter. The enormity of the task meant that compromises had to be made, so the modern Pantheon contains sixteen temples maintained by the priesthoods of sixteen gods in the appropriate styles, as well as assorted shrines along the outer walls for many other deities.
Alterations
The most notable alteration to date is the addition of carved ears to the shrines on the outer wall, designed to reassure the Mundeenian population that the gods do, in fact, hear their prayers. Most of these were added shortly after the start of the The Purge of Muxter, and almost all of them were in place by the time Chelf began to pray regularly.
Architecture
The Pantheon of Mundeen is a vast temple complex located at what was once the center of Mundeen, although urban sprawl and local geography have changed this with time. The outer walls are almost perfectly square and constructed of imported white marble, which are decorated with carved and painted scenes from mythology. Also around the outer wall are shrines for lay people so that they may pray to a host of gods, whose imagery is accompanied by a large pair of carved ears, a more recent development designed by religious leadership to reassure the people that the gods do, in fact, hear them. The western gate, called the Sunset Gate or the Golden Gate due to its orientation and gold plating, is the only access point to the courtyard, through which offerings of foodstuffs, art pieces, and livestock pass, and where laypeople bestow their prayers of thanksgiving or pleas for assistance upon the offerings.
The open-air courtyard contains six large in-ground pools of clean water considered ritually pure and sacred, which is used by the priests to cleanse themselves and various accoutrements regularly. Around the courtyard are sixteen inner sancta dedicated to different gods and each maintained by a different group of priests and/or priestesses. The sancta are also constructed from imported marble and are carved and painted according to prescribed patterns sacred to the deity in question. It is said that when the light is just right, the entire tableau comes to life to inspire awe in the rare observer that has a chance to witness it.
The courtyard is also where offerings are divided amongst the temples per prescribed rules, chief among them the Muxteran festival calendar.
Each sanctum contains a statue of the deity to whom it is dedicated. All statues are in different styles from across the continent, and some from overseas, but little is known about them. Each group of priests is only allowed interaction with one sanctum, and nosing around is frowned upon at best. Rituals which sustain the deities are conducted within the sancta, and following these, offerings, especially of food, are redistributed to the poor of the city.
Comments