The Grand Cathedral of Muqad
The Grand Cathedral, the grandest structure in all of Islis stands on the bluff of the Shamal Dune Wall overlooking the Ijinn Sea. It stands foreboding looking over Muqad and the rest of Islis, its impressive architecture gleaming in the desert sun.
Purpose / Function
The Grand Cathedral’s ground-level hall hosts an extraordinary chapel, a place where adherents from all over Qir, even from Sheti in the west, come to worship in the holy city. On the holy days, every inch of the cathedral’s hall and even the keep is filled with the people of Qir, anxiously awaiting the doctrinal lectures from the high priests, and perhaps a chance appearance from on of the prophets of the Circle.
Several floors above the the main hall, the Grand Cathedral houses the Order of the Chalice, a long-standing guild of pacifistic healers and remarkable record-keepers. In these areas of the cathedral, the scribes of the Order also keep a vast library of theological texts, boasting everything from journals of priests long-dead to volumes of Templar history written by Qir’s foremost scholars. This collection, known simply as the Library of Muqad, is immaculately maintained, and as a result is somewhat closed off to the Islish public.
Atop the Order of the Chalice, at a confident height overlooking the Ijinn and the whole of Islis, the high priests live and work. Most would consider these floors to be opulent, the result of commanding an army of priestly mercenaries, but an impressive state of religious leadership nonetheless. Bath houses and debate halls line the corridors filled with scholars and theologians that form a political structure at the top of the Islish theocracy. There is rumor that one or two of the prophets inhabit these upper quarters of the cathedral, but what is known for sure is that the uppermost court is where the Circle and their Deathspeakers come together when necessary.
Architecture
The base of the Grand Cathedral's main hall, northern ward, and southern ward are all constructed of giant white marble bricks with grayish swirls throughout. Atop each ward and the main tower is a gray-bluish pointed mosaic dome of marble and limestone. Mica material in the pigment used to paint these domes causes them to glitter wildly in the all-day sun that touches the structure.
History
The southern ward of the Grand Cathedral was damaged during the recent Shetian occupation of Islis. At present, it is being repaired by the Templars in Muqad.
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