The Hall of Mending
The Hall of Mending is part of the monastery of the Order of Benedictines outside of Parisius, some 6 miles east of the city limits. As the main part of the monastery, it is presently used to get people out of the squalor of towns & cities when ill. The miasma created by these settlements are blamed by the monastery as helping to lead to both physical disease and to mental health problems. It also acts as a retreat for the wounded in the Saxon War, and will gladly treat Saxons too. With the Benedictine monks viewing it as holy ground, and their mission to spread the Word of God, they believe it is a good way to help show the Saxons the church is their friend. Only specific persons are allowed weapons & armour in on the grounds proper. Anyone other than those deemed necessary (usually approved by the church and/or high ranking nobles), are allowed to carry such equipment onto the grounds. The rest have to store them in an underground vault inside the gates of the grounds. This part is protected all times, usually by monks with prior military training.
The actual monastery has a library & dormitory to the north for use by the monks. To the south, stables, store rooms, and a kitchen are placed there. To the west, a chapel & graveyard is present, and to the east two buildings mark the hospital. One is used for the patients with the majority staying in a large room with multiple beds, and the rest is split into private chambers for high ranking individuals, and personal examination rooms. The remaining room has a small kitchen, a room used for both examination and surgery, and a room used for storage of bodies & body parts. Below this building is a large chamber accessed by a trapdoor in he storage room, and has an external trapdoor too, to allow access to the whole building.
The whole area is about 2.5 to 3 miles square. It is surrounded by an earthen dyke topped by wooden palisades, taking in a river that runs from hilly ground in the south leading north. It flows down the middle of the whole structure, and has iron grills preventing anything too large getting in or out via the river. Crops & apple trees are grown to the south of the area, near the stables. Manure from the stables are used as compost for these.
The Hall is run at present by Monsignor Jonas Hess, a powerful individual in the Order of the Benedictines in Frankia. A passion project, he sees it as a possible stepping stone to increase his standing, with a move either to Notre Dame or even Rome itself. Ambitious in the extreme, he is willing to even sell beds too, especially to the wealthy. It has been noted that a few lower class patients have mysteriously been cured or died, around the same time a wealthy citizen has come in need of medical help. Originally descended from the Barvarii tribe his family converted before he was born, and he wasn't particularly religious. Joining the church seemed the only way for him to gain power after his brother took over as the head of the settlement, and region they lived in south of the Black Forest.
Attending the patients is a physician called Rudi van Richten. Originally from the Netherlands region, and of Frisian descent, he is a skilled healer, and treats all his patients with a smile & the same skill no matter their class. He constantly keeps up to date with the most recent medical treatise, whether scientific or folkloric. He goes as far has corresponding with traditional healers from many lands, to the best scientists & thinkers in the Abbasid Caliphate, to get the best practise in his profession. He is regularly accompanied with a barber surgeon, who is of Persian descent called Farhad Mahdi, who shares his counterpart's enthusiasm for healing & knowledge. The latter was originally from Bagdad & curious about he correspondence he received from van Richten, so decided to travel to the Hall to offer his services to them. Although Muslim, his skills have helped to endear himself to everyone who has encountered him. The same can also be said about van Richten too. t is rumoured by the more higher class patients they are kept round so that if the Monsignor needs a scapegoat or two it's Mahdi's head first, followed by van Richten's.
The monks, when not in the chapel or eating / sleeping, are found in the library transcribing religious & scientific texts into Latin or copying them for distribution to other monasteries and religious orders. Sometimes members will be called to help maintain the grounds, buildings, and the crops. Many also fill in as orderlies or back ups of one type or another for van Richten and/or Mahdi. A couple usually also helps & tends to the Monsignor, doing personal jobs & errands for him. As they are Benedictine, they wear black habits, and are expected to follow the duties that entails.
Purpose / Function
Early form of hospital
Architecture
A mix of Roman Catholic and local Frankish, using many stone buildings, with a hefty amount of wood.
Defenses
Earthworks, and palisades.
History
Built about fifty years ago as a place to heal the citizens of Parisius, the area it was built on, was chosen for it being outside the city and access to water. It was chosen by a Benedictine monk called Reginald who had ties to Notre Dame. Given dispensation by the church, and with the Merovingian Frankish leadership helping, it has been in used constantly since being built. Different Benedictine monks & leaders have been through since.
There is a large chamber below the hospital side that no-one really knows about, except for those who use it for removing bodies for burial or stocking the hospital.
Founding Date
751 AD
Type
Hospital
Parent Location
Owner
Ruling/Owning Rank
Owning Organization
Characters in Location
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