A Shrine
For some of my world building stuff I have been making an effort to get certain things set in stone including the layout of typical religious and civic buildings and what kind of items of note are found in there.
This is a typical shrine in one of the nations. Eventually information on the numbered bits will go on the right hand side but I won't bore you with the details.
Simple and fantastic!
Lazy people, eh? Real religions remain standing during services. Or maybe they kneel. But sittin' on yer butt in the face of the almighty is downright disrespectful!
LORE STUFF (if it helps make sense of the numbers! Feel free to skip)
They don't really hold services. The benches are more for group gatherings when extended families or other groups are attempting to invoke the wisdom or the favour of Illeana. The two main religious festivals are processions that start and end at the grounds of the shrine. There is an altar for offerings (3). There is a "holy" text kept on another stone table at the back (4). The text though mostly deals with laws and philosophy and is the basis for the legal system. There is a big statue of Illeana that can be depicted in one of three aspects - a lawbringer/judge, a protector/conqueror, or a scholar/enlightener.
Most of the religious iconography is star-related too. A processional star is held in a big cabinet or box (5). It is claimed that the northern star was absent during her reign when she "civilised" the region and reappeared on her death or ascension. The surrounding stars form a constellation called the celestial court. So she is literally considered to be that star always looking over her people.
Marriages are held within the grounds of a shrine but not the shrine building itself. Only the happy (or unhappy) couple are present inside for a short ceremony. In essence the couple are being given permission to marry.
Funerals are not held in the shrine. But there is a crypt (6) for those considered to be paragons of loyalty and service. It's called an Ashen Crypt. Most people are cremated. Their ashes are then either scattered in a graveyard called an ash garden, or placed in an urn and buried there (or put in a mausoleum within the ash garden). The ash garden is not part of the shrine grounds - it is an entirely different place. Celebrated people get put in the ashen crypt instead.
Every shrine has a plaque on the front (that rectangle bit on the gable end) which describes the date it was constructed, it's dedication to Illeana, and the name of the person/family/individuals who helped pay for it. Because helping pay for one shows your loyalty and dedication!
The religion is a part of the state apparatus, not separate from it. Essentially it encourages loyalty and is an additional source of income in the way of offerings and funding for building projects.
Hope that wasn't too boring to read!
I see that the imagery of the wizened old barbarian dressed in rotting skins and waving his stick as he loudly decried the softness of these civilized folks and their fancy permanent buildings with the foundations and the roofs and the plaques didn't quite come through there. "Back in my day, we had hilltops and stars and standing and killing! And it was good!"
I just finished a new drawing in this style. I thought I would post it here instead of cluttering up the forum with multiple posts. I intend to do more of these.
Last edited by Larb; 07-21-2014 at 08:47 PM.
I love this style, it's simple yet it has so much detail!
The drawing of the tower side view is great!
My Battlemaps Gallery http://www.cartographersguild.com/al...p?albumid=3407
Great job!! I like the shadows of the tower.
I love both drawings and it was interesting to read the lore stuff. It made the maps feel like real places to me.
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