The Shining Courtyard
At the eastern end of High Street, the Temple of Divine Virtue stands among fine townhouses, clean cobbles and carefully tended greenery. People come to the Shining Courtyard seeking charity, counsel and answers, though the troubles behind its fine doors reach well beyond the square.
Sarnath’s Respectable Face
Incense drifts from the Temple of Divine Virtue across polished cobbles, while merchants and petitioners pass beneath the windows of wealthy townhouses. Charity processions gather here before carrying food and clothing into the Back Lanes. The courtyard is carefully kept and closely watched, giving visitors a welcome respite from the crowded streets outside.
The Temple’s repairs and stained glass owe much to Quince patronage. Its ministers witness oaths, settle questions of conduct and help decide whom the city considers trustworthy. Outside stands a weather-worn statue of Grace, still honoured though the name of the saint it depicts has been lost. The Temple regards that forgetting as a failure its faithful must answer through their deeds.
The Order of DivinityThe Price of Mercy
Archminister Heldag Seclar grew up in Flodden, teaching herself to read while earning her living as hired muscle. She rose through the Faith by making herself indispensable, and now brings the same determination to the care and discipline of Sarnath. Blunt, clever and difficult to intimidate, she takes the needs of the poor seriously and expects those under her authority to do the same.
Behind the Temple, the Shining Almshouse offers clean beds, food and treatment to people who would otherwise go without. Its help comes with strict rules and work for those able to manage it. Heldag sees little conflict between protecting the vulnerable and delivering severe punishment. To her, Storm worship is a danger to the very people she serves, and public execution can be an act of Mercy.
Trouble at the Sodden Pulpit
The Sodden Pulpit gives preachers a place to address the city, but permission to speak has its limits. When a Storm worshipper gathered a crowd here, Fansa Ink-Spot defended his right to be heard. The young archivist was arrested and taken to the Maw, where the authorities now question her over matters far beyond that argument in the square.
Her mentor, Old Laurberde, refuses to abandon her. Fansa’s sharp mind and knowledge of Sarnath’s past have made her essential to the Starry Archive, and he believes the court has badly wronged her. Even Arlema Faryer, the veteran Mansor whose testimony helped condemn Fansa, did not want the punishment that followed. The case has left people who share the same faith divided over what justice demands of them.
The Blinded Eye
Saint Ringal’s Eye rises above the Starry Archive, its observatory closed since the Storm obscured the heavens. Readings taken here once guided decisions throughout Sarnath, lending celestial authority to the affairs of ordinary people. Below, scholars still consult old records and copy texts among chained books and faded walls painted with stars.
The Archive remembers Ringal as a wealthy man who gave up his fortune after twenty workers died in a landslip. He travelled Tidefall barefoot, following the Crimson Star, before founding the observatory around which the Archive grew. Laurberde has spent years wishing to restore it. He remembers life before the Storm and still hopes to look through the Eye himself, despite the damaged instruments and the skies that led others to give up.
Those Who Seek the Saint
Ringal’s name still draws people seeking guidance, and stories of his presence have spread from private houses to the Drains. His small sanctum in Helyon’s Lichyard receives visitors with troubles they would rather keep from the Temple. Some speak of comfort and understanding; others leave uneasy about what they have encountered.
Vauna Degore is among those hoping for help. A generous donor and familiar figure in the courtyard, she privately describes hauntings that wealth and social standing have done little to ease. She has confided in Arisa Tanneren, a merchant whose plans in the Stoutspires collapsed with the abandonment of Fort Deros. Vauna hopes the saint can quiet the dead; Arisa wants to know whether his influence could help her recover what she has lost.
Saint Ringal’s Shadow