Church of the Flames (Job/NoM)

Job:

Gilles had made it back to magno after her escapade to the country in strife, Heliohapht. She had left with her inner circle and a crew of followers and came back with about half of the crew that was not in the sea battle and without her trusted followers, the inner circle. This was a blow to her but she also had plenty of members to choose from to fill the four empty seats in the cardinal flames. True believers were easy to find when they were given a position of power, this was the case for 3 of the 4 previous inner circle, Dusk being conscripted in a more extreme manner. Yet that was for later, her in the now she needed to focus solely on the Order of the Flames Reach first.

Her order had slowly been increasing while she was away, her followers in magno and Kou working on gathering followers and spreading the word of the lord of flames themselves.  With the increase in members she was beginning to realize that it was now the time for them to get a permanent structure in Magnostadt. Not only would this make her order cemented into the country itself but it would serve as a beacon for the lambs that were looking for the salvation that only she could offer with the embrace of their lord. She also thought it would be best to set up several structures throughout the whole of the city state. This would make them the most accessible that they could possibly be here.

She would start off by conversing with the heads of the merchant alliance. There five merchant guilds from magno that made up the Dragon’s Horde merchant alliance which was originally lead by DuskII who had recently been among the numbers that burned at sea in helio. Now it was lead by the replacement for the original head of the alliance before her, one that Gilles had purged of their sinful ways. This one was meant to become another member of her inner circle due to the fact that they were the leader of the alliance, knowledgeable of magno and they were actually a skilled fighter.

They would begin talking about gilles plans for this city and her first step in what they were going to do. They would all look greatly interested in what she had planned. “So my fellow children of our great lord of the flames, we have gathered to discuss a great change that will be happening not only for ourselves of the Flames Reach but also for this country of magicians that is so sorely in need of our divine intervention.” With this there would be some murmuring as the heads talk in mutual agreement of her words.

“We will start plans I had made long before even arriving in this country. It is time for us to place the foundations of our church here in the country of magic. In order to fulfill the initial part of this we will be creating physical structures that will serve as beacons, gathering places and chapels for the people here. This will serve as a constant reminder that we, the children of the flames, are here for the people. We are here for all of those that need our guidance and to purify the wicked who have been touched by the devil. “ she would take a moment to breathe after her long winded speech before continuing, making eye contact with each of her followers before her.

“I know from the recently deceased DuskII that our respective merchant guilds owns several unused properties found in various parts of the city. I am sure you all had that magnificent plans for these lots of land but I think it will be put to a much better use this way. Now I am not knowledgeable in the ways of architecture or construction but I am sure that there are a couple members in our society that are capable of such feats. I want this project to begin right away.” With this they would end the meeting to begin making plans for the churches.

The next day the merchant leaders, who served as leaders in the group under the inner circle, had returned. Each with their own personal architects. They would spend the whole day and the next 3 writing up blueprints and plans for the chapels. Gilles was happy with these plans as they went with a non sassan style that suited more of a gothic style if such a thing existed at the time. They would be painted a bright crimson with magnificent stained glass windows that would be designed by their own artisans. They had planned to use the best materials they could since this would serve as not only a place for the members but for a symbol for all of those in this country.

Next came what would become the truly hard part. The majority of the Order of the Flames Reach would come together to build the series of 5 churches in total, one for each of the cardinal flames and one in the center for the flame of their lord. Gilles would be on site for the center construction since it was going to be the biggest of the churches. This church would stand out above the rest of the others not only due to its size but its design as well. On top of the structure there will be a gigantic dome that would be placed there. They would use scaffolding and inner supports in order to construct the dome and to make it as stable as they possibly can.

The would begin by building the foundation which is the most obvious way to go about this, from the bottom up. They would begin of using a cement like paste that would harden in a similar man before doing a later of mosaic tiles in a very intricate series of designs for the floor. This process would take weeks for each of the buildings but since they had plenty of members who were magicians or related to them they were able to handle the construction for each simultaneously.

Then would be preparing for the walls and similar instalments such as pillars.  These massive churches would has a series of rooms that would serve as not only for services but food, meetings, and living as well. With a plan for dozens to be able to stay in each church at a time. However, in each church there would be a secret room underneath where the altars would be, hidden even when staring directly at it. This room would be as large as the main room in each of the churches serving as storage and gathering for the leaders of the order. With time gilles would like to have a series of tunnels connecting them but knew that could be a bit risky in such a country as magno.

As for the walls and pillars, they had already and placements in the floorwork for them so they could be place with ease. The sermon rooms which serve as the focal point will have a series of pillars with intricate designs on them that are crimson in color as well as the rest of the church. Once the walls and rooms are constructed a series of braziers would be places that will be constantly lit as a symbol of their lord and so he was always watching over them. This would take twice as long as it was much more intricate and detailed than the floorwork was.

The second to the last stage was the ceiling and roof. They would use a vaulted ceiling with a series of arches that would serve as extra support for the ceiling. The roof would be tiled with terracotta that would need to be replaced every few years but had a nice feel to the rest of the structure. This would still take a week or so but would be much less then the majority of the church.

The final stage would be the dome of the center church. This would be an extremely complicated process as it was so large that they had to be severely careful not to distribute the wait wrong it could cause the dome to collapse in on itself. However, the merchant guilds had expertise in this type of construction and were able to complete it, even though it was the most grueling and taxing taking several weeks to build.

The rest of it was not so much construction as it was putting the finishing touches on the 5 churches such as decorations and painting them in the red that they were known for. Once gilles had felt satisfied she would thank the workers with a large feast that some of the other members had managed to pull together inside of the center church. She was excited by how quickly they were able to construct not just one but five churches since such a project normally took years. Now was for her to move to the next step.

WC 1500+/1500