Temples & Services
Temples are open to the general public only on evenings when services are held.
Services begin at sunset and last until midnight, when the local bishop arrives to lead the faithful in a prayer that supposedly keeps the Hour of Ascension at bay. The service as a whole is about three hours long, and is conducted by the lesser priests under the direction of the bishop. Two priests lead the congregation in the singing of mournful hymns and the recitation of prayers, the other priests stand in front of screens leading to the rear nave or circulate amongst the worshippers. The double doors to the rear naves are kept locked, none but the clergy is allowed there. Between the prayers and songs, the faithful are urged to pay their tithe of one silver piece and to approach the altar and lay upon it any magical items they have for "destruction" by the priests.
The priests regard the presence of newborns in a temple dedicated to death as blasphemy.
Main Temples of the Eternal order
The Church of the Sorrowful Dead, Karg
This cathedral, the largest remaining temple of the Eternal Order, is famed for its interior murals. Depicted entirely in shades of black and ash, the murals show the sorrows of the dead at losing their land to the living, a continual reminder of the Gray Realm's resentment. They are a reminder to the populace of the necessity of keeping the faith if the Hour of Ascension is to be kept at bay. Raines' anchorites have also spread to Karg, and the rival doom prophets are now engaged in a fierce struggle for dominance. Several priests in both camps have been brutally attacked.
The Shrine of the Spirits, Neblus
Home to many philosophers and scholars (both theological and metaphysical) who come here to ponder the afterlife, Neblus not surprisingly remains a stronghold for the Eternal Order. The Order's domed temple, the Shrine of the Spirits, sits just to the east of town. Its once colorful stained glass windows were tainted a smoky black when the negative energy wave from The Requiem passed through them. Locals claim that the lighter streaks in the glass are ghosts who watch over the Order's services to ensure that they are properly honored.
Temple of Nartok
An abandoned temple of the Eternal Order sits at the edge of town. Evidence indicates this was the "birthplace" of Death seven years prior to the Requiem; the edifice remains spiritually tainted to this day, and is shunned by the scavenging clerics of other faiths.
Prior to the Requiem, the priests of the Eternal Order in Nartok were responsible for the confiscation of magical items. On evenings when midnight masses were held, they would encourage the populace to voluntarily surrender any such items to the temple for destruction. Those who refused were cautioned that they may face "a visitation by death's handmaiden" as a result. The explanation given by the priests was that the dead send one of their messengers to collect the items, in preparation for the coming war against the living.
The Last Redoubt, Nevuchar Spring
This temple is no longer under the control of the Eternal Order. The faith has been routed out of Nevuchar Spring and the local temple taken over by the Church of Ezra. Any remaining followers of the faith are likely to keep it discreet.
Temple of Eternal Penitence, Il Aluk
Il Aluk is home to the immense Temple of Eternal Penitence, which used to be the primary church of the Eternal Order. Lying in the heart of the Slain City, it is nowadays manned by the undead under the leadership of Sentinel Claus Volneychev whom teaches that the Hour of Ascension has come - and the living are lost. Darkon's former capital is also home to the Reaper's Chapel, a small house of worship maintained by the Eternal Order.
A temple of the Eternal Order
The following is a description of the Nartok temple prior to the Requiem, though this temple is now shunned and avoided, it serves as an example of what other temples of the Eternal Order may look like.
The frames of the entrance double doors are carved to resemble gigantic mouths. Just inside stand three stone fonts that used to be filled with murky unholy water. The sides of the fonts have been carved into a twisted mass of humanoid creatures who claw and scrabble at one another as if trying to climb to the top of the font. The fonts were used to receive the tithes.
A little further inside the temple, just past corridors that lead away to the right and left, are carved wooden screens. These have been inlaid with ivory to form a scene in which skeletons rise from their graves. So realistic are these life-sized skeletons that their eyes seem to follow the viewer. Their outstretched hands seem ready to grasp at the clothing of any unwary passersby.
The nave of the temple, the wide aisle and open area under the central dome, is filled with shadows. There are no pews in the naves, worshippers must stand or shuffle during services. To either side of the aisle is a row of columns that glow with light. Although the illumination is welcome, the columns themselves are ghastly. Each has been constructed from human skulls, arranged one on top of the other to form a gruesome cylinder. Inside each skull, a squat yellow candle burns. Its dim yellow light shines fitfully out through the eye sockets and nose of the skull, flickering as the crowd passes by. The candles emit a faint but foul odor, vaguely reminiscent of the smell of burning flesh.
A number of wide rectangular stones have been set into the floor. Each of these stones bears an inscription that the passage of time has long since blurred beyond legibility. Judging from the shape of the stones these are sepulchers, resting places for the dead. Unconfirmed rumors claim that one can hear the faint sounds of something scrabbling at the underside of one of these stones. The priests often refer to these sepulchers in their services, using them as examples of how the dead are always seeking to arise from their tombs and trade places with the living. They tell the congregation that the corpses are "sealed" inside their temple tombs by the "power of faith." This is useful in convincing the lay worshipper that the priests of the Eternal Order really do have the power to hold back the Hour of Ascension.
A number of black, wrought-iron candelabras illuminate the area under the temple's central dome. Each is studded with spikes, upon which squat yellow candles have been impaled. Most of the light, however, is provided by the rays of the setting sun, which slants in through the stained glass windows of the west transept.
Five large windows decorate the rounded wall underneath this side dome. Four of these windows depict the same scene: figures of screaming humans, elves and dwarves who are being attacked by skeletal hands that have emerged from the earth underfoot. The fifth, central window depicts a priest, hands outstretched, forcing the dead back under the ground by the power of his faith. The rays of the setting sun cast an eerie halo about this figure, shining through its eyes and turning them the color of blood.
Overhead, the interior of the central dome is painted with what look like black, boiling clouds, pierced by jagged streaks of lightning. The clouds form subtle patterns that give the impression of faces that stare down at those below with mouths distended into grimaces and howls.
The focal point of the nave is a wide stone altar that looks as though it has been pieced together from the shattered remnants of many tombstones. Across the front, a single line of text has been deeply inscribed: "We claim the dead, lest the dead claim us."
