Urban Locale: Monastery
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Houses of worship and quiet contemplation stand in or near many settlements. Within, the occupants seek spiritual enlightenment in the service of their patron.
1: The Monastery
White Gates: This monastery’s white gates are often repainted and decorated with pictures of religious significance; unfortunately, the gates are often vandalised by street urchins, ne’er-do-wells and drunks.
The Spires: Named for its trio of lofty towers, this monastery is old and wealthy. The prior wields great political and social influence in the locality.
House of the Watch: These warrior monks maintain a simple lifestyle dominated by training and worship; they only stir themselves to action when evil stalks the land, and the need is great.
Greystone Abbey: Aptly named, the grim bulk of this monastery looms over the surrounds; gargoyles of all manner of things jut from its walls. It is uniformly gloomy and cold inside; its extensive cellars suffer with damp.
2: Major Locale Features
A high stone wall surrounds the monastery; two gates—always guarded—pierce the wall.
The monastery has stood for centuries; it mostly features an architectural style not used in a century or more.
Extensive kitchen gardens surround the monastery; the initiates tend the gardens, and they produce much food as a result.
The monastery provides healing services to the injured and the sick; a small hospice stands within the walls.
3: Minor Locale Features
Parts of the monastery need repair, and a feeling of inexorable decline hangs over the place.
The monastery’s courtyard is a muddy morass; narrow and uneven paved paths connect the various buildings.
An extensive crypt lies beneath the monastery’s church.
Many birds nest in and around the monastery; they are noisy, and evidence of their presence splatters the roofs and paved courtyards.
4: What’s Going On?
The monastery’s gate is closed, and no one can gain admittance—a theft has just occurred, and the monks are searching for the culprit, who they believe to be trapped inside the walls.
A small crowd of beggars hangs around outside the monastery in the hopes of receiving alms.
The monastery has a graveyard; when the characters arrive two servants are digging a grave—an elderly monk died yesterday.
The monks are attending a service, and only servants are on hand to greet the characters.
5: Other Folk
Tommo Uljas (old male human) serves the monastery as a gatekeeper; now old and feeble, his eyesight is failing, and he needs help to perform his duties. He is unfailingly polite.
Dorotea Vartia (middle-aged female human) visits the monastery to see her son who recently joined the order. This wealthy merchant’s wife deeply disagrees with her son’s choice and can be heard loudly begging him to change his mind.
Hedvig Lempo (young female human) waits outside for her lover who dwells in the monastery; theirs is a forbidden love, and he will be severely punished if their relationship is discovered. Consequently, she is acting somewhat suspiciously.
Esteri Neuvo (female human) comes to the monastery to seek guidance on a spiritual matter. She seems quiet, polite and in genuine need of guidance. In reality, she is a thief come to get the lay of the land; at the next new moon, she breaks in and burgles the place.
6: What’s For Sale?
Accommodation (2 sp or free): Basic accommodation along with simple food can be had at the monastery. Fellow believers can stay one week for free but are expected to attend daily services and the like.
Mundane Healing (5 sp/day): For those who cannot afford magical healing, the monastery offers a hostel run by one of the initiates skilled in herb lore and the like.
Magical Healing (var. cost): The monastery offers magical healing for those with the requisite coin; higher-level spells will likely be unavailable.
Religious Items (var. cost): The monastery has a small supply of holy water (available at the normal price) along with various holy symbols, religious texts and the like.
Credit
This is a short system-neutral extract from Urban Locale #34: Monastery by Robert Manson. The book is available from DriveThruRPG and ragingswanpress.com.
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