Temples of Ishtar

“	PCMastercraft: i found like a roman structure<BR>FlyingPokemon: :D:D<BR>FlyingPokemon: I made that<BR>FlyingPokemon: it has loot!<BR>FlyingPokemon: if the roof is made with warped wood<BR>PCMastercraft: yes<BR>PCMastercraft: who is ishtar<BR>FlyingPokemon: Ishtar is the godess of life<BR>PCMastercraft: feather falling 4 book and some gold<BR>FlyingPokemon: May her blessing guide your path ;)	”
 	—Finding a Temple of Ishtar 	—Finding a Temple of Ishtar
Temples of Ishtar were religious structures dedicated to the worship of the goddess Ishtar on Halfast during the Eleventh Era.
Warrior-priests of the Knights of Ishtar used the temples to distribute charitable goods among the populace and raise awareness of their religion across Novigrad; inevitably the structures also became targets for enemies of the faith during the Ishtari Conflict.
=Description=
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	Grinsepaule: are there any specific things to look at while building a shrine for ishtar?<BR>2G: just think, what would Ishtar do<BR>Grinsepaule: like minimum size/maximum size, special blocks beeing used, etc?<BR>FlyingPokemon: I'd like it if they'd all share some kind of warped wood in their roofs, not necessarily all of it, just some of noticable amount<BR>FlyingPokemon: other than that you may let Ishtar guide your hands ;)	
	—FlyingPokemon offers advice on building a Temple of Ishtar 	—FlyingPokemon offers advice on building a Temple of Ishtar
Though the Knights of Ishtar issued no inviolable design requirements, Temples of Ishtar tended to share certain architectural characteristics: stairs climbing to a rectangular interior, an altar with a chest for public offerings and a spiritual inscription etched into wood, and an open-air pavilion with a stone colonnade supporting a roof. These characteristics were encouraged so as to evoke a shared sense of reverent unity across the entire religion.
FlyingPokemon, the High Priest of Ishtar, preferred that warped wood be incorporated into all temples, which he would provide upon request to devotees wishing to construct their own.
Thanks to the charitable donations of the Knights of Ishtar, the temples chests were often stocked with a variety of items especially useful to newcomers, such as emeralds, health potions, enchanted books, and food. They were also the exclusive source of Ishtar's Blessing.
=History=
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	FlyingPokemon: if you need anything just build a temple to Ishtar, her priests will bestow riches upon you according to your wishes ;)<BR>Grinsepaule: what do you mean with "build a temple to ishtar"?<BR>FlyingPokemon: it's simple really, build a cool temple and dedicate it to Ishtar by enshrining her name in a sign or sth inside the temple :]<BR>Dr. Tech: is a build order that is free to your imagination. Build something that you thinks represents the Isthar<BR>FlyingPokemon: Goddess of life, so you can incorporate that in your theme<BR>FlyingPokemon: but anything that honors our goddess will be perfectly awesome<BR>FlyingPokemon: the better the temple/effort, the better the reward ;)<BR>FlyingPokemon: Ishtar provides for her followers (we're filthy rich)<BR>Grinsepaule: could i build these temple only one time? or more of them to receive more times help?<BR>FlyingPokemon: Probably multiple times ;)<BR>Grinsepaule: ok... good to know ^^<BR>FlyingPokemon: I personally built 2 temples and 3 smaller shrines already, and look at me, almost 250 survivor days<BR>FlyingPokemon: Ishtar's blessing is the fire that keeps me alive	
	—FlyingPokemon encourages others to build Temples of Ishtar 	—FlyingPokemon encourages others to build Temples of Ishtar
Ground broke on the first Temple of Ishtar, also fated to be the greatest, in the earliest days of Novigrad. The Sapphire Spires of Sagacity served as headquarters of the Knights of Ishtar and the beating heart of the religion itself. This colossal megastructure remained under construction for most of the Eleventh Era.
A second Temple of Ishtar was built on 11E:31 by FlyingPokemon, the High Priest of Ishtar and primary architect of her Knights. Within weeks there were four temples within several kilometers of Skyloft Palace.
Many residents of Novigrad were first introduced to the existence of Ishtar by discovering one of her temples in the wilderness.
As the religion spread across Novigrad others constructed their own temples, either to show their support and devotion to Ishtar or to gain favor with her priests with the goal of acquiring lucrative trading relationships and rewards from their new benefactors. 
But not all embraced the new faith. Gabault replaced the reverential inscriptions in many temples with critical words of his own that the Knights of Ishtar deemed heretical. Others openly mocked the goddess or her worshipers, leading to swift and violent reprisals from her warrior-priests. As tensions rose, the temples became flashpoints for the ensuing Ishtari Conflict.
On 11E:84, during the consecration of the temple at Amanita Rock, Gabault attacked a gathering of the Knights of Ishtar, which he derided as "cult shenanigans," inadvertently killing Tox with his blade and making the man the first person to die on temple grounds.
Three days later, Gabault murdered AC1DCL4NPancke for allowing the Taiga Temple to be built on his property.
A wave of desecrations perpetrated by unknown forces ensued in the weeks to follow. As KOI's chief architect, Poke did what he could to restore them to a shadow of their former glory where and when possible. However, as his visits became more infrequent in the ensuing months, a number of temples fell into ruin. By the time the Novigrad borders expanded to 12 kilometers on 11E:257, both the Mushroom Tree temple and the Meadow Temple were no more.
Late in the era, Ishtar worship underwent a renaissance period with the arrival of new Priestess TraumaticWheel, who restored a number of ruined temples, inspired the creation of several others, and assisted chief architect Poke in working to complete the Sapphire Spires.
On 11E:657, lawless anarchy swept across Novigrad, resulting in temples being looted and destroyed.
=Known Temples=
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	"The more impressive the temple one constructs in Ishtar's name, the better a reward said person shall receive."	
	—FlyingPokemon 	—FlyingPokemon
===Sapphire Spires of Sagacity===
: Main article: Sapphire Spires of Sagacity
First and foremost among all other temples, the Sapphire Spires of Sagacity was the center of the entire faith, headquarters for the Knights of Ishtar, and the holiest site on all of Halfast for true believers. The castle was located on an island in the heart of the Archipelago three kilometers southeast of Skyloft Palace.
The colossal megastructure was an opulent symbol of the vast wealth and power of their goddess. The mere sight of its many mighty stripped wood spires and their tapered warped crowns soaring into the skies above was enough to astound and inspire visitors.
Unlike the other temples, the Sapphire was closed to the public and heavily fortified against attack. On 11E:78, Jrod and Gabault besieged the castle in the first major battle of the Ishtari Conflict. A second, more decisive Second Battle of the Sapphire Spires took place there on 11E:135.
===Seaside Temple===
The temple was located on an ocean beach one kilometer north of Gaia.
From the beachfront, spruce stairs led up to the temple's main platform, which looked out on an ocean backdrop that stretched horizon to horizon. The warped plank roof was supported by eight stonebrick columns. An altar, adorned with warped wood and pink tulips, bore a chest for charitable offerings and an inscription which read "May Ishtar's blessing light your path stranger."
Unique to all other temples, the Seaside Temple also provided a nearby wheat garden for visitors.
During the Ishtari Conflict, the temple inscription was defaced by Gabault to read "NO". Eventually the temple fell into ruin when the columns were destroyed, the altar defiled, and the crops were pulled out of the garden. TraumaticWheel, KOI's Desert Priestess, would later restore the temple to its former glory.
===Mountain Temple===
Located 200 meters southwest of Ilium, the Mountain Temple was built along the upper ridge of a mountain range that also contained the Mushroom Tree Temple some 300 meters east.
The temple's spruce staircase led to a raised devotional platform with commanding views of the surrounding landscape below, including mesa and jungle. The altar, bearing an inscription that read "Ishtar, goddess of life blesses those who wander this world", had a chest for charitable offerings surrounded by a stone basin filled with holy water. Thirteen pillars braced a warped and stonebrick roof; lanterns hung from a stripped spruce log beam provided light for nighttime visitation.
A latticework complex of tunnels existed beneath the temple, perhaps serving as a quarry for the stone excavated to construct it. One such tunnel led to a narrow clay bridge over a chasm, the entrance hidden below a series of trapdoors inside the temple.
Curiously, animals such as cats and parrots often appeared inexplicable times at the temple, attributed to Ishtar's providence.
During the Ishtari Conflict, the temple remained unscathed and intact during the Ishtari Conflict. It was later renovated and improved by the Priestess TraumaticWheel after she made her home nearby.
The Mountain Temple was heavily damaged after anarchy swept the land of Novigrad.
===Meadow Temple===
The Meadow Temple was located in a field roughly 800 meters southwest of Skyloft Palace, making it the closest temple to Novigrad's entry point.
A dirt path from a nearby village led up to a stone staircase which ascended to a humble altar with a charitable chest flanked by stripped oak logs.
Gabault defaced the temple's inscription during the Ishtari Conflict, proclaiming "Death to Ishtar"
Over time the Meadow Temple was reclaimed by nature and eventually a grove of cherry blossom trees grew in its place, erasing all evidence it was ever there.
===Temple-on-the-Isle===
Located 500 meters east of Gaia, the Temple-on-the-Isle was built on a small grassy atoll.
It was a stone brick structure adorned with warped trapdoors. The temple altar, etched with the inscription "Blessed be those who visit Ishtar's sacred grounds", was made of uncut copper blocks and featured a chest for charitable offerings. Worshipers later added a bed and a tiny wheat plot. 
Over time, the area's salty sea breezes caused the copper to begin oxidizing. 
The Temple-on-the-Isle also served as a lighthouse, being easily visible at sea after dark due to twelve lantern posts that surrounded the build.
During the Ishtari Conflict, Gabault vandalized the altar's engraving to read "death to ishtar". While it was restored by High Priest FlyingPokemon, newcomers Thweep and Dadinzolo would later deface it again with their names. The inscription was later replaced to read, "May Ishtar light your path".
When lawless anarchy swept across Novigrad, the Temple-on-the-Isle was first defaced to read "There will be no mercy," then later destroyed entirely.
===Mushroom Tree Temple===
Mushroom Tree Temple was located a kilometer east of the Emmey Cube. It was built at the apex ridge of a mountain range it shared with the Mountain Temple 300 meters to the west.
Worshipers reaching the top of the mountain had to climb a spruce staircase into the temple proper, decorated by rose bushes and bearing a charitable chest. The altar had no inscription.
The temple was named after the single mushroom tree that grew above the temple at the summit of the mountain peak, accessible by a stone brick that wound its way to the top.
Like its neighbor to the east, Mushroom Tree Temple initially escaped desecration during the Ishtari Conflict. However, at some point an unknown assailant savagely destroyed it with lava. High Priest FlyingPokemon later restored the temple proper, though not the mushroom tree itself.
===Ilium Temple===
Ilium Temple was constructed by the Priestess TraumaticWheel in her town of Ilium, just east of the Archipelago.
Designed to reflect the architectural style of the surrounding buildings, the temple's 13-step sandstone staircase led to an elevated platform overlooking the surrounding blue waterways. The altar bore the inscription "May the light of Ishtar drive the darkness from our hearts" and had a chest for charitable offerings above a sandstone basin filled with holy water. Ten pillars supported a stepped roof wrapped with a decorative carved cornice.
===Old Friends Temple=== 
Old Friends Temple was located just southwest of YMCA but separate from Newcomer Island itself.
The structure had an two tier open-air canopy built from warped wood supported by stone brick columns, lit by hanging lanterns. The altar lay on a raised dais over holy water and bore an inscription that read "May the light of Ishtar guide your path". A charitable chest offered a variety of items including a zombie head, phantom membranes, a bow, saplings, iron ingots, carrots regular and golden and a Potion of Regeneration II.
Old Friends Temple was named in honor of Y, who had lived at nearby YMCA and been granted the landed title of Duke of the Isles by the Knights of Ishtar for his friendship and loyalty.
===Nimue's Sanctuary===
Nimue's Sanctuary was built upon a floating isle above windswept savannah and marshlands, 1600 meters northeast of Skyloft Palace.
To reach the temple, visitors had to follow a pink petal path and navigate a narrow diagonal dirt land bridge. The temple itself was a small stone brick structure supported by four pillars and lit by lanterns. The altar was a spruce wood platform with a charitable chest and an inscription that read, "May Ishtar keep safe you and the strange women lying in ponds".
Nimu's Sanctuary was built by High Priest FlyingPokemon. He consecrated it alongside Desert Priestess TraumaticWheel with Tox in attendance.
===Taiga Temple===
Located in the spruce-covered bluffs above AC1DCL4NPancke's base, the Taiga Temple was built by FlyingPokemon at his request.
Built from primarily stone brick with a spruce wood floor, its columns supported a gabled warped roof with a single ridge. The altar carried no inscription but contained a solitary alms chest.
AC1DCL4NPancke was murdered by Gabault during the Ishtari Conflict for worshiping Ishtar and allowing the temple to be built on his property. Gab would later add an inscription that read "Death to Ishtar".
[[File:2024-12-07_15.07.23.png|thumb|330x330px|Fairy Temple]
===Fairy Temple===
The Fairy Temple was located in Fairy Town
The chapel design beckoned would-be worshippers from the ocean shores up stairs to pass under marble archways and pray beneath a cherry wood apse dome adorned with pink blossoms and glowberry vines. The altar contained an empty lectern and a chest of charitable offerings. An inscription read, "To Ishtar, our Goddess of Love, Life, War, and Fertility." Visitors remained under the watchful eye of High Priest FlyingPokemon and Desert Priestess TraumaticWheel, whose mounted heads were placed on the temple floor.
Fairy Temple's architectural elements and color palette was chosen as the template for future places of Ishtar worship in Majora.
===Windswept Temple===
Windswept Temple was located at the highest point of a series of craggy mountains in a windswept savanna, two kilometers northeast of Gaia. It was difficult to reach without wings but not impossible.
The temple was more ascetic than most, consisting of a simple spruce roof with narrow supports and a lantern above a simple altar with a chest, bearing an inscription reading "May Ishtar's blessing light your path".
A nearby wheat garden provided would-be worshippers with enough food for the trip back down the mountain.
===First Shrine===
The First Shrine was built on Koisle in Majora; as the name suggested it was the first place of worship in that land built to honor Ishtar.
Reflecting their humble beginnings at the time of its construction, the shrine was little more than a wooden arched gateway next to a small plot of wildflowers, including the sacred daisy. Beneath wooden arch was an offering chest bearing the inscription, "First blessing of the ancient bringer of life."
===Temple of 2G3TH3RN3SS===
:Main article: Temple of 2G3TH3RN3SS
The Temple of 2G3TH3RN3SS was built by 2G3TH3R overlooking her home in what was then the corner of the world border, seven kilometers southeast of Skyloft Palace. It was built upon the ice cap summit of the largest mountain the area.
It differed in many respects from the other temples, being constructed from deepslate and overgrown with leaves, as well as having an interior that was sealed off from the outside elements by glass windows that kept out the cold while still letting in natural light. The altar, flanked by hanging lanterns, had two chests for charitable offerings and carried an inscription.
During the Ishtari Conflict, Gabault defaced the inscription to read "XD".
===Black Forest Temple=== 
:Main article: Black Forest Temple
Black Forest Temple was built by Grinsepaule in Schwarzwald.
Rising 62 meters above the frozen forest, the step pyramid's scale rivaled the Sapphire Spires as an ode to Ishtar. It was was constructed by Grinsepaule to strengthen relations with the Knights of Ishtar after he suffered deaths at the hands of Jrod. FlyingPokemon was invited to help with the temple's finishing touches, including a sculpted snake relief on the lower levels.
===Blackstone Pyramid===
:Main article: Blackstone Pyramid
The Blackstone Pyramid was built by Shendell and his compatriots.
Though ostensibly constructed to "honor Ishtar", its sinister appearance led some to question whether or not its true purpose was to carry out secret sacrifices to darker corners of the pantheon.
===Temple at Amanita Rock===
:Main article: Temple at Amanita Rock
Built by Tox on his mushroom island in the greater Archipelago, the Temple at Amanita Rock was located within the Knights of Ishtar's sphere of influence a kilometer south of the Sapphire Spires of Sagacity.
It eschewed many of the design conventions of other temples, featuring an open gazebo layout with marble accents beneath an oxidized copper and prismarine roof supported by diorite columns. The altar, surrounded by warped logs and votive candles, bore no chest for charitable offerings but contained a religious text that read in part, "For Ishtar, who gave us this archipelago, and knights to defend it."
On 11E:84, the Knights of Ishtar gathered there to consecrate the temple, which inadvertently led to the Battle of Amanita Rock. Despite being heavily outnumbered, Gabault launched an attack on what he deemed "cult shenanigans", resulting in the death of Tox.
===Zlatnik's Chantry===
Zlatnik's Chantry was located on an uninhabitated isle east of Skyloft Palace.
The temple originated as a moss-covered stone brick ocean ruin built by some forgotten Halfast civilization. After being converted into a place of worship by High Priest FlyingPokemon, he offered the residents of Novigrad an open quest to restore the shrine to glory befitting Ishtar. Zlatnik accepted the quest, repairing the structure and adding some design flourishes. Its altar was inscribed to read "Ishtar is the godess of life, be blessed stranger."
Much later, TraumaticWheel greatly improved the surrounding environs by planting cherry blossom trees and landscaping the exterior of the temple itself.
===Garden Shrine===
The Garden Shrine was located 400 meters southwest of Ilium.
Not strictly a temple, the garden shield was a field of flowers and cherry trees dedicated to Ishtar, lit by shroomlight. The central altar had a charitable chest. The shrine had inscriptions that read "Lady Ishtar's garden shrine. May luck be with you" and "Under Ishtars' light these flowers grow".
Originally, the site held an iron farm, but over time it fell into disrepair. Long afterwards, Milian was told by FlyingPokemon, the High Priest of the Knights of Ishtar, that he could receive a sword with Sharpness V and Efficiency V in exchange for building a "garden or shrine to Ishtar." He took the suggestion in its most literal form, building "Lord Ishtars Garden Shrine", perhaps confusing the goddess with the ender dragon Ishtar.
FlyingPokemon later transformed the area, adding the cherry trees, shroomlight, and altar as well as correcting the grammar and pronouns in the inscriptions.
===Cold Comfort===
Cold Comfort was a simple sepulchre on a snowy slopes in Novigrad's northwest taiga.
Built by an unknown worshipper of modest means, the cobblestone and spruce wood temple bore an inscription that read, "all hail ishtar the goddess of life and war". Reaching the structure was a dangerous proposition at best as it was surrounded by powder snow many meters deep.
===Jungle Shrine===
Located in the hills above the riverine home of HyperSilence, the Jungle Shrine was the smallest Temple of Ishtar in Novigrad. It was a simple stone brick structure with a single chest and a wooden inscription, "Ishtar blesses you".
Despite its proximity to his home, the demigod Hyper denied being a true believer and was quick to assert that FlyingPokemon had built the structure.
=Gallery =
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	Mhowee: What have I found?<BR>Y: a temple<BR>FlyingPokemon: a temple of mine but someone griefed the sign<BR>FlyingPokemon: A temple to the goddess of life Ishtar<BR>Mhowee: Rip.	
	—A resident discovers a desecrated Temple of Ishtar 	—A resident discovers a desecrated Temple of Ishtar
File:2022-11-29_02.46.38.png|Seaside Temple
File:2022-12-12_05.35.19.png|Seaside Temple inscription
File:2022-11-29_02.46.47.png|Seaside Temple defaced
File:2024-04-20_03.25.27.png|Poke and TraumaticWheel at Windswept Temple
File:2022-12-12_04.53.46.png|Mountain Temple inscription
File:2022-12-12_05.17.16.png|Blasphemy!
File:2022-12-04_03.02.08.png|Jungle Shrine
File:2023-01-05_17.26.23.png|The Knights of Ishtar consecrate the Temple at Amanita Rock
File:2023-01-07_19.43.10.png|Taiga Temple
File:2023-01-18_02.28.31.png|Heresy!
File:2023-01-23_20.42.13.png|Mushroom Tree Temple
File:2023-01-07_19.49.49.png|Meadow Temple desecrated
File:2020-08-16_20.03.50.png|Temple of 2G3TH3RN3SS
File:deathtoishtar.png|Sacrilege!
File:2023-01-23_21.04.10_2.png|Sharkberries reads the Temple at Amanita Rock's holy text
File:2023-02-02_00.18.20.png|Mushroom Tree Temple's tree from base of mountain
File:2023-04-06_04.17.27.png|Ishtar's charity at Windswept Temple
File:2023-04-25_05.08.43.png|FlyingPokemon offers a temple-related quest
File:2023-04-25_05.08.05.png|Zlatnik completes the quest
File:2023-04-25_05.08.47.png|Altar chest contents at Zlatnik's Chantry
File:2024-04-20_04.32.50.png|Poke and TraumaticWheel at Nimue's Sanctuary
File:2023-07-07_03.57.13.png|Mushroom Tree Temple destroyed by lava
File:2023-07-19_03.21.08.png|Dadinzolo and Thweep erase inscription and add their names
File:2023-11-20_02.59.03.png|Cold Comfort's inscription
File:toi93.png|TraumaticWheel visits the Mountain Temple
File:2024-03-11_13.56.03.png|Old Friends Temple interior
File:2024-04-12_15.32.25.png|Mountain Temple renovations
File:Screenshot_2024-08-10_at_4.12.53_PM.png|Mountain Temple damage during Anarchy
File:Screenshot_2024-08-15_at_1.19.55_PM.png|"There will be no mercy"
File:2024-11-23_01.47.43.png|Fairy Temple altar
File:2024-12-04_01.53.20|Manifestation Crystal in the Fairy Temple donation chest
=Behind the Scenes=
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The following is out-of-universe information about real-world Halfast.
	TraumaticWheel: hahaha what<BR>FlyingPokemon: It's a cultural reference<BR>FlyingPokemon: You might be too young to understand it<BR>TraumaticWheel: D:<BR>FlyingPokemon: Tox would get it<BR>FlyingPokemon: You want to come and spread some wisdom Tox?<BR>Tox: it's no basis for a system of government!<BR>FlyingPokemon: xD<BR>TraumaticWheel: reddit was not helpful, I wasn't meant to know<BR>FlyingPokemon: Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government<BR>FlyingPokemon: Refering to the Arthurian myths<BR>FlyingPokemon: From Monthy Python and the Holy Grail<BR>FlyingPokemon: cuz this is kinda one big pond here<BR>TraumaticWheel: oh wow yeah<BR>FlyingPokemon: And also we're a religious order, we're no stranger to strangers in ponds as a basis for divine right<BR>FlyingPokemon: Hence we approve of ladies in ponds distributing swords :P	
	—Poke explains Nimue's Sanctuary 	—Poke explains Nimue's Sanctuary
thumb|270x270px|Strange women laying in ponds is no basis for a system of governmentBecause of the loot provided by FlyingPokemon in the Temples of Ishtar, HyperSilence jokingly nicknamed them "Poke Dungeons" as a reference to his own Hyper Dungeons.
HyperSilence added the Ishtar's Blessing potion to the temple chests. Thanks to the Lootin plugin which created unique inventories for each chest, every player could receive the potion from a Temple of Ishtar even if previously looted by others.
Nimue's Sanctum and its inscription were references to the 1975 comedy film Monty Python and the Holy Grail and the line "Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government", a nod to Arthurian myth in which King Arthur receives his legendary sword Excalibur from the "Lady of the Lake" known as Nimue.
Category:Places
Category:Religious Places
Category:Halfast Locations
Category:Novigrad Locations
Category:Ishtar
Category:Religion