Chapel of St. Korev the Great

The **Chapel of St. Korev the Great** is a small temple carved into the stone cliffs of Isgerdia’s Old District. Originally a temple dedicated to the pagan Korev’s household god, Hor, it was eventually converted into a Justainian chapel in 972 AE.

## History

After the Conquest of the North, King Korev the Great returned to Ogna to build a fortification there. He decides to create a temple to his personal god, Hor, as a way to show his gratitude for the successful campaign. Around 2000 AE he began construction of the temple by carving away the dark stone of the cliffs to create a chamber. However, after digging inward nine feet, the builders broke into a sealed chamber.

This chamber was described as a tomb, fifteen by fifteen feet square, with walls painted in elaborate fashion. In the center of the chamber, which was sparsely filled, was a large slab of I decorated stone upon which lay a skeleton. This skeleton was said to be of a 7’ tall man with a lion’s skull where his head should have been. Frightened, the men returned to their king saying they had uncovered the tomb of a powerful shaman.

Fearing a curse, Korev sought the help of his own shaman, a powerful ancient man from Higd who traveled to the tomb to perform an elaborate ritual of cleansing. The shaman sealed himself in the tomb for three days and three nights with only a large clay pot. Emerging finally, he ordered everything within to be destroyed. The pot itself was filled with the bones which were removed to an unknown location.

After cleansing the tomb and stripping it entirely, the chamber was completed. The ceiling shaft which was the entry to the original tomb was used to create a constant beam of light onto the altar where a gilded idol of Hor was placed. The temple remained in use until 972 AE where upon it was converted into a Justainian chapel.

### As a Chapel

Nearly all of the original features were stripped upon the temple’s conversion to a chapel. The only part that was kept was a stone relief showing King Korev offering prayers to Hor. Hor was cut out of the relief and a gilded hall was added to Korev before being placed back into the chamber near the alter. The new alter featured a large wooden alter piece showing St. Mikael of Isgerdia converting the soul of Korev while Justain watches on from the clouds. A font for sanguinarium was also added at this time.

The chapel was looted in 122 CE during the Siege of Isgerdia by the Fleurian forces. It was later restored in 128 by a group of sympathetic locals. It’s use has fallen out of fashion since, though some tourists consider it a must see while visiting the city in the 200s.

## Description

The chapel features a nine by five foot entrance hallway adorned with restored paintings from the 7th century depicting popular Korevnan saints. Opening into the main fifteen foot square chamber directly across from the entrance is the altar. The original altar piece was destroyed but a replacement from a closed country chapel was donated in 130 CE, depicting a generic scene of the apotheosis of Saint Justain the Most High.

The original entrance shaft to the tomb portion has been converted via a mirror and glass system into a rainbow reflector which always shines illustrious multicolored light onto the altar during the day. Before the altar is the basin for sanguinarium and several rows of benches for kneeling. The walls are painted with scenes of the Conquest of the North on the western side and with the story of the Conversion of St. Korev on the eastern wall.

Outside the entrance a small two story stone tower has been erected, sometime in the second century AE, to house the priest who maintains the chapel. It is still in use today.