Taronsha shrine

A centre of religious piety and a symbolic place of heroism for the Seris, this is what Taronsha shrine symbolizes. This is the place where Heaven and the mortal world meet. A place of devout and brave warrior priestesses, who as legend says can transform themselves into animals to spy on mortals, watching that they behave properly.  

Description of the shrine

  Taronsha shrine is located on one of the hills at Hakaya Bay , near the city of Shiruz, overlooking the Northern Sea. The area of the shrine is enclosed by a wooden palisade. A great door with the name of the sanctuary is the only entrance to the sacred enclosure, it is said that the calligraphy in the sign on the door was written by the first priestess of the temple, the legendary Anzura Sairantir, in the 11th century BP, and because of magic it hasn't faded after millenia have passed.   Once you cross this door you arrive to a great square. Houses for the priesthood and shops where to buy amulets are located right and left of that square, but the most prominent building in that square is the center one, the temple to the goddess Tyr, with its light brown columns and roof beams made of pinewood and the statue of the goddess made of gold. The roof of the temple and the houses of the priestesses was in the past made of slabs or straw, but since their renovation after the Nord invasions they have been replaced by tiles.   To the far left of this building there is a staircase that leads to the other temple further up the hill, the temple of Zerah, or Toshia, as the Seris know her. This is the bigger temple, and the oldest, since the goddess was also the protector of sailors as it was said that prayers at this temple could stop storms at sea. The exterior of the temple is similar to that of the temple of Tyr but with red columns and purple curtains made of silk. Like with Tyr's temple, much of its interior was destroyed during the Nord raids into Northern and Western Seria during the 4th century AP but was quickly rebuilt thanks to donations from the Imperial family and some other distinguished noble families.   The entrance to this temple is flanked by two big statues of the goddesses Tyr and Zerah that survived the sack of the shrine. During the Summer festival necklaces and crowns made of flowers are placed on both statues as signs of respect and devotion to the protectors of the region. Tyr appears doing the blessing hand gesture to the pilgrims and dressed like a Seris Empress with a white dress, her daughter also appears blessing the visitors but holds a spear (reminding everyone of her role as protector of the shrine and the realm as well as her role of bringer of justice to all evil men).   Cherry trees are scattered across the sanctuary giving the whole place a very serene and beautiful atmosphere. One visitor described the sanctuary in Spring and the cherry trees  

"as if had snowed during the previous day, with their leaves white as the dress of the Queen of Heaven".

 

Humble beginnings

Its name literally means "The Place Where Lightning Spring" and its one of the oldest temples in the Seris Empire. Its founder is said to have been king Nairinka of Shiruz who, according to legend was visited in a dream by the two goddesses who told him that if he wanted his kingdom to be safe and prosperous should built a sanctuary to them "where the fox was rescued". This alluded to a very old Seris myth from the region that some centuries after the landing of Kuchi and his people, who will become the Seris, one of his descendants, the prince Taiyara, a very kind hearted ruler, was climbing a mountain to offer sacrifices to Heaven when he stumbled upon a wounded fox in the middle of a snow storm. The prince took pity of the creature and took him to a nearby abandoned cottage where he tried to cure the wounded animal. The next morning when he woke up she found that the fox had transformed into a beautiful girl (turned out she was a type of spirit known to the Seris as Uru-chi, neutral spirits that can take human form and either help or harm people) , and he instantly fell in love with her and he decided to settle alongside her in that place and create his own kingdom, and from this union it is said that all the inhabitants of the region descend.   The early temple, during most of the Kings and Warlords era was made of wood, like many early Seris sanctuaries in rural areas during this period and its first high priestess was Anzura Sairantir, who as the stories told, inherit the powers of the fox spirit and could transform herself into that animal to deliver messages to the mortals from the two patron goddesses of the temple. It is said that she was also taught martial arts by the goddess Zerah and that she taught these skills to her fellow priestesses and disciples. She became a sort of oracle and according to legend she lived for 200 years!, though some are sceptical about this.  

Rise of fame

What is true is that because of this role as oracle and connection with the divine world the sanctuary benefited from the patronage of the Kings of Shiruz first and later the Seris Emperors of the successive dynasties. In fact, another legend related to the sanctuary states that the first Seris Emperor Arshakes I visited the temple with the intention of knowing if the gods confirmed and consented his new role as sovereign of an unified Seria. There she found the priestess and asked her if the gods supported him, to what she replied that yes, they did, he was a bit sceptical about the whole idea of the High Priestess of the temple being an oracle, so he asked; Are you sure? the priestess pointed at a piece of dry grass under her feet and exclaimed, "If what I say is true, may this grass regain its splendour and flowers bloom from it!" And so it happened, to the astonishment of the first emperor, who after this made a large donation to the sanctuary, which was used to renovate the temples and is said to have also supported the priestesses for three generations!   Many sailors and farmers from the neighbouring towns came to this sanctuary so that the goddesses would protect them during their stay at sea and to guarantee good harvests respectively, and judging by the pilgrims and faithful it seems that the goddesses have answered their prayers so far.   Another event or legend that made this sanctuary famous is a legend associated with Yemu that also explains the existence of the nearby Rinshai monastery, whose name means "Temple of the Serenity of the Spirit". According to this story, attested in many Yemuist texts, the great sage Yemu, after having perfected his magical skills and becoming one with light magic force energy, began wondering the realm when he received the visit of the goddess Mana urging him to travel to Toronsha, where a creature was causing devastation through the land killing and eating many of the village animals, some spoke of a giant fox or dog like monster.   Upon arriving to the land, after spending a night in a nearby inn, he began walking towards Taronsha shrine as the first beams of the sun were over the horizon when he encountered a fox who seemed not very friendly. The wise lord then saluted the fox exclaiming: "Hail oh messenger of the goddesses (as the Seris believe foxes could act as messengers of Tyr and Toshia (Zerah) ), the fox seemed surprised and fled in terror. A couple of hours later when Yemu arrived, He saw a large crowd at the main gate, and to his astonishment, on one of the columns, stood a young priestess bound, growling and screaming as if possessed by an evil spirit. Yemu approached her, and the priestess calmed down upon seeing him. He then recited some magic spells and ordered her release. The High Priestess, impressed, approached him and said:  

"Great lord, who are you? Since not even with all my prayers and incantations have I been able to tame the spirit of this young woman, who until a few months ago was a happy and peaceful girl, and now seems like an animal?"

 

"Someone who serves the light," Yemu replied. "With these spells, this animal has been tamed and freed from its curse. So too, all you people of Taronsha, who by virtue of your lineage could suffer the same fate."

  The High Priestess amazed by the young man's answer invited the sage to stay at the temple, and there Yemu spent three months teaching the priestesses and the High Priestess what he had learned before again resuming his preaching across the land. It was in Taronsha that Yemu first demonstrated his powers and where, it is said, he gained his first disciples and followers. Some of them would return years later and build the Rinshai Monastery.  

The Nord raids

Taronsha shrine's location had long being away from the main wars fought by the Seris Empire, and thrived for centuries until the early 4th century AP when, like the whole Northern part of the country became the target of Nord raids. In 318 AP the nord raiding parties targeted the area of Hakaya bay, first entering the region through the mouth of the river Cliga and sacking the nearby villages and then assaulting Rinshai monastery and killing and enslaving many monks.   Then they turned their attention to Taronsha shrine, believing that it would be an easy target, but there they encountered the stubborn and fanatical resistance of the warrior priestesses, who defended the temple with great courage, resulted in many of them being killed or enslaved by the barbarians, including the high priestess. The younger ones, especially those with children, escaped through an underground passage in one of the temples that led to a cave overlooking the sea. There, they found a boat and reached Anuchi Castle, where many of their husbands served as Namru warriors. The Nord then returned to their ships and departed.   News of the raid reached Sakouramish a week later, where the Sittakid dynasty government ordered the renowned general Aruke Anao to raise an army and improve the coastal fortifications, which he did. A wall was built on Nayui Beach, near the sanctuary, and the following year, after several raids, the Nord returned to Hakaya Bay. But this time, Anao's army awaited them, along with the Namru and their surviving women from the raid, as well as those who had been widowed. There on Nayui Beach, they fought with such bravery and resentment towards the Nord and inflicted such a defeat that the Nord invasions and raids stopped forever.   After these events the temples and the whole sanctuary were rebuilt, and now, almost four centuries after this event, the shrine looks as majestic as it did before the raid.

A special priesthood

Another attraction of Taronsha shrine are their warrior priestesses, who since pre- imperial times have sworn to protect the sanctuary and the nearby inhabitants with their martial skills. They were the forebears of what later became the female members of the Namru military class. They begin their training three months after they enter to serve in the shrine, their main weapon of choice is the spear though there are some priestesses that have mastered the use of the bow. They train almost every week in the great square in front of the temple of Tyr under the supervision of the High Priestess.   Their dress is similar to those of other priestesses from other temples of the gods of the Seris Pantheon. Their upper garments are white with long and wide sleeves and the skirt which varies in colour depending on which temple are they attending at that moment (green for Tyr and purple for Zerah)   There is also a rumour that these young girls, who serve the goddesses until they reach 40 years of age, are also trained in the magical arts taught to their predecessors by Yemu himself, and are the only people of the region that can still turn into a fox form should they need, some even claimed that that was the trick many of them used to escape the Nord raid into the temple.