The Temple District is a relatively small section of Ptolus centered around worship and religious faith. It is bounded by the King’s River to the south, North Gate Road to the west, Carver Lane to the east, and Golden Elm Way to the north. Some folks claim that it extends all the way to the Necropolis wall in the east—and certainly the area east of Carver Lane focuses on burial needs and other religious-related matters—but officially, that is a part of Midtown.

Although the worship of Lothian, the official Imperial deity, is the dominant religion of the city, Ptolus’ cosmopolitan residents revere hundreds of other gods as well.

Temples, churches, shrines, and small monasteries fill this district in the north central part of town, with the Street of a Million Gods (a bit of an exaggeration) running through it from north to south. Even the Blessed Bridge across the King’s River here has small shrines built upon and into it.

The district stretches east and west from the Street of a Million Gods. Notable sights include St. Valien’s Cathedral for worshippers of Lothian and the Priory of Introspection, where the Sisterhood of Silence is based. Although clerics are the most common representatives of the many gods, a number of temples support monks and paladins as well. The Temple District has a single bar, Taggert’s, which is also a temple to Ollom, God of the Keg.

EVIL RELIGIONS AND THE AUTHORITIES

Occasionally, the Commissar or the City Council bans a particular religion based on its extreme antisocial dogma. For example, worship of the god Destor, a god of destiny and chance, was banned in the city approximately sixty years ago for its focus on ensuring that calamity happened to others so it did not happen to you. This happened specifically after a number of fires in the city were traced directly back to the followers of Destor.

However, such banning remains rare. Some gods of obviously evil outlook, like Maleskari, or distasteful practices, like Danace, are permitted without restriction. Such evil cults enjoy no special right to perform religious acts that would break the law, but the practice of their faith otherwise is not forbidden—much to the dismay of many citizens, as well as some of the good or lawful religions in the city.

Many believe that the Commissar is far more tolerant of such faiths than the Church hierarchy would like, which has led to tensions and political strife in the past.