Confraternity of 'Issa the Baptist

The last of the Four Taverns to be described in these chronicles, that does not necessarily mean that the Confraternity of 'Issa the Baptist is the least among them. Though the Confraternity itself is a religious organization of cloistered monks and their lay brothers, that does not mean that the Confraternity is a staid place of quiet contemplation. No indeed! The brewers of the brotherhood brew famed beer within the cloister's halls, and serve it readily in the beerhall and the beer garden above.

A brewers' mural on the outside walls

Meanwhile, within the enclosure of the cloister are botanical gardens that both serve to provide alchemical ingredients to sages around the cities, while also serving as the training ground for the famed kyni falcons trained by the Confraternity's brotherhood, kynis that fetch high prices on the market and are the envy of many a noble household.

The Tavern

Popularly called the Cloister, the brewery of the Confraternity is a boisterous and lively place built on the outside of the actual cloistered gardens. The walls of the Confraternity's cloister adjoin to the southwestern walls of Cothon, overlooking the banks of the river below (the Confraternity is responsible for the upkeep and defense of their own tower along the walls); while the Cloister tavern stands at the northeastern corner of the complex, well inside the city itself and fronted by a broad square.

Inside the Cloister is a beerhall, where monks and lay brothers readily pour frothing mugs of ale for any who come with coin. While the hall is a spacious and well-lighted place to drink heartily with one's friends, a broad set of stairs leads up to the roof of the Cloister where a fine garden provides an airier and quieter place to share a drink over a more sensitive meeting or private tryst.

The clientele of the Cloister tend to be mostly human, though if one wished to catch a glimpse of the aloof Alkari, or find a contact among the city's renyu, this would be the place to go. For it is known that envoys from the Alkari semi-regularly fly down into the gardens of the cloister to confer with the monks over whatever private business goes between the two groups; and the Cloister has a dedicated group renyu who drink there, led by the one-eared Rip, who claims, "They train me good here! Me no more free renyu, now good servant of good master, all thanks these good monks training!"

The overseer of this boisterous tavern is one Malthas, a gregarious man who is often out among the patrons drinking and chatting with them, while at the same time keeping a keen eye on the servers and the level of beer in the tapped kegs, and happy to help his staff when they need to roll our another barrel.

The Gardens

Within the Confraternity's walled cloister is a broad gardened courtyard. Outsiders are not typically allowed within its perimeter, though one can catch a glimpse of much of what lies inside from the rooftop beer garden of the Cloister. These gardens serve both as a botanical garden and as the training ground for the monks and lay brothers to train kyni falcons, renyu, as well as other beasts and animals. Those who need an animal or beast trained would be well-served to come to the Guild of Beastmasters, which is headquartered here among the Confraternity of 'Issa.

Among the things grown in the garden, the Confraternity of 'Issa has a monopoly in the Dual-Cities on the growth and sale of the aphrodisiacal tsural flowers. They also grow a variety of other flowers, roots, fungi, and berries, all serving in this or that alchemical pursuit. If one has an alchemical project in the offing, the Confraternity will almost certainly be able to sell you the ingredients you need.

In a secluded part of the courtyard there is also the ritual stepwell where initiates to the Confraternity are baptized, in keeping with the practices of the founding hero, 'Issa the Baptist. This ritual is supposed to be one of cleansing, of the washing away of sins. This much at least is known; to delve further into the mysteries one would have to be an initiate oneself, to go through baptism, and to be catechized in the secrets of the Confraternity. Monks and lay brothers (and sisters) alike are tightlipped with outsiders about their specifics of their religion, though it is known that they keep certain strict hours of prayer, of fasting, and have somewhat strange dietary practices.

The Library

Attached to the beerhall of the Cloister is another building, inside of which certain members of the Confraternity labor away as scribes, scratching letters onto parchment with inked quills for a variety of clients, as well as a library that rivals those of the other Great Taverns. Access to this library is open only to members of the Confraternity, or to those who pay a nominal fee of 100 dinars per week.

The topics of books and scrolls kept for the Confraternity's use tend to cluster around specific topics, which allow them to be researched in particular by those accessing the stacks:

• falconry in particular, from the training of kynis and other raptors, the identification of a variety of birds, and the means of capturing such birds in the wild, as well as raising them domestically
• animal training in general, esp. semi-intelligent animals like renyu or chnelh
• Alkari culture in general, and the history of the Alkari tribes in the vicinity of Cothon-Gadeed and their relations with nearby polities
• botany and gardening, the identification of various plants, their uses, &c.
• religious histories, especially of the Confraternity itself, but also of various sects in an around Cothon-Gadeed with whom the Confraternity has long had contact

Like the other libraries, there are also a number of spellbooks available for use by members of the Confraternity, or by those who pay the access fee for the library:

A Prayer for the Deepest Stillness of Contemplation
Inscribed around and inside a singing prayer bowl, this is a prayer for utter stillness, that being the best state to meditate and contemplate the deepest mysteries. One memorizes the prayers, strikes the bowl, and then draws the striker around the lip of the bowl so that the sound grows ever greater and more concentrated, until it seems to take up all space in the mind, precluding any action other than to hear and to draw the striker ever around.
A magic-user who learns these spells from this "book" must use a singing bowl to cast either spell.
II. hold person
V. hold monster

Manual for the Wholeness of Health
by Gal al Nousriy
This is indeed a manual for health. It contains numerous recipes for the use of various herbs and berries, be they in poultices, simples, or potions. This includes the use of certain herbs to ward away "evil eyes" and other such curses. The recipes all appear to be eminently useful and quite potent when compared to other simpler recipes.
A magic-user who learns these spells from this book must have material herbal components in order to cast the spells.
I. cure light wounds
II. remove curse, cure disease

Al Kiforrad: the Rose and the Renyu
by Norm of Brideswell
A narrative poem about the eponymous renyu who discovered a miraculous rose. While in possession of the rose, Al Kiforrad could himself grow to great size and strength, or he could wield the rose such that it became like a great ladder, or a scourge, or grow in a variety of other ways. The verse repeats the imagery with such fantastic language that one can literally envision such growth happening, allowing a magic-user to effect a mirrored realization in the real world.
III. growth of animal
IV. growth of plants

Beads of the Saints
Not a book, per se, but a string of prayer beads, each devoted to particular prayers to one of the saints. Some of these saints are exclusive to the liturgies of 'Issa, while others are more widely known heroes or other saints. Many are non-human. Each bead on this string is engraved in miniature with litanies to that saint. Most of the prayers involve bequests of preservation, protection, and purification, though certain saints who are remembered as great heroes are said to raise morale in battle.
A magic-user who learns spells from this "spellbook" must have a string of prayer beads in order to cast these spells.
I. protection from evil, purify food and drink
II. bless/blight

Paean to Tlalos, Lord of Rains
Accounted by many as a friend of Jabborg, smith of the stormlord, Tlalos is a lord of winds and rains. This simple paean is one used to call out to him for his blessing, for the coming of the pure water of rain that helps to reinvigorate men and to give life to the land.
IV. create water

There is also a two-volume work by one Tinaliya into the absolute universals of language, Tinaliya being a person widely understood to have been one of the mysterious Zoq-Fot-Pik that dwell like kobolds in the depths of the earth. This Tinaliya was apparently able to converse with any creature he came across, be it animal--or even fungus or plant!

Tinaliya's Universal Grammar, Primer
by Tinaliya
The basics of Tinaliya's universal approach to language. Using these principles, a magic-user can communicate with any creature or animal.
II. comprehend languages, speak with animals

Tinaliya's Universal Grammar, Expanded
by Tinaliya
This volume expands upon the universal grammar such that anyone utilizing it can also understand and communicate with plants.
IV. speak with plants