Abbey
Patron Deity: Heron
Region: Gallia
Highrock Abbey is a religious community that has become a self-governing state and a powerful force on the world stage.
GOVERNANCE
The Primate is the ruler of Highrock Abbey. He is the highest ranking monk in the Northern World and commands all the orders: flagellants, mendicants, monks militant and more. He is elected by vote after the death of his predecessor.
HISTORY
Highrock Abbey began as a plain building with an apiary for honey. As the abbey grew grander and grander and the numbers of monks swelled into the thousands, the village of Dog’s Head grew up around it. Soon it had become an independent state, free of both Gallia and Zarubain.
In 877 Y.E., the primate Balfrey criticized the Zarube king Rynold’s second marriage to Ysabeau of Champiz. Knights were sent to raze the monastery to the ground. The knights — numbering over a thousand — were handily defeated by the monks, ensuring Highrock Abbey’s status as an independent state.
ECONOMY
Highrock Abbey’s monks work on apiaries to produce vast quantities of honey. They also use the honey to produce and bottle mead, which they sell to the towns of Gallia and eastern Zarubain.
The monks also produce and sell illuminated manuscripts, copied by hand. A large number of books are created each year and sold to libraries and towns throughout the world.
The honey, mead, and books have allowed Highrock Abbey to grow wealthier and wealthier. Some monks believe this wealth has had a corrupting effect.
