note

Pearls an export from Demora.

So is gossamer webbing for securing delicate belongings like dishes and paintings in a space station under flight (see: Courtesan Prince).

"The creation and predomination of the cross-in-square church was the characteristic feature of ecclesiastical architecture. The type consists of a square building in which is inscribed a cross. The arms of the cross are formed by the four columns and the four barrel-vaults that support the main dome. This type received minor modifications during its long life in the various provinces of the empire, but remained fundamentally unchanged, since it served the needs of the Divine Liturgy and gave expression to the Byzantine view of the world. These cubes surmounted by domes are to be found from Russia to Cyprus and from Armenia to Italy. The small dimensions of this type of church also hint at the Byzantine view of the world, which chose to confine itself to the human scale, in contrast with the massive, monumental Gothic structures that predominate in the West."

from Ceremony and Faith Byzantine Art and the Divine Liturgy

Comment

Demorans probably base their spiritual life around the worship of beauty and art. And since the epitomize both in their Golden Emperor, maybe other sacred things are flesh and blood also: treasured troops of performers, maybe? The Royal Players. The Royal Dancers? A museum of works created by dead emperors.

Probably is recurring motif or built in statements in the architecture.

• light - airy open, light from above
• gold, pearls, vanilla - gold used very freely since no mineral as valuable as a product of life like pearls

Church Decoration

"The painted decoration of the churches made its own contribution to the symbolical representation of the world. A specific iconographic programme was formulated."

Comment

I can see Demorans having more than one "iconographic programme" for many things, based on stories. Average Demora has a good memory. Might be debate, sometime, over which story to apply to which task.

question

How many members of the Family of Light in 1,000 years? The Demorans would know each one as well as the Catholic Saints. Most were pretty long lived and slow to breed so not as bad as it seems.

To check out later or keep in mind

• "Henian ?" Japan ... recall reading about this period as a very stylized and court-ritualilzed span. The sleeves in 16 layers draped out of carriages and all.
• Emperor of China has a position a bit like the Golden Emperor: spiritual center and hugely important but not secularly powerful as was the Shogun
• Free Masonry? For ceremony and rites of passage maybe.
• rediscover that book I saw on ceremony in the Vatican down the ages
• Investigate courts to flesh out the "culture" and "art" aspects of Golden spirituality
  • French in Aquaintaine from which the Lancelot and troubador legends sprang
  • King Louis the IV of France held great ballets
  • anything bardic? Really should at least look into theWelsh angle although less refined than I want Demora to be may have elements of poetic tradition to mine for ideas
  • Medici Family as patrons of the arts
• What is appropriate for Demorans to do vs. commoners
• Can't imagine Demorans being guilty of the more gruesome abuses of historical excesses. More likely the stifling and stultifying sort. I think the majority of their commoners should love them (or the Family of Light at least) in the way most people loved the King in monarchies even if they found their local noble less than perfect, and loved the clergy which Inner Circle people act as beyond court, and the troups which entertain - perhaps paid for by the patrons. Access to art is guaranteed by the government; aspirations on the part of commoners to rise into courtly circles fulfilled either through the arts or in service; trades a valued but 2nd class pursuit more like Greek attitude

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