Temple of Dor

The Temple of Dor is located just outside of Voldora in Norwall Domain.  
It is a small, very localized, exclusionist religion.

god(s):  Dor---Dor is a masculine god associated with the sun.  He can 
take the form of a man(usually a large muscular man with shining gold 
hair, blue eyes, and an amazing tan dressed in flowing grecian-like robes
of gold) or a white bull with golden horns.

symbols:flaming gold sun, bull's head, golden circle, lion. 

worship practices:  Worship of Dor is lead by men as his priests.  There
are four main holy days, the solstices that occur according to our time. 
The two most holy of these days are the summer solstice and the winter
solstice.  The summer solstice is the longest day of the year when Dor is
in the blue throne for the longest time.  The winter solstice is the
shortest day of the year when Dor is in the sky for the least amount of
time. On his holy days a ceremony is held at his Temple.  His priests
gather around the arena to watch the bull dancing.  The greatest bull from
the arena is then taken to the altar and sacrificed .  His blood is drunk
by the high priest and his heart is devoured by the high priest and head
bull dancer.  The carcus is then cooked and eatten by the other priests
and wine and dancing celebrate until the end of the day.  These ceremonies
start at mid morning with the sacrifice held exactly at the apex of
midday. with the sun at it's highest point.  and last until the sun
descends below the horizen. 

bulls and bull dancing:The only women permitted to worship the god are 
the bull dancers.  These women care for the sacred bulls in their pits 
below the temple.  They supervise the breeding and daily maintenence of 
the bulls.  At the ceremonies they choose which buls will be admitted 
into the ring and hince the bull that will be sacrificed at the 
ceremony.  These women are also the healers of the Temple.  They live in 
a separate section of the Temple, cloistered form the men.  These woemn 
are considered inviolete, untouchable by the priests.  They sware an vow 
to Dor as his brides and remain chaste for him.  The best of the bull 
dancers is (the Bride of the Sun) and is the one who eats the heart of 
the bull at ceremonies in symbolism of her devostion to being the heart 
of Dor.  Records exist that claim that Dor has appeared in a physical 
form at his ceremonies and actually consumate the bond between himself 
and his bride. (in full view of his worshipers.)

the Tenets of Dor: Stories of Dor tell of his appearing to a man lost in 
the desert and dying.  He promised to save this man if the man would 
return to civilization and teach other men of him.  He is know to be a 
harsh but just god.  His Temple is run by men wiht a hierarchy starting 
with Dor commanding the High priest who in turn commands the lower 
priests.  They do not actively seek to convert others, but show 
themselves to people in need of guidance and peace.  His priests are more 
like monks, who worship in quiet the radiance of Dor.  The Temple is 
fully self sufficent, farming what they need and raising beasts to sell 
at markets for profit.  They also train their own priests to guard their 
wares at market and at the Temple.  They excell in martial arts.
sidenote: The moon does figure into the worship of Dor.  The moon is the 
eye of Dor's lioness, his pet and fellow hunter.  Thus the moon is the 
symbol for the bull dancers as well as the circlet of gold and the bull's 
head are.  The moon watches over his subject while Dor sleeps.  There is 
a constellation of stars in the sky at all times of the year.  At teh 
summer solstice it forms a cirle around the moon.  This constellation os 
called the Lion's collar.