The Church of St. Lucor
by Giampaolo AgostaThis Traladaran church is typical of its kind, a squat building with an unassuming exterior of dark, reddish brown bricks supported by thick setback buttresses.
The interior is decorated with frescoes in the Traladaran style -- where figures are painted in sizes relative to their importance in the scene as well as in rather rigid postures, at least compared to the more naturalistic modern Thyatian style. The frescoes represent scenes from the life of St. Lucor, the leader of the Thyatian missionary clerics who created the first written version of the Song of Halav back in the V Century AC. The main scenes represent: St. Lucor's arrival at the harbor of Marilenev in AC 400; his meeting with Ban Ivan Marilenev (a grandson of King Bogdan Ivanovic and the founder of the Marilenev dynasty) in that same day; the edification of the Thyatian Shrine in AC 402; the travels of St. Lucor to Halavos and Lugsid (AC 405-412); St. Lucor presenting the scrolls penned with the first written edition of the Song of Halav to Ban Ivan in AC 414; the crowning of Ivan Marilenev as Duke of Marilenev in AC 417; and the return of St. Lucor to Thyatis to spread the knowledge of Halav in AC 421.
In the far end of the church, a human sized statues of St. Lucor -- depicted with tonsured, curly hair and a short beard, wearing a Thyatian style toga -- stands in front of the much larger statues of the Traladaran Three.
The church was built in the VI Century, at the height of the Duchy of Marilenev, to celebrate the triumphs in the Fourth Traladaran War against the Darokin-backed northern Traladaran clans, so the links to the Marilenev family are very strong -- several Dukes were buried in this church in the following years.
The church is located along the Duke's Road, in the North End near the border with the Merchant District. It is built so that its front can be seen both by those coming from the city gates and by those coming from the Grand Market.
The Church of St. Lucor is also the starting point of the procession held during the Festival of Lucor, when the saint's statue is floated in the bay. The procession itself is a complex affair, with the Torenescu and Radu clans vying for support from the clergy by sponsoring the festival and, in return, having one of their women chosen to lead the procession.