Red Temple

The Red Temple of Volantis is the foremost sanctuary of the Lord of Light, R'hllor, in the known world. A structure of immense scale and architectural ambition, it dominates the city's skyline, its walls a swirling fusion of red, yellow, gold, and orange stone that seems to be fire turned to solid form. The temple is not merely a place of prayer but the political and military heart of the faith in the east, a fortress of belief from which the High Priest Benerro preaches a doctrine of apocalyptic war and divine kingship.

Architecture and Scale

The Red Temple is an enormity of pillars, steps, buttresses, bridges, domes, and towers, all flowing into one another as if chiseled from a single colossal rock. Its scale is staggering, three times the size of the Great Sept of Baelor in King's Landing. The walls are composed of a hundred hues of red, yellow, gold, and orange, dissolving one into the other like clouds at sunset. Its slender towers twist ever upward, frozen flames dancing as they reach for the sky, a deliberate architectural echo of the god's domain. The temple is surrounded by a huge torchlit plaza where nightfires burn and the faithful gather to hear the High Priest speak.

The High Priest and the Fiery Hand

The temple is presided over by Benerro, the High Priest of R'hllor, a tall, thin man with a drawn face and skin white as milk. Flames are tattooed across his cheeks, chin, and shaven head, creating a bright red mask that crackles about his eyes. He is a figure of immense charisma and power, capable of tracing fiery letters in the air and conjuring flames from his fingers. The temple is defended by the Fiery Hand, the Lord of Light's sacred soldiers, a force of exactly one thousand men. These warriors wear ornate armor and orange cloaks, and their spears have points like writhing flames. A new flame is kindled for every one that gutters out, maintaining the sacred number.

Political and Social Role

The Red Temple is a center of immense political influence in Volantis. Benerro's nightly sermons draw thousands of slaves and freedmen, and his pronouncements can sway the city's volatile politics. He openly preaches against the triarchs, denouncing them as servants of darkness, and has prophesied that Volantis will burn if it takes up arms against Daenerys Targaryen, whom he proclaims as Azor Ahai reborn. The temple also functions as a training ground for its priests, who are bought as children and raised to be priests, temple prostitutes, or warriors. The red priest Moqorro, who later serves Victarion Greyjoy, is a product of this system, a powerful sorcerer in his own right. The temple's influence extends beyond Volantis, as its priests are dispatched across the world to spread the faith and serve its chosen champions.