Church of Azrael, Angel of Death

The only church in the High Thrones that isn’t built on the body of a seraphim. While dedicated to Azrael and in possession of only minor reliqs and ephemera. Regardless of their lack of a legitimate claim to the church’s founding, their dedication to the founding ideals of their patron has led to a deep study of the human body, resulting in many medical discoveries.

Through the Church of Azrael, the craft of surgery has been developed and practiced. Combined with the use of Raphael’s holy blood, the black clad doctors of this mysterious order have gained the ability to collaborate with death to dramatically extend the human lifespan.

To protect their valuable work, the order of Azrael has spawned a militant offshoot called the Gilt Brotherhood. These faithful soldiers volunteer their bodies to construct living automata built from the unholy merging of metal and flesh.

The Iron Keep

A palace dedicated to the glorification of warfare, decadence, and the Order of the Iron Fist.

Rather than constructing their central temple from quickstone like the other High Thrones, Hasmedon’s central hub of worship is built from cold forging edellite and wrought iron to create a massive structure entirely from darkened metal.

Twisting iron bars twirl themselves into shadowy imitations of plant life foreign to the snowy reaches of Hasmedon. In place of colorful paint or glass, the murals of the Iron Keep are embossed in impossibly large steel panels embedded into the walls.

To protect against the bitter elements of the local climate, the floors of the keep are embedded with pipes that are pumped with hot water heated by the radiation flowing off the heart of Hasmed’s corpse.

Padded carpets blanket the many halls of the keep, demonstrating the high status of the aristocracy who dwell there. It’s customary to tread them barefoot, a tradition which has led to the priesthood refusing to own shoes as a matter of status.