The Temple of the Stars is a church temple, believing in the immortal stars. It is located in Valenda, and is powered by the ancient magic from the stars.
Appearance[]
The temple has a domed roof with wings perched atop. The steps towards the entrance are surrounded by statues. The inside is as "pale as the crushed wings of white doves or as gold as fallen stars".[1] The ceiling arches like interconnected wings, black with pinpricks of gold clustered like constellations.
The floors are made of shiny white soapstone, able to reflect the glowing gate that covers the double doors on the back wall. Donatella Dragna reflects that the temple feels like a place people are supposed to whisper and remove their shoes.
To move past the entrance hall, people must prove their motives are not tainted, and that they truly seek the stars. They must release a single drop of blood into an old and battered copper bowl perched atop an ivory pedestal. When blood is dropped into the bowl, it turns white before transforming into a fog.
There are vaults hidden beneath the temple, more secure than any in the world. They are accessed by a steep staircase which leads to a single door. When unlocked, it leads to the opal ring wearer's vault.
Statues[]
Many statues surround the moonstone steps, tall as temple columns. The male statues have muscled arms the size of tree trunks, while females have overflowing breasts. Their eyes are made of aquamarines. It is believed these are the stars,
There are smaller statues who kneel to the larger, appearing to have callused hands, sweat beading at their temples, and bare feet. Some of them are hunched in submission to the statues of the stars, while others hold out offerings of babies and toddling children.
More statues line the walls of the entrance hall, holding faces of pain, shock, and horror.
Opal Ring[]
Theron wears a black-banded starburst-shaped opal ring, looking like the ring Donatella took from her mother. His ring contains a black stone with "embers of pulsing blue and threads of green".[2] Donatella's ring glows lavender with a center of burning cherry and a line of gold down the middle. Anybody who bears the ring outside of the temple owes an unpaid debt. It also serves as a key to the vaults. The colour of Donatella's signifies that it has been cursed, which can only be broken by fulfilling the debt. Until then, the ring will not work as a key to the vault.
Each ring has a memory, activated by blood. Activating the memories shows a vision of what the wearer promised the temple.
Plot[]
Legendary[]
Donatella and Dante go to Temple of the Stars to find a clue for Caraval, and a way to find Tella's mother, Paloma Dragna. After Legend creates a debt he must owe to the temple, Donatella is able to visit her mother's vault.
Finale[]
Anissa reveals to Scarlett Dragna that the witch, Esmerelda had been taken to the Temple of the Stars by Legend, but the Fallen Star had removed her, and punished her.
Residents[]
It is said that people who worship in the Temple of the Stars are "true believers". They are willing to sacrifice their youth, beauty, or anything the stars ask from them. To enter the temple, people must look like an acolyte. Women must wear a sheath, and a rope tied around their waist, designed to wrap diamond-shapes into the rope. Men are shirtless, with a white cloth wrapped around their hips, concealing their lower half.