High Chantry of Ostre

The High Chantry of Ostre is a cathedraline chamber inside High Palace that acts as a place of worship or holy commune. It is one of the fifteen sanctres of High Palace.

Description
Situated near the top of the palace, the domed roof can be seen amongst the towers and miranets from the Five King's Road. The Sanctre sits behind the window of Gwathredion and Irennae, and the iron truss in the window casts a shadow the full length of the chapelroom. Four pillars hold the corners of the dome, carved as the Priests of Ostre. The dome itself is blue in colour, but arranged patterns of glass in the metal roof bring an airy sense to the hall.

Communion
Five services are held a year, one of each of the houses along the road that attended the Gathering in the First. These are held on the Day of Gwathredion (January 1st), the Day of Ashildhe (April 15th), the Day of Catherynn (July 6th), the Day of Ombre (September 15th), and the Day of Ulf (November 2nd).

Two additional ceremonies are held here, the first being the Lament of the Empyreans on an arbitrary cold winter night, and the second being the Hopesong Ceremony. The latter of these is also on an arbitrary date, but on a long summer eve, and thus so often occurs on the nightfall after the Day of Catherynn.

Other events may also take place here, such as select weddings and funerals- notably of preists, or people of holy nobility.

The Strongbox
Beneath the altar there is a strongbox without a key. This is rarely known to any but the preists and workers of the chantry.

Description
The box is roughly ten inches by six, and sometimes referred to as a chest, or specifically the Unlockable Chest. It is made of wood, but plated with stone with symbolic engravings on it. Amongst the symbols are a five-armed spiral, a staff, and a beast of some kind, but so basic the engraving is it is impossible to tell what sort of creature. It is grey in colour, and so inconspicuous in its aging and weathering that it once went unnoticed beneath the altar for over a hundred years.

Speculation
There have been many theories of what might be locked inside. The most popular beleif amongst those who know of the box is that it holds a chipping of Ostre's Pillar inside, so council with the Empyrean could be held from within the chantry. Others think it is evil or blasphemous texts that have been locked away, telling perhaps of Lamyras or the vande. Cleric Viggo of the Southborn stated that for something to be locked away like this meant that whatever inside was very valuable, very dangerous, or incriminating toward the person who locked it away, or something that person cared about.