Monk’s Monasteries

Taken from Forgotten Realms

Monasteries always incorporated a temple and living quarters as part of their design. They were often walled in and usually had some means of sustaining themselves, such as a farm, sheep pastures, or by cultivating mushrooms in caverns. They also typically had some means of supporting themselves monetarily, such as a mill or tannery, producing goods they could sell to generate income.

These communities were places of learning and strength, offering inhabitants peace and isolation from the outside world so they could achieve inner perfection. To this end, inhabitants could receive religious instruction and in some cases harsh training in martial arts, learning how to be skilled at fighting without the use of armor and weapons.

Those who dwell in monasteries are most typically monks or monastic priests but other types of scholars and followers tend to gather as well. They would live on site for years at a time or for the rest of their lives. However, monasteries were also open to anyone who required advice, assistance, or shelter. And in some Nations, monasteries in peaceful areas were often seen as a fashionable place of retirement by emperors, nobles, noble widows, and samurai. The number of people who lived at a monastery varied, but it could go as high as over three thousand people.

Those who lived in monasteries did so under a strict regimen of routine rituals and prayer. They also worked to advance the influence and wealth of their faith's priesthood. Though monasteries devoted to evil deities would often selfishly hoard knowledge and wealth for their own order's use.