I know that the vast majority of people are far too weak to pass the Test, but I'd still think theyd try to get in and take a look, as it has a divinity granting super-artifact, and is right in the middle of a major city. Imagine if Manhattan had a building with wreckage from an alien spaceship (or something else similarly unique and amazing), and it was common knowledge that it was in there. I'm pretty sure people would be constantly trying to get in and check it out, even if the place was heavily guarded.
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I know that the vast majority of people are far too weak to pass the Test, but I'd still think theyd try to get in and take a look, as it has a divinity granting super-artifact, and is right in the middle of a major city. Imagine if Manhattan had a building with wreckage from an alien spaceship (or something else similarly unique and amazing), and it was common knowledge that it was in there. I'm pretty sure people would be constantly trying to get in and check it out, even if the place was heavily guarded.
Fear is the main reason. Keep in mind that over more than 4000 years, only 4 people have survived to become deities. A LOT of others have tried, and with each new failure (of which there are MANY), the temptation to try for an increasing number of others dwindles.
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I think Yqatuba didn't ask how many attempt to take the test, but how many just take a stroll over one of the remaining bridges just to have a look around inside the cathedral.
The first step for the test is crossing the pit without taking the bridge.
I now too wonder, how many just take the bridge and have a nice day on the steps leading into the cathedral.
I think Yqatuba didn't ask how many attempt to take the test, but how many just take a stroll over one of the remaining bridges just to have a look around inside the cathedral.
The first step for the test is crossing the pit without taking the bridge.
I now too wonder, how many just take the bridge and have a nice day on the steps leading into the cathedral.
But knowing people going there have a tendency to die, who would even just go for a visit. And I doubt that the public does have a lot of real information and not just a lot of rumours.
I imagine in the beginning there were swaths of people who tried.
After thousands, perhaps millions, of people never returned from their attempts it has tamped the desire to try.
Edit: Looks like I misunderstood the question.
Looks like it's more a question of "How come there aren't more tourist trying to visit the Sistine Chapel?"
My response would be, do we have anything that says there aren't?
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Truly you would be amazed how many Parisiens never ever set a foot on the Eiffel Tower.
Or how many people around the world have never set foot in Paris, let alone France.
Despite having air planes and cars to help us get there, instead of walking or riding a horse/donkey.
Sure, some people might have access to teleport to Absalom, but not the average person.
Which isn't to say Absalom doesn't get a lot of visitors, it likely does. But probably much lower ratio of visitors to residents compared to modern cities.
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Truly you would be amazed how many Parisiens never ever set a foot on the Eiffel Tower.Or how many people around the world have never set foot in Paris, let alone France.
Despite having air planes and cars to help us get there, instead of walking or riding a horse/donkey.
Sure, some people might have access to teleport to Absalom, but not the average person.
Which isn't to say Absalom doesn't get a lot of visitors, it likely does. But probably much lower ratio of visitors to residents compared to modern cities.
Even taking that into account, isn't it the biggest city on the planet? The wiki lists the city as having 303,900 residents. That's a lot of people to potentially enter the Cathedral.
Even taking that into account, isn't it the biggest city on the planet? The wiki lists the city as having 303,900 residents.
In PF1 Goka was slightly larger, not sure what the updated PF2 population is.
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Even taking that into account, isn't it the biggest city on the planet? The wiki lists the city as having 303,900 residents. That's a lot of people to potentially enter the Cathedral.Truly you would be amazed how many Parisiens never ever set a foot on the Eiffel Tower.Or how many people around the world have never set foot in Paris, let alone France.
Despite having air planes and cars to help us get there, instead of walking or riding a horse/donkey.
Sure, some people might have access to teleport to Absalom, but not the average person.
Which isn't to say Absalom doesn't get a lot of visitors, it likely does. But probably much lower ratio of visitors to residents compared to modern cities.
"Catherdral! We went to the cathedral for our school trip when we were 10. No I don't want to go to the bloody cathedral. Let go down to the pub an' hav' a pint? Right?"
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A "cathedral" is technically the seat of a diocesian bishop, and a place of worship. I'm not aware of the Starstone Cathedral having either function. Is it actually a cathedral as such?
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A "cathedral" is technically the seat of a diocesian bishop, and a place of worship. I'm not aware of the Starstone Cathedral having either function. Is it actually a cathedral as such?
The rules of that Earth-religion don't apply on Golarion.
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Why call it cathedral when it doesn't function like one?
Because of the connotations. The word "cathedral" carries a lot more meanings beyond the ecclesiastical legal definitions. Languages evolve, and words change meaning over time
It's similar to how proper-noun brand names become common nouns. The specific, patented item name gets extended to all items with similar characteristics. The word "kleenex" is often used in English to mean "tissue" (more exactly, it means 'paper tissue (not biological) that you use to blow your nose').
Similarly, 'cathedral' is often used to mean 'large, architecturally-inspiring building used for worship'. In fact, in 2021, I would expect that very few people understand the ecclesiastical roots of the word, and even fewer limit their usage to just that context. The meaning of the word has expanded well past its original 4th-century usage.
The big issue is the pit. In order to take the test of the Starstone you need to cross the seemingly bottomless pit without taking one of the bridges. There are certainly ways around this, but most people are probably dissuaded from trying do to so due to lack of confidence in whatever scheme they have for crossing the gap.
You know once you get in the building, even if you don't come out with godhood, you might come out rich, but you know what's going to happen if you fall in that pit.
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Is the Starstone Cathedral even a place a worship? For which god? Who is the head priest there (which would answer the question about who is the "bishop")? And how is the testing part of the cathedral separated for the worship part, especially to prevent plundering of the worship part under the guise of a test.
The Starstone itself rests in a massive cathedral perched atop a pillar of rock surrounded by a seemingly bottomless pit. Three bridges cross this expanse, one for each of the Ascendant's faithful. A fourth bridge, corresponding to Aroden and maintained by his aging clergy, crumbled when an earthquake rocked the city [Absalom] a decade ago[4698 AR] and has not been repaired. Seekers of the Starstone must find their own way across these well-guarded spans before risking the legendary dangers of the cathedral itself.
The promise of the Starstone attracts legions of would-be deities, zealous cultists, and desperate followers eager for something to believe in. Every day, pilgrims from around the world visit the great chasm at the center of the district [Ascendant Court]. Some write their wishes and dreams onto pieces of paper they drop into the pit, hoping to send a message directly to the gods. Others hope to catch a vainglorious fool or righteous hero in an attempt to snatch divinity.
The answers to your other questions would be Unrevealed.
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Ixal, in how many threads are people going to have to explain to you that Golarion isn't a simulation of real life medieval Earth? Assuming you're not trolling (a big assumption) you'd think you'd start listening to what other people have to say by now.
Quit sealioning.
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Quit sealioning.
I learnt a new word! (°o°)!
:D
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Well, what other word would you have used to get the same impression to other readers?
Cathedral, though it's used different than the definition is, brings out a certain expectation/picture in a readers mind.
Yes, words have meaning. And sometimes they are used in a way that portraits an object/place/... differently than the words original meaning would suggest, so that others quickly gather an impression.
Even Merriam-Webster has a second definition of the noun cathedral:
something that resembles or suggests a cathedral (as in size or importance)
- a cathedral of business
- the sports cathedral
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Or keep cathedral and make it clear that it functions differently than what people expect when they hear the word cathedral, for example by mentioning that while it has room to hold prayers people are too terrified to actually worship there, preferring to stay on the other side of the chasm and that no faith has claimed ownership over it, so it has been abandoned for millennia.
To the best of my knowledge, the only two places the Starstone Cathedral is explicitly described both do exactly as you ask, i.e. Highlight how it is extremely different from the standard definition of a cathedral. Happily, these descriptions both also answer the original question of the thread.
Although hundreds enter the massive structure every year, and only four are known to have ever won the ultimate prize of divinity, a few brave explorers have escaped the cathedral with their lives—and sometimes vast treasures. Their descriptions make it clear that within the rock and walls of the cathedral, magic doesn’t always work properly, extra-dimensional movement is impossible, and the Cathedral itself regularly changes its configuration, challenges, and guardians.
Shortly after raising the Isle of Kortos, Aroden used his newfound divine power to erect the Starstone Cathedral, a bewildering, ever-changing series of trapped passages and confounding chambers meant to thwart anyone who might follow in his footsteps.
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The word "cathedral" may not be exactly the right word from a pedantic viewpoint, but a big part of writing is poetry and lyricism. Words are chosen as much for their meaning as for what they symbolize and the images and ideas they evoke. The word "cathedral" evokes a grand, sprawling, enormous, amazing work of religious architecture in the mind, and so we chose that word for the Starstone Cathedral.
This type of thing happens All The Time in writing, and that's a good thing, because without it, writing loses what makes it art.
What does happen if someone just walks over one of the three bridges (formerly four bridges) and tries to go in? Is there a part accessible to people who aren't seeking divinity/riches?
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I believe there is a Cathedral Cave an Cathedral Caverns (two different places) in the midwest and southeast of the US. I'm pretty sure neither were used to regularly practice rites. Instead they were named for their size and appearance making them think of such a building. I suspect it is named that because when Aroden raised it up from the sea, that he fashioned it to look like what he would want a cathedral to look like to honor himself when he glanced down at it. Whether it is actually a true building, or just looks like one is certainly a reasonable path of inquiry, but I suspect it looks like what someone might imagine someone might build to honor some deity.
It is perfectly reasonable to get the impression from that that it may be an active religious site for services. And I'm not certain we have gotten an absolutely certain statement that it is or is not in some way. However, I suspect based on James' recent post saying perhaps Cathedral isn't the right Technical name for the contents of the structure in the center of the Starstone Isle, so makes me think it likely isn't used as such.
The question of can mundane souls travel the bridges that appear to exist, and apparently may reportedly be dedicated to those who passed the test. [btw, where is the bridge dedicated to Razmir? Ohhh... that makes sense... it is masked so that only the truly faithful can see it. Obviously my listening to others doubts have so clouded my faith.]
But, it would be useful to know if people can travel across to the center by way of the bridges normally. With the obvious understanding that doing so would fail to fulfil the requirement to cross the pit of their own path/power. It would be interesting to know if there are people there, if they are always wealthy, or affluent, or faithful. Of if it has tons of pickpockets and others ready to live off those with more power and wealth there.
Does anyone live there, or is there something known (or suspected) to happen to people if they try to stay there after crossing a bridge.
Are the bridges symbolic, and not actually capable of holding up a normal individual walking across it? Either illusionary, or constructed purely for appearances and not capable of holding more than its own weight, or sturdy but somehow trapped by mundane, magical, or perhaps mythic means?
What does happen if someone just walks over one of the three bridges (formerly four bridges) and tries to go in? Is there a part accessible to people who aren't seeking divinity/riches?
Wouldn't that be a kicker, just wonder over and "Hey guys, the door just opens right up, who would've guessed?"
I always assumed it just straight doesn't open up for people not attempting the test.
Even if it does open & there's some other mechanism in place preventing someone who used the bridge from passing the test - i.e., even if you get to the stone it doesn't do anything, or the chamber the stone is in only manifests to those who did it the right way, or whatever - I assume all the stuff in there that makes the test so dangerous, be it traps or monsters or whatever is still active even if the test hasn't been started, so you're probably going to get killed.
Here's a question; hypothetically if enough people actually managed to successfully pass the test, they each get their own bridge, what happens when the bridges cover the whole pit? Does the god-rock just run out of juice at that point? Does everyone have to cross over the gap left by Aroden's bridge? Is the only way to take the test to kill off some ascendant gods until enough space is opened up?
I might home brew that as the reason they decided to just take the Starstone out of there & use it to power a space station. Too many people passed the test so no one can do it anymore so we might as well put the rock to some use.