>The Holy Site has a Doom cast upon it

>painting
Cave paintings.

>>53279560
This is actually a really interesting concept. The setting is supposed to be late Bronze Age tech (with many exceptions, ie steel + cannons/gunpowder in northern superpower, steam-powered city the godly engineer built but is so complex it hasn't been completely reverse-engineered in the hundreds of years its existed, etc) so cave painting would fit in really well. Like the aspect first taught man how to paint on cave walls.

what could a good offering be though? i guess the place could have been equipped over the years to host people's paintings, so people bring their paintings to a massive tunnel and now its just a huge art gallery spanning close to a mile with the paintings of pilgrims of all skill levels, including some that look like they were made by children

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>>53279065
Music could have a holy site up in the mountains that mark the jungle's furthest border. It is the only place truly free of the rain forest's constant den of animal noise. All sound is deliberate and all beautiful.

There are great alp/tibetan horns, massive bronze bells, and great hide drums. All producing music on a massive scale that would be impossible without the mountain range's unique acoustics and purity from noise pollution.

>>53279065

The Muse (music aspect) shrine is a simple altar on a peak surrounded by taller mountains. Because of the geography it has perfect acoustics.

A pilgrim will pray at the altar, listing off how they have helped music flourish in the heart of man. After the prayer they are expected to perform a musical piece at the altar. Music that is pleasing to the deity is said to echo through the mountains for all eternity, and the blessed are known to hear it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwvdAo7VSFo

>>53279065
For the warlord, two things come to mind. The point of art is to create something awe-inspiring, something that causes emotions to rise within the viewer. My first thought was that the warlord used his knowledge to alter the land itself. To defeat an opponent, he used the land in such a way that the effects can still be noticed decades or centuries after.

Alternatively, perhaps he *preserved* something beautiful. A city that would have faced destruction had he not intervened, and now honors him by acting as an artistic hub for the area.

>>53279065
This is a really cool idea, OP, and I wish you the best.

What if at the tapestry site, the acolyte donates a single thread (from his holy garment that indicates his status in the faith? or the blanket he was wrapped in when first born? or a strand of hair from his queue?) to a massive work on a sacred loom that finishes one piece per [sacred unit of time]? But I guess it depends on how much of a big noise the acolyte is supposed to be. Is he an accomplished/famous creator in these arts, on a holy World Tour? Or just a devout making the Hajj?

>>53279814
Pigments for paints, maybe.

>>53281033
>>53280220
I'm gonna combine these ideas. There'll be a monastery in the mountains which maintains the holy site, which is in a small, high-elevation valley with the tibetan horns, massive bronze bells, hide drums, etc which, because of the acoustics of the mountains, can be heard for miles. The offering required will be to perform a musical piece to the best of one's ability. The monks of the monastery are trained to memorize the performances perfectly and they inscribe them as compositions and store them in the monastery. Some of the greatest musicians and composers have performed on this stage with no mortal audience (except the monks, but they're silent observers).

>>53281081
>The point of art is to create something awe-inspiring, something that causes emotions to rise within the viewer

This is something that's really important and didn't occur to me until now. I'm going to keep this in mind in general for this storyline.

I like the idea of him using the land. I think im gonna research greatest military tactics ever used and legends of war gods and see if i can combine something

>>53281127
I really, really like this idea. The tapestry was started by the avatar of tapestry himself. I'm gonna say that the offering seen as acceptable depends on status in life: for the wealthy or the clergy, a thread of their finest garment is customary. Merchants/middle class are expected to purchase and bring a strand of fine silk. Everyone else is expected to bring a thread from something of great personal value (this is accepted from higher classes, but higher class people tend to compete to see who can bring forth the most lavish/expensive silk and to not compete is seen as somewhat faux pas.)

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>>53284800
If you're thinking about "war altering the land", there's a few examples IRL, but they might be more the engineer's speed - the siege of Masada and the siege of Tyre.

In the latter, before Alexander the Great, Tyre was an island. After Alexander the Great, it was a peninsular - he couldn't take it by sea, so he built a causeway up to the walls.


The war temple could be wall (might require the engineering one to be less militant, like a dam/irrigation system or something) or fort at some dangerous border, and the tribute you offer is a Watch - you have to man the walls, or support the monk-knights that do so (so a child might just be taking a waterskin around the soldiers)