Jiandan Monastery

A famous monastery in the southwest of the island of Dabgach, Jiandan Monastery is home to a band of monks who interpret harmony as the striving for perfection through physical discipline. Their home is a series of interlocking domed building built at the top of a winding track in the hills. Those who travel on this track have reported passing through black shadowy clouds that divest them of all weapons. At the top of the track, sparse gardens surround halls virtually empty of furniture. The monks themselves lead lives of great simplicity, wearing nothing more than loincloths. They seek to transcend the physical world (along with its concerns with morality, ethics, religion and politics) through complete mastery of their bodies and the greatest adepts among them are said to be able to shift their forms into swirls of glowing stars. The monks cannot leave the monastery once they have committed to studying its secrets but visitors in great need may occasionally be granted a gift of tranquillity and harmony.