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- Kacan Moraphis, Chief Abbot, Monastery of the 36th Order, Katapesh
Chartered Company
Name: the Nettles
Ideology (taken from the Monastery of the 36th Order):
- There are two aspects to everything, the Internal and the External.
- All may be born to good or evil internally, but it is their external actions that make them Good or Evil.
- The 36th Order chooses Good as the Life Internal and Order as the Life External.
- Patience and serenity are the weapons to be used against the Evil Internal, the evil intent that lives inside the heart.
- Actions and example are the weapons to be used against the Evil External, the evil actions committed against the world by those of the Evil Internal.
External (Commercial) Purpose: gathering, processing, and selling herbs and plant materials; exploring new areas for the discovery of new herbal and plant resources.
Internal Purpose: to follow the Ideology of the 36th Order and to (either directly or indirectly) support and defend those people who choose to make a stand against the Evil External.
Alignment: lawful good
External Motto: Strength in Gathering
Internal Motto: Candles in the Night
Member Alignments: LG, NG, CG
Member roles: any as long as they follow the ideology of the 36th Order, but more monks from the 36th Order would be helpful
Tactics:
1) Charter the Nettles in a settlement.
2) Spread the word that the Nettles will come to the aid of any who need help in the wilds.
3) Recruit or hire enough members so that gathering expeditions can operate as follows:
- when a call for help is received two or three members go to investigate leaving the rest to continue gathering/exploring in the local area (this is to insure that if the call is a trap the remaining team can defend the expedition),
- if the scouts find a legitimate call for help has been sent they will call for backup while they begin engagement with the situation,
- a subset of the gathering/exploring party go to join the scouts in their efforts, still leaving some members to guard the gathering/exploring party property and hirelings,
- if necessary the Nettles will take the victims under their wing until they can be returned to the settlement.
4) As the Nettles become more profitable, establish operating structures within the settlement to do the following:
- to act as a secure base for the rest and training of Nettles members,
- to be a known local for anyone in need to come for help and guidance,
- to be the store for selling herbs and materials gathered,
- to be a known location where clients may hire the Nettles for specific herbal related tasks
- as a place for crafting objects needed in their stand against the Evil External.
5) At the appropriate time build a new structure in the wild to serve as a monastery.
6) Expand the monastery into a settlement.
7) Create new teams to spread out into the wild.
8) Repeat.
Harad Navar, brother, Monastery of the 36th Order
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Goblin Squad Member
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@Harad Navar, nice to see you get this posted. I also liked your video question.
I've added your Guild to the Guild Recruitment & Helpful Links list. If you have a brief description you'd like to appear there to let people know about your guild while they're browsing that list, just PM me or post a clear request here.
Also, The Seventh Veil welcomes you to the community, and extends an offer of Diplomatic Outreach. (Note, this is not an offer for Alliance, just a way to open formal channels for private discussions.)
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Goblin Squad Member
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Why the Nettles and not the Monastery of the 36th Order?
1) I didn’t think that there would be all that many monk skill tract players.
2) Some people may not want to be herb gatherers. If others want to follow the Ideology of the 36th Order, they can create their own chartered companies with their own flavor of commerce. If several companies following the 36th Order’s values are successful, then they could form a charter for a settlement with a greater depth of resources than a single company.
3) If this catches on there will be valid reason for forming the 36th Order as its own charter at a later date.
Why the name 36th Order?
It is homage to an old Shaw Brothers film about a monk who wants to teach martial arts to the masses to help them fight oppression and tyranny.
Why the name Nettles?
Stinging nettles can both defend themselves and are valuable for folk remedies. Some insects use the stinging nettles as protection from insectivores. If I called them the "Stinging Nettles" it would sound too much like a middle school football team.
What is all this “internal” and “external stuff?
I have not been following the thread on Alignment, but it is obvious that almost every action in PFO will have some impact on alignment. It also seems that (from my reading of the threads) there is no great upwelling of evangelistic tendencies. I take this to mean that players do not care to change the heart of other players, just respond to their actions. This is the view I tried to built into the Ideology. For me the good/evil axis refers to the inner values of a character, that which defines who they are (the Life Internal). I take the lawful/chaotic axis to refer to how the PC interacts with the rest of the world (the Life External). In other words lawful/chaos describes how well they play with others. If we have no interest in changing another character’s heart, then we have to focus on their actions and judge them by what they do and not by who they are.
Why chose these tactics when in the wild?
I have seen a number of posts that reflect the altruism of mature MMO players in other games toward newcomers. I find this a worthy goal for play. I have tried to position the Nettles to be a structure for this. However, advertising that you will come to the aid of strangers in the wild is an open call to be lead into an ambush, either of those responding or of a gathering expedition left unprotected. My hope is for the tactics to not make “lawful good” synonymous with “lawful stupid”.
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Goblin Squad Member
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Greetings Harad Navar. Let me be the second to greet you (I must learn what arcane secrets Nihimon uses to always be the first diplomat to encounter others!). Know that the Keepers of the Circle are of a very similar mind to your tenents. As such, I hope that you will consider us in your plans for monastic communities along the Crusader Road. Should you wish to pursue diplomatic relations with the Keepers, please feel free to visit our Chancery at any time.
Erian El'ranelen, Warden of Gold
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Goblin Squad Member
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Additional Ideas about Tactics
Until the mechanics for formation combat are instanced in the game the Nettles will undertake to create some specific formation maneuvers. These maneuvers will be initiated by shouted calls of code words and will not necessarily have a leader.
Example: Chak-la
When gathering expedition scouts or point persons need assistance or become involved in a combat situation that requires backup, they will shout out "Chak-la" followed by a direction from the main group. As it will be predetermined which subset of characters are on response duty, these characters will immediately move toward the direction called with weapons ready to provide assistance. In a city setting it will be a rallying cry for all Nettles to move toward the call to give assistance.
Other tactics for offense and defense will be developed, each with their own unique call. Granted, this information may become common knowledge and be used to draw the Nettles into an ambush. We will have backup calls (developed when the guild formalizes) to cover this event.
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Goblin Squad Member
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Greetings to you noble monks and the Company of Nettles! I am The Wyldethorne, and I would like to introduce myself as an Ambassador of The Kingdom of Aeternum and offer to establish Diplomatic Ties, if that be your desire. I sincerely hope to establish friendly and prosperous relations with you, our neighbors. Good day, and Well Met!
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Goblin Squad Member
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Greetings Harad Navar of the 36th Order of the Nettles.
As the duly appointed representative of the Pax Mercatorum I would like to inform you that our merchants and our markets would be glad to help you move your product to happy consumers across the Crusader Road region.
-theStormWeaver,
Oligarch of the Pax Mercatorum
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Goblin Squad Member
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Well, it's a long time to early enrollment and sometimes intellectual speculation of game mechanics gets a little old. I am a story-geek, after all. But it occurs to me that I'm asking characters to join the Nettles pretty much blind. Also, how am I to expect players to judge if I am role playing the Harad character appropriately if they do not know who Harad Navar is? To try and address both of these issues I will be posting here journal entries on Harad's journey from his home in Katapesh to the River Kingdoms. I will also be posting journal entries from some of the characters he meets along the way. I know for some writing background is not their favorite thing. So, if any of these other characters appeal to you PM me and lets talk about your playing them yourself.
For convention I will be posting in character entries in italics to make the difference between player and character clearer.
My family has farmed pesh outside the city of Solku in western Katapesh for many generations. That would have been my fate, too, except for Mulan Suul, our village blacksmith. I can remember Mulan from the first time my mother took me to market. I was fascinated by the way he moved with an effortless grace with no wasted motions, slow and deliberate. When he would train with the village guard for the inevitable gnoll attack he never seemed to be still, but never in a hurry. If a load was about to topple, his hand was there to steady the load. If someone was about to stumble he would seem always to be there to warn them, to show them the safer way. But the most wonderful way he moved was when he fought.
When I was 8, I sneaked out of the house during a gnoll attack to watch the battle. Mulan seemed to dance through the attacking gnolls as if he was at a festival. Striking here, throwing there, taking their weapons and laughingly throwing them away. It was as if he knew everything they would do before they did it. And always he would offer them a chance to leave. They never did, and with a sad smile he would strike them down in the same dancing way he struck hot iron on his anvil.
One day when I was 9 and out working the pesh fields with my father and brothers my father asked if I was happy in the fields. I told him, “No, this was not what I want. I want to be like Mulan.” Well, one day Mulan came to our home and talked to my father, and then he came to talk to me. That was the day I became his apprentice at the blacksmith shop.
For the next 5 years he taught me about iron and its working. Every morning after we prayed to Sarenrae he would lead me in exercises. "We must prepare the body and mind to work as we prepare the iron to be worked”. At the end of each day we did different exercises and meditations, "We must quench the body and the mind like the iron is quenched after it is worked.” In the spring of my 15th year, when I was expected to take my place with the village guard when needed, Mulan started to teach me how to fight.
That was when I learned he was a monk. I had never heard of a fighting monk before. I had always thought monks were just want-to-be priests. He showed me how his order focused their bodies to maximize their abilities. We spared with the new weapons he taught me to make. He showed me how to disarm my opponent, how to trip or throw them. He taught me how to sunder a sword. He also taught me about dividing my life to be both participate in and observer of the things happening around me. It was like I was inside my body and yet, not inside it at the same time. The Life External and the Life Internal he called it. Then the day came, as it always did, when the gnolls attacked.
I had never been more scared as we fought side by side through those snarling, slavering, smelly beasts. He called to me to focus my mind, to remember my purpose, but above all to offer mercy. I thought I was going to be alright, even killing two gnolls, until I found myself facing the gnoll chief. I could not seem to move fast enough or strike hard enough to do anything against a creature twice my size. When I knew that he was about to strike me dead, Mulan was suddenly there, sundering the beast’s scimitar. He turned a death blow into a serious wound, but I don’t remember anything after that. They say that three times Mulan offered the gnoll chief the chance to be spared if he and his tribe would renounce their path and leave the village in peace. Afterwards all Mulan would say was he was grateful to the gnoll chief for providing the skin for the village’s new and much larger forge bellows.
Once I was recovered Mulan told me he had reached the limit of what he could teach me. He arranged for my passage back to his home monastery as a guard for a nagri salt caravan going to the city of Katapesh. He gave me a letter of introduction for Kacan Moraphis, the chief abbot of the Monastery of the 36th Order. The Abbot took me into their order as an acolyte and assigned my training to their herbalist. For the next 3 years I learned all that they taught, but I found a special liking for the lore of healing herbs, the lore of poison antidotes, and the making of medicines.
In the years after I took my vows as a full monk I traveled across the eastern parts of Katapesh gathering herbs for the monastery. One year, when I was to travel to the Vargus Swamp, I was assigned as a guide to a visiting monk/healer from Jalmeray who was looking for some rare herbs and plants. He was accompanied by his daughter and a number of monk guards. We found many of the plants he was seeking, but his daughter wanted to visit the Sleeping Dove Shrine that was between the swamp and Sulku. As I had made that trip several times visiting my home, I agreed to guide them there.
There was a young female monk in the party who was a companion to the healer’s daughter. Her name was Quzon Mal and she was originally from Qadira. We spared often before we left the swamp, and eventually engaged in several vigorous comparisons of other techniques after our sparing sessions. As my old master would have said, "We needed to quench our bodies after being worked." The night the party camped at the Sleeping Dove Shrine, after an extremely through comparison, I was visited by a dream. A winged creature of light said to me, “In a land veined in rivers you are to be a light on a dark road.” It is said that dream visions while at the shrine were holy messages from Sarenrae, but I know that not everything is as it seems. I was concerned that this, while certainly mystic, may not have been holy. My family has been pesh growers for generations and I know about drug induced dreams. It filled me with an unease I could not dispel.
I was equally troubled about my time with Quzon, my Sweet Comparator. Our time together had been most pleasant, but it, too, may not have been all that it seemed. You learn a lot of unspoken things about someone with whom you spend a lot of time sparing. I knew that she was trying to understand my monastery’s techniques as I was trying to understand hers. Even though we both wanted the rewards of our closeness, I wasn't sure I could trust her. I know that her Life External matched my own, but there is some shadow on her Life Internal. I believe that she is undecided about her inner life; that she might be at a crossroads. I am drawn to her, but I fear she may choose a different path than my own.
After seeing my charges back to their lodgings near the monastery I sought out Abbot Moraphis and told him of my dream. Over the next few days he had me see a number of sages in Katapesh to try and unravel its meaning. The Jalmeray party (and Quzon) left for their island during that time. I see now that the Abbot was wiser than I knew, for not only did I finally have a partial understanding of the dream’s meaning, but I had also been too busy to over-think my relationship with Quzon. He always has shown me the value of the Life Divided.
The sages seemed sure that my vision most likely referred to the Crusader Road in the River Kingdoms. The Abbot commissioned me as H’gar, which means Lone Candle, and sent me to follow wherever my vision might lead. Being H’gar was an opportunity I did not think I would acquire for many years yet. Our monastery blended the teachings of Irioni and Sarenrae, but its foundation was the idea that we had to take our teachings out among the people rather than just conserve them in cloister. He said that I would know when I needed to return to the monastery, but he did not think he would see me again. I left with his blessing and with sorrow.
I first returned to my family near Solku to say goodbye. My father told me that while I was not destined to follow in our family tradition, they were still proud of me. He gave me the inheritance he had been saving for my return, a block of specially refined pesh. He said that my healing arts would know how to use this. "And, besides, if you get into a tight place in distant land, this will be worth more than gold.” I carefully rapped the block for travel so that no scent would reveal its contents. I knew that there were countries where use of pesh is not considered appropriate and I did not want to tempt the week with its worth.
My mother also had a gift for me. She had made a beaded turban like those that the vendors ware in the marketplace. “You may be a monk but you are also of Katapesh. We are the greatest traders in the world and I can’t have you gallivanting all over Golarion and not look like where you are from.” She had taught me much of the skills of trade while I was still too young to be left behind when she went to market. I will always remember those times when I look at it or ware it.
Finally I paid my farewell respects to my first teacher, Mulan Suul. He blessed me and gave back to me the smithing tools he had help me make. “There is a time for being a monk, and time for being a person, and a person needs to make a living”, he said. He also gave me his copy of the Abbot's Commentaries, the book that defines our core teachings. “I have not been able to bring the light to many using this, but I knew that you will.” I had not known that he had a copy like this for it was in the Abbott’s own handwriting.
So with the symbols of my past and of my present I left my village to find my future, to become a Light against the Darkness in a place that I could not see and did not know. My first journey would be to Qudira where there were many wise in the ways of Sarenrae who might help me learn more about my vision. I was not in agreement with how they used Sarenrae’s teachings as an excuse for their expansionist viewpoint. I would have to take special care to learn their laws and customs so I can travel without giving offense through ignorance.
I will travel there by way of Jalmaray, where I can learn about Qudira, and hopefully see Quzon again. I must try to see where her heart truly sits. If she has chosen a Life Internal that matches mine I will ask her to come with me on my quest. If not, then I can complete that experience to leave my heart open for another.
Next, "The Road to Qudira". Where are Bob and Bing when you need them?
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Goblin Squad Member
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LOL, in many ways you are describing one of my character concepts for my Destiny's Twin...
I was going to have, and may still have, a Monk / Druid (LN) type character that will "Walk the Earth, Like Kane" and gathers and crafts herbal remedies and such. He would also be my explorer, always on the move, traveling from place to place and helping people in the small settlements and wilderness.
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Goblin Squad Member
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The principles of the Nettles are based on those from the 36th Order. These are defined in Commentaries, written by Chief Abbot Kacan Moraphis. Here are some excerpts from that text.
Commentaries on Light and Darkness
The 36th Order follows the teachings of both Irori and Sarenrae. We feel each represents one aspect of each of us as living beings. Irori teaches us that order is the way to enlightenment for our life within society. Sarenrae teaches us that goodness is the way to enlightenment for our life within ourselves.
Light and darkness are inseparable; one cannot exist without the other. We sometimes find ourselves defining one as the absence of the other. By this circular logic alone we can see their interconnection. If you cannot define one without the other, are they not one?
For the 36th Order we have chosen to see life as an example of the connectedness of darkness and light. If the darkness and the light are two sides of one thing, then we can say that each life is divided between two things, the internal and the external. Our external life is the interaction between ourselves and the world and beings around us. Our internal life is our interaction between our souls and the life of the gods.
Irori teaches us about the Life external. Discipline and training make our physical selves better, brings us closer to wholeness. We believe that the rule of law within society does the same thing for society. The climbing rose is only at its full glory when it has a trellis to support it. The trellis does not strangle the rose or choke its beauty. The trellis gives the rose the strength it does not have naturally to become the best it can be. For the rose great freedom exists within the trellis to be many things. We do not say it is wrong for the society to grow without boundaries. We believe that the boundary of law makes society stronger, gives it the strength to grow and prosper.
Sarenrae teaches us about the Life Internal. She fought the great darkness Rovagug for the good of all beings. She has shown us that mercy and might are not incompatible. She shows us that sometimes we deny ourselves so we can help others; that the feelings and welfare of others are as important to us as our own well being. We train to fight by mastering the impact of our bodies and the weapons we wield. We must also train to be merciful and give our opponents the change to choose a different path. Everyone is responsible for their choices and the consequences of those choices. If those who stand against us and those we protect choose not to change, then the consequences of their actions are their own. But we must always remember that if we cannot show mercy to others, we will soon find it impossible to show mercy to ourselves.
“A bonfire keeps back the darkness in only one place; a thousand candles can keep back the darkness anywhere.”
This is the founding principle of the 36th Order. Many years ago in the Mwangi Expanse I met a Gray Traveler who taught me an important lesson about people. He said, “Some believe it is only great power that can hold evil in check. But that is not what I have found. I have found that it is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love.” It is from this that our founding principle is made.
Every day, every moment, we make choices. Rarely do single choices have lasting impact on the Life Internal or the Life External. It is the small choices, made over and over again, that alter who we are. Occasionally great heroes take down great evil, but the common people must confront evil every day. How we make those small choices has a greater impact on evil then the defeat of a single great evil. Great evil must be fought and great heroes do that. But we of the 36th Order fight on a different battlefield. We fight for the heart, one heart at a time. Through example we show people how to stand against those small acts of evil, of darkness. Through being with the people and not simply being in our cloistered monasteries we can bring light to confront the darkness wherever it may be.
There are those of us who teach and keep the source of light burning; these are the H’chani. There are those who must take their candles out into the darkness; these are the H’gar. The goal of our order is to send out candle after candle into the darkness, among the people, to teach them how to light their own lives as a light against darkness.
“Reason can explain the darkness, but it is not a light.”
How many times have you found that you know what you should do, but do not do it? We can teach the principles of Sarenrae, extol the rightness of good, and people will still do evil acts. We may fully understand why dark actions are taken, but it is only when we act as light will those acts of darkness be checked.
It is not enough for you to teach against the darkness. You must be a light. Let who you are be reflected in the actions that you do. Your words are worthless; your actions are not. Talking about the light is of less value than being a light.
“When you wield light to fight darkness you cast darkness behind you.”
Light and darkness are one; you cannot have one without the other. Every time you light a candle to dispel the darkness in front of you, you always create darkness behind you. Whenever you use light in the Life External to fight evil, you will have blindness behind you where darkness can renew itself. Many times we ignore the darkness we bring with ourselves for the sake of fighting the darkness that confronts us.
However, when you make your light from the Life Internal, there is no “you” to cast a shadow. It is not enough to use light against the darkness. You must be the light. There is no shadow within a candle flame. Be a light in everything you undertake so you do not become the source of more darkness.
“If you want to defeat an enemy, become them, and be defeated.”
Some people have thought that this is similar to the teaching of other ways which tell you that to defeat an enemy you must know your enemy. While that is true, that is not what is being said. Fighting evil can be frustrating. There seems to be so much darkness that your small light seems hopeless. Evil can sometimes seem to have all the advantages. Evil does not have to behave with your rules or code of honor. At times it seems that its tactics cannot be overcome with our own. It can be so tempting to convince ourselves that there must be some way we can use their ways to fight them without giving up our principles. This is the surest way to fail.
I have found that using your enemy’s tactics and methods, regardless of your motives and beliefs, will only lead you to be so like your enemy that people will eventually not see the difference. By using their techniques you will inevitably become them. Once you do, you will have destroyed the person you were and your cause will have been defeated. You cannot fight darkness with darkness. It only creates a deeper dark. Be a light to bring light to the darkness. Spread light to others so the darkness is weakened. Take away that which casts darkness from your light and deprive the darkness ways for it to grow. Believe in the light. Believe in yourself.
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Goblin Squad Member
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Qiang Tian Zsu is a Human Monk, born of Samsaran parents. He was born and raised in the Zi Ha province of the Tian Xia continent.
Although not a Samsaran himself, Qiang Tian Zsu shares the racial beliefs of his parents. Lacking their racial ability to recall the lessons and failings of previous incarnations, Qiang Tian Zsu still holds to the ideals of living a balanced and enlightened life. He strives to achieve that balance through introspection, scholarship and in the worshiping of the deity Irori.
The main focus of Qiang Tian Zsu’s path in life is to take the realities of being the offspring of Samsarans and blending them with the teachings of Irori. It is by following this path, that he believes he will reach his ultimate goal, to be reincarnated as a Samsaran child. Both the social and religious belief systems combine to produce the following dogma:
• Live free of ambition and greed
• Attaining physical and mental self- perfection
• Cleansing One’s body and mind through diet, meditation, scholarly study and reflection
• Possessing inner strength of will and strength of body
• Offering kindness and healing for the benefit of those who need it most
As is the cultural norm among the Samsaran, with human offspring, Qiang Tian Zsu’s parents had sent him to live among humans. He was to be raised by a kindly merchant of herbal remedies, living in Dogul-Jong . Much to Qiang Tian Zsu’s surprise and pleasure, Master Tian-Fe was a Monk, formerly of a monastery dedicated to Irori. Master Tian-Fe was also a devotee to the “Way of Kirin”, a warrior sect deeply immersed in international trade, treaties and politics.
It was during the 12 years, from age 5 to age 17, that Qiang Tian Zsu would learn the profession of gathering herbs and making herbal remedies. He was also trained as a Monk, and dedicated himself to following the teachings of Irori. At the age of 17 his master had told him he must go out into the world, and make a difference in the lives of others. It was through Master Tian-Fe’s former contacts, still with the fractured “Way of Kirin”, that Qiang Tian Zsu found his way on a ship headed to the far off lands to the west.
In these new lands, he hopes to attain a balanced and enlightened life. Perhaps even accomplishing his ultimate goal of reaching self-perfection within this lifetime.
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Goblin Squad Member
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The principles of the Nettles are based on those from the 36th Order. These are defined in Commentaries, written by Chief Abbot Kacan Moraphis. Here are some excerpts from that text.
[i]Commentaries on Light and Darkness
The 36th Order follows the teachings of both Irori and Sarenrae. We feel each represents one aspect of each of us as living beings. Irori teaches us that order is the way to enlightenment for our life within society. Sarenrae teaches us that goodness is the way to enlightenment for our life within ourselves.Light and darkness are inseparable; one cannot exist without the other. We sometimes find ourselves defining one as the absence of the other. By this circular logic alone we can see their interconnection. If you cannot define one without the other, are they not one?
For the 36th Order we have chosen to see life as an example of the connectedness of darkness and light. If the darkness and the light are two sides of one thing, then we can say that each life is divided between two things, the internal and the external. Our external life is the interaction between ourselves and the world and beings around us. Our internal life is our interaction between our souls and the life of the gods.
[ICC]Abbot Moraphis,
If light and darkness can not be separate and the only constant is order, than shouldn't the 36th Order seek to balance the various external interactions while maintaining a steadfast adherence to its internal beliefs?
Is not darkness and evil the same? If they are, than should your goal not be to "Make a stand" against evil, but to show evil a different path? They may or may not choose that path, but only when not chosen will the light internal have need to end the darkness external.
If you guide all to the light internal, and bring about an end to the darkness external, do you not bring about your own end?[ close ICC]
External (Commercial) Purpose: gathering, processing, and selling herbs and plant materials; exploring new areas for the discovery of new herbal and plant resources.
Internal Purpose: to follow the Ideology of the 36th Order and to (either directly or indirectly) support and defend those people who choose to make a stand against the Evil External.
Alignment: lawful good
External Motto: Strength in Gathering
Internal Motto: Candles in the Night
Member Alignments: LG, NG, CG
Member roles: any as long as they follow the ideology of the 36th Order, but more monks from the 36th Order would be helpful
Not sure how this works, within the proposed settlement alignment system, but more importantly within your stated ideology.
The Nettles / 36th Order as a settlement can not include Chaotic Good, it being two-steps from Lawful Good.
Considering the 36th Order's belief that light and darkness are both dependent parts of the whole person, internal and external, than shouldn't the alignment of the Order and or the settlement be Lawful Neutral?
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Goblin Squad Member
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Qiang Tian Zsu,
The duality of light and darkness is not limited to the concept of good and evil. It is also applicable to the duality of order and chaos. Order is not a constant. Sometimes one can not stand at the fulcrum to maintain balance. Sometimes one must move toward one thing to counteract an existing imbalance with another.
Abbot Vardon Sul, my abbot when I became a monk, thought along the lines you proposed, balance between good and evil within the structure of order [LN] and only venerated Irori. Abbot Sul's monastery was in Cheliax before the House of Thrune made their pact with devil-kind. Once that was done Abbot Sul realized that he had to make a choice in order to be at peace (have inner balance) within him self. He chose to make a personal stand against evil. For this he lost his life and the monastery. As monks we know that our stand for order is necessary for the study of our discipline, for both our life external and our life internal. Order is a requirement for us. We can not be who we are as monks without order of both body and mind. But choices of the soul, our choices of good or evil, are personal choices, solely choices for the life internal.
I was a young H'gar at the time our monastery in Cheliax was destroyed. As I traveled and followed my abbot's teachings I began looking for other H'gar who escaped the monastery's destruction. Along the way I have found that my own inner peace, my inner balance, is aided by also venerating Sarenrae. This is what I teach my own monks now that I am abbot of the new 36th Order monastery we built in in Katapesh.
Abbot Sul taught me that repeated action develops a momentum, a predisposition to continue in the path that actions create. He taught that first the momentum must be brought to rest before new actions can create a course that will hold true under its own momentum. As followers of both Irori and Sarenrae we offer mercy to the darkness, but we first must stop it long enough for it to have a chance to listen and make a choice for change.
I do not believe that we, or any other walker in light, will ever be able to bring an end to darkness. All we can do is see that light and darkness have a chance to remain in balance. Therefore I do not believe that we will make an end of ourselves. But discourse and new opinions are always welcome in our order. May I suggest that you may better see our beliefs in action by traveling with Harad Navar, my newest H'gar. He left for the River Kingdoms a few months ago but intended to stop in Qadira by way of Jalmeray. You may still be able to catch up with him in Katheer. He is our newest light.
May Sarenrae light and bless the path that Irori lays before you.
Abbot Kacan Moraphis, 36th Order, Katapesh
OOC PS
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Goblin Squad Member
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Life is a cycle. After saying goodbye to my family and village I found myself returning to Katapesh on the same nagi salt caravan as when I left seven years ago. It was still run by Bagu Rathan and his sons and it was good to reacquaint myself with them. The journey would have been uneventful except for a strange group of Mwangi women traveling with the caravan.
Three Mwangi women who seemed to be of the Mauxi tribe (tall, over 6 ft, with gray-skin, cloaked in flowing silks with silk turbans) were traveling with two male servants. I took them to be monks by the way they moved. When they thought they were being watched they tried to appear clumsy and not very bright. When they thought themselves unobserved they moved with purpose, grace, and power just as a monk might move. I was at first suspicious of their motivations, but I soon realized that I needed to learn that same skill. I do not know where my travels will take me on my road to the River Kingdoms and at some point it may be necessary to be inconspicuous. I began to covertly observe their actions and after a few days I tried to start a conversation. Every time I tried one of the women would call them away from me. I had not seen them fight so I was still unsure of their style.
I decided not to press the issue with them after the caravan was attacked by dire bats one night. The three women simply stood still and shot points of light at the bats, seemingly from their eyes. I did not see or hear any signs of them casting magic. The bats dropped to the ground very quickly; they let none escape. I asked Bagu about what had happened but he simply made a sign against the evil eye and would say nothing. I decided to choose discretion over curiosity.
On arriving at my old monastery I began to make my plans to travel to Jalmeray and from there to Qadira. I tried to see the old sage who deciphered my Sarenrae vision about the River Kingdoms but I was told that he had died a few days before, found in his bed apparently killed by a poisonous snake. I am sorry the old scholar was gone for I found him helpful and kind. So, without learning anything further about my vision I went to the docks to book my passage to Jalmeray.
I found passage on a cargo ship bound for Niswan, the Jalmeray capital. The sea was both mesmerizing and frightening at the same time. While I had been in Katapesh I had watched the Obari Ocean many times but had never sailed on it. The waves seemed like living dunes crawling and pulsing in a disturbing way. The sailors made homage to Gozreh to keep those eerie mounds from swallowing our ship, except for when they were trying to steal my purse. I had to administer healing to one poor soul who was overly persistent. The tip of his nose seemed to have gotten sheared off.
When I landed in Jalmeray I went to look up Furan Zauusa, the monk healer I guided to the Vargus Swamp. He suggested that should I come to inspect the progress of the seedlings and cuttings we had collected. Much to my dismay Quzon Mal, my Sweet Comparator, was no longer with his household. His daughter Sajna told me that Quzon had left Katapesh before them to return to Qadira alone. I can’t believe that I missed her while I was seeing my family. My only hope now was to somehow find her in Qadira and finally see if we could be together. Sajna shared with me the things she remembered Quzon saying about herself, so I was not completely without clues on where she might be.
Furan was kind enough to hire me as a guard for his agents on a mission to Katheer, the capital of Qadira, to sell some of his more rare ointments. I had been in Jalmeray three months and was looking forward to walking the next branch of my path. The first part of my journey, however, took us to Sedeq to make the final payment to a geniebinder for the use of a dijini for his monastery. I was familiar with the slave markets of Katapesh, but Sedeq was something altogether different.
In Katapesh slaves were a commodity and that commodity was labor, both skilled and unskilled. There are rules of trade that were acknowledged and followed, and if they weren’t the slavers were punished because to break those rules was to devalue the commodity and to devalue trade. In Sedeq, that commodity was not labor, but people. People were property to be maximized for value and return on investment and in Qadira they only saw slaves as a short term investment. Breaking persons for short term return is an acceptable practice there, but it was the law of their land and I could do nothing. When the ship left Sedeq for Katheer I was relieved, but my thoughts and sleep were troubled for many days. I began to question if even the causally benign way slaves were treated in my home city was contrary to the teachings of Sarenrae.
Eventually we made our way north along the coast past the Meraz Desert, the Zho Mountains, and the Kertz Desert to the mouth of the Pashman River. There I boarded a large dhow for the trip up river to Katheer. I was truly impressed for they say that Katheer is older than Katapesh. I don’t believe that, of course. My mother would hit me with a pesh pan if I had said that to her. We were able to negotiate a very favorable deal for the ointments and the agents left for the return trip to Jalmeray. I now began my search both for Quzon and for the investigation of the martial arts of Qadira.
When sparing with Quzon I had noticed she would mix large circles of defense with smaller circles of attack. This was an effective technique against swords and was better than the techniques I had learned for fighting gnolls. Even so, she could not overcome my techniques of locks and throws. The more I thought about those sparing techniques (and the more I thought of her) I realized that I could pattern medium circles of defense on her larger ones and combine them with medium circles of attack to enhance my monastery’s locking and throwing techniques.
I began to practice this new combination in secret until I realized that I needed to learn more about the techniques of other styles to make sure my new Passing Hand style would be effective. I had visited several of the lesser monasteries in Jalmaray, but nothing I saw was like Quzon’s style there. While in Qadira I was able to spare with a number of monks from different styles without revealing my new techniques, and so was able to make some improvements.
My most interesting experience in Qadira was with the Dervishes of Sarenrae. I met several while in Katheer and actually was invited to study with one of them, Varnash ab’Farr. The dervish scimitar style is almost exactly the way my mentor taught me to fight. I had many splended sessions Varnash and he gave me a parting gift to remember the dervish, a pair of pointed-toe shoes. They aren’t very practical but they are very comfortable. If I were to become a merchant in the River Kingdoms they will go very well with the beaded turban my mother made for me.
I had been in Qadira two months and still had not followed the leads I had to find Quzon Mal. I am unsure about my reluctance, but I needed to move on toward the River Kingdoms and I could no longer delay my search for her. The results left me ill at ease. Every lead I followed, information Quzon told others about her life, lead me to more questions. The town she said she was from did not exist. The places her family had lived when they were in Qadira either did not exist or the people there knew nothing of her or her family. Every scrap of information I had was empty and meaningless. It became clear that she was not who she had seemed, and I began to doubt if any of our feelings expressed on that trip to the Vargus Swamp were real.
At least I now knew that I need not worry about what might have been. My plan now is to travel to Cassomir in Taldor to begin my trek up the Sullen River. I have enough funds left to book passage to Oppara. Once there I will make a determination of my next path, either by sea along the coast or overland. At least I have my memories of her and our quenching, and I have not been side tracked from the mystery of my vision.
Next: The Road to Cassomir
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Goblin Squad Member
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Harad Navar (title unknown)has been featured in Gobbocast #11 "The Man Behind the Monk" and I strongly recommend that you listen to the wisdom that flows within his words.
His thoughts on how to create a Monk, within a system without Monks, is a blueprint for creating the class concepts that many of us hold, even if we are limited to the four archtypes for the foreseeable future.
I also draw your attention to his posts regarding stand alone building structures in the wilderness hexes, or if forts can be "skinned" to appear to be monasteries.
I support this man in his efforts, not only to advance the concept of Monks in PFO, but in advancing the community of PFO as a whole.
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Goblin Squad Member
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The meaning of my name....
"Qiang Tian" literally means "Wall of Heaven" in the Tian language. There is also a geographic feature (Mountain Range) of that same name.
It is often that travelers, especially those who wish to leave something of their family connections behind, often name themselves after geographic features.
"Zsu" comes from the "Zsu Zsu's petals", from the movie "It's a Wonderful Life". The petals in the movie represent a restored hope in having a second chance to make things right in life.
Combining the two results in "Wall of Heaven and Restored Hope". Taking this as the central purpose in my character's "being", he will be Lawful Good.
However, based on navar's podcast interview, and his view of slavery in the River Kingdoms, I have a slight disagreement with him as it pertains to the Hellknights and their use of slavery.
One can not restore hope, by just trying to improve an abhorrent condition. Hope can only be restored in the absence of such conditions. In believing this, I will not adhere to the "laws" of the Hellknights, but I will actively work to change them. This may shift my active alignment to Chaotic Good and create an inner turmoil within me, but that may be a necessary price to pay Internal spirit.
There will often times be a conflict between the internal and external. In the teachings of Irori and within the cultural beliefs of the Samsaran race, perfection is sought internally. The only external manifestation of perfection may be in the perfection of one's physical being, but that does not necessarily extend to perfection of action externally.
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Goblin Squad Member
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The meaning of my name....
Awesome! Thanks for sharing. I always find this kind of stuff fascinating.
... my character... will be Lawful Good.
...
I will not adhere to the "laws" of the Hellknights...
I've always felt that Lawful should really be a reflection of a character's commitment to Natural Law, and not simply blind adherence to whatever the local "laws" are.
I remain convinced that a Lawful Good character would not only work to change "bad laws", but would willingly break them in order to adhere to Natural Law.
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Goblin Squad Member
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One can not restore hope, by just trying to improve an abhorrent condition. Hope can only be restored in the absence of such conditions. In believing this, I will not adhere to the "laws" of the Hellknights, but I will actively work to change them.
I welcome a comrade to help stamp out the affront to human dignity and well being of slavery. I think that being a "champion" for those who can not defend themselves is a worthy ambition.
There will often times be a conflict between the internal and external. In the teachings of Irori and within the cultural beliefs of the Samsaran race, perfection is sought internally. The only external manifestation of perfection may be in the perfection of one's physical being, but that does not necessarily extend to perfection of action externally.
There are many paths to wholeness, perfection being one of them. Parallel need not be congruent.
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Goblin Squad Member
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I welcome a comrade to help stamp out the affront to human dignity and well being of slavery. I think that being a "champion" for those who can not defend themselves is a worthy ambition.
OOC: imho this concept should earn you many friends:) So i would like to offer myself as a liaison officer between your company and the empyren order.
(IC: may follow, only if you want of course and as soon as my main is developt enough to have a conversation;))
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Goblin Squad Member
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I have finally had the opportunity to watch The 36th Chamber of Shaolin. It was an excellent movie, and I love how the Abbot had "kicked" him out of the temple, in order for him to bring Shaolin King Fu to the laymen.
It was an interesting way fro the Abbot to maintain the teachings of Buddha and yet to allow for a Monk of Shaolin to teach the peasants how to defend themselves.
However, would it not be fair to say that the 36th Chamber is completely a vessel for the "life external"? Its belief was that the teachings of the Shaolin Temple needed to be spread throughout the outside world, beyond the isolated walls of the temple.
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Goblin Squad Member
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I'm glad you got a chance to watch it. Next we may have to create a Lone Wolf and Cub character!
The concepts of the life internal and external are devised as a life philosophy rather than a martial arts philosophy. The idea of the life internal/external is applicable to all characters regardless of role.
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Goblin Squad Member
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Chief Abbot Navar,
Have you considered looking into The Age of Wushu? I could definitely see myself giving this a test run, you can try it for free.
I will be returning from vacation on Wednesday, so it will not be until then, that I get a chance to check it out myself.
The cost: $19.99 (US) which includes 60 days paid + $15.00 worth of in-game items.
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Goblin Squad Member
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I am always fascinated by the look of joyful peace on the faces of those who experience my Adder’s Kiss technique. The women also have the same look although the application is different. I can see that look now on the sage laying in front of me. It is a just exchange for the information regarding Harad Navar’s mystic dream. I would have used it on Harad when I had the chance, but the fates intervened. I often wonder if my mother ever wanted to use it on Father.
Of course he is not really my father. When my mother came to Katheer from Kaer Maga she was already pregnant with me. She never told me why she left her family and the city of her birth, or who my real father was. In the end I guess it doesn’t relay matter. Mother did her best to protect me and prepare me for my future life in Qadira. She taught me her monk style of fighting and the discipline required to keep it sharp. She also taught me several techniques that, while not monkish, were from my real father. My mother did the best she could, aligning herself with a low level merchant prince. He had some power and influence, but was never a threat to the major trader cartels or the Keleshite Princes. He provided for her as his “business agent”, rather than as a concubine, so she could not inherit a portion of his wealth if he died. As such, I was never a threat to his household or his heirs. Instead, I was a valued possession, one to be cultivated and improved to enhance its value and usefulness to its owner.
That is why, at the age of 13, it was announced that I was to be sent to the island of Grand Sarret off Jalmaray. There I was to learn “the arts of seduction, music, cooking, and manipulating the tenuous threads of court politics and intrigue”. My “Sending Out” party was magnificent with entertainers, wine, and many dignitaries. There were major domo from a number of princes inspecting the possible new bride for up and coming young nobles. The highlight was to be my teleportation to the harem training school on that island, the only way to reach the school without flying. As the hour was called out by the clerics in attendance, a famous mage began the spell. I did not, unfortunately, find myself on that small island off Jalmaray. Instead I found myself in a small palace in the capital city of the Padishah Empire of Kelesh. I was later to learn that the man I had called “father” was an agent for Red Star, the secret police of the Padishah Emperor Kalish XXII. It appeared that my destiny was to be a spy.
For the next 5 years I was trained in all the things I would have been taught on Grand Sarret. After all, I had a cover to maintain of being taught there. From their instruction I recognized that my father’s techniques were actually the foundation for Adder’s Kiss. I was taught about the politics of the Inner Sea, the customs of its people, and a passing use of most of its languages. They taught me several cantrips that I could use to cover my tracks and eliminate evidence of my being in a certain place. They expanded my monk training with their own and added the styles of many other monks, so I could more easily pass as one of them. But most of all they taught me obedience to the will and orders of Red Star, and undying loyalty to the Padishah Emperor.
I could not return to Katheer when my training was finished as I would have had to answer too many questions about my recent past. I found out that I no longer had ties to that city; my mother had died while I was in Kelesh. My last two years of training saw me travel over most of the empire under the hand of experienced Red Star officers, so I was not new to field work. My first assignment outside of Kelesh was in Jalmaray. I was to infiltrate the household of a healer monk and get close to his daughter. I thought at the time that this was too simple and later my handler gave me the real mission. I was to travel with the monk and his family to Katapesh. There I was to kill the monk’s daughter and engineer the blame to fall on the monk of the 36th Order who was to lead the party on an herb gathering expedition. The objective was to increase discord between the 36th Order and the healers of Jalmaray. I was not told why this was important. I didn't need to know; I had my orders. Fate, it seems, thought differently.
Initially all went according to plan. I became the daughter’s confidant and companion for the trip. After we reached the Vargus Swamp and began collecting samples, I convinced the daughter that it would be good for the group to take a side trip to see the Sleeping Dove Shrine, a location sacred to Sarenrae, before returning to Katapesh. On the way to the swamp I had begun to get close to the monk assigned as our guide, Harad Navar. It was simple to convince him to do a comparison of monk techniques to pass the time in camp. It was easy after a few nights to persuade him to compare our other “skills”. My plan was to kill both the daughter and Harad on the trip back from the Shrine, but that night we camped there changed everything. After a particularly satisfying “comparison”, Harad had a mystic dream. To my surprise, I found that I was also in that dream and somehow I knew that he could not see me.
I saw a winged creature of light appear before him. I could hear in my mind what it said to him: “In a land veined in rivers you are to be a light on a dark road.” The creature made a gesture, and I saw a spiral pattern appear briefly on Harad’s back before he faded from the dream landscape, but I was still there with the creature. It turned to me and I perceived not a creature but a vision of Sarenrae. She is worshiped widely in Kelesh and I recognized this avatar from the temples there. She smiled at me and said “Your path will mirror his, but you will be guided by another.” Again she gestured and I saw a similar spiral pattern appear briefly on my left forearm before it also faded. As it did I awoke to find myself next to a wide awake Harad.
He spoke of his dream and in that listening I found that I could not go through with my assignment. I had already been feeling connected to him in ways I had been warned would compromise any mission I was on. Our shared dream made those feelings even stronger. During our next comparison I looked for the spiral pattern I had seen in the dream. I could neither see it on him or on my own arm. I knew that it was a symbol used for Pharasma; I also knew that we both were doomed. I could not betray Red Star, but I also could not bring myself to kill Harad, or frame him for the daughter’s death. If I stayed with him we would be found by Red Star and we would both die. They would even use Red Mantis assassins, if they had to, but we both would have to pay the price for my failure. For the first time in my life I was uncertain of the path I needed to choose.
It took all my skill to keep Harad ignorant of what I had seen and what I had to do now. The minute the party got back to Katapesh I told the monk’s daughter that I had an urgent message to return home. As quickly as I could I slipped away on the excuse of going to the docks to arrange passage back to Jalmaray. I had a backup cover as a minor agent of the Aspis Consortium and I used it to go into hiding. I began to shadow Harad every time he left the monastery. I watched as he consulted several sages about the meaning of his dream until he found one who could show him what it meant. A short while later Harad left to visit his home village and I spent several days insinuating myself into that sage's acquaintance. It was very easy to get him to tell me what he had told Harad. That was how I learned about the River Kingdoms. He even spoke of his consultations with other sages who had been asked about similar dreams. Fortunately, he had not shared those with Harad so I now had more information than he.
This brings me back to the beginning, using my cantrips to erase my presence in the sage’s bedchamber where his body will be discovered in the morning, a victim of snake bite. It is so peaceful with the dead of the night and in that peace I finally saw my path. I have to find a magic user who can make for me a permanent non-detection amulet before my handlers in Jalmaray can find out about my failure. It will cost me all of my operating money, and quite a bit more, but I knew where the local Aspis agents kept their emergency funds. After I have the amulet it will take old fashion boots-on-the-ground leg work for Red Star to pick up my trail. Next, I have to create a new set of cover identities to conceal my journey to the River Kingdoms. I also have to pick a new cover profession, something different enough from my real skills without being too difficult to emulate. Maybe I’ll be an adept looking for a new magic teacher. I also have to find a safe method of travel that will keep me out of Red Star’s main spheres of operation. In any event, I must leave my love to his own path with the hope that, if it is fate that our paths cross again, it will not be the death of us both.
A women’s work is never done, it seems.
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Goblin Squad Member
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Everything is not as it seems but this is what Harad and Quzon mean, starting at 1:00.
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Goblin Squad Member
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Well, it's a long time to early enrollment and sometimes intellectual speculation of game mechanics gets a little old. I am a story-geek, after all. But it occurs to me that I'm asking characters to join the Nettles pretty much blind. Also, how am I to expect players to judge if I am role playing the Harad character appropriately if they do not know who Harad Navar is? To try and address both of these issues I will be posting here journal entries on Harad's journey from his home in Katapesh to the River Kingdoms. I will also be posting journal entries from some of the characters he meets along the way. I know for some writing background is not their favorite thing. So, if any of these other characters appeal to you PM me and lets talk about your playing them yourself.
For convention I will be posting in character entries in italics to make the difference between player and character clearer.
My family has farmed pesh outside the city of Solku in western Katapesh for many generations. That would have been my fate, too, except for Mulan Suul, our village blacksmith. I can remember Mulan from the first time my mother took me to market. I was fascinated by the way he moved with an effortless grace with no wasted motions, slow and deliberate. When he would train with the village guard for the inevitable gnoll attack he never seemed to be still, but never in a hurry. If a load was about to topple, his hand was there to steady the load. If someone was about to stumble he would seem always to be there to warn them, to show them the safer way. But the most wonderful way he moved was when he fought.
When I was 8, I sneaked out of the house during a gnoll attack to watch the battle. Mulan seemed to dance through the attacking gnolls as if he was at a festival. Striking here, throwing there, taking their weapons and laughingly throwing them away. It was as if he knew everything they would do before they did it. And always he would...
I adored this.