Order of the Emerald Road

Order of the Emerald Road is a group that seeks enlightenment of and from the origins of all things. They acknowledge the gods but feel they are just more enlightened then us and deserve respect from our civilization. But blind worship is too much for them to bare. They seek the things that created the gods, and the wisdom of the 4 pillars. They spend their time learning from ancient texts and discussing them. They travel the worlds following clues and insight into the origins of things. They have a palace, where each monk must travel once in their life. The palace is called the Cornerstone of Creation, or just The Cornerstone. It is located in the Mountains somewhere on the Syzara. When they reach the palace, they fast and prey and seek the wisdom of The Master there.

The order claims to have existed in various forms since the year 2209. There have been many monasteries throughout the land, and all seek the same thing. But each monastery has their own way

of doing the seeking. As a general rule, they do not try to entangle themselves in the affairs of others, they only involve themselves as their personally morality guides them. Their headquarters is is the Grey Temple.

This passive nature over the centuries put them between opposing forces and many monasteries have been destroyed and its members killed.

The members have over the last 1,000 years learned a thing or two; first they learned to defend themselves and to be completely self-sufficient, all the while still seeking knowledge and wisdom.

The order disdains the use of weapons and armor; they are after all a peaceful order. And if they had weapons or other things for people to fear them, those people would use that as an excuse to attack them. All weapons are banned from the monastery except for tools used in their work and walking sticks.

Requirements

Being a member of the order is a lifetime commitment to the search for truth. Your talents never stop growing if you remain true to the teachings of the order.

As you gain good Karma, you spend it on gaining the next rank in your order. Each Rank costs the 1 Karma and any other requirement stated in the requirements below.

Ranks of the Order

There are five ranks in the training. In order, they are the Foot, the Hand, the Body, the Head, and the Spirit. You must master each rank before you can gain the abilities and then move on to training for the next rank.

The Foot (1 to 2 years)

During this time, you are only allowed to talk to students of your rank, and your instructors all others are off limits unless given a directive to do so. Much of your time is spent in self-reflection, mediation, study and discussion. You do most of the basic domestic functions that the monastery needs to function.

Benefit

This training is to bring you into harmony with the order. After your training you will have a+3 in Personality (Carefree, Self Discipline) and you will have 1 in eleven of the other Personality numbers. One month of training changes one of these numbers 1 point. If you have a lot of numbers negative, your training could take longer.

The Hand (2Years)

During this time, you are allowed to talk with all trainees except those of The Foot rank. You still spend much time in spent in self-reflection and mediation. Your domestic duties may be more akin to what you have a talent in, calligraphy, farming or whatever. Then you are taught the following.

Benefit

You will have your AB (Attack Bonus) increased to +4

You will become an expert in unarmed combat

Your skill in Stealth improves to +6

Crushing Hold: (1 Ki Point) If you succeed in grappling a creature, you inflict 1d4 points of lethal or non-lethal damage. With each successive round that you continue to maintain the hold, you double the amount of damage you inflict to a maximum of 4 dice. The damage continues at 4 dice as long as you maintain your hold.

Out of Nowhere: (1 Ki Point) You may take an action against a target any time a target becomes vulnerable while next to you. This includes surprise rounds and flanking. You take a single action, and you must make it on the target that is now vulnerable. You can use this once per round.

- Return Throw: (1 Ki Point) When you are the target of a thrown weapon, you may catch the weapon with a reaction. You can then, on your turn throw it at a target, with no penalty for being untrained.

The Body (3 Years)

During this time, you are allowed to talk with all trainees except those of The Body rank. Your training in unarmed fighting continues and your domestic duties can be adjusted if you need, or the instructors believe you need a change.

Benefit

Your Attack Bonus will be increased to +8

Your Acrobatics Skill will be increased to +9

Your Agility will be increased to 3

Hibernation: (4 Ki Points) You can spend 1 hour meditating and put yourself into a coma like, hyberrnative state. This state lasts a number of days equal to your Command score. During this time, you have no need to sleep or eat. When you come out of this state, you will be fatigued 3. You cannot do this more than 1 time per month.

Monkey Roll: (3 Ki Points) By using a monkey-like tumble, you can avoid attacks aimed at you. You must be in light or no armor. This is a full round action. You gain a +6 bonus to your defense.

Out of Phase: (5 Ki Points) You can become out of phase by spending an Action Die. The duration is 1 minute. If you have mana, you can extend this state by 1 minute for every 10 mana you spend. While in this state, you can see and hear what is going on, but you cannot physically interact with the physical world. Those with a Wisdom score lower than two sink into the ground and are lost forever, this is because they cannot 'Will' their body to stay on solid ground. While out of phase, you cannot be seen, heard, felt, smelled, or tasted by those not out of phase with you.

Prone Fighting: While prone, you do not incur any penalties to your defense and may fight from this position without penalty to your attack. Finally, you do not need to orient when standing up.

Quick to Strike: (2 Ki Points) Any action you use to make a melee attack, you can also move two hexes for free in that same action, not provoking. You can use this once per round. It lasts one encounter when activated.

Self-Healing: (1 Ki Points) You can meditate for one round and heal one vitality point. You can meditate for 1 hour and heal one wound point.

The Head (2 Years)

During this time, you are allowed to talk with all trainees except those of The Head rank. Your training in unarmed fighting continues and your domestic duties can be adjusted if you need, or the instructors believe you need a change. You are called on to travel and trade for the order.

Benefit

Your Personality (Carefree, Self-Discipline) is improved to 4

Your Attack Bonus is increased to +8

Mask the Mind: (7 Ki Points) You can mask your mind from those that seek to learn your thoughts or to impose their will on you. You can add your PP - Personality (Carefree, Self-Discipline) number to any resist checks when something or someone tries to read or influence your thoughts.

Breathe underwater: (1 Ki Point) You can meditate for two rounds, even underwater, and you can then breath underwater. This lasts for a number of minutes equal to your Personality (Carefree, Self-Discipline) number. You then start needed to hold your breath. You cannot use this again until you have breathed in normal air for 1 minute.

The Spirit (4 Years)

When you reach the rank of The Spirit you are now a master in your order. Your training in unarmed fighting continues and your domestic duties can be adjusted if you need, or the instructors believe you need a change. You are called on to travel and trade for the order.

Benefits

Your Personality (Carefree, Self-Discipline) is improved to 5

Your Attack Bonus is increased to +16

Sunder It: (2 Ki Points) You are able to focus your mind into a powerful sundering strike. You gain a +10 to the hardness of any part of your body you are using to sunder and a +10 to the sunder damage you do. To focus your mind takes two full rounds.

Slow Aging: Your discipline has reached such a level that you age at ½ your normal rate. This does not change your fated day to die though.

Dwimmer: (2 Ki Points) You can look over a person for 1 minute and know the numbers from the Self-section of their Personality Profile. This will not see through any spells or possessions that might alter these numbers. though.

Feat: Ki Path of Harmony

Type

Religious, Monastic Order

Leader

Mijah Longrunner

Location

Gray Temple

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