Order of the Oasis

Written By: Iracus Varanu (Art)
The Order of the Oasis teaches that long ago, during the early days of Medan colonization and when the psitech pylons that kept the wire storms at bay still worked, that Clan Amol were nearly destroyed by bandits. The bandits destroyed their crawler, stole their supplies, and executed their leaders, leaving just a handful survivors to slowly succumb to the sands of the desert. With few options, the remaining few of the clan determined their best chance for survival was to send out a band of people in search of help. They equipped this group with the majority of their supplies and prayed to the Gods Above for help.
The group set off into the wastes with little more than a waterskin each, some rations, and simple weaponry. The group trekked across the sands for days, without so much as seeing another soul. They quickly ran through their water and food supply, but still they persevered. Eventually only seven remained, and when all hope seemed to be lost and the group was on the verge of succumbing to fate of the wastes, they stumbled upon a gift left by the Gods. An oasis in the middle of the desert, filled with supplies and equipment. Upon entering six of them were given the blessings that had long been bestowed upon their clan for generations while the seventh was granted a new blessing, the Blessing of Might. Today, this journey is known as the Path of the Chosen, and many in the Order dream of one day finding it and rediscovering the oasis that gave birth to their Order.
The group quickly gathered what they could and returned to the disabled crawler, bringing back water, food, and supplies to repair the crawler enough to move it to the oasis. Here they remained while they fully repaired their crawler and healed their wounds. Besides food and water, the oasis also contained knowledge and weapons. Tools that could be used to give their people great strength. Tools that they could use to bring justice upon those bandits and all who walked the same path. The remaining few of Clan Amol swore a vow to one another and to the Gods Above, they vowed to dedicate themselves not only to the Clan, but to all who travel the sands. With their vow taken and strength restored, Clan Amol set out back into the sands full of righteous fury, sights set on any who threatened the peace of the sands.
And so began the Order of the Oasis. While the location of the oasis had long since been lost, the tools, weapons, and knowledge extracted remain within Clan Amol to this very day. The Order used what they found to bolster their strength and set about a warpath to cleanse the land of bandits and other raiders. Over the years the Order reached great heights, even as the pylons began to fall, they served Clan Amol in all aspects of life and worked to cleanse the sands of Meda of the wicked few who roamed it. With their elite warriors given the Blessing of Might, Clan Amol prospered and grew as did the Order.
Today, however, things are vastly different. With many of its senior members psychics of some discipline, a large portion of the Order was either killed or driven to madness by The Scream, a force thought to have been sent by the Voices to weaken the Gods Above. The lucky few who survived were either those without powers or those seemingly spared by the Gods Above. Since the Scream, the Order has slowly begun to rebuild, many of those who survived the initial psychic attacks have begun filling the shoes of those lost to the Scream.
Despite the chaos of the Scream, the Order continues on its holy quest. However, lacking any High Priests or true Masters, and nearly no senior members of the Order, Clan Amol remains weak and vulnerable to the ever growing number of bandits and raiders that sweep across their homeland. Despite their weakness, its members remain committed to their original purpose. They seek to once again free their homeland from scum and villainy and ensure a future safe for Clan Amol and the innocent people of their homeland.

Organization

As a religious entity, the Order of the Oasis is split into three different groups, with each above having some sort of say over those below them.
At the top are the seven High Priests, these are often the eldest among their members with each representing one of the seven primary blessings. Following the Scream, none of the Order have yet to claim one of the mantles of a High Priest.
In the middle are the Blessed, these are the people who were granted one of the Gods Above blessings. This group is split into three sub-groups, Apprentices, Adepts, and Masters, depending on their level of skill.
At the bottom are the Acolytes, these members are in charge of many of the more mundane functions of the order and are the ones who interact with the general population of the crawler serving as pastors, educators, stewards, and more.
Decisions for the Order are governed by the High Priests who in turn have sworn themselves to the protection of Clan Amol and would historically work closely with the Clan’s Chief. Should the Order ever expand and form additional groups, that group would in turn swear themselves to the clan they have chosen to protect.

Current Members

Prior to the Scream, the order was mostly filled with people who had received all sorts of blessings. However today, its ranks are nearly empty. The Order hopes to rebuild and bolster it’s ranks once again, however the short supply of MES affected individuals has led to more mundane individuals

Mythology and Beliefs

The Order teaches that all life was created by the Gods Above. A relatively simple term to describe the innumerable, unknowable, and incompresible beings that populate the cosmic sphere. Through their will they created the conditions necessary that would one day lead to advanced life that could evolve and grow into more than itself. Time passed and life began to develop, but it was simple and lacking in complexity and so the Gods Above granted their creations the First Blessing, that of free will. Soon more complex life began to develop, but before long that life turned to destruction and murder. The Gods Above watched in horror as their creations fought with one another. Many wished to destroy their creations, claiming they were beyond redemption, however some saw hope. They saw those who fought against those who would bring about destruction and knew their creations could follow a righteous path.
These two factions between the Gods Above grew and quarrel with one another. One side wished to protect, and sustain all of what they created for they saw their capacity for good. The other, saw the hate in the hearts of some and thought them to be failed creations and wished for their destruction. War soon broke out, but then those who wished to protect won and so exiled and banished the others, cursing them to live as formless and powerless voices for all of eternity.
This punishment was not total, however, for those banished managed to hold on to some power and have learned how to use this to influence the world. They are known as the Voices. It is said that the Voices whisper maddening thoughts into the minds of many, hoping that one day they might drive all of Creation to insanity so that the Gods Above will be forced to destroy all of Creation.
The Gods Above hey foresaw many challenges that were to come, many a result of the Voices influence, and so they wanted to give their creations a better chance at survival and granted those who managed to access multidimensional travel a special blessing, more commonly known as MES. dddfdfdddfd These blessings take shape in many forms, some were blessed with the ability to heal, others were blessed with the ability to gather power from creation itself, others were empowered with the strength of many to protect those around them. Through these blessings Core Tenets
The capacity for choice, the First Blessing, is the greatest blessing of all, it is to be respected and honored for all living things. The Order must uphold the First Blessing beyond all else. To take another’s choice in service of the self is the great sin of all. All other beliefs and practices must uphold this core tenet
The Order not only serves the Clan it has sworn itself to, but all people against the corrupting forces of the Voices. Corruption that is allowed to thrive will spread and grow, it is not enough to only protect the Clan. The Order must never impose its will on those unwilling and uncorrupted. Violence must only be used as necessary to combat those corrupted by the Voices, any who surrender must be allowed to face justice for their actions and seek redemption by the Gods The Order holds that laws of mortals are fallible and corruptible, law must never be reason to allow corruption to spread and cannot triumph over moral justice.
Those who walk the path of corruption are capable of redemption, just as those who walk the path to transcendence are capable of falling to the darkness. The Order must try and guide those who have fallen back to the path of light whenever possible Some crimes are too great for mortals to decide their punishment, their fate must be left to the will of the Gods
The Voices The Order teaches that long ago, after Creation, the Gods Above split into two factions and battled for control of the cosmos. Those who wished to protect and foster life for they saw their capacity for kindness, and those who wished to destroy it for they saw only their capacity for destruction. These factions fought and eventually those who wished to destroy lost and were cast out from the domain of the Gods and forced to live through eternity as formless, near powerless beings. Through time, this force has managed to learn to influence the realm of the living and work to corrupt all living things in hopes that they might force the Gods Above to destroy all of creation.
Afterlife When someone dies, the Order believes that their soul gravitates to the place that it belongs, either to the domain of the Gods Above or the Voices. Those who create and exemplify good-natured characteristics are sent to the domain of the Gods Above where their soul transforms into that of a god. Those who destroy and exemplify evil characteristics are sent to the domain of the Voices where they are stripped down to nothing and can do little more than scream in agony.
Blessings The Order teaches that the Gods Above granted their creations various blessings following their ability to travel the stars. They foresaw many challenges that were to come and wanted to give their creations a better chance at survival. This blessing has taken the form of MES and can differ dramatically from person to person. Described below are the seven most common Blessings that the Order teaches and utilizes, however, other forms have been known to exist and were tried throughout the Order’s history.
Blessing of Might (Sunblade) Those with the Blessing of Might serve the order by acting as its most elite warriors and leading battles.
Blessing of Life (Biopsionics) Those with the Blessing of Life are able to heal and served in various medical positions
Blessing of Soul (Metapsionics) Those with the Blessing of Soul often served as educators of the other Blessed and helped to prevent their minds from being overtaken by the power.
Blessing of Mind (Telepathy) Those with the Blessing of Mind often served as judges and were often used to determine if someone should receive the Final Judgment or not.
Blessing of Future-sight (Precognition) Those with the Blessing of Future-sight acted as oracles and helped the Order ensure success in their battles or efforts to search for resources.
Blessing of Force (Telekinesis) Those with the Blessing of Force helped primarily with industrial challenges and excavation. Some were also used in boarding operations to break through particularly heavy plated crawlers.
Blessing of Translocation (Teleportation) Those with the Blessing of Translocation were used as scouts and for helping boarding teams get onto their targets.
Final Judgment The Order of the Oasis teaches that mortals have no place in deciding the fate of others and that it is to be of the domain of the Gods Above. To do otherwise, and take judgment into one’s own hands would be to claim oneself a god. This has led to the practice of Final Judgment.
When a prisoner of the Clan is convicted of a crime such as murder, theft of water, banditry, or other such crimes, they are senticed to walk the Path of the Chosen. They are given a waterskin, dagger, and a ration and sent out in the sands to receive their fate by the will of the Gods Above. Those whom the gods deem capable of redemption will be blessed just as the first of the Order were and receive salvation. Those who the gods wish to condem will quickly die from dehydration or worse, shorn to the bone by a wire storm. This is the fate given to any bandit, raider, or slaver that does not perish after being defeated and their crawler taken.
Sacred Weapons Those who are given the Blessing of Might receive a blessed weapon forged into the shape of a hammer, a symbol of both creation and destruction.
Funeral Services Due to the nature of their environment, deceased’s bodies are often recycled following funeral service. Those who die in battle or those with the Blessing of Might are honored with their sacrifice by placing their bodies out in a specially constructed altar before a wire storm and are allowed to return to the sands so that their transformed souls can more easily find and watch over the people of Clan Amol, protecting them in death.
The Scream The Order believes that the Scream was somehow caused by the corrupting power of the Voices to try and destroy those the Gods Above entrusted with great power. Through it they were able to further their goals and bring about chaos and suffering to the universe at a scale unlike any other.
Patron Saints
Dr. Tiberius Crohn, he who found the path and brought the blessings to mankind
Sayings
By the Gods Above
Voices take you

Type

Religious, Temple