Monastic Order of the Eldursteries
This order of monks, which resides in the mountains of Eldurgrund, learn, study, and use fire magics. They rarely leave the Eldursteries and inscribe all of their learnings on stone tablets, so they may not be destroyed by the fires they stoke. While the monasteries have been put under many cultural crises in the past, particularly when Eldurgrund lost the war with Shellbay, they have always maintained. They are both powerful and difficult to reach, making them resilient in the face of conflict. During the rise of the first empire, however, the Eldursteries were only allowed to function as a way to preserve their culture, but were otherwise disbanded for anything other than educational purposes (the same with the Eldur knights and private military). Now, however, they are a bustling community, always looking for more recruits to devote their lives to the gods of the augury and the gifts of firemagic and knowledge.
The Eldursteries first proposed the idea that humans were given the ability to use firemagic by Anoch Athylis, the Flamehungry. The working theory they propose is that the humans were able to subvert the trick that the devils put upon the J'barri in the past and that now the power of fire can be guided by the Ohdaufeen. Due to its background in devilry though, secrets of the firemagic must be studied as the devils would not unveil the power willingly to those so devoted to the gods. This concept has been a point of contention though, as The Augury despises the idea that the Ithitar could be anything other than petulant, troublesome devils.
Structure
There are several positions one can hold in the Eldursteries. The group is split into 4 core groups (known as disciplines)
- Discipline of History
- Discipline of Fire
- Discipline of Relations
- Discipline of Planes
- Workmen: perform the maintenance required for the Eldursteries, and do deeds such as cooking, fetching materials, and leading caravans.
- Monks: Those actively learning disciplines and considered in training to become Eldur Monks of their particular discipline.
- Eldur Monks: Individuals taught within every discipline and meant to teach the monks and lead research/ vie for funding.
Culture
The Eldursteries have a strict lifestyle, including waking/sleeping hours, dining time, learning hours, and 2 hours per day to do as they please. These two hours are meant for monks to broaden their horizons into the other disciplines, and how they spend their free time during these hours is observed for how they progress in the Eldursteries.
History
The Monastic Order of the Eldursteries was formed in late Ettermiddag as a way for Eldurgrund to learn fire magic without the Eldur Knights needing to spend years learning the techniques. The group started as a settlement near the ground level of the mountains with wood from the Lyslure Woods being used, but after decades of building up records and learning, the buildings would burn down, permanently losing vital knowledge to Laminarum (including a way to translate the Yunbad language). Years later, they were relocated up the mountain range in order to avoid raiders and hysterical citizens of Eldurgrund.
The organization only came under attack once, when the long winded war waged by Shellbay sought to attack the culture of Eldurgrund in order to destroy morale. Half of the monks in the organization were slain and the rest were imprisoned. The archpriest was killed as well, causing a brutal political blow to Eldurgrund and playing a large hand in Euvurcrest's surrender in the months down the line.
The group was suppressed during the rule of the Shellbay Empire, but would finally be allowed to flourish under the new Augury when it came into power. While not as influential as during the days of their incarnation, they could study fire magic unfettered, but they had few people worth teaching it to.
They have undergone very little change ever since The Augury took over, but the discipline of planes has allowed a whole new generation of monks to break new ground. While most of their work is highly theoretical, they have supposedly managed to access visions from other planes, but who can say for sure?
The discipline has been bolstered to notoriety ever since the Silence made the field both popular and obscure. While interplanar intrigue grew with the period's catastrophic events, the Company of Fools took action that would unwittingly prevent interplanar travel in a time when it was already scarcely understood.
Founding Date
948
Type
Religious, Monastic Order
Capital
Demonym
Eldur Monks
Ruling Organization
Location
Controlled Territories
Related Species
Comments