The Monastic Tradition

The monks of Iourn are a singular group of people. Some consider them to be the saviours of mankind; to others they are dangerous subversives; to the rest they are bunch of intellectual loonies who would do better living in the real world. The truth about the monastic tradition, particularly on the Urovan continent, is shrouded in mystery. Where one can say with some certainty that the druids have been around for millennia, or that the moons have been in the sky for two-hundred years, no-one really knows where the monks came from.

Brother Balsan and the Origins of Monasticism

In general, it is believed that monasticism originated in Hadradan times from an older Hermetic tradition. When the Hadradans swarmed over the continent they enacted a policy of culling sorcerers whom they saw as unnecessarily dangerous individuals. The sorcerers were forced to flee into the isolated places of the world, and many became hermits. Hermeticism grew in popularity with people who did not like their imperial oppressors; some found the life of a hermit not entirely for them and rather than living alone in a cave, came together in small enclaves. The enclaves had to find a way to live and survive away from civilisation and as a result monasticism was born. Monks themselves ascribe the founding of their order to the legendary Brother Balsan, who is said to have been the first monk.

As neat as this explanation for monasticism is, it doesn’t cut the mustard with many sages and historians. There are a number of proponents within the Scriveners of Doom who claim that the legend of Brother Balsan is just that: a legend. They argue that the tenants and activities of the monasteries is simply too advanced and alien to have naturally developed out of the barbaric cultures of Urova. It must have come from some outside source.

Some sages speculate that the movement is Hadradan in origin, and only came to Urova with the imperial occupation. Were this true, then the monastic movement would have its roots in a culture very different to that of the fractured continent. This might go some way to explain the exotic weapons used by monks, and the techniques they practice, both of which are completely unknown anywhere else in the land. However, sages are always quick to disagree with one another, and many point out that such weapons and traditions are hardly common in the Hadradan Empire either. If the monastic movement came to Urova via the Hadradans, they say, then the Hadradans must have got it from somewhere else. Where this somewhere else could be is a matter of total mystery it could not be from the barbaric frozen lands of Vikallia, and as no other major countries are known in the northern world, evidence would compel a theorist to look south. The notion that monasticism has its origins south of Belsinor’s Girdle is a matter of some concern for those sages who have the time on their hands to think of such things. Long has the southern world been equated with all that is base and evil. Could it be that the monks, as harmless as they appear, are actually plotting with some evil intent? Could this tradition be a serpent in the bosom of free civilisation in the shattered lands? Only time will tell.

Beliefs

All the belief of monks are encapsulated in their unending quest for perfection. It is the goal of every monk to better himself in mind, in body and in deed. Monks are the purest aesthetics one could imagine. They appreciate beauty in all its forms - not simply appearance, but the beauty of the mind, the beauty of the soul and the beauty of the mind, soul and the body working together as a seamless whole. Accomplished monks can control every aspect of their bodies and their minds, their awareness greatly increases and they become attuned to a higher plane of being. They become something beyond mortal. A monk who marries the devotions of mind and body successfully may one day just disappear. He has transcended, and moved into a different form of existence.

Monks attempt to attain perfection for its own sake. They believe that only through a seamless synthesis of mind and body can they attain the one-ness and the revelations that they seek. Although a tolerant group that embraces diversity, monks believe that clerics and other worshippers of higher powers are sadly misguided individuals. Enlightenment cannot come from subordination to another being, it must come from within. Any transcendence a cleric may experience is on her deity’s terms, not her own. She may travel to an afterlife, but she becomes little more than an observer in someone else’s Heaven - the monk who looks within finds his own Heaven.

To this end, monks train all aspects of their self - and they train hard. It’s not unusual for a monk to get only a few short hours sleep each day and spend the rest of the time practising his unarmed skills, his weapons or focusing his mind on some intractable problem. Everything is an opportunity to a monk - a chance to prove himself worthy in some new way, and reach a new plateau in his ultimate development.

The mental disciplines inherent in the monastic way of life require a monk to have a lawful outlook on life. The divisions between good, evil and neutrality are not clearly defined for monk. The quest for perfection is a very personal goal, and monks can approach that goal in any method they choose. There are evil monks who studied under other evil monks in evil monasteries. Monks of good and evil are less common than neutral monks. Although monks don’t see themselves as arbiters of balance as druids do, many consider the concepts of good and evil a distraction from the pursuit of self.

It should be pointed out that the path of the monk is open to anyone with the commitment necessary for this peculiar way of life. Although humans are by far the most common monks, monks of other races are not too unusual. Half-orcs and half-elves often become monks because it opens up a society to them where they can live free from prejudice and discrimination. Certain races may dominate some monasteries, but in the end the tradition is open to anyone who agrees with the tenants as laid down by the abbot.

Organisation

There is not a great deal of formal organisation within the monastic movement. Each monastery is very much an autonomous unit, answering to no higher authority. Within in a monastery almost all monks are known as "brother" and considered equal. The leader of the monastery is the abbot. He is referred to as "Father Abbot" by the monks, rather than by his actual name. Abbots from separate monasteries sometimes visit one another but, although it is true that some monasteries are more famous or accomplished than others, an abbot has no authority over any monk outside his own order. That said, all monks would give respect to an abbot regardless of where he was from. Beneath the abbot and the brothers are the initiates - individuals who have arrived (probably recently) at the monastery and have yet to progress to such a level with their studies that they have earned the title of brother.

Oddly, considering their nature, monks still have a feeling of community and kinship between one another. Even good and evil monks regard each other as simply following different paths toward enlightenment. They will not openly oppose each other unless one is doing something that the other believes to be completely unconscienceable. For example, an evil monk is using his abilities in the service of an evil warlord. The warlord has commanded the monk to butcher all the men, women and children in a town, and the evil monk is willing to comply. A good monk would then openly oppose him. However, there would be no bad feeling or animosity between the monks. The would meet, discuss their difference and probably propose to resolve them in single combat. The fight would be perfectly honourable on the part of each monk, and would probably be to incapacitate the other (sub-dual damage) rather than to the death. To observers, who aren’t monks this very ‘civilised’ way of dealing with terrible moral problems seems a little bizarre, but it works well for monks who recognise in each other a deep and noble commitment to the idea of perfection. Monks would not treat opponents of other classes in the same enlightened manner.

The Monastic Life

Despite any misgivings one might have, it is undeniable that monks fill a very important niche in society. Although monasteries are far away from civilised areas, they are not built on the moon. Individuals can travel to a monastery and will normally receive food and shelter from them in return for some work in kind, or payment in coin. Monasteries aren’t inns by any means, but they do open their doors to the weary traveller. Evil monks would also open their door, but the price of their charity would be much higher.

The isolated monk community normally consists of a central abbey, and cloisters for the monks sleep and to live. Monks almost certainly share rooms and beds with many other monks as the entire community sleeps in shifts. One would find a goodly proportion of a monastery to be active at any time during the day. Monks follow the teachings of Balsan as closely as possible. They sing, they chant and do penance as a means to purify their souls. They don’t pray to a god, but they do seek the approval of the abbot and more senior monks. Surrounding the abbey are small plots of farmland, vegetable gardens, beehives, barns housing live-stock and coops. The monastery is mostly self-sufficient, but makes money in coin by selling wares and re-producing books for kings, wizards and even the priesthoods. Although the same service is offered by the Scriveners of Doom, many would rather go to a monastery where the procedure is a simple cash transaction, rather than being in the debt of one of the churches of Mortis.

The monks themselves are assigned tasks within the church. Some will be librarians, archivists or master engravers; others are given more practical jobs such as the cooking, the farming or the care for animals. Monks are also famous produces of ale (or wine in warmer climes), cheese, butter, honey and also many crafts such as pottery, carpentry or tailoring. All products the abbey does not need are sold for a large profit. Much of the monastery’s wealth goes on the acquisition of written material in the form of scrolls and books to create vast libraries where initiates and monks can study to improve their minds. The average monk is as intelligent as he is dextrous, and may know facts or languages lost to the modern age. It is unlikely that wizard spell-books will find their way into a monk’s collection. They have no use for the spells, and if they acquire one they are likely to sell it to a wealthy wizard or guild, and plough the money into something more worthwhile.

Monks within the monasteries are always entirely of one gender. Female monks do exist, but they will come from all-female monasteries (or convents). Although such a policy is technically in the hands of the abbot, it is tradition that all monks are celibate - Balsan was celibate, and if it was good enough for him then it’s good enough for the monks of today. Sex and love are considered a distraction to the purification of the mind and the body, and are not tolerated. Monks discovered to have broken this oath are normally cast out of the monastery unless the monk can prove that he was magically bamboozled at the time of the act. Banished monks may lose some or all of the abilities they have already gained at the discretion of the DM and may never learn any more. The loss of abilities as much reflects the monk’s disappointment in himself than any mystical revocation on the part of the abbot.

In addition to celibacy, monks tend not to eat meat and although they do consume alcohol they never do so to excess. The moratorium on meat is not through any deep-seated belief, but because the life-stock they have access to at the monastery is kept for milk or eggs. Old sheep, bred for wool, who are getting a little passed it might sometimes be killed for their mutton, but in truth meat is a little rich for the monk’s simple palate. Equally, spicy food gives them terrible wind.

Monks get to be monks for a variety of reasons. Monasteries have been known to take in orphans and abandoned babies and raised them as monks. When the child reaches adulthood they are given the option of remaining with the order or venturing into the outside world. Most choose to stay. A good percentage of monks hear the calling later in life; bards often sing the tales of corrupt barons who have had a change of heart and joined a monastery. Women who have been spurned by their husbands, often run away to convents and become a monk. The lists and the reasons are endless.

Adventuring Monks

Why do monks, who have quite happy and comfortable lives in the middle of nowhere shearing sheep choose to pack a bag and expose themselves to terrible dangers? The answer is that they crave the experience. Monks are not Sensationalists by any means, but in order to progress toward enlightenment every monk must put his studies and his efforts at the monastery into practice. Monks adventure to use all those skills they have learned, because only through using them can they hope to get any better. Although all monks must return to the monastery periodically for more training, all monks (of all levels) need to be out doing things. Only a few monks are allowed out at any one time, so PCs will be exceptional as they will spend more time away from the abbey than mostly anyone else.

While away from the monastery, the monk is an ambassadors of his order. He must be polite and courteous to those that he meets, and should seek to help and to instruct those that have not benefited from his wisdom and training. Monks won’t try and convert everyone they meet, but they will subtlely highlight the benefits that can be gained by a body and mind working as one.