Monks

Monks pursue a cloistered living with their peers, seeking their perfect self, both in the physical, and in the spiritual. They train their bodies with ascetic living, pushing themselves to perfect the form of their martial art. When they are not training their body, they are meditating, perfecting their spirit.

Monks do everything with purpose and great determination, never letting their mind wander or their hand slip. The search for perfect has kept many monks from appreciating the good. Some monks even fully swear off property, thinking that worldly things only weigh them down in their search for perfection.

Some monks train in monasteries with a community of likeminded students and teachers, others seek out lone masters for one-on-one tutelage. These are completely different experiences, but both approaches can lead to the same end goal. Monks seek enlightenment, which they believe comes through a balance of body and spirit, not through knowledge or the adoration of others.

Some monasteries are located in large settlements, taking in novices in their young teens and drilling them in their teachings of the physical and spiritual. Those who have lived within a monastery are often distant to outsiders, and unaware of the outside customs. This comes to a head when the time comes for the novice to walk the outside world and learn about it first-hand.

Other monasteries are in remote places, atop mountains, in deep jungles, or on windswept islands. For some, part of the initiation rite is to simply find and travel there.

The Magic of the Spirit

Monks train their bodies and their spirits in tandem, each hardening the other. While every living creature has a spirit, only true monks can channel its power, sometimes to produce effects that appear like magic to an untrained observer. Certain orders of monks call this power of the enlightened spirit Ki, and teach that it is a force that extends through all living things, worshipping it almost like a religion.

Scholars have long debated exactly what the source of this magic is. Most agree that it is a type of psionics, although very different from what some sorcerers and wizards practice. However, most monks are less interested in exactly how this spirit connects to other sources of magic, and more interested in how to perfect it.

Subclasses

Monk subclasses, sometimes called Ways, reflect different training regimens, each of which gives unique ways to manifest the power of their spirit.

Warrior of the Elements

Warriors of the Elements are able to manifest their spirit into primal strikes, assailing their enemies with flames, ice, wind, and boulders. There is no monastery in the Estian Islands dedicated to this style, but individual masters sometimes take on apprentices who have shown themselves capable.

Warrior of the Open Hand

By completely forgoing weapons and most other earthly possessions, Warriors of the Open Hand channel their spirit into their iron fists, using their own body as a weapon. The Cael Meliacore, a monastery devoted to this Way is located in Tel Cindris, in southern Iacaris.

Warrior of Shadow

A true Warrior of Shadow can draw on their spirit to hide themselves from sight and bend shadows around them. They are masters of infiltration, intelligence gathering, assassinations, and other covert pursuits. These monks are often employed as spies by organizations whose ends justify the means. Training is often done in small groups, perhaps hidden in a cellar in a major city, right under the nose of those who they are tasked to spy on. Rumor has it that there exists a secretive cabal of Warriors of Shadow called The Hidden Ones, but their existence has never been confirmed.

Warrior of Mercy

By mastering the anatomy of the body, Warriors of Mercy can flit around the battlefield, delivering pinpoint strikes where their enemies are weakest, as well as mending the wounds of their allies. The largest monastery dedicated to this form is the Blackwatch Monastery in Elderholm, where the Charitors train attendants for their hospitals.

Ideals

• Harmony: Only through perfection can we reach mastery. (Any)
• Stability: I must not stray from the narrow path I have chosen. (Neutral)
• Temperance: The pleasures of life are a distraction from my true goal. (Lawful)
• Community: I protect the people, whatever comes. (Good)
• Sacrifice: Others will sacrifice as I have. (Evil)
• Change: Enlightenment is a fleeting butterfly, and I will chase it. (Chaotic)

Backstory Questions

• Why did you seek training at a monastery or with a master?
• What was your training like?
• How often do you meditate? What does your meditation entail?

Monks of the Past

Alathar Sandwhisper

(gnome, TN, 1040-1225): A master runecarver who took a solemn vow of silence. He spent decades of his life walking the beaches of Kiniden, scribing swirling runes in the sand before they were washed away by the ocean waves. His disciples would walk behind him, trying to decode their master's ephemeral work before it disappeared. It is said he was the first monk to master the g rune, but that knowledge was lost to the waves.

Phastina Umberian

(human, LE, 500-541): Assassin who pioneered the Way of Shadow. Her final kill was Emperor Belleron himself. After she slit his throat, Phastina was discovered kneeling over the body of the dead Emperor. In the ensuing chase, she slew two dozen of the Emperor's bodyguards before she was killed. This assassination set off the Regulan Revolts, a century of chaos for the Empire.