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The World of Teréth End - People & Races - Organization |
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"...[name] stood in the [name2] Hall, a hundred peers watching from the galleys above. She called her Provider's name, and all could feel the power she commanded. [name3] summoned his wards, but all that watched knew his efforts were in vain. The next name she offered was his, and the misery of [name3] was legend." translated from Dekàlan fragment found in ruins of Ilduùn People Ajer'ad (Mnk14)  |
Esara'shal Kdar Overview An ivy covered white-brick monastery rises from the jummun-choked bank of the Run Kodé. A curving stone wall encircles seven domed buildings, with curtain doors marked with the symbols of an ancient and inhuman people. Working in the fields and training in the courtyard are white clothed people, carrying out those duties set before them a thousand years before. The Esara'shal Kdar (Monastery of the Way of the Sha'al) stands centrally along the Peraram Coast, a half-month's walk south of the City of Jadth, but not far from the towns of Çyl'ar, Sëjal, and Vîmir. The monks of the Esara'shal Kdar are viewed with suspicion by the surrounding populace, with the exception of the fiefdom it oversees. The fraternity of monks keeps to themselves mostly, venturing out into the town marketplaces for necessary supplies and produce at each Monthturn. When the fief is threatened, it the monastery who reacts, though with the exception of the occasional wild animal and wayward monster, the jungles nearby are relatively tame. The Order The monks of the Esara'shal Kdar devote themselves to idealized principles adopted from Sha'al philosphies and culture. Each member of the order serves a purpose within the kdar, and continuously seek to perfect themselves through that labor; until the high leader grants them a different duty. Sometimes, particularly gifted students are sent abroad to recruit new members or to establish branches of the kdar in distant lands. The Esara'shal Kdar is led by a high leader named Ajer'ad. Ajer'ad assumed leadership of the kdar in 1878 HK (632 DR), following the death of his teacher and leader Thul'öm. Ajer'ad has not been an inspired leader, having been content to maintain the kdar as it was given him for most of his tenure. Now (circa 653 DR), with his age advancing and not much legacy to show for his period as leader, he has embarked on a last ditch campaign to expand the kdar into distant lands by sending his most prized students out into the world to establish new kdar. These errant monks were given few resources but instructed to prove themselves worthy to local benefactors by way of their learning and advise, fighting prowess, while continuing their practiced lifestyle. Lifestyle. The Esara'shal Kdar lifestyle is a simple one that enjoys peaceful entertainment; good food, art, music, dance, reading and storytelling. Like the Sha'al, the monks do not partake of drugs (including alcohol). They are hardworking and tireless, seeing sloth as a moral failing. Combat: The fighting style of the Esara'shal Kdar is heavily inspired by the Sha'al, with most moves and techniques given Sha'al terminology or describing a Sha'al movement. Similar to the Sha'al unarmed fighting style, the Uren mimic the wide rounding motions used by the Sha'al. The fighting style has adopted leg sweeps as a way of mimicking the Sha'al tail sweep. D&D: Monks of the Esara'shal Kdar train to use the following weapons as if an unarmed base attack; [kama], [nunchaku]*, and [siangham] elehrad. The elehrad is an Elve weapon, the use of which is frowned upon through much of the Dekàlan lands. * [nunchaku] is a shortened version of the Sha'al ataar which consists of two 4' staves (which are often studded) joined by rope. The ataar is a large double-weapon (1d8/1d8 x2) and therefore not useful as a monk's special weapon, though proficiency may be gained through an exotic proficiency feat. History
Following the establishment of Jadth as the sixth city-state of Dekàlas (197 HK), there were undercurrents of dissatisfaction with the imperial machine. The indigenous people of Dreamlands that had not succumbed to Dekàlan rhetoric knew the Sha'al were not the villains their new leaders portrayed them as. Within this quiet sub-culture of thought, there was also a respect for the Sha'al, who had never broken promises or pacts and had even extended "olive branches" to make peace with their new neighbors, until the First Sha'al War (113-194 HK). Among these thinkers was Kodéul, a Sharran slave who had been brought to Jadth to win his freedom. According to the history of Esara'shal, during the Battle of the Old City, Kodéul killed only one Sha'al who while dying, forgave him. Kodéul hid among the stones of the Old City for the remainder of the battle, surviving one last combat with a Dekàlan soldier sent to kill fleeing slaves, before the emancipation of those that fought bravely. Following the war, Kodéul gradually attracted a following of slaves, indigenous people, and soldiers that had seen too-much of the war, and wished to put the atrocities behind them. Kodéul founded a small two-building krydàrën on his parcel (warrior slave renumeration was two acres) one half-month's walk from Jadth. In 202 HK, he left his following and journeyed alone into the Vast Untamed where he told the Sha'al he met there of his experience. As he'd expected, the Sha'al that he met were sympathetic to him, and eventually he was brought to Josh'al, an elder who accepted him and taught him the ways of the Sha'al. Kodéul stayed with Josh'al sixteen years, returning only twice to his followers to give them new ideas to contemplate and tasks to complete in his absence. In 218 HK, Josh'al died and Kodéul was granted the honor of setting flame to the elder's corpse. With his teacher dead, he returned to Jadth to begin in earnest the instruction of his flock. Upon Kodéul's return in 218, he found the kdar had grown in his absence. His hard working followers had been granted 12 additional acres of surrounding forest land, some of which they'd cleared and sowed. A "compassionate" local lord had fended off concerns by Sudulite priests that the kdar did not tithe, and had constructed a decree obviating the kdar from temple "duties" so long as they continued to be productive and pay their yearly taxes. Reliable income did not come easily for common lords in the early years of the city-state as few wished to settle in the wild forests. By the time of Kodéul's death in 233 HK, the Esara'shal Kdar had 30 members, 5 buildings, almost 20 acres of land (12 cultivated), 1 ox, 4 milk cows, and 17 pigs. The members had adopted the Sha'al principles of peace and co-existence with their neighbors and nature. This outlook was soon overturned when a new leader, Durmyel emerged following the death of Kodéul. Durmyel, an early student of Kodéul, believed that Kodéul was missing a vital key to understanding the Sha'al. Kodéul, he explained had studied with the white and the red Sha'al, but not the striped. He explained that the harmony of the Sha'al as a culture, hinged on the prinicple that each subrace served a necessary function within the society. In order to fully realize that harmony, the way of the warrior Sha'al should be studied as well. Despite early resistance to this idea, Durmyel soon had recruited double the number of members, offering the common lord yearly yeomanship duties in exchange for protection from temple and other interests. The lord was dubious at first, unsure of the value of light unarmed infantry, but eventually consented. Esara'shal Kdar was granted fiefdom status in 266 HK (during the Second Sha'al War), with the leader of the kdar acting as baron for the lands surrounding.
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Races The main races of Teréth End are: Uren (Humans) |
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| Ref. PHB (Player's Handbook), © Wizards of the Coast  |
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