Monks of Brontes
A sect of peaceful, mountain dwelling monks who worship the One-eyed Watcher, Brontes. They take it upon themselves to tend to both Serenity's Well and the Temple of the Five as well as guiding pilgrims on their journey of enlightenment. The monks live in relative isolation, relying on visions from their god, or divination spells to see the world beyond their sacred sites and monasteries. The monks consist of mostly mountain-dwelling species such as Goliaths, Orcs, or Aarakocra; though peoples of all species and races are welcome if they are earnest in their quest for new sight.
Structure
There are two main monasteries, one on each of the God's Eyes mountains, and several smaller monasteries scattered throughout the mountain range. Among all of them, only the two largest have a Prophet as their head, the rest of the monasteries are headed by two to four Seers. Below the Seers are the middle ranking New-sights and the the initiate Blinded. This hierarchy exist mainly as a way to mark a monk's experience. While each rank has their own responsibilities, nothing is rigidly enforced and the monks regard each other as brothers and sisters rather than superiors and subordinates.
Prophet - The Prophets oversee the care of the sacred sites and devote the rest of their time to seeking visions of guidance from Brontes. Once a year they venture out to visit the other monasteries on their side of the mountain range.
Seer - The Seers oversee the daily tasks of their monasteries, be it in training, meditation, or organizing small parties to go out to trade for supplies. While they also receive visions from Brontes, they are often much less clear than those of the Prophets.
New-sight - Making up the bulk of the population in most monasteries, the New-sights have only just begun to understand the powers of divination. When new Blinded join the monastery, a New-sight will volunteer or be assigned to be their eyes.
Blinded - Blinded are the least experienced of the monks, initiates in the monasteries. As part of their training they are expected to wear a blindfold at almost all times, though they are allowed some time each day to remove the blindfold. When a Blinded receives their first vision it is called "opening God's eye" and is seen as their graduation to becoming a New-sight. if a Blinded does not receive a vision within two years of joining, they are given the option to leave while retaining honorary brotherhood among the monks.
Sightless Brother/Sister - Those who could not open God's eye and attain the rank of New-sight. No longer allowed to live at the monasteries, they are given a pewter amulet with the symbol of Brontes to mark them as an honorary brother or sister.
Comments