Monastic Order of the Eldursteries

The monks of the Eldursteries reside in the western mountain range of Eldurgrund, where they toil away preserving and developing the nation's archives. Developed shortly after the formation of the Eldur Knights (ca. 760-790 EG), the order of monks was tasked with studying and creating fire magic techniques to standardize education on the subject. Their original imperative ensured the dominance of Euvurcrest over the surrounding region but generations of imperialization, regulation, and access to magic weapons have caused the organization to diversify its goals in the modern era.   Today, the Eldursteries transcribe current events, research diverse fields, partake in political relations, perform specialty tasks for the government, and continue developing fire magic. The organization has slowly developed new ranks and responsibilities to improve productivity, though stratification has unfortunately introduced politically driven decisions and a drive for members to strive for personal gain. While modernization has certainly had unintended consequences for the Eldur Monks, it persists as one of the greatest scholarly entities in the Augury, only matched by the Rembrandts of Fjordstrond.   At present (ca. 1962 NG), the Eldursteries have begun aligning more with the national religions associated with the Elduri Mythos, though they fundamentally consider themselves a nonreligious group. However, some members have been reported to have performed research on, revered, or even worshipped Anoch Athylis: a forsaken devil under the imperial Augury. Both the Augury and Eldurgrund credit Anoch Athylis as a supernatural entity, but Eldurgrund attributes him with the deliverance of fire magic upon humanity. In contrast, the Augury claims Anoch Athylis is evil due to his conversion to a devil of famine by Milin Orphi.     The monks are broken into several disciplines, each requiring knowledge of contemporary history and adept literacy. The organization is dominated by individuals from greater noble, lesser noble, and Elduri national families. Since most lordship inheritors are first-born individuals, the Eldursteries are filled with young nobles, each of whom wants to find their own way to develop political power outside the bounds of inheritance; even so, several individuals outside of Eldurgrund have managed to join the organization. For example, orcs of the Greylends and Half Folk (such as centaurs or satyrs) have joined the monkhood.   The Eldur Monks have mastered every discipline, though it's also their task to ensure future monks are fully informed of new developments within the disciplines. Generally, Eldur Monks spend their days managing the Eldursteries, engaging with high-profile individuals, directing monks, and assessing profound findings.  

Roles

  The Eldursteries have three broad roles: Workmen, monks, and Eldur Monks. While workmen aren't part of the order itself, they allow all tasks to run smoothly and at the convenience of its members. The details of each are outlined below.   Workmen: Workmen perform all maintenance on the Eldursteries, predominately cooking, cleaning, repairing, and making deliveries. Unfortunately, they serve as the unsung heroes of the Eldursteries. While none of the organization's groundbreaking work could occur if its members were preoccupied with menial tasks, virtually no credit (aside from financial compensation) is given to the workmen; most are exchanged or otherwise replaced with individuals from surrounding lordships regularly. While Eldurgrund has little regulation with regard to its peasantry and their standards of living, the Eldursteries are a monument of employment for the surrounding territories. Most workmen are either from the surrounding lordships or previously lived on their own accord, but the Eldursteries provide decent pay and housing for any willing to work. Further, the funding to pay the workmen comes from the governy of Eldurgrund, making a stable source of capital.   Monks: Monks of the Eldursteries focus on one discipline, working on their own research and performing tasks as delegated by the discipline's leader (an Eldur Monk). The tasks performed heavily depend on the corresponding discipline, but there are a few prominent examples. History disciplinaries often transcribe and maintain historical records, while occasionally parsing records to assist researchers. Fire disciplinaries are often sent to lordships and Euvurcrest to use fire magic technology that many settlements have grown dependent upon. Relations disciplinaries are hired to resolve lordship disputes and guide political decisions. Planes disciplinaries are often occupied in dense research, but may occasionally serve religious organizations or venture to speak with interplanar entities (such as Both the Bonsai, Vestergil, or Ghattadon).   Eldur Monks: Eldur Monks are the leaders of the organization and masters of every discipline. Individual Eldur Monks will lead a specific discipline and organize labor, funds, research, and political action. Together, the Eldur Monks represent the organization and vie for specific financial investments from the government. While much of their time is spent on politics and steeped in organizational tasks, the Eldur Monks aren't separate from great feats of research. The Eldur Monks consult on almost every task performed by the lesser monks and continue to spearhead their own studies. While every Eldur Monk tends to prefer a specific field, their unanimous knowledge of every discipline ensures that they can confidently lead an array of studies.     The Eldursteries formed during Ettermiddag with the intent of studying the intricacies of fire magic. As the dominant source of power for the Eldur Knights (the dominant military force at the time), developing techniques was essential to reconquering the territory lost during the dark ages. Thanks to the dozens of monks developing, recording, and teaching fire magic, the military could be efficiently trained without spending valuable time on menial tasks themselves. The organization persisted as a vault of power until a terrible fire rendered the monasteries uninhabitable in the year 1015 DY, ironically due to the very subject matter they were intended to study. While most of the surviving monks were well-versed on techniques of fire magic, fewer had memorized historical documents that were lost. At the time of the fire, the monasteries and records were made with products of the Lyslure Woods which catches with ease; the disaster prompted the organization to begin recording on stone tablets: an iconic feature of the Eldursteries today. A few years down the line, the monasteries were moved up the mountains rather than at their bases. The movement served to mirror the city of Euvurcrest while also ensuring they would be defensible in times of war (an impending threat as seen in The Rembrandtic Wars , ca. 1172 DY).   The Rembrandtic Wars, which saw the Eldurgrund Empire clash with the eastern Saltkrigere Empire, ended in the defeat of Eldurgrund and the complete domination of Trinen by the forces of Shellbay. A major facet of Shellbay's victory came from the siege and capture of the Eldursteries. Saltkrigere General Elias Rembrandt figured the Eldursteries would be relatively easy to capture compared to Euvurcrest while still delivering a substantial blow to national morale. His assumptions were correct, but several unintended benefits came from capturing the Eldursteries. For example, studying tablets allowed the military to anticipate Elduri tactics. Further, the Saltkrigere were able to recover several letters and records relevant to Eldurgrund military activity. During the occupation, half of the monkhood were slain while the rest were either imprisoned or turned to slavery in service of the occupying forces. Months after the capture, Euvurcrest surrendered and the nation fell under the legislation of the Saltkrigere Empire.   Under the Saltkrigere Empire, the organization was suppressed. Fire magic was banned and records were confiscated by the authorities, leaving the monks to serve a purely cultural role in the nation. With funding from Eldurgrund no longer able to support the organization, most monks took to scribing for lords and nobles and using the acquired funds to keep the monkhood afloat. This dictatorial treatment continued for years after the collapse of the Saltkrigere Empire when the new imperial force known as the Augury took power. However, in the year 1573 Md, the military and fire magic ban was lifted. Finally able to study fire magic again, the Eldursteries subsisted on the services they provided to Eldurgrund until innovation began to slow in the coming decades. Once the new order of Eldur Knights was trained and techniques were broadly known, the advent of disciplines was finally formed. History and fire were the first to develop, as they were the main tasks performed by the Eldursteries following the lift of the military ban. To maintain relevance, the discipline of relations was made with assistance from the Euvurcrest Bard's College. The discipline of planes formed in the year 1764 MD in the blooming years of interplanar research. Great strides were made that even assisted the Company of Foolhardy Heroes in understanding how to prevent invasions from extraplanar entities. Unfortunately, undisclosed actions by the Company led to the removal of Laminarum from the planescape and completely cut off access to other planes, leaving the discipline unable to study their subject of interest. Thankfully, in recent years (ca. 1947 NG), reconnection to the planes has been slowly redeveloping.