Formatting code for TowerofEnlightenment
{{image url="http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r172/Nimea/ParthosBanner3.jpg"}}
__**[[HomePage Home]]**__, __**[[Rules Rules]]**__, __**[[http://www.parthosrpg.com/mboard/ Message Boards]]**__, __**[[www.parthosrpg.com/aim.php The Parthenon (AIM)]]__, __[[www.parthosrpg.com/aol.php The Parthenon (AOL)]]**__
Back to __**[[World]]**__
>>{{image url="http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z62/ZamahLand/Wiki/TowerofEnlightenment.jpg"}}>>====__**The Tower of Enlightenment**__====
In the northern reaches of the Quiet Hills, where the last ancient crests sink slowly into plains and wind-whipped forest, there stands a soaring tower of weathered white stone, crowned by flapping pennons and faced with a curious emblem of ornately worked brass and gold. Beneath it is a square fortress of the same white stone, worn by the centuries but still strong.
No lord commands these walls. No king claims their allegiance. This is the Tower of Enlightenment, the stronghold of the Brotherhood of Alabastros. For centuries the ascetic order has maintained the fortress, spending their days practicing discipline of the body and mind, cultivating the tiny gardens that dot their inner courtyards like green jewels, and seeking transcendence.
The Brotherhood, or the Alabastri as they are sometimes called, have a long history in the region. They have always maintained a steadfast neutrality in the disputes of surrounding powers, defending their own walls when necessary but otherwise taking no part in any of the wars that have periodically convulsed Eastern Meditra. This has kept them from earning any serious enmities, but also ensures that they are no one's friends. In recent decades, however, as the neighboring realms have grown weaker and harder-pressed to maintain their borders, the Alabastri have more often found themselves called upon to defend villages and towns nearby. This increasing entanglement with the world has been a cause for alarm among some in the Tower.
The Tower is meant to be a refuge from worldly concerns. It draws seekers of enlightenment from all across the continent and beyond, and welcomes any who can pass the stringent tests required to enter. Both men and women are permitted to enter, if they qualify, but all acolytes must shave their heads upon entering the Tower, and all are called Brother, regardless of gender. Celibacy is strictly enforced. Acolytes sleep in bare cells without mattresses or chairs, only a raised stone bier. Fires are permitted only when the winter becomes cold enough to kill; otherwise acolytes and senior Brothers alike are expected to toughen themselves by enduring it without complaint.
All in the Brotherhood follow very simple lives. They eat thin gruel, bitter herbs, and plain water served at communal tables; only rarely is their diet leavened with bread, fruit or eggs. All wear the same simple robes of brown and white, with a yellow border at the bottom marking the most senior Alabastri. Each Brother has a small prayer garden, or a patch in a communal garden, that he is expected to cultivate for his own inner peace as well as the welfare of the community, for all the gardens grow herbs and kitchen vegetables.
Every waking hour in the Tower of Enlightenment is to be spent on self-betterment, whether it be through meditation, study in the library, tending to the gardens or engaging in physical exercise. The Alabastri follow a course of study called vinuyasu, which emphasizes flexibility, balance, and harmony within the body. By mastering their bodies and learning the flow of each movement precisely, the Brothers achieve a grace and economy of motion seldom seen except among the greatest of dancers and the greatest of warriors. Though they are students of peace, their relentless discipline makes them also formidable at war.
Few are willing or able to devote themselves as required to enter the Tower of Enlightenment, so most people's experience of it comes secondhand, from meeting one of the Brothers who has been sent out on a journey. There are two types of journey recognized by the Tower: sinyu, the journey for wisdom, in which the acolyte goes forth to learn about himself in an environment less serene and more chaotic than the Tower; and soryu, the journey for purpose, in which the acolyte is sent to use his gifts to accomplish some worthy goal. Soryu have become more common as Brothers are called upon to escort vulnerable travelers or protect isolated hamlets in a region that has become much less peaceful of late, and so more are coming into contact with the Alabastri than has been the case in lifetimes.
__**[[HomePage Home]]**__, __**[[Rules Rules]]**__, __**[[http://www.parthosrpg.com/mboard/ Message Boards]]**__, __**[[www.parthosrpg.com/aim.php The Parthenon (AIM)]]__, __[[www.parthosrpg.com/aol.php The Parthenon (AOL)]]**__
Back to __**[[World]]**__
>>{{image url="http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z62/ZamahLand/Wiki/TowerofEnlightenment.jpg"}}>>====__**The Tower of Enlightenment**__====
In the northern reaches of the Quiet Hills, where the last ancient crests sink slowly into plains and wind-whipped forest, there stands a soaring tower of weathered white stone, crowned by flapping pennons and faced with a curious emblem of ornately worked brass and gold. Beneath it is a square fortress of the same white stone, worn by the centuries but still strong.
No lord commands these walls. No king claims their allegiance. This is the Tower of Enlightenment, the stronghold of the Brotherhood of Alabastros. For centuries the ascetic order has maintained the fortress, spending their days practicing discipline of the body and mind, cultivating the tiny gardens that dot their inner courtyards like green jewels, and seeking transcendence.
The Brotherhood, or the Alabastri as they are sometimes called, have a long history in the region. They have always maintained a steadfast neutrality in the disputes of surrounding powers, defending their own walls when necessary but otherwise taking no part in any of the wars that have periodically convulsed Eastern Meditra. This has kept them from earning any serious enmities, but also ensures that they are no one's friends. In recent decades, however, as the neighboring realms have grown weaker and harder-pressed to maintain their borders, the Alabastri have more often found themselves called upon to defend villages and towns nearby. This increasing entanglement with the world has been a cause for alarm among some in the Tower.
The Tower is meant to be a refuge from worldly concerns. It draws seekers of enlightenment from all across the continent and beyond, and welcomes any who can pass the stringent tests required to enter. Both men and women are permitted to enter, if they qualify, but all acolytes must shave their heads upon entering the Tower, and all are called Brother, regardless of gender. Celibacy is strictly enforced. Acolytes sleep in bare cells without mattresses or chairs, only a raised stone bier. Fires are permitted only when the winter becomes cold enough to kill; otherwise acolytes and senior Brothers alike are expected to toughen themselves by enduring it without complaint.
All in the Brotherhood follow very simple lives. They eat thin gruel, bitter herbs, and plain water served at communal tables; only rarely is their diet leavened with bread, fruit or eggs. All wear the same simple robes of brown and white, with a yellow border at the bottom marking the most senior Alabastri. Each Brother has a small prayer garden, or a patch in a communal garden, that he is expected to cultivate for his own inner peace as well as the welfare of the community, for all the gardens grow herbs and kitchen vegetables.
Every waking hour in the Tower of Enlightenment is to be spent on self-betterment, whether it be through meditation, study in the library, tending to the gardens or engaging in physical exercise. The Alabastri follow a course of study called vinuyasu, which emphasizes flexibility, balance, and harmony within the body. By mastering their bodies and learning the flow of each movement precisely, the Brothers achieve a grace and economy of motion seldom seen except among the greatest of dancers and the greatest of warriors. Though they are students of peace, their relentless discipline makes them also formidable at war.
Few are willing or able to devote themselves as required to enter the Tower of Enlightenment, so most people's experience of it comes secondhand, from meeting one of the Brothers who has been sent out on a journey. There are two types of journey recognized by the Tower: sinyu, the journey for wisdom, in which the acolyte goes forth to learn about himself in an environment less serene and more chaotic than the Tower; and soryu, the journey for purpose, in which the acolyte is sent to use his gifts to accomplish some worthy goal. Soryu have become more common as Brothers are called upon to escort vulnerable travelers or protect isolated hamlets in a region that has become much less peaceful of late, and so more are coming into contact with the Alabastri than has been the case in lifetimes.
