Major Groups of Annwn
"What do
you mean I can't join?"
Runoc, Half-Orc Barbarian, on being refused entry to the college
of magic
Annwn holds many diverse groups and associations. More than a mere
profession, these groups are exclusive and distinctive, instantly recognizable
by outsiders. Some are mundane and commonly encountered by the everyday
traveler, such as craft and thieve guilds, others, however, are far more
unusual. Of the latter category, some of the largest of these groups
include priests, druids, monks, assassins, wizards, the Southern Cross, and
the priests of Chronos.
Priests
Though each religion has its own term to describe its followers, most peasants
refer to them by the catch-all term of priests or clerics. All priests
worship a particular entity, a greater being who lives far beyond the bounds
of our world, in the outer planes. While anyone can choose to pray to
a god, priests are those devout individuals who have been initiated into
the mysteries of the clergy, and intrusted with the responsibility of spreading
their deity's philosophy to others. Priests of the various religions
are easily recognized, as each clergy has distinctive dress, rituals, and
a unique holy symbol, representative of their faith. Some religions
also have militant offshoots of clerics known as paladins, individuals who
fight to destroy enemies of their faith.
Druids
Although druids are also considered a religious association, they differ
from priests in that they do not venerate any greater outer planar being.
Instead, druids believe the earth itself to be a living being, and the moon
her child. Druids claim to receive their powers through a profound
understanding and connection with the natural world, drawing on the earth's
natural power rather than supplicating any greater being for assistance.
Druids are generally solitary and reclusive, shying away from civilization,
but will occasionally be encountered by travelers making their way through
the wilderness. Closely associated with druids are rangers, individuals
that, while not actively worshipping the living earth, often share the druid's
connection with it, and sometimes harness its powers in a similar fashion.
Monks
Stories tell of a traveler from a land far across the Grey Sea, who brought
the foundations of modern monasticism to Eastmarch millennia ago. Since
that time, the tradition has formed its own basis of followers throughout
Moravia, and monasteries have popped up throughout the continent. Typically
secluded from the outside world, monks concern themselves with achieving physical
and spiritual self perfection, through meditation and intense discipline.
Although monks care little for outside events, and outsiders are rarely
allowed into the monasteries, monks may occasionally leave their walls behind
to test their skills abroad. Many orders are instantly recognizable
by their hair alone, which is often shaven but for a long top-knot, or else
completely bald. Even when this is not the case, the monk's strange
manners often make them instantly recognizable to outsiders.
Assassins
While anyone can kill for money, true assassins are part of a clandestine
society. With a variety of titles from "hands" to "blades" based on
the skill of the assassin, this guild formally trains its members in the
arts of death. Veiled in secrecy, little is known of this society,
but it is believed to be based somewhere in the island republic of Tandeme.
Unfortunately, its members carry no visible indication of their membership.
Though all assassins possess a sash of color varying with their rank, few
are foolish enough to carry it on their person, for obvious reasons.
Wizards
Masters of the magic arts, many consider wizards to be an even more dangerous
group than assassins. Of those magi who harness magic through study
and intellect, only a select group of human males may claim the title of
wizard. In order to become a wizard, a mage must journey to one of
several colleges of magic, and undergo arduous tests proving his magical
prowess. All those who have been deemed worthy by the college are proclaimed
as wizards, true masters of magic. Only wizards have the right to wear
the wide brimmed, conical caps symbolic of their status, and are known to
punish mercilessly those who wear a cap they have not earned. Legend
has it that it was Woden, god of magic, who first taught humans the magic
arts during the Solaran War, and wizards wear the caps in honor of that adorning
Woden himself.
The title of wizard carries great respect throughout Moravia,
and can virtually guarantee the bearer a position of trusted councilor to
a powerful ruler, at least. It is important to note, however, that
a wizard holds great respect another who has earned the cap, there is no
guarantee of either camaraderie or friendship. In fact, as the colleges
have no qualms to the alignment of its members, many wizards become deadly
and implacable foes.
Unfortunately for many would be wizards, entry into the
college of magic is strictly restricted to human males, thus preventing many
powerful mages from ever attaining the cap. Most other magical races,
such as the elves and gnomes, consider this slight unimportant, but many
powerful female mages have been known to consider their exclusion the gravest
of insults.
The Southern
Cross
The Southern Cross is a unique military institution of Eastmarch. Its members
hold loyalty to no kingdom, but solely to the goals of the organization.
Originally created to collaborate the various kingdoms for the task of repulsing
the Southland barbarians and constructing the Great Wall, the Southern Cross
has become an independent institution that sets the task of maintaining order
throughout Eastmarch. Most members of the Southern Cross are greatly
respected by the commoners, although some nobles hold them to be a meddlesome
nuisance.
Priests of
Chronos
One particular group of priests is so well known that most peasants think
of it as a completely separate entity. The clergy of Chronos, god of
knowledge and time, are dedicated to the gathering and dissemination of knowledge
amongst all the peoples of Annwn. Its members are well known to the
commoners, as they frequently trek throughout Moravia selling calendars and
maps. The Great Library of Chronos is renown throughout the world as
the single greatest source of knowledge in all of Annwn, and all great scholars
dream of someday making the trek to its location in the remote mountains
in Eastmarch.