Faction Overview

The Transcendant Order are a bunch of downright puzzles. They don't really make any sense from the outside, because what motivates them is anyone's guess. They move and act as if the multiverse is flowing through them, and they are always trying to move closer and closer to the ideal of action without thought. This doesn't imply that they're a bunch of people that jump to conclusions: quite the opposite, actually. Most of them strive to increase their nearness to the multiverse through meditation and introspection. Some just try to act without thinking all the time, which doesn't really bring them any closer to multiversal introspection... but they can't help it. Nobody's perfect, after all. Only the greatest of Cipher masters can truly learn how to be at one with the multiverse: most of the lower rankers just bumble along, attempting to emulate the actions of their superiors. They try too hard to be spontaneous, not realising that true harmony with the multiverse must be gained from introspection. They're called the "Ciphers" usually, probably because to an outsider, they just don't make sense to someone outside the faction. A well-known saying is, "A Cipher is a riddle. What they're going to do next is anyone's guess." By a general rule, if a Cipher is making a sort of sense for any length of time, then they're probably not a Cipher.

How does a Cipher superior act? Their motions flow, as if they are made of water. They act immediately to outward stimuli, perfectly and unhesitatingly springing forward, backward, walking with an intent purpose in mind... or out of mind, as things are with them. Each action is guided by the Cadence of the Planes, the mystical force that the Ciphers claim flows through us all, guiding out actions, showing us the way to live our lives and act without the cumbersome influence of thought.

Ciphers don't usually speak, and if they do so, they don't recited long-winded sentences and epic poems. They get straight to the point, saying only what is needed and then going off. However strange it may seem, the Ciphers actually do have some sort of concordance with the multiverse. It's as if they know what's going to happen before it does and they can act just in time. Throughout Sigil they are the mediators between the factions, and they've prevented war from breaking out in the city more than once.

The factol of the Transcendant Order is Rhys, a tiefling who epitomises action without thought. She's strange and mysterious, and what motivates her actions is clear: she is completely guided by the flow of the multiverse. When one force rises up threatening to kill the others, she is there to create peace and ease tension. She is the truest diplomat in Sigil.

In Sigil, the Transcendant Order makes its home in the Great Gymnasium, where its members contemplate, meditate, and create. It is a physical wellness center as well as a haven for the arts. Members of the Transcendant Order spend their time in the Great Gymnasium when they feel like it, and go where they feel that they are needed elsewhere. It's as simple as that.

Faction Life

The members of the Transcendant Order tend to be people of action: they can't hold themselves down to just one field, they do whatever is required when it's required. Most often they can be seen in the Great Gymnasium, training their bodies to be in tune with the vibrations of the multiverse. Often times they take up services as abritrators and mediators: they quickly take in facts and make decisions quite well. Of course, they usually don't need to hired for that service: they'll do it on their own, of course, whenever they see the need. Some Ciphers are hired for guard duty, but that rarely works: they just can't seem to wait for something to happen. Some of the more violent ones become vigilantes, hunting down those who would do the city wrong - they're not going to wait for the legal system to turn its gears and find the criminals.

Allies

The Rilmani admire the way of the Transcendant Order to act towards the balance of all and appreciate their completely neutral stance. If their own nature didn't preclude joining factions, there would be most likely be several rilmani in the ranks of the faction.

Most every faction doesn't really have a problem with the Ciphers. The Ciphers just aren't really offensive to anyone because of their open and accepting nature and their beliefs which don't really clash with anyone else's.

Enemies

Nobody likes meddlers, and the Ciphers are quite often seen as meddlers in the eyes of paramortals. No baatezu lord or celestial wants their great plans for War being meddled with by mere mortals. As a general rule, the baatezu, archons, eladrin, and tanar'ri distrust the Ciphers because of their neutral stance... and the fact that they quite often stick their noses where they don't belong.

The Harmonium also distrust the Transcendant Order. This is because while the Harmonium seeks external harmony, the Transcendant Order seeks internal harmony. There's nothing really wrong with this, but the Harmonium distrusts them nonetheless