The Seekers of Truth
The first thing of value is the truth. Without the truth, fruit is more valuable than iron. Iron is more valuable than words. Words are worthless in the face of weapons. The Seekers know, because the Seekers have found the truth. Or at least, they have one of its bones.
Ostensibly a philosophy among the dwarven elders, the pursuit of more pieces of the truth have transformed the order. Its membership is more diverse and widespread than most know – only dwarves are allowed to declare themselves as Seekers, but everyone seeks in their way. Any Seeker would tell you – assuming you’d mistake this for rhetoric. Seekers are often seen at the start of legends – usually as the ones that put great power into foolish hands. Just as often, they retrieve that power’s broken fragments afterward.
For some reason, the Seekers also have a distinct distaste for the undead. The focus on immortality through attainment may find their insensate or obsessive persistence to be an insult or anathema… or it may just be the high percentage of dwarves among the liches of the Bones. Old rivalries, older traitors, or just good policy? The Seekers hate the dead.
Motto. “Only one thing lives forever.” What this ‘thing’ might be is an open question and a constant itch among them, meant to goad the search for the Truth.
Beliefs. The Seekers, many dwarves, and those influenced by their philosophy believe:
- Truth is knowledge within context. Without context? There is no truth. Thus? The Truth flows.
- Immortality is the difference between the mortal and the divine. The nature of immortality? Is secret. No secret is truly safe.
- Do not deprive others of the comfort of their ignorance. Truth and its pursuit is pain and cost. Ignorance can sustain a long life.
Goals. Survive and build lasting structures – by stone or society – to preserve what you have learned. Guard that knowledge from those without perspective, to the death if need be. Exchange, but never surrender the truth of a thing. Just its parts.
Typical Quests. Typical quests for the Seekers include raiding tombs or essential looms, capturing or destroying troublesome undead, or escorting a master of a skill, story, or lost technique to and from the Gaze.
Comments