The Yearning Erudites
“Knowledge is power. Information is liberating. Education is the premise of progress, in every society, in every family.”
“To educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society.”
“Ignorance breeds monsters to fill up the vacancies of the soul that are unoccupied by the verities of knowledge.”
“The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is.”The archaic believers and founders of Ankh'hera, said to have been the first writers and chroniclers and interpreters of the ancient Tabaxi and the disciples of the Sphinxes. Believing in the goddess of knowledge, Pansophia the Knowing Mistress - they were set to be the foundation of the God's influence in the world and the epitome of mortal struggle, striving to achieve great wonders and understanding of the passage into the afterlife. It was with them that recorded histories have been able to survive and stories, lessons, morals and philosophy survives to enable those to know right from wrong, and to question the world and gain greater understanding of it. Not only this, they were the composers of the Divine Gods edicts that allowed the mortal races to understand the truths of the natural progression of the soul in the afterlife. Their reputation and their priorities have changed many times over the centuries - breaking into different lines of thought, the cause of controversy and struck with potential hypocrisy - but this intellectual organisation has grown, fallen and rose once again many times. Their true goal is to combat ignorance and lies, making those with great knowledge and skill responsible for enacting positive and prosperous change to the ordinary - pushing the boundaries to allow progression, and maintaining the upkeep of wisdom so as to remember what can be possible. They collected, archived and taught information out to the masses to combat one of the greatest threats to the mortal races: ignorance. Originally, they were the first to codify and transcibe ancient and lost languages into written systems within their Erudite Halls - and the first to record the blessed messages of the Gods as they had walked on the earth among mortals. They developed into free-thinking of philosophies that have transcended in the present through the surviving works of great sages - believing that in order to live a good and happy life, one must focus on one's morals, ethics and values - setting the grounds of the acceptable and taboo factors of the Gods and society. However, in this bountiful and reckless pursuit of knowledge, the Yearning Erudites fell into a great number of issues as some performed inquiries into the dark, committing these forbidden acts dealt towards acting and conversing with demons and devils in the pursuit of knowledge unknown by mortals. Their natural curiosities are spoiled by thoughts of pride, ambition, greed and power - hoping to become as great, or even greater, than the gods themselves. Though this faltered and a great loss of written and recorded materials occurred over the sanctity of knowledge - initially a great purge and reorganising of their organisation occurred amongst their archives in order to correct their mistakes, some even to hide their shame and crimes. This then posed a troublesome query of whether 'all is sacred' in knowledge or 'anything is permitted' by its use - the public came to trust the scholars less, and thought them as those that would seek to chain them with their knowledge, chaining them through lies and ignorance. Then, the extraordinary phenomena occurred as a blessing from Pansophia - through a chosen disciple to be gifted with the power of foresight, and become the compiler of the Yearning Erudites most prominent tenets - came the rise of the Mystrasi. Founded in complete ignorance, they were guided by the wisdom and teachings of the Twelve Great Sphinxes of the ancient era of the civilised values that would allow Ankh'hera to prosper and all those who lived within it to share and delight in these teachings and guidance. But at a cost, as one might remark - "With great knowledge, comes great sorrow". Thus came and the legend of the Fate Touched ... those bound to the Weave of Fate, and thus lacking in free will, their lives predetermined by the Gods and the Diabolical Ones, forces beyond mortal understanding. This was the bargain struck between the Gods to gift such a mortal with such power, Pansophia was said to have tied the fates of the Mystrasi to the goddess of death, the Raven Queen - the true test of character, that in exchange for great power, one must commit a great sacrifice. Each one chosen will know the moment of their death, and be unable to stop it. It is a fate shared by all tied to the service of the Gods, devising their grand plan of the world. Sparking a great controversy that had settled and divided those between the Gods themselves, the mortal races & those who were faithful and those who wished to remain and be free - heralded as the 'Divine Controversy'. The archaic order of the Yearning Erudites thus aligned with the divine, believing in their Goddess, her plan and her will - believing that the Gods had the best intentions for them, and were infallible. That is until the Dark Gods and the Abyss were attracted to the discord and abuses of the mortal realm, during the Mythical Era. With knowledge, it allowed the proper use and action of law and order - but when the Dark Prince fell to the Abyss, and came upon the world and whispered into the ears of the faithful & even the Sphinxes who were eternally bound to their duty and fate. With the silky voice and silver-tongued grace of the devil, and the ceaseless gnawing of uncertainty and voraciousness of a demon - Graz'zt the Dark Prince enticed one of the Great Sphinxes. Should they not be rewarded, should they not embrace their emotions and feel superior, after all were they not the messengers of the gods? Mortals should bow down to them. Their knowledge allowed prosperity, should they not be reciprocated in kind? The Nameless Sphinx, the one who wavered to their own emotions, seeking to be loved, admired and feared... broke away from the Divine Plan, and became the Mother of the Lamias. Rather than listening to the wisdom of sound logic, they gave in to their inhibitions - overwhelmed by desire; her children corrupting the wisdom of the Sphinxes and gave rise of the Lamias. Sowing discord, enticing mortals and followers of the gods to pursue their own desires above their sacred duties... inviting darkness to those seeking means to escape their fate and even defy death. The Dark Prince offered a means to become liberated, embracing true freedom, taking a leap of faith away from the gods and be the masters of their own destiny. They say that most good lies have a scrap of truth hidden within - it was enough to be believable, spreading doubt that they truly had no freedom, or whether the true Divines ever intended for them to have it in the first place.
The one who lies to oneself and listens to their own lie comes to a point that they cannot distinguish the truth within oneself, or around them, and so loses all respect for themselves and for others. And having no respect they cease to love.”Giving themselves to darker powers, promised to be 'freed', but instead found themselves shackled to their own desires, blaspheming in such a manner that the Weave of Fate that the Gods sought to sow and bring great prosperity to their mortal children - had been broken and corrupted, anchored into the Abyss, by none other than the Chained Oblivion, Tharizdun. This struck a mortal blow to the Gods, and weakened their connections of faith between their followers - the Sphinxes were denied participation in the ensuing chaos, the Androsphinxes denied battle & the Gynosphinxes were forced to hide and protect what little remained of the once great Archives of the Gods and their powerful knowledge. The Sphinxes, for all intents and purposes were forced into hiding, and were charged with aiding and protecting the remaining power of the Gods in hidden realms. Forcing them to abandon their sanctuaries and protect the so-called Tablets of Fate in hiding - but through their power, they invested in guiding the Mystasi to help mortal kind... with the aid of the devoted disciples of the Yearning Erudites. The destruction wrought by the unleashed Dark gods, and the corruption and manipulation of the Lamias - their once vibrant and green lands were consumed as battle between gods and divinity commenced, reducing the lands into a desert landscape. The stronghold of the Ankh'herans did not fall, as the forces of good rallied upon its defences against the terrors of the Abyss. With the aid of the Mystrasi, the Yearning Erudites were able to locate and find the materials necessary for their goddess Pansophia to banish the Chained Oblivion with the Rites of Prime Banishment - and seal the secrets away with the Sphinxes, the last they were seen of to this day. Bu before leaving, after all the destruction and battles wrought, the Mystrasi had received a vision that would bring both hope and despair. The Prophecy of the Great Flood of Fate. The Mystrasi foretold that the deserts will return to the illustrious green that once enriched their kingdom, the Sphinxes will reveal their secrets and teach their final lessons to the chosen people of Ankh'hera - those cursed as the Fate-Touched, those hidden from the all-seeing power of the Mystrasi and the Gods, whose fates are determined yet remain unknowable after the breaking of the Weave of Fate, will incite the darkest hour and the hardest trials that Ankh'hera will have to face - before their lands will return to its glorious bounty. Those whom remained devout and loyal to the Sphinxes, and all their wisdom that they had offered alongside the aid of the Gods - still had to fulfil their duty. The Yearning Erudites had been split apart and divided under this time, filled with doubt and uncertainty - those who saw the faults in the Divine Plan and believed that the mortal races should be allowed freedom to decide their own fates, continued the traditions and worship of Pansophia. However, with the exodus of the Gods, the period of uncertainty and disaster of the Cataclysm required them to use their knowledge to ensure that the mortal races followed the key tenets and were not waylaid by immorality, ignorance and lies. They needed to guide them. On the other hand, those whom had faith in the gods, and wished to restore their dwindled and weak power - and ensure that never again would the Sphinxes knowledge nor their sacred duty be wavered again, that they committed themselves to Fate. Sealing themselves to become the Fate-Touched, hiding in anonymity and disappearing into the darkness and awaiting the dark times to come when they were needed once again. When the time draws near, or when darkness spreads once more across the world, and heroes must rise to face off against the followers of the dark gods and prevent the apocalypse from happening once more - the Fate-Touched will have their role to play in the coming tragedies that await, and will pass on the secrets of the Sphinxes in order to bring hope once more. They will remain nameless, and forgotten, until the last Mystrasi will tell their last prophecy to their people, giving them the tools and the knowledge to survive. Protecting the Tablets of Fate. In the following centuries of the Cataclysms aftermath - the role of the Yearning Erudites had become less tied to devotion to their goddess, as it was devotion to their people and their city, and the ressurection of the lost knowledge from before the Cataclysm. Ankh'hera, once the defensive stronghold against the tide of chaos and the Abyss - now, through the works of the Erudites, became the City of Ancient Wonders. The centre of all great archives of knowledge and history, stretching back from the time before the Cataclysm - preserving their culture, people, ancient tomes and texts in their libraries and sanctuaries. It was the golden centre of magical and intellectual progress, as the Yearning Erudites, once teachers and scholars, now a centre of renaissance - recovering and reclaiming the lost scrolls, once destroyed and forgotten arcane tomes - practising a great art amongst its people. Yet controlled and under the watch of many different arms of political power. Wonders never thought possible and believed only to be myth, has been made possible through the research and discoveries of the Yearning Erudites - or as they have currently adopted as their title, the Erudite Arcanate. However, it was only made possible as through the works of their many Mystrasi - they were able to punish the descendants of those that worked in alignment with the Dark Gods, whom had forfeited themselves to the Abyss as the 'Fate-Touched' or Fate-Bound to atone for the great sins they committed, and enslaved them and their descendants ad infinitum. Deemed necessary to recover the lost lands and restore the might of Ankh'hera - overseen by the Pride Lords of the Tabaxi, and by the followers of the Raven Queen, who wish to see their fiendish and evil-bloodlines return to the natural and eternal well of souls & not destined to become fodder for the Blood War. Generations of conquering and slavery have restored Ankh'hera as one of the greatest powers the world has ever known, since the fall of the last magocratic empires in the Arcane Era. Yet, it is thought the Mystrasi and the Erudite Arcanate have wavered from their path - rather than seek to enlighten or save others, they lie to themselves and have used their power only to fuel their ambitions and not for the good of their people. No one except a choice few remember the nameless guardians and Fate-Bound followers of the Sphinxes, and many have chosen to ignore and reject the Prophecy of the Flood of Fate. Yet some within the order remain charged with protecting the ancient and divine rights of Pansophia, teaching to live a moral life and preserving knowledge to help teach others the proper and correct way. Cited and given ceremonious purpose with the aid of the Mystrasi - there are chosen few that are sent forth to assist the Sphinxes in their anonymity. Those who prove themselves in front of the Androsphinxs in the ruins of their old abandoned northern kingdom in the Vashara Desert. Should they survive the tribulations, they may seek out their mates in the Androgyze Mountains and find the knowledge to enact the Prophecy and bring both the hard and dark times, to remake the civilization of Aetha'Shar as it once was... but potentially sever the Gods connection to the world entirely. These protectors would endow themselves as the Nameless Praetors of the Gods - the Nameless Vanguard that would protect the Tablets of Fate from the hands of the unworthy and from the Dark Gods. Keeping the secrets that has plagued the Continent for millennia, fostered the desires and deaths of others, a tool of the Gods corrupted. It has broken kingdoms and silenced Gods, shackled thousands into slavery and become enriched with grandeur and majestic tales.
Structure
The Yearning Disciples have a hierarchical structure within their archives and libraries, but a separate Council that governs the activities and worship of Pansophia. This Council consists of the last of the remaining lines of Disciples of the Sphinxes from the original 12 - The Seeker, the Judge, the Warden and the Speaker.
The Seeker is responsible for one of the four great adages - "See all evil".
The Judge is responsible for the second adage - "Hear all evil."
The Speaker is responsible for the third adage - "Speak no evil."
The Warden is responsible for the fourth and last adage - "Do no evil".
Within their archives - those responsible for the keeping of knowledge are the High Curators. Those responsible for protecting knowledge are the Archivists. Those responsible for stopping the abuse of knowledge through ignorance and corruption are the Disquisitors.
Public Agenda
- Uphold the virtues of reason, perception and truth to guide ones emotions and their path.
- Condemn those who lie & spread ignorance, hold those that obscure the truth to account.
- Seek knowledge of both past and present, for good or for ill, to take action to stride towards a better future.
Assets
Access to the world's greatest and most abundant archives of sage tomes, knowledge and libraries - all manner of literature, in all different forms and languages.
Intelligence circles across the world, within the public and political domains.
Knowledge, like air, is vital to life. Like air, no one should be denied it.
Founding Date
The Divine Age
Alternative Names
The Erudites, The Disciples of the Sphinx
Training Level
Professional
Veterancy Level
Experienced
Demonym
Ankh'heran
Leader
Government System
Magocracy
Power Structure
Unitary state
Economic System
Market economy
Legislative Body
The Mystrasi is responsible for the creation and upholding of the laws of the Yearning Erudites & Erudite Arcanate, as of present time. They hold complete power over these laws.
Judicial Body
The High Curators of the Erudite Arcanate are responsible for carrying out the interpretation of the laws of their own organisation.
Executive Body
The Pride Lords, leading nobility of the Tabaxi Prides of Ankh'hera, are responsible for enforcing the laws of the Mystrasi & the religious laws of the Church of Pansophia within Ankh'hera.
Official Languages
Related Ranks & Titles
Neighboring Nations
Related Items
Notable Members
