Temple of the Judge: The Kalasravaka

Monastery: Temple of the Judge
Element: Time
Orientation: Neutral
Resident Classes: Monk, Votary (Yen-Wang-Yeh), Reverend, Clerk, Dread Judge, Aghori, Sohei, Sifu, Greywalker
Location: Northwest Minervia
Founder: The Grey Stranger
Affiliations/Alliances: The Kalasravaka are revered within Minervia as the oldest monastic community in the land, but they refrain from interfering in Minervan political affairs. Likewise, the Minervans leave the human monastery to manage itself and they respect its traditional estate boundaries. When the temple's denizens (usually a Dread Judge with entourage) do step out on their way to another land or to seek out a disturbance within Minervia, the Minervan elves step aside and only speak to the temple representatives if spoken to. Minervans are welcome to train at the temple, but they universally follow a different religion than the Kalsravaka and cannot enter the community as a divine. The Temple of the Judge recommends star pupils to the Order of Greywalkers.

Culture

Before the coming of the Grey Stranger, the religious community of Uulintsaiz followed ancient Tengric traditions, but were converted to Shou theology by the Stranger. The monastery's practices were then blended with Indran influences during the early Serene Kingdom period that saw all the original monasteries visited by missionaries from Baghadeesh. Beyond that, the temple's ways haven't changed in over 8000 years.

History

Unlike the other O13 monasteries, the Temple of the Judge did not start out as a besieged religious community, but was rather part of the safe fortified mountain city-state of Uulintsaiz. Nonetheless, the city's priests received a visit from the Grey Stranger, warning them of troubled times ahead to the east and north and the need to establish a pillar of order in the region that could preserve the old gods and old ways and exert a rationalizing influence on its neighbours. To this end, the Stranger taught the priests the 13 Elements Hand fighting style, which they used to persuade the city's prince to place his crown beneath the wiser authority of a religious tribunal. After a period of isolation during which the city was transformed into a theocratic community, missionary-warriors set out into the surrounding mountains to establish outpost temples and assert the sovereignty of the newly-minted Serene Kingdom of the Cock. During the rise of the Empire of the Dragon, monk-trained Cock forces blocked any westward expansion of the empire, and held the kingdom's traditional borders for a thousand years. After the collapse of most other Serene Kingdoms, however, the monks decided it was superfluous to have a monarch, and instituted direct rule by clergy, but after a few centuries of growing frustration with the mundane details of running a kingdom, the monastery turned management of its lands over to Minervia with the understanding that it continue to collect income from its traditional holdings, that Minervans be allowed to study at the temple, and that the temple community be allowed to follow and enforce its own laws among its members, regardless of where in Minervia they may travel.

Education

Common Script: Showee
Common Tongue: Showa
Liturgical Script: Indri
Liturgical Tongue: Modron
Other Languages Taught: Contradruidic, Zoron, Elvish
Sage Topics: Calligraphy, Physics, Metaphysics, Theology, Religious Rites, Geology, Astronomy, Mathematics, Geometry, Numerology
Martial Arts: Hand of Time, Time Temple Style, Angampora, Rot-Palm, Reaper-Style Yau Kung Moon, Dance of the Dead, North Star Qigong, Old Neijing, Olden Locking
Elemental Mastery: Time, Void, Light, Spirit
Weapons: Bo, Quarterstaff, Lirpa, Spear, Double-Spear, Tonfa, Light Hammer, Emeici, Judge's Brushes, Sickles, Partisan, Ranseur, Guisarme, Hook Swords, Chicken-Sabre Sickles, Zhua, Pole Pick, Rope Dart, Knife, Uchine, Kukri, Maru, Horseman's Mace, Footman's Mace, Short Sword, Long Sword, Scimitar, Long Bow, Urumi, Shield, Club, Javelin, Cutlass, Daggers, Longstaff, Tiger Fork, Horsebench, Machete, Glaive, Kwandao, Scythe, Three-Piece Rod, Chakram
Apprenticeships: Martialist, Purist, Scholar
Classes Trained: Monk, Votary (Yen-Wang-Yeh), Reverend, Clerk, Dread Judge, Aghori

Mythology & Lore

The following deities are revered at the Temple of the Judge:
Yen-Wang-Yeh, judge of the dead
Yama, god of death
Logus, god of order
Brahma, god of creation
Vishnu, god of preservation
Shiva, god of destruction
Kuan Yin, goddess of mercy