Shades of Manteio
Dedicated to the service of Manteio, the Shades are a secretive organisation who are one of the main arms of operation for the deity of dreams, foresight and prophecy on Kelbonnar’s Material Plane. They work to support potential futures that Manteio believes should come about, and deny those that they do not from coming into existence.
Structure
There is only one official position within the Shades of Manteio and that is of their leader, who is know as the Oracle of Shades. The Oracle of Shades is a powerful diviner, blest with foresight and prophecy by the deity Manteio, and they receive snippets of potential events that may come to pass in the future, along with messages from Manteio as to whether they wish for the chain of events to be helped into coming to pass, or obstructed as much as possible. The Oracle of Shades then directs the cryptic whispers and messages of their patron to the other Shades, who do their best to interpret the meanings of these prophecies and establish a way to do what their deity wishes.
Beneath the Oracle of Shades there are no official positions, and members of the Shades are required to undertake their fair share in all of the tasks that need doing in their monastery home of Onyx Peak or in the wider world in service to Manteio. The only exception to this rule is when particular Shades have certain specialist skills, such as blacksmithing or arcane knowledge, or when they become too old or infirm to undertake strenuous work.
The Shades do not operate as a community, where people are naturally born into it as a matter of course, though this does occasionally happen, but instead they take in orphans who show potential from across Kelbonnar to periodically swell their ranks and ensure that there is always a generation of well trained Shades fit and ready to serve Manteio’s wishes.
Culture
When they join the organisation, all Shades agree to live a simple, communal lifestyle, with no one being regarded as more senior than the other, with the exception of the Oracle of Shades. They are all required to think of the work that Manteio sets before them and the good of their collective before individual needs and desires, which makes their monastic community at Onyx Peak one of the most egalitarian in the whole of Kelbonnar.
This outlook on life means that, as a rule, individual Shades will have few possessions, and items, weapons, money and curios that they pick up in the course of their travels are eventually brought back to their monastery home and offered up for the use and benefit of the whole collective. This attitude means that when they are together, none of them need want for any necessity, for they cook and eat together, cloth one another and care for one another using collective resources.
Whilst it is not prohibited, Shades tend to avoid the consumption of alcohol, principally because it can cause them to lose focus and discipline.
Public Agenda
To act in accordance with the wishes of the deity Manteio, to either promote or deny potential futures that have not yet come to pass, in service of the greater good.
Military
All members of the Shades are instructed militarily, but the focus of their training is very much around quick efficient movements, stealth, martial arts both armed and unarmed and the channelling of ones inner energy and focus and bringing it to bear in a fight. Individually each of the Shades is an excellent warrior, though their individual fighting styles and the fact that they are trained to operate alone or in small groups means that they would struggle in a large set piece battle.
Ethics
The Shades of Manteio very much have their ethics grounded in a sense of what is best for the greater good. They are trained and conditioned to put what is pragmatic over what is morally right or wrong, provided their actions eventually lead them to fulfil, or avoid whatever timeline they have been instructed to propagate or deny by their patron deity. This is a hard matter for new recruits to the Shades to come to terms with, as many potential futures glimpsed by Manteio may take many generations to run their course and become reality, possibly far beyond the lifespan of the Shades despatched to carry out a morally dubious act. That is why it is so important that Shades practice discipline and meditation, to calm their minds and work towards acceptance of the fact that their actions are part of something greater that is working to stop the world falling into complete chaos.
Worship
As part of their daily routines, Shades of Manteio practice meditation at the beginning and end of every day. They all work to still their minds and bring their emotions under control as a sign of respect to their patron deity Manteio and as a way to emotionally protect themselves from whatever the god of dreams, foresight and prophecy may ask them to carry out for the greater good. When within the fortress monastery Onyx Peak, the Shades will convene each dawn and dusk in the expansive chapel, where they will meditate together in silence for a hour, before rising to have a communal breakfast together. It is not uncommon for individual Shades to meditate at various points throughout the day, in addition to the predetermined times and one passing through the chapel will always find one or two of their number doing just this at any given hour of the day.
The leader of the organisation, the Oracle of Shades spends many hours of their day deep in meditation, as this is the state in which they receive visions and prophecies from Manteio along with instructions as to the deity’s desires for these potential strands of time. Occasionally, other members of the Shades will also receive such messages from Manteio, and this is regarded as a sure sign of the deity’s favour in the eyes of the other Shades, worthy of respect and adulation.
Political Influence & Intrigue
To many the Shades of Manteio are a criminal organisation who strike chaotically across Kelbonnar, with no motive, strategy or reason, save for the deluded whisperings of the deity Manteio. It is easy to see why the Shades have garnered this reputation, as they are widely held to be responsible for innumerable murders, thefts, raids and attacks across the Material Plane and occasionally even on other planes of existence.
However, these often violent and chaotic actions, as they are viewed by outsiders, are in fact viewed by the Shades as vital work, divinely given to them by their patron deity Manteio to stop particularly bad potential realities and timelines from coming into being. They view their work as being for the greater good, which is why they have no qualms with meddling in the activities of any nation, city-state or kingdom, provided that they are guided to this action by the orders of Manteio, as relayed to them by the Oracle of Shades.
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