Inceptors of Tinel
The inceptors preserve both mystical and mundane lore. To be an “inceptor” means to be just beginning, to be taking everything in. While some inceptors possess vast knowledge, and have already taken in a great deal, the title still pertains to them. No matter how venerable, inceptors always eagerly learn more.
An ancient order, the inceptors trace the names of their elders across many generations. They keep scriptorium records, meticulously noting of details great and small. They do not have the minds or demeanors of accountants and lawyers, though, for they focus their minds on exploration, discovery, and questioning. They question what they record. They doubt the facts, and test them constantly for veracity.
The Bard Imarillus once observed: “Morwyn’s matriarchs say, ‘How may I help you?’ The soldiers of Terak ask, ‘How may I defend you?’ The Zhenkefan apostles wonder, ‘What will inspire you?’ But an inceptor of Tinel asks only ‘Why?’ and ‘Why?’ again, until a man wants nothing more than the company of the unholy and unclean.”
The inceptors wonder at everything, picking apart the details, and finding questions no one else would think to ask. Their inquisitiveness stems from their lifelong mission to understand the world, and help others to understand it.
There are two distinct phases in the career of an inceptor, whatever his faction. Younger inceptors wander and hunt lore, while the more powerful inceptors remain in the scriptoriums where they work. Exceptions exist, and history is filled with heroic inceptors who never had time to go back to their home scriptoriums to teach others all they learned. These adventuring inceptors are sometimes the source of legends and great tales, and nearly always spend their final days recording the exploits of their lives.
Most inceptors are part of the dominant (chaotic good) faction of the scriptoriums. They believe there is no holier act one can perform than to broaden the awareness of another. Their worship of Tinel is individualistic and revolves around small groups, and one-on-one interactions.
These folk live as itinerate teachers and students, both to better themselves and others. They believe good results come from education, and offer people the knowledge they need in life. To them, the journey is the key.
Exploration of knowledge, of the mind, yields the unexpected, and the worthiest answers are the ones one did not seek in the first place.
Other members of the faction are neutral good. This is a sizable minority, and while they also believe good should be done through knowledge, they do it through large organizations. Neutral good members expand the educational aspects of the scriptoriums. In cities and nations where they have real influence, the Tinelites involve themselves with governments to educate people on a mass scale. These inceptors are happy to use any kind and decent method available to expand the minds of those they encounter, and lack the suspicion of law and government that their chaotic good brethren espouse. The inceptors of the neutral faction, on the other hand, care only about uncovering knowledge. They do not aid others in their learning. Instead, they join a cabal of the “worthy” and work together to solve the mysteries of the universe not for each other, but because cooperation brings better results they may apply to their own interests.
Their missions nearly always pursue a specific piece of learning, and bring it back to allied inceptors for study. To them, nothing done in this world matters, save what one does in preparation for serving Tinel in the next life.
These Tinelites avoid secular concerns as much as possible, and are happiest when they are left alone with their books and studies.
There are many different alignments among the neutral faction: lawful neutral, chaotic neutral, and neutral evil. The lawful neutral members of the faction work as a hive. They organize cells of neophytes and teachers, work together on research projects, plan missions, and dispatch junior members to undertake them. Their influence has kept the faction from falling apart entirely, in the face of opposition from chaotic good inceptors.
Neutral evil members of the faction organize the resistance to the primary church. They see the hoarding of knowledge as a sacred right the chaotic good clergy deny them. They wish to topple the more powerful faction, and resort to evil acts to achieve their goals. Lust for knowledge consumes them to the point that most will kill for it.
Chaotic neutral members fit in neither faction, though they are loosely associated with the neutral faction. They love secrets—the collection and whispering of them. They are not only disinterested in secular affairs, but do not even care about church matters. They simply roam the world, hunting for hidden lore. This odd offshoot of the order arises from a mystical belief that the Visions of the Opening Eye are secrets Tinel reveals.
If every person recorded their visions and put them all together, the combined result would tell the story of all creation, past, present, and future. There is no secret these inceptors love more than the details of a person’s vision, but they believe there is power in all secrets.
Neophyte
All new members of the order are called neophytes, the title by which they are addressed and introduced, and remain so for many years—in some cases, for the rest of their lives—as they work to study the universe and its secrets. Neophytes travel widely, read constantly, debate contentiously, and, most importantly, learn.Teacher
Neophytes might become teachers. A council of inceptors made up of local teachers and armarii grill prospective teachers over a period of three days, asking in-depth questions on topics the neophytes have spent their careers studying. At the end of this time and if the neophytes prove knowledgeable enough, they are elevated to teachers. It falls to them to spread learning, through his scriptorium or by traveling from town to town, educating people. Among the neutral faction of the faith, teachers oversee large projects within their scriptoriums, assembling great reserves of learning on a single topic. Whatever the faction, teachers work to unravel the mystery of their visions. They are addressed as “master” or “mistress,” and introduced by full title.Armarius
At some point after becoming teachers, devotees might advance to the title of armarius. An armarius must have unraveled the mystery of his vision. Only a teacher who has come to understand his vision can attain this title. The teacher must deliver a lecture to a scriptorium explaining his vision and its interpretation, and at the end of this, he takes on a new surname pertaining to the vision. Because the Tinelites document matters so thoroughly, it is possible to go back through generations, and read the notes from very old armarii lectures about their visions. An armarius is addressed as “revered master,” or “revered mistress,” and introduced by full title. The armarii oversee the scriptoriums and are their supreme authorities, issuing commands to all the other orders except the hierophants. If a scriptorium has several armarii, they make decisions for the scriptorium as a council where a simple majority rules. Once he becomes an armarius, it is the inceptor’s goal to aid others, but also to comprehend the riddle of his life through his interpretation of his vision. Even among these, the most knowledgeable of the Tinelites, it is rare to succeed completely.
Joining the Inceptors
Prospective members of the inceptors come to the scriptorium seeking training, and are made neophytes once they experience the Vision of the Opening Eye. One cannot become an inceptor without being on a lifelong quest to solve the riddle of one’s existence. A person who has already had the vision is immediately inducted into the order. Neophytes are clerics with domains related to Tinel, such as Knowledge. Most neophytes carry daggers, for Tinel is traditionally shown blasting the servants of Kador with five great knives of magic.
Type
Religious, Holy Order
Parent Organization
