Order of Tianguo

The Order of Tianguo are a secret monastic order that traces its origins back to the Tiāntáng de Zhìxù [Great Alignment] that gave rise to the current Imperial Dynasty of Xianlian. Composed of several, equally secret schools, the Tianguo work to recruit and train members in the skills of combat and investigation. While their exact goals are not well known, they are generally considered to be a Vigilante force for good in the world, and opposed the autocratic dominion of powerful forces, such as the Xianlian Dynasty.
The Tianguo seemingly have no respect for the laws or borders of other nations. Whilst they have been known to work on behalf of another kingdom or organization, they do not subscribe to legal protections, such as the use of contracts. For whatever reason, the Tianguo seem ill-concerned with building lasting alliances with other organizations. As such, outsiders who choose to interact with them tend to do so with the utmost care, and with ample amounts of suspicion.
From what has been observed, members of the Tianguo appear to share no common ancestry. It is generally known that the Tianguo, given their preferred language and nomenclature, trace their origins back to Xianlian. Currently, however, members have been counted from nearly every known civilization. Such members appear to show no affiliation or preference for their homelands, nor to their ethnic or ancestral brethren. Attempts to infiltrate the Tianguo in order to learn more have met with little success, indicating a exceptional recruitment process for inducting and subordinating new members to the Order.

Structure

The Tianguo are not a relatively large organization, but do have a system of organization. Members within the Tainguo have one of four ranks, representing both their technical skill within a school, and their status and respect within the organization as a whole. In order to progress in rank, members must complete up to three trials to prove their station.

Ranks

Gong

The lowest rank, Gong's are initiates who have yet to complete their first trial. Any person can be considered a Gong once they are given sponsorship by any Master (see below). Given the secretive nature of the organization though, the group of actual Gongs is still somewhat small.

Tan

Tan's are students who have completed the Trial of Initiation. After proving themselves worthy of training, and willing to give up their ties to their former lives (which are often little), Tan's are then dedicated to one of the Tianguo schools whereby the beginning a years long training regime.

Xia

Xia's are the lower of two-tier of Masters. Xia's are former students who have completed the Trial of Mastery, and demonstrated a full understanding of their schools disciplines. Xia's are considered trusted members of the Tianguo, and are at this point free to return to the world without any regret from the Order. However, after many years, almost none decide to do so, and instead prefer to remain among the school and local societies that have trained them.

Qui

Also known as High Masters, the Qui are the Elders of the Tianguo, and serve as the ruling body of the Order. At its heart, the Tianguo is not a nation, but merely a society of trained warriors that share a similar set of values and philosophies. The Qui work to organize activities and share information among st each other, and how to best instruct and train their younger members. A Xia from any school can call for a Trial of Honor, which is judged by the Qui, and if deemed worthy, the Xia are then elevated.

Schools

The Tianguo operates in the wider world as a single group, and conducts missions of various goals and range. Members, however, first belong to one of five schools, seemingly devoted to different disciplines. Each specialize in different forms of combat, as well as different skills.

Lu Shenyi

Mantra - Deliberation
Students of the Shenyi are considered the most reserved and contemplative of all Tianguo. The monastic arts they are instructed in seek to combine the discipline of mind and body with a spiritual understanding of forces beyond the mortal realm. Shenyi masters are often said to have developed a connection with ancestral or celestial powers beyond normal awareness, and can draw upon their knowledge to imbue themselves with powers of a divine nature.
Many Shenyi monks are considered even more reserved than most Tianguo, and often possess a keen insight into the true nature of the world around them. They are often experts in investigation, insight, as well as historical and religious lore.

Lu Zìruò

Mantra - Composure
The Zìruò are often considered the 'face' of the Tianguo, and its students are trained in various skills of social persuasion and deception. The style of fighting learned by Zìruò students is often considered a subtle but deadly art. Zìruò masters are known to be able to defend themselves against several opponents whilst expending little energy, and deliver invisible but deadly blows, often killing agents long after the Zìruò has departed. Interestingly, the social nature of the Zìruò leads to much more diversity in training and philosophy among its masters.

Lu Wēiyán

Mantra - Rhythm
Wēiyán students trace their monastic traditions back to the ancient traditions of the Xianlian. Originally, it was thought that only ethnic Xianlian could master the elemental arts of the Wēiyán, but with High Masters Aserias's official graduation, the path of elemental control soon became taught to a wide variety of ambitious students. While learning to control the powerful forces of the elements, its students are also often instructed in other aspects of the natural and arcane world. Recently, a renaissance of enlightenment is said to have occured within Lu Wēiyán, with third generation of a portion of the students having completed mastery of a particular style of control, known as Yunlu (Sun Style).

Lu Rěnnài

Mantra - Patience
Rěnnài students are considered inheritors of the oldest traditions of the Tianguo. When the order was formed in Xianlian, their primary purpose was to move in and out of areas as quietly as a shadow, and strike at targets unseen and unheard. Second only to perhaps the Xianlian Shendao, formed from traitors to the Tianguo, students of the Rěnnài school are masters of stealth and mobility, and are often the leaders of all Tianguo covert operations. When not training in the arts of combat and stealth, Rěnnài are trained in aspects of battlefield strategy and tactics.

Lu Bàoyìng

Mantra - Resolve
Onced regarded as obsessed, or narcissistic by their Tianguo brothers and sisters, the Bàoyìng have only recently become a fully respected branch of the order. Bàoyìng students, more so than any other school, focus more exclusively on the combat arts than any other Tianguo school. Where once this was considered an failure to instill harmonious virtues, the recent escalation of tensions around the world have shown the need of the Bàoyìng to be prescient. Furthermore, despite perceptions, Bàoyìng students often work to cultivate a profound sense of humility and are often the most loyal Tianguo students. It has been through the efforts of a few Bàoyìng that otherwise lost Tianguo were returned to the Order, either from capture or disollusion, and helped to rekindle the shared purpose of the order as a whole.

Public Agenda

The Tianguo are considered by some to be either a clandestine force for liberation, or for rebellion and heresy, depending on one's current allegences. Little is known about them outside their own. What is known is that their agents are possessed of disciplined skill, particularly in unarmed combat, and are experts in infiltration, deception, and investigation. More importantly, though, is the devoted loyalty shown amonst its members. The few who have been captured or interrogated often reveal little information about their organizations goals or location, and its members seem particularly resistant to interrogation. This all presumes care is taken, as very few Tianguo have been taken alive, with many suffering mysterious deaths shortly after being capture.
From what has been learned, the Tianguo seem to not favor any particular political faction or entity in Rynn, but seem rather to operate as agitators who insert themselves in the operations of different realms of power, seemingly at random. It is perhaps this fact, more than others, that have made the Tianguo hard to defend against, as their purpose and goal remains shrouded in mystery, it is hard for any office or person of influence to predict if and when they might be subject to the Tianguo's ire.

History

Rise of the Order

The Tianguo traces its origins back nearly 900 years, during the Tiāntáng de Zhìxù (or Heavenly Alignment) Wherin the ancestors of the current Huo Caste Imperial Family took control of the Kingdom, and ended the Xianlian cycle of harmonious dynastic change.
Prior to this coup, The Tianguo were elite teachers, mentors, and warriors in service to the Imperial Kingdom. Their purpose was defense of the realm against such corruption, both within and outside the kingdom's territory. According to legend, the Tianguo were originally formed within Xianlian as a force for good to protect the people not from other civilizations, but from some other mysterious force.
When the Huo asserted dominance over the empire, many in the Tianguo suspected that they had lapsed in their vigillence, and this force to corrupt their own people. Before a sufficient resistance and purge could be conducted, the Tianguo were branded as traitors to the empire, and were beset by former allies. A quiet civil war quickly followed, with many members converting to become loyal to the new Emperor, whilst the remaining Tianguo were eventually forced to either die or flee for their lives.
According to the current Tianguo histories, only 11 members of the order managed to escape the Empire. Countless artifacts were lost in the quiet night of terror, with only one major relic being preserved - the "Testement of Bao Xi Pa", the order's spiritual founder.
Left adrift and bereft of allies, the surviving Tianguo resolved to not be defeated, and set themselves a new duty to rebuild, with whatever resources they could, and make amends for their ancestors failures, as well as their own.

Type

Secret, Brotherhood