Truth Watchers

The Cleric Order of the Grand Sage is devoted to collecting and keeping knowledge.


The clergy of the Grand Sage are described as echoing his detached demeanor, and instead look towards pursuits such as scientific endeavors, magical research and the creation of magical items.
The church does not actively encourage others to study magic, but neither does it discourage them, as the church's primary concern is balance.

Divine Origins

In the early 5th Century, a faction of the Overlord separated from the main body. The reason for this divergence was scholarly: The new faction believed in knowledge for the sake of knowledge, whereas a faction of the Overlord believed knowledge should be hoarded and used for personal gain. The new faction broke away and began worshipping an entity known as the Grand Sage. Truthwatchers claim that this deity was once human, the greatest and first of their order. By the end of the century, several members of the The Eight-Pointed Star left to follow The Grand Sage . This caused the Star to declare the Truth Watchers a heretic cult, which resulted in mass religious persecution and murders. They became a secret society for centuries among scholars and academicians until the founding of Dirillium. In a land where knowledge would be appreciated, the mass majority of the Lasting Vault left for the Dream Fields.

Tenets of Faith

Truthwatchers value the collecting and hoarding of knowledge within the church, so that they, and they alone, may know the truth of the universe. They believe they are the only one’s worthy of possessing certain knowledge. Creativity and application of knowledge is greatly valued and has led to great scientific advancement in several fields. Truthwatchers count mages, scholars and several maesters among their number.

Ethics

During the early days of the Watchers, secrecy kept them alive, and their knowledge in the right hands. They continue the tradition though they no longer need to be hidden. Members use a variety of ways to identify each other: hand signals, riddles and puzzles in every shape and form.
Knowledge is divided into five tiers. Each tier denotes the level of secrecy the knowledge must be treated.
A Tier Five piece of information, for example, could be the knowledge of which merchant possesses the best prices in town, whereas a Tier One piece of information would be the secret to summoning a demon prince to the Material Plane. There is constant debate among Truthwatchers over what Tier what information belongs in. 
Over the course of their history, members have been captured many times and torture for information is common, as such, revealing knowledge has been necessary. Similarly, information is a useful way to trade. Under these circumstances, members can reveal Tier Five and Four levels of information. Revealing a Tier One or Two piece of information is punishable by death, usually some sort of poison.

Worship

Members of the Truth Watchers may worship the Grand Sage by gaining knowledge and sharing it with the worthy, mostly themselves, but occasionally outsiders. The Sage is honored with magical research and experimentation, with the burning of incense, the reading from books of arcane lore, and other such practices. Each creation of a new spell or magic item is celebrated (usually once a year, in the holiday known as Great Discovery). High-level followers of the Sage make pilgrimages to other planes of existence.
Prayers to the Grand Sage utilize florid and elaborate language, signifying great erudition, labored formality, and a robust vocabulary.

Priesthood

Advancement through the Lasting Vault is based on the accumulation of knowledge. The leaders of the Vault are known as Truthwatchers, named for the loremaster in antiquity. Various rings are used to denote status among other members.

Title	Insignia
Grand Loremaster	Mithril Ring
Loremaster	Gold Ring
Master	Silver Ring
Adept	Black Iron Ring
Apprentice

Temples
The Grand Sage's temples are described as being fortified structures with vast libraries, and are usually sited in urban locations.
The Grand Sage's temples are generally tall, round towers, although the one in Runestone is a pyramid. Some temples of the Grand Sage are guarded by pious templars who combine arcane magic with martial training. Public services performed by the temples include the identification of magical items and other divination spells.

Granted Divine Powers

Truthwatchers have access to the Fate, Arcana and Knowledge domain.

Sects

There as many sects as there are schools of knowledge, with each cleric specializing in one form of knowledge.

Associated Fighting Order:
The Spellswords

Type

Religious, Organised Religion

Demonym

Truthwatchers

Deities

• Grand Sage

Common Sayings:

• Knowledge is Power
  
• Knowledge is Precious
  
• Knowledge Must be Gained
  
• Everything has a Price

Colors: Gray and Blue