Lucius

Pick #5:   Geography: The Jaagar: Six Temples of Wisdom   Mortals: The divine aspects of the World each hold dominion over certain areas to which they are particularly attuned, and Wisdom is no exception.  Names like Olympus, Wudan, Shangri-La, and Avalon will hold no meaning for you, yet they describe to your pantheon the form that the seat of Wisdom will take in your World.  Thus, you must learn of the Six Temples of Jaagar, which may be encountered along the path to enlightenment by those who seek it:   - Mount Nollizh, which rises steeply out of the impenetrable jungle into the clouds, holds the secrets of learning.  It is said that any who seek to reach it must build their own path.
 
- The Tree of Nasyyb lies within a forest of eternally shifting rivers and tributaries in the East.  Those who find it will master the arts of serendipity.
 
- The Armory at Chetanat is built into the cliffs and canyons of the badlands in the South.  It represents the ultimate mastery of reason.
 
- The Isle of Siddhanikaar resides among a great archipelago of rocky islands.  This temple, which epitomizes altruism, is often sought by those who desire healing.  
 
- The Temple at Uddesh lies somewhere amid the trackless snows in the West.  Only those with supreme purpose will ever achieve it.
 
- The Oasis of Sanyam moves with the shifting sands in the North.  Of the Jaagar, its focus is that of self-discipline.
  Finding any of these temples shall be a great milestone on the samsar's journey to mokkusha.  No map or fixed course will bring you to any of these, for each samsar must tread its own path.  Indeed, the World you inhabit is neither round, nor flat, but is shaped by the perception and consciousness of all.  Yet Wisdom does not have to be sought solely at the Jaagar, but may be found anywhere that encourages introspection and meditation: pools of still water, quiet valleys, windswept grasslands and dunes, libraries, shrines, standing stones, and hearthfires.     Consider this well, mortals, for the odyssey of your samsar has already begun.   -- translated from the Opaline Stanza of the Wordless Codex

Two points:
 
No more incongruent than Clerics were with those same traditions, and
 
How familiar do you think the average nerd was, or is, with such traditions?
 
Lucius Alexander
 
The palindromedary points out most of them couldn't distinguish aesthetic from ascetic.

Two points:
 
No more incongruent than Clerics were with those same traditions, and
 
How familiar do you think the average nerd was, or is, with such traditions?
 
Lucius Alexander
 
The palindromedary points out most of them couldn't distinguish aesthetic from ascetic.

Russia did in fact attempt direct hacking of voting systems and election officials in 2016

Two points:
 
No more incongruent than Clerics were with those same traditions, and
 
How familiar do you think the average nerd was, or is, with such traditions?
 
Lucius Alexander
 
The palindromedary points out most of them couldn't distinguish aesthetic from ascetic.

Worth reading if you want to know how your country is being destroyed.
 
https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2017/06/how-the-trump-russia-data-machine-games-google-to.html

Two points:
 
No more incongruent than Clerics were with those same traditions, and
 
How familiar do you think the average nerd was, or is, with such traditions?
 
Lucius Alexander
 
The palindromedary points out most of them couldn't distinguish aesthetic from ascetic.

Dwarves were the first mortals to live in the world, and so they became the first to die in this world.
Winter claimed some with storms, War claimed some with quarrels over wealth, some fell in Water and a small handful even dreamed themselves to death on the Gift of Peace. And they who lived would sometimes prop up the bodies and talk to them as if they were alive, until the stench brought pestilence among them, or some would bear their dead away and drop them in some random place, not knowing what else to do. And so they were haunted, for the spirits of their dead could not pass the Gate, and gibbered at them in dreams and in reveries, and one cold night as the year waned again towards Winter, all the corpses in the world rose and marched to stand confronting their kin, sightless faces accusing. The Dwarven people wailed with grief and fear, and it was I, Lady of Death and Rebirth, who came to them, taking pity on their ignorance.
 
In awe and dread they averted their eyes from Me, save one; he met My gaze and in him I saw the yearning to understand. "The Dwarves suffer" I said to him, "To relieve the suffering of the dead and of the living, would you yourself choose to die?" And there was fear in him yet he said "I would."
 
"Follow" I commanded, leading deeper into the cave they had made their dwelling, and then "Nay, take no torch. Only in darkness will you be able to see what you must see." And we walked until he was sure the cave, that he knew well, was not nearly so deep as we had gone into the Earth. There I shared with him the Moment of Ceasing to Be and the Moment of Becoming, and showed him the Gate, and the Solace of the Dark Deep Within, and I led him to the rest of the Deathless and We taught him much.
 
He learned how to treat the bodies of the dead, to bury them or burn them, and to call My Name that I might welcome them. He learned the process of grief and the Truth of Returning, that those who perish shall again in time reincarnate.
 
He learned of the Cycles, and how it is that herb and fruit and beast and too the sacred poppy all renew themselves endlessly.
 
He learned how to sing away the restless dead, and how to compel one to reveal its Name, that it might be sent through the Gate.
 
He learned how and when and why to offer sacrifice to the Gods, how to sing a prayer, and the setting up of altars and shrines.
 
He learned to Bless those newly born, and the child reborn into adulthood, and other Blessings fit for beginnings and endings.
 
He learned the secrets of Initiation, and how to choose others to initiate so that there would be more priests after himself, the First Priest.
 
As the sun rose we came forth again and the Dwarves still stood vigil, shivering at the dead who stood without, a silent curse on them. The First Priest begged, "My Lady, please, lead them away from us to their proper place." And I said "No. I will go now, and you will send them after Me, for it is in your power now to do so."
 
And so it was, for he had learned The Mystery of Priestcraft
Including sacrifice, initiation, and funerary rites.
 
Lucius Alexander
 
Copyright Palindromedary Enterprises

Dwarves were the first mortals to live in the world, and so they became the first to die in this world.
Winter claimed some with storms, War claimed some with quarrels over wealth, some fell in Water and a small handful even dreamed themselves to death on the Gift of Peace. And they who lived would sometimes prop up the bodies and talk to them as if they were alive, until the stench brought pestilence among them, or some would bear their dead away and drop them in some random place, not knowing what else to do. And so they were haunted, for the spirits of their dead could not pass the Gate, and gibbered at them in dreams and in reveries, and one cold night as the year waned again towards Winter, all the corpses in the world rose and marched to stand confronting their kin, sightless faces accusing. The Dwarven people wailed with grief and fear, and it was I, Lady of Death and Rebirth, who came to them, taking pity on their ignorance.
 
In awe and dread they averted their eyes from Me, save one; he met My gaze and in him I saw the yearning to understand. "The Dwarves suffer" I said to him, "To relieve the suffering of the dead and of the living, would you yourself choose to die?" And there was fear in him yet he said "I would."
 
"Follow" I commanded, leading deeper into the cave they had made their dwelling, and then "Nay, take no torch. Only in darkness will you be able to see what you must see." And we walked until he was sure the cave, that he knew well, was not nearly so deep as we had gone into the Earth. There I shared with him the Moment of Ceasing to Be and the Moment of Becoming, and showed him the Gate, and the Solace of the Dark Deep Within, and I led him to the rest of the Deathless and We taught him much.
 
He learned how to treat the bodies of the dead, to bury them or burn them, and to call My Name that I might welcome them. He learned the process of grief and the Truth of Returning, that those who perish shall again in time reincarnate.
 
He learned of the Cycles, and how it is that herb and fruit and beast and too the sacred poppy all renew themselves endlessly.
 
He learned how to sing away the restless dead, and how to compel one to reveal its Name, that it might be sent through the Gate.
 
He learned how and when and why to offer sacrifice to the Gods, how to sing a prayer, and the setting up of altars and shrines.
 
He learned to Bless those newly born, and the child reborn into adulthood, and other Blessings fit for beginnings and endings.
 
He learned the secrets of Initiation, and how to choose others to initiate so that there would be more priests after himself, the First Priest.
 
As the sun rose we came forth again and the Dwarves still stood vigil, shivering at the dead who stood without, a silent curse on them. The First Priest begged, "My Lady, please, lead them away from us to their proper place." And I said "No. I will go now, and you will send them after Me, for it is in your power now to do so."
 
And so it was, for he had learned The Mystery of Priestcraft
Including sacrifice, initiation, and funerary rites.
 
Lucius Alexander
 
Copyright Palindromedary Enterprises

Dwarves were the first mortals to live in the world, and so they became the first to die in this world.
Winter claimed some with storms, War claimed some with quarrels over wealth, some fell in Water and a small handful even dreamed themselves to death on the Gift of Peace. And they who lived would sometimes prop up the bodies and talk to them as if they were alive, until the stench brought pestilence among them, or some would bear their dead away and drop them in some random place, not knowing what else to do. And so they were haunted, for the spirits of their dead could not pass the Gate, and gibbered at them in dreams and in reveries, and one cold night as the year waned again towards Winter, all the corpses in the world rose and marched to stand confronting their kin, sightless faces accusing. The Dwarven people wailed with grief and fear, and it was I, Lady of Death and Rebirth, who came to them, taking pity on their ignorance.
 
In awe and dread they averted their eyes from Me, save one; he met My gaze and in him I saw the yearning to understand. "The Dwarves suffer" I said to him, "To relieve the suffering of the dead and of the living, would you yourself choose to die?" And there was fear in him yet he said "I would."
 
"Follow" I commanded, leading deeper into the cave they had made their dwelling, and then "Nay, take no torch. Only in darkness will you be able to see what you must see." And we walked until he was sure the cave, that he knew well, was not nearly so deep as we had gone into the Earth. There I shared with him the Moment of Ceasing to Be and the Moment of Becoming, and showed him the Gate, and the Solace of the Dark Deep Within, and I led him to the rest of the Deathless and We taught him much.
 
He learned how to treat the bodies of the dead, to bury them or burn them, and to call My Name that I might welcome them. He learned the process of grief and the Truth of Returning, that those who perish shall again in time reincarnate.
 
He learned of the Cycles, and how it is that herb and fruit and beast and too the sacred poppy all renew themselves endlessly.
 
He learned how to sing away the restless dead, and how to compel one to reveal its Name, that it might be sent through the Gate.
 
He learned how and when and why to offer sacrifice to the Gods, how to sing a prayer, and the setting up of altars and shrines.
 
He learned to Bless those newly born, and the child reborn into adulthood, and other Blessings fit for beginnings and endings.
 
He learned the secrets of Initiation, and how to choose others to initiate so that there would be more priests after himself, the First Priest.
 
As the sun rose we came forth again and the Dwarves still stood vigil, shivering at the dead who stood without, a silent curse on them. The First Priest begged, "My Lady, please, lead them away from us to their proper place." And I said "No. I will go now, and you will send them after Me, for it is in your power now to do so."
 
And so it was, for he had learned The Mystery of Priestcraft
Including sacrifice, initiation, and funerary rites.
 
Lucius Alexander
 
Copyright Palindromedary Enterprises

Mine too as we seem to have a shortage of declared Goddesses.
 
 

I see your point. So that leaves Fire as the only one of the Four Elements not yet claimed.
 
 
As for me, my First Deific Aspect will be: Death and Rebirth.
 
The Myth of the First Sacrifice
 
"It is I, who first passed the Dark Gate.
 
When the Shining Ones gathered and said among Ourselves,
'Come, let Us make a World without End!'
Craftsman said 'From what can such a thing be made?
All I build from the Void, soon to the Void returns.'
Sky said 'All We make is as dust in the wind.'
Time said 'Lesser things pass away,
We Ourselves are all that passes not away.'
My Sister, She Who Brings Forth, grieved,
For that She wished to bring forth something lasting.
I, Lady Death, had words alone with Sage, and We made plans.
 
Alone I spoke with Time, and said 'Make for Me two Moments,
Give Me a Moment of Ceasing to Be, and a Moment of Becoming'
To My Sister She Who Brings Forth, I gave the Moment of Becoming,
Saying 'You will know when to use this and how. Trust Me.'
 
With the Moment of Ceasing to Be in My clenched fist,
At the next Council I spoke to the Warrior:
'I have a treasure I might share with You!'
'Show Me' said the Warrior, but I replied
'Nay, it is in My closed hand; open My hand, and I will share.'
Mighty is He, and hard He strove to force My hand to open,
But what I have taken hold of is held in the grip of Death.
In rage He struck Me and demanded of Me, but I said,
'Take the Sword of War and sever Me into pieces,
Then will My hand open and You will have a gift,
And too all of the Shining Ones will have gifts from Me."
 
He cut, and in that Moment, I Ceased to Be,
And from then, the Moment of Ceasing of Be
Has rested on the edge of the Sword of War
As well as in My right hand.
 
War divided Me, and Sage allotted Me among the Shining Ones,
To Sky My breath, to make the world's winds,
To Earth My bones and flesh to make stone and soil,
To Time and to the Seasons My heartbeat, to measure the cycles,
To Water My blood, to make the seas and rivers,
To Trickster my tangled hair to weave snares and webs for the unwary,
To Sage My eyes, which have seen the Mystery beyond the Dark Gate,
To Craftsman a spark of My Life's Fire, to light a forge for making Wonders.
To Each was given what was needed to make their portion of the World.
She Who Brings Forth, Brought Forth the Moment of Becoming,
And I, First among the Dead, again became One of the Deathless.
 
To Go is to Return; a World was made,
In which all that dies must be reborn,
All that falls, shall rise again.
 
Lucius Alexander
 
Copyright Palindromedary Enterprises
 
 
 
 
 
 

Mine too as we seem to have a shortage of declared Goddesses.
 
 

I see your point. So that leaves Fire as the only one of the Four Elements not yet claimed.
 
 
As for me, my First Deific Aspect will be: Death and Rebirth.
 
The Myth of the First Sacrifice
 
"It is I, who first passed the Dark Gate.
 
When the Shining Ones gathered and said among Ourselves,
'Come, let Us make a World without End!'
Craftsman said 'From what can such a thing be made?
All I build from the Void, soon to the Void returns.'
Sky said 'All We make is as dust in the wind.'
Time said 'Lesser things pass away,
We Ourselves are all that passes not away.'
My Sister, She Who Brings Forth, grieved,
For that She wished to bring forth something lasting.
I, Lady Death, had words alone with Sage, and We made plans.
 
Alone I spoke with Time, and said 'Make for Me two Moments,
Give Me a Moment of Ceasing to Be, and a Moment of Becoming'
To My Sister She Who Brings Forth, I gave the Moment of Becoming,
Saying 'You will know when to use this and how. Trust Me.'
 
With the Moment of Ceasing to Be in My clenched fist,
At the next Council I spoke to the Warrior:
'I have a treasure I might share with You!'
'Show Me' said the Warrior, but I replied
'Nay, it is in My closed hand; open My hand, and I will share.'
Mighty is He, and hard He strove to force My hand to open,
But what I have taken hold of is held in the grip of Death.
In rage He struck Me and demanded of Me, but I said,
'Take the Sword of War and sever Me into pieces,
Then will My hand open and You will have a gift,
And too all of the Shining Ones will have gifts from Me."
 
He cut, and in that Moment, I Ceased to Be,
And from then, the Moment of Ceasing of Be
Has rested on the edge of the Sword of War
As well as in My right hand.
 
War divided Me, and Sage allotted Me among the Shining Ones,
To Sky My breath, to make the world's winds,
To Earth My bones and flesh to make stone and soil,
To Time and to the Seasons My heartbeat, to measure the cycles,
To Water My blood, to make the seas and rivers,
To Trickster my tangled hair to weave snares and webs for the unwary,
To Sage My eyes, which have seen the Mystery beyond the Dark Gate,
To Craftsman a spark of My Life's Fire, to light a forge for making Wonders.
To Each was given what was needed to make their portion of the World.
She Who Brings Forth, Brought Forth the Moment of Becoming,
And I, First among the Dead, again became One of the Deathless.
 
To Go is to Return; a World was made,
In which all that dies must be reborn,
All that falls, shall rise again.
 
Lucius Alexander
 
Copyright Palindromedary Enterprises
 
 
 
 
 
 

Mine too as we seem to have a shortage of declared Goddesses.
 
 

I see your point. So that leaves Fire as the only one of the Four Elements not yet claimed.
 
 
As for me, my First Deific Aspect will be: Death and Rebirth.
 
The Myth of the First Sacrifice
 
"It is I, who first passed the Dark Gate.
 
When the Shining Ones gathered and said among Ourselves,
'Come, let Us make a World without End!'
Craftsman said 'From what can such a thing be made?
All I build from the Void, soon to the Void returns.'
Sky said 'All We make is as dust in the wind.'
Time said 'Lesser things pass away,
We Ourselves are all that passes not away.'
My Sister, She Who Brings Forth, grieved,
For that She wished to bring forth something lasting.
I, Lady Death, had words alone with Sage, and We made plans.
 
Alone I spoke with Time, and said 'Make for Me two Moments,
Give Me a Moment of Ceasing to Be, and a Moment of Becoming'
To My Sister She Who Brings Forth, I gave the Moment of Becoming,
Saying 'You will know when to use this and how. Trust Me.'
 
With the Moment of Ceasing to Be in My clenched fist,
At the next Council I spoke to the Warrior:
'I have a treasure I might share with You!'
'Show Me' said the Warrior, but I replied
'Nay, it is in My closed hand; open My hand, and I will share.'
Mighty is He, and hard He strove to force My hand to open,
But what I have taken hold of is held in the grip of Death.
In rage He struck Me and demanded of Me, but I said,
'Take the Sword of War and sever Me into pieces,
Then will My hand open and You will have a gift,
And too all of the Shining Ones will have gifts from Me."
 
He cut, and in that Moment, I Ceased to Be,
And from then, the Moment of Ceasing of Be
Has rested on the edge of the Sword of War
As well as in My right hand.
 
War divided Me, and Sage allotted Me among the Shining Ones,
To Sky My breath, to make the world's winds,
To Earth My bones and flesh to make stone and soil,
To Time and to the Seasons My heartbeat, to measure the cycles,
To Water My blood, to make the seas and rivers,
To Trickster my tangled hair to weave snares and webs for the unwary,
To Sage My eyes, which have seen the Mystery beyond the Dark Gate,
To Craftsman a spark of My Life's Fire, to light a forge for making Wonders.
To Each was given what was needed to make their portion of the World.
She Who Brings Forth, Brought Forth the Moment of Becoming,
And I, First among the Dead, again became One of the Deathless.
 
To Go is to Return; a World was made,
In which all that dies must be reborn,
All that falls, shall rise again.
 
Lucius Alexander
 
Copyright Palindromedary Enterprises
 
 
 
 
 
 

Why would monks work? Because productive labor is either or both of;
- regarded by the order's founder or head as being either important to spiritual development or an ethical imperative, or
- necessary because the monks are so numerous and/or alms so sparse that they cannot live by begging.
 
 
Lucius Alexander
 
Alms for the palindromedaries!

I wrote this a few years ago. As far as I recall, I've never posted it anywhere. Until now.
 
With the Ultimate Skill coming, and all the buzz on the board about skills now, I thought I'd go ahead and post it. By the way, I remember writing more than this, and I did intend to go on and expand the idea to the other adventuring archetypes. Who knows, maybe I'll finally do so. And if I turn up the "lost materiels" that I suspect are still hidden in my stuff in storage, I'll post them too.
 
Lucius Alexander
 
The palindromedary wonders if we'll be able to fit the whole thing in this next post....

The honorable arts of sElf Defense?
 
As for the original questions: Yes I'm sure the prevalence of martial arts in modern action-adventure media have a lot to do with the popularity of the Monk class in D&D. No, an "Asian" mystic martial artist likely doesn't belong in your setting - but that does NOT mean a mystic martial artist doesn't fit. Or a non-mystic martial artist, or a non-martial artist mystic. You can link the class to a monastic tradition if that seems to fit, or don't if your setting has no monastic traditions or if you don't see a reason to have such a mandatory link.
 
You can have something like the ancient Greek Pankration. Elves, if you have them, or some pacifist cult, if you have such, might have developed techniques for restraining and subduing opponents without harming them. Abilities unlocked by ascetic practices and/or physical disciplines and/or meditative or yogic exercises might be associated with something like a chivalric order, or passed on in a guru to student / master to apprentice fashion or be closely guarded mysteries of some secret society.
 
I am sure something LIKE a "Monk" in the D&D sense can work even in a pseudo-European quasi-medieval setting, but the real question is - do you want to do the work of creating and balancing such a character type? For the answer to that, I suggest you consider who you are doing the work for. If one or more of your players really wants a "mystic martial artist" that gives a reason to invest in it, if none of them do and you don't plan to use it for any NPCs, maybe you can skip it. Or leave it as an open question to be revisited if the campaign moves in that direction or someone turns up who DOES want that.
 
Lucius Alexander
 
Order of the Palindromedary

I am unpersuaded.
 
Lucius Alexander
 
Persuading a palindromedary

The SEA-quel!
 
Lucius Alexander
 
The palindromedary asks, who will quell the sea?

I bought my friend an elephant for his room.
 
He said "Thanks."
 
I said "Don't mention it."

I hope there's a movie
 
Lucius Alexander
 
Coming soon to a palindromedary near you

Lightning sweeps half a continent

8' statue Gallos (Cornish: Power) atop Tintagel Cliffs to evoke King Arthur.
 

Drying, because warm underwear.
 
Spitting or swallowing?

It's two parties, actually.
 
Lucius Alexander
 
The palindromedary wasn't invited to either