Southern Monastery
The Southern Monastery consisted of individuals from Con Tuan that dedicated their lives in their youth to the mastery and perfection of combat. Their purpose was to defend the Endala and its people from those who would seek to inflict harm or destroy their traditions. The Southern Monastery had a legacy of exotic and complex martial arts--some of which bent magical forces to an extent almost as intensely as the elementalists of Phovezila.
In its original Umyanan name, the Southern Monastery was known as Goubaba Y'Laaprue, or perhaps the Monastery of Laaprue. The name "Southern Monastery," which was the simplified form of the full title of "Monastery of the Golden South", was perpetuated by Sandar during their lengthy attempted conquests of the Endalan Savannah. The name has since become the widespread Tradespeak name of the monastery.
The practices of the Southern Monastery were kept a secret to the wider culture of Legere, as Southern Monks and the Endalan people kept mostly to themselves. Only travelling merchants went to visit Con, and the civilians there rarely if ever left to visit other lands.
Founding & Purpose #
In 499 PBD, a warrior-philosopher named Laaprue Inyulajari became well known for his love of the Endalan Savannah's natural beauty, and his appreciation for the variety in cultures that sprung up between the various factions of Endalan people. His thoughts circulated the Endala through poems that he wrote, which eventually shifted to view the very land they lived in to be sacred and blessed. The Endalan people, as children of the land, were all equally as blessed.
After witnessing a brutal Jinifarian assault on a village he was visiting, Laaprue's heart broke knowing that there were dozens of other villages like it that weren't deemed worthy of protection by the warlord of the region. So Laaprue began to seek out followers who were entranced by his poetry and shared the same sentiments as him. Laaprue and his wandering band of warriors became known as the Buebon Y'Laaprue, or the Disciples of Laaprue.
Because of their small size, Laaprue and his disciples had minimal impact on the wider scale of conflict between Endalan forces and foreign Hohmite armies, but they pushed on in their mission which approached a near religious status of devotion. Eventually, Laaprue opted to settle down and start a school to train more disciples, increasing his impact by creating more followers who could spread out across the Endala more effectively. He did this in his home village of Con. Part of the reason why Laaprue pursued this path was also because of his age at the time, with several afflictions preventing him from performing optimally in battle.
Despite his venerable status, Laaprue never stopped learning, and began to meet all sorts of Endalans who made the pilgrimage to Con just be taught by him and join as a disciple. In exchange, Laaprue invited warriors to teach him their martial arts. Things would change immensely as Endalan mages began to join the disciples as well, and Laaprue began to study magic--and how to marry the arcane to martial arts.
By the time Laaprue succumbed to old age, Laaprue's Monastery had a large body of followers and experienced masters to lead subsequent generations. They would cling to Laaprue's vision of protecting the Endala and its people, serving as a politically-independent military that defended against other forces from across Legere.
Conflict Involvement #
The Southern Monastery was founded initially to serve as protectors of all who lived in the sacred Endalan Savannah. This meant that foreign nations from outside the savannah, such as Jinifar, Sandar (later Phovezila), and Nungul were the potential enemies of the monastery.
While the original founding of the monastery was very clear in its purpose, over the ages its loyalties shifted between various Endalan warlords as different microstates fought each other. However, the monastery always found a way to bring itself--and the Endala--back into balance. It never remained loyal or under the control of a particular warlord for more than 5 consecutive years. Typically the monastery would choose neutrality when a local war broke out. After the Demon Wars, the monastery switched its focus to peacekeeping and became more adamant in the face of warlords attempting to leverage the monastery in their favour.
Whenever wars were waged against Endalan people anywhere from external nations, the monastery was quick to jump into action. Notably, the Southern Monastery was powerful enough to completely deter Sandar from pushing into the Endala during the events of the Mundane War. Wars against Jinifar were frequent as well, especially because conquering the Endala and plundering its riches were a frequent promise made by the Jinifarian Caliphates to their sultan.
Structure #
The Southern Monastery lacked much formal organization, instead operating loosely and kept in check by constant meetings to discuss whether the vision of Laaprue was being followed. As a rule of thumb, the hierarchy of the Southern Monk's members was based on seniority.
Disciples #
The most common individual in the monastery were disciples. A disciple was an individual who dedicated their life to pursuing the mastery of the Hands of Laaprue. Southern Monk disciples were taught by Oluko.
Disciples would find themselves on the battlefield when conflicts arose that the monastery got involved with. Generally speaking, disciples who had been training for 3 years or less were passed over as combatants, with the monastery wanting to avoid harm coming to its less experienced disciples. Disciples who were younger than 15 were also typically not permitted from going into battle.
Oluko #
An oluko was a senior Southern Monk disciple who had shown promise and enough discipline to begin training lesser disciples. Any disciple that took on students in the Southern Monastery was considered to be an oluko.
To note, an oluko could also have an oluko that they trained under. Oftentimes, the process of instructing others was considered an important part of learning a Hand of Laaprue. The word "oluko" itself was the Umyana word for "instructor".
Oluwa #
Oluwa was a rare and prestigious title given out sparingly to the most skilled and experienced members of the Southern Monastery. In Umyana, "oluwa" meant "expert" or "master". This title was given only to those who had mastered their Hand of Laaprue to such a degree that they were deemed impossible to teach because all knowledge related to their craft had been learned.
The small handful of Oluwa that existed in the Southern Monastery helped to guide the monastery's operations and military involvement.
Auxiliary Support #
The Southern Monastery had strong support from the surrounding city of Con Tuan. The biggest contribution to the monastery, aside from food, were the local blacksmiths and mages. Because of the wide variety of martial arts being taught in the monastery, a wide variety of exotic weaponry was in constant demand. Many Hands of Laaprue required enchanted weapons of some kind, and so those able to manufacture such implements were necessary.