Editor-in-Chief
Joined: Dec 26, 2005
Posts: 229
Location: Boston
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Another preview of one of the Societies that you can join in Crosstreams
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Description:
The Brotherhood of the Sphinx are the foremost group of explorers in the Seven Cities, with chapterhouses in every city. They are one of the primary repositories of old lore as relates specifically to exploration; their chapterhouses all serve as museums, and are full of maps and old trinkets and artifacts. They have the advantage of performing a very important archaeological service to the seven cities and elsewhere, and thus find funding from many noble sources for expeditions. Though they often masquerade as archaeologists, most are, in reality, treasure hunters, but ones who enjoy the prestige of being part of the brotherhood more than the wealth one can attain from looting tombs, sailing to long lost places, and otherwise adventuring. More or less, the Brotherhood are respected for not only their ability to chart the darkest corners of the continent and delve the spookiest crypts, but to come out with amazing artifacts, some of significant power, and rather than use them, place them in a museum for everyones benefit.
They also provide a haven for adventurers who are looking for information on places to explore. Many of their members are hired by other groups to perform simpler tasks like guiding through dungeons, providing cartographic services, information on areas and the like.
They accept work based on a charter. A group, be it a regular joe or a noble, requests their service to uncover an artifact or map something, etc, and the Brotherhood charges based on what they believe the cost of said charter will be. The Brotherhood is non profit, and they only charge the expected costs. Any overcharge is used to maintain the museums, and does not go into the pockets of the Brotherhood membership. Enough money can be found in what they do normally anyway.
History:
The Kurathene Empire had grown large and powerful. A need came to expand it's borders and settle new lands. They pushed in every direction, through the steppes towards the mountains, up to the frozen north, and south trough the flatlands. One such expedition was called to settle the lands that were to become the Seven Cities. Explorers were hired to chart and discover these new lands, and even as the first settlers were unloading from their ships and founding the cities throughout the region, the explorers were still hard at work, delving deep into the earth, scouring the forests and blazing trails across the land, compiling impressive maps and uncovering ruins and dungeons. Their exploits brought more like minded adventurers to the early hamlets that would eventually become the Seven Cities.
During an expedition, a group of Kurathene Gentleman discovered a great ruin. The ruin was half buried in the earth, but excavation identified a large, cat like stone statue of immense proportions. The language of the runes carved into the statue were unknown, but similar to draconic, and further investigation led to translation. As the excavations increased, the statue was found to be a tomb of some sort. Artifacts of unknown origin were pulled out from the ancient site, and collected by these Gentlemen. The site was coined, "The Sphinx" for the large catlike statue, possibly wemic in representation, but not wemic in origin. Texts found that it was a temple for an early civilization that worshiped the wemics, believing they were a race of living gods.
Conflict was inevitable as the Seven Cities established, especially from the orcish nations that enveloped these people, and through war and disaster, the site was eventually destroyed; all that remains is a dot on the map where it once stood.
The Gentlemen saved what artifacts they could and traveled throughout the Seven Cities, presenting their discoveries to the citizens as a whole. They earned the nickname, "Brothers of the Sphinx" due to their discoveries.
Eventually they built a museum to house their finds, and began to enourage more charters to discover what secrets were hidden in this still relatively new land.
From their successes in mapping the region and discovering its secrets, the Brotherhood of the Sphinx was formed, with new chapters opening up throughout the seven cities, displaying all manner of trinkets and archaeological wonders.
To this day, generations later, the society continues to act as explorers and adventure seekers in the Seven Cities, willing to explore and excavate the most remote and dangerous of places, in the name of discovery itself.
Goals:
* Amass maps & geographical knowledge
* Solve puzzles, riddles, & prophecies
* Archeology and Historical research, to a limited degree
Membership:
Anyone may join the Brotherhood of the Sphinx, though adventure for profit is discouraged, and members that loot tombs or explore for their own gain are generally not members of the society for very long.
Advancement:
Advancement is based on discovering Lore relating to exploration, and by solving puzzles, riddles, and prophecies, discovering amazing archaeological finds, and resisting the urge to steal them...
Mule: To become a mule, you just need to show up, it is an initiate rank.
Apprentice: To advance to the apprentice level, you simply have to mule for one chartered quest. Once this initiation is complete, you are considered an apprentice into the brotherhood.
Brother/Sister: Apprentices that have performed a signifigant role in any quest, be it solving a crutial puzzle, discovering an unkown path, aiding in expeditions on request, or otherwise proving their worth to the Brotherhood in an expidition, are petitioned for acceptance as a Brother or Sister. The Existing Brothers and Sisters, as well as all ranks above, take a vote, and if the "Aye's" have it, the individual in question becomes a full fledged Brother or Sister.
Adventurer: This rank is achieved when a brother or sister successfully leads a signifigant expidition. This means a major accomplishment, not just a simple mapping or tripping over the tomb of some ancient queen. Upon the successful return, the people they led in the adventure report to the Grande Adventurers and existing adventurers, and they all vote among themselves to include the individual into their ranks. This rank is often granted as an honourary title to Brothers and Sister who... completed... a quest, but did not survive the return.
Grand Adventurer: Adventurers who Manage amazing expeditions can be nominated for this prestigious role. It can happen after any Adventurer completes more than one major expedition since achieving adventurer rank. The entire brotherhood, mules included, vote on valid Adventurers. Again, this requires a major accomplishment, from discovering the long lost map, deciphering the cryptic text, treking to the island of magical mystical stuff, charting and returning alive. As with adventurers, this title has been awarded to exceptional adventurers who did not survive the return voyage.
Curator of the Brotherhood: Not a rank, specifically, but a title given to one of the grand adventurers, awarded after the previous dies or retires.
Brother/Sister of the Seminary of Theological History: Not a rank, specifically, but a title given to one of the adventurers, awarded after the previous dies or retires.
Brother/Sister of the Department of Antiquity: Not a rank, specifically, but a title given to one of the adventurers, awarded after the previous dies or retires.
Brother/Sister of the Division of Arts and Sculpture: Not a rank, specifically, but a title given to one of the adventurers, awarded after the previous dies or retires.
Brother/Sister of the Society for Social Demography: Not a rank, specifically, but a title given to one of the adventurers, awarded after the previous dies or retires.
Brother/Sister of the League of Cartography: Not a rank, specifically, but a title given to one of the adventurers, awarded after the previous dies or retires.
Society Locations:
The Brotherhood of the Sphinx is located in Old Town City Center
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--Written by MondoPotato |
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