The Guardians

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*RavenousB
Posts: 32
Joined: Thu Jan 01, 1970 12:00 am

Posted by *RavenousB »




AKA Caretakers, the Protectors

-=Philosophy from excerpt=-

"Purity and morality are not things to be forced. In forcing goodness upon people who do not wish to be good the whole philosophy behind being good is lost. It is the opinion of this speaker that when a creature is forced to do something it does not like, it resents what is being forced upon it. Case in point: just as a slave resents being forced to toil for his master, a person who is not good by nature resents being forced to be good."

"Although I agree with my esteemed colleague that the ideals and philosophies of morality must be spread, I do not believe that the Order of the Planes-Militant's doctrine is the correct method of establishing goodness throughout the multiverse. Example: the Brethren have been establishing cells of their agents in the various good-natured planes, such as Bytopia. The cells' mission is to preach that which is good and lawful to the inhabits of those planes. But are these missions not exercises in futility? Those individuals who do not follow the ideals of the Brethren will, as suits their nature, ignore the preaching and the sermons of the Order, while those who already follow the tenets of the Brethren's philosophy will, of course, listen and follow. Therefore, the idea that by 'spreading the word' people will follow is inherently flawed, for those who do not wish to listen, won't. And those are the individuals that we are attempting to reach with our message."

"It is the belief of the Guardians that we must simply defend that which is already good. By protecting planes such as Elysium, as well as other good-natured planes, burgs, temples and the like, we prevent the spreading of wickedness to those areas which are pure at heart. Those people who wish to live good, pure lives may find their way to our strongholds of hope, and through that, we are spreading the word. In the end, it is not about spreading and enforcing morality throughout the planes, but simply providing a blueprint, an example, by which others may make their own decisions and, gods willing, decide appropriately."

Prince Azlan


-=Sect History=-


The Caretakers are a very old sect, dating back a dozen centuries or more. It is believed that the first Guardians were simply good-aligned mortals who followed the guardinals around, aiding in their battles as best they could and helping in any way possible. These proto-Guardians, as it were, admired and respected the guardinals, who their mortal followers saw as the epitome of goodness. Mortals began flocking around the guardinal species they respected most -- ursinals, avorals, leonals, et al. These individuals began spreading out across the planes, defending the weak and accomplishing all sorts of good deeds. A great deal of them stayed in Elysium, however, protecting that plane from evils that were too trivial for the guardinals to combat, but dangerous enough not to be left to their own devices.

It wasn't long before these righteous defenders began to recognise each other as such. Whenever two of these people met they would tell each other of news from across the planes, as well as what they had been doing for the past couple of months. They still weren't a sect, however, just an affiliated group of like-minded folks. It wasn't until about a dozen centuries ago that the group finally organised itself into a sect, under a brilliant elven leader named Risk Ty-Thall. The newly-formed sect took up the name "Guardians", to reflect both their respect for the guardinals and to summarise what exactly they did. They were Guardians, protectors of those who could not protect them themselves, and defenders of untainted good.

The Guardians policies did not change with their organisation as a sect, however. Guardians still wandered the planes, coming and going as they pleased. No "sect headquarters" was established, nor were any councils or legislative bodies established. In fact, the only council ever formed by the Guardians in their early years was to discuss what the sect symbol should be, and that council only lasted two or three weeks. But besides that, business was conducted as usual. Whenever two Caretakers met, they would exchange stories and news, and then be on their way. Their formation as a sect only granted them a title, a name by which all others could address them.


-=Sect Headquarters=-

Elysium, the plane of ultimate good. Law and Chaos do not matter here -- all that matters is the accomplishment of good.

The Guardians do not have a central headquarters per se, but all Defenders recognise Elysium as their "home plane" for two reasons. First, it is the home of the guardinals, which all Caretakers acknowledge as being the epitome of what true goodness is. Second, Elysium is, in the minds of the Guardians at least, the home of absolute good. It is not tainted by the strict nature of Law, nor is to the random hodgepodge Chaos. It is simply good. For these reasons the Prince of the Guardians generally makes him home on Elysium, to symbolise the relationship that all Guardians have with their parent plane.


-=Membership=-

The Guardians don't have any real membership requirements. If a person wants to join the sect, he'll get in somehow. Sometimes a Guardian-wannabe will bump into a real Caretaker, who'll introduce him to the ways of the sect. Sometimes he'll journey to Elysium where a friendly petitioner will show him to the house of the local Defender. It doesn't really matter, though, because anyone who wants to join, will.

Now, one would think that this kind of system would lead to a lot of spies and infiltrators among the Guardians, but nothing could be farther from the truth. Evil and selfish berks don't want to join the Caretakers -- why spend all your life defending people and places you really don't care too much about? Evil characters are generally too self centred to want to join such a giving sect, which means that only good characters join. The Guardians' philosophy is just to strict for evils to enlist.


-=Typical Faction Relations=-

Due to their go-with-the-flow attitude, the Defenders get along with pretty much everyone.

But I did say "pretty much". There are some factions that the Guardians don't get along with, and the feeling is mutual. The Guardians can't stand the Harmonium and Order of the Planes-Militant, with their in-your-face attitudes and my-way-or-the-highway philosophies, nor do they like Doomguard and the Bleakers, because of their inherently "evil" nature. The Guardians don't organize any kind of opposition to these groups, though. They simply try to avoid them.

Addendum: the caretakers and bleakers share philosophies on certain levels. After brushing up on bleaker lore I find the author in error fundamentally as their ideologies do not directly clash and there is no lore as to why the faction and the sect would be at odds.
*RavenousB
Posts: 32
Joined: Thu Jan 01, 1970 12:00 am

Posted by *RavenousB »


-=What we expect=-

A. This is more of a laid back sect. Cutters are free to be in any 'good' or 'neutral' faction outside of the Harmonium since it conflicts directly with lore.

B. Sect members are expected to be lore friendly. Mostly this means that IC don't go shoving your opinion down other cutters throats as this is contrary to that the Caretakers stand for and if a berk is shoving their opinion down a cutters throat you tell that berk off right and proper!

C. Sect members are also expected to look down upon non good races. Especially evil races, but to a lesser degree neutral races. Though we respect a bodies right to choose we don't have to like it or them personally.

D. The sect will be a bit more proactive and controversial then cannon lore. Mostly because there will be likely far fewer opportunities to be involved in general events if the group was strictly cannon.

E. Politics involving the cage is strictly off limits. Guardians don't care nor interfere with politics of non-good societies.

F. While this is not a server rule, we expect members to be true to their concept. Embrace all the strengths and flaws of your character. Result based roleplay is heavily frowned upon.

G. And lastly and most importantly be proactive and creative . We aren't looking for minions, we want the classic D&D inspired creative independent cutters. Members for the most part are free to do as they will within the confines of lore and as otherwise stated above.


-=Infiltratiors=-

There is really no purpose to infiltrate as the sect has no political pull one way or another anywhere, however, if you have a good backstory with reason to and feel you can contribute positively to the roleplay environment then do contact me. My main concern is immersion breaking silliness that ruins the fun for other members

-=Hierarchy=-

There is no official ranking in the Caretakers organization as per lore though Yuedora, Drae, Verient, and Velnatari are known and respected as senior members.


-=Queries=-

Should be addressed to myself or SymphonyZM.
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