LudicSavant
2015-10-12, 08:26 AM
Part of my ongoing series on the mythology of my world, where my goal was to take "classic" D&D gods and remake them into more complete religious ideologies people might actually want to worship. (See Corellon Larethian (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?461424-Corellon-Larethian-the-Architect-of-Blood-and-Seed&p=20098734), Nerull (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?443831-My-pantheon-s-take-on-Nerull), Olidammara (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?445953-Olidammara-the-Laughing-Rogue), Erythnul (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?445290-Erythnul-the-Many&p=19869433&viewfull=1), Hextor (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?451475-My-pantheon-s-take-on-Hextor&p=19966308&viewfull=1), Lolth (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?480130-Lolth-Lady-Luck), The Deep Ones (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?448397-The-Deep-Ones-Twisted-Seas-and-Alien-Light))
Also, intended to be readable in any order, and for it to be easy to transplant individual parts into other settings.
Wee Jas, The Stern Lady
http://orig04.deviantart.net/33ea/f/2010/121/c/f/cfba71234c7f33505ff167e7c7a3d7e5.jpg (https://www.pinterest.com/pin/31314159880439620/)
"Your body feeds the earth, as it once fed you."
- Wee Jas, from the epic poem "Estherian Odyssey"
“I would request that my body, in death, be buried, not cremated, so that the energy content contained within it gets returned to the earth, so that flora and fauna can dine upon it, just as I have dined upon flora and fauna during my lifetime."
- Neil deGrasse Tyson
Expanded Domains: Charm, Death, Deathbound, Decay, Domination, Inquisition, Knowledge, Law, Magic, Mind, Necromancer, Planning, Pride, Renewal, Repose, Time, Transformation, Spell, Undeath
Portfolio: Butterflies, Bureaucracy, Decay, Efficiency, Organization, Makeovers, Metamorphosis, Moths, Psychopomps (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychopomp), Rebirth, Repurposing / Reinvention, Responsibility, Sorcery, Syncretism, Transitions, Transmutation, Vanity / Fabulousness
Theme: http://listenonrepeat.com/watch/?v=05V4CgSL0lw#Belinda_Carlisle_-_Heaven_Is_a_Place_on_Earth_Lyrics
Knowledge (Religion) 10:
Wee Jas is the First Lich, who hid her heart away to foil Nerull, so that he could not bring an end to the cycle of life during the Winter Age.
Originally, she was a sort of "business efficiency manager" of the gods, making sure the cosmos ran smoothly through its transitions (especially arcane transitions such as Transmutation or the spark of sorcerous power). When Nerull went off the rails, she was called in to make sure the cycle of life kept running smoothly. It is Nerull that brings death, but Wee Jas is the psychopomp, responsible for the transit of souls and the transmutation of all things through decay and repurposing.
After every harvest season, Nerull slays Obad-Hai and hangs his body from the Summer Tree, ushering in the winter. At every winter solstice, Wee Jas sneaks off with Obad-Hai's body to use it to plant a new Green Man somewhere, which blooms into the new Obad-Hai to usher in the Spring.
Almost all Jasite sects celebrate a holy day honoring the dead, a joyous occasion filled with music, painted faces, dancing, and merriment. Here followers are reminded of what the lives of their loved ones contributed for them, and celebrate their transformation, returning from this life to the beauty of nature, in order to become something new and wonderful.
When flowers grow from the remains of the dead, it is said to be Wee Jas tending her garden. Her symbol is the butterfly, symbolizing transmutation and transitions. The perpetually youthful Obad-Hai sometimes serves as her consort.
The terms "Jasite" and "Jasidin" are both considered appropriate for referring to those who honor Wee Jas.
http://img00.deviantart.net/f33b/i/2015/072/e/6/dia_de_los_muertos_by_nadiezda-d5jv979.jpg (http://nadiezda.deviantart.com/art/Dia-de-los-muertos-335701845)
Wee Jas in her role as psychopomp, dancing with the deceased.
Knowledge (Religion) 15:
When something stops working, like your body, you have to change it. Change your skin, like a snake. Leave it behind, to feed new life. Go beyond your old self and become a new part of the universe. The Ruby Sorceress will be there to show you how.
For Jasites, death is not a sorrowful ending, but a new beginning. They believe in the Chain, a wheel of reincarnation both for flesh and spirit. With each life, there is a lesson to be learned, both by the soul itself and by those it leaves behind. Each turning of the cycle is an opportunity for us to grow. Learn from those who passed before you, and remain attentive to life's lessons. With each death, the flesh decays, and becomes a part of something new. Nothing is to be lost. That would just be sloppy, and the Stern Lady won't have that!
As such, Jasites disdain sealed casket burials or embalming methods which prevent a body from doing anything, and instead tend to bury the dead in the open earth. Jasite funerals traditionally sprinkle seeds over corpses and bury them in soil marked by cairns or memorial decorations, or in catacomb mazes with earthen walls that wind beneath farms and fields. Jasites often see poetry in the dead watching over their descendants even in death by giving them things such as food or beauty (such as the stunning bone gardens of the Ruby Temple). Some Jasites even encourage the use of necromancy to create unintelligent undead so that a body can labor to help or defend its loved ones even after death. Even intelligent undeath is unusually widely accepted by Jasites, for they see it as just another transition into a new form of being. However, other sects oppose everyday use of the undead, contending that undeath tends to infringe upon the ideal cycle of reincarnation and that, while it has a place, it is not for general use.
Jasite priests often preside over cultural rituals having to deal with important transitions in life, including birth, coming of age ceremonies, marriage, and also more unusual cases such as celebrating the discovery of sorcerous talent, a criminal's return to society as a new man after repenting for his crimes, welcoming an immigrant into a small town's society, or initiating a new recruit as a member of a team. Of course, the most important transition of all for the Jasite clergy is death, where a soul leaves its mortal flesh behind to meet with Wee Jas, the psychopomp who will guide their soul to its next destination, whatever that may be.
Just as the flesh of the dead should be put to use (one way or another), knowledge from those who passed before is to be preserved so that it can take root in new minds. Jasites are often keepers of relics and archives, or adventurers who seek to recover lost knowledge and culture.
Wee Jas values syncretism, and her followers emphasize that there is something to be learned from every culture. They say that we should derive strength from our differences, combining the ways of others with our own in order to create something vibrant and new, stronger than either could have been individually. Many Jasite historians frame the history of the world as an orderly metamorphosis caused by the contact, interaction, and merging of cultures. Jasites in general have a reputation for a love of the exotic.
The spark of sorcerous power is also held sacred by Jasites, as such a metamorphosis is said to represent the fruit of the cycles of rebirth and transformation. Bloodlines combine, and spirits meld with the world's magic. Jasites sometimes hold a rite of passage ceremony to inaugurate a newly discovered Sorcerer, and some Jasite churches even sponsor special schools that help young sorcerers come into their own and foster their newfound talents.
The first time Nerull killed Obad-Hai, it brought about the Age of Winter, a cruel ice age which brought ruin to the First Civilizations. The gods scrambled to find a solution, eventually empowering Wee Jas as psychopomp. It was she who reforged the Chain and grew a new Obad-Hai, ending the Age of Winter. When Nerull turned his scythe upon Wee Jas in retribution, he found that she could not be killed, for she had hidden her heart away in a place even the gods could not find, and would be reborn again and again. Nerull searches for the phylactery of the First Lich to this very day.
Knowledge (Religion) 20:
As a soul matures, it becomes suitable for higher forms of life, rising from the swarms of nigoda (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigoda) to the realms of beasts and men... and perhaps even beyond. The experiences you have during a given lifetime cause small shifts in the instincts which form the bedrock of your personality. After death, Wee Jas ushers your spirit into its next newborn life, where it will retain those same subconscious instincts and inclinations. Thus does the accumulation of wisdom become possible—though not inevitable, as it is always possible to spend a life learning the wrong kinds of lessons, and reincarnate in a lower form.
Not only souls, but culture and matter go through reincarnation as well. The philosophy of Wee Jas is all about change, rebirth, and reinvention. Some might find the concept of a Lawful goddess of change unintuitive, but to a Jasite change is anything but chaotic. The butterfly, her symbol, illustrates that change is not random or disorganized, but the effort of a careful and deliberate metamorphosis, each enticing feature of the future building upon the labors of the past in an orderly fashion. A caterpillar always goes in, and a butterfly always comes out. Nothing is random about that. To a Jasite, there is a plan, and it is beautiful.
Wee Jas is often seen as arrogant and vain, but really, her priests would point out, she just has a plan for everything... and no patience for lazy layabouts. Everything has to run smoothly. Everything has to keep getting better through iteration. Those who aren't a part of that, well, the world will keep turning without them, and she's there to make sure that it does... or, in her role as the Stern Lady, whip people into shape so as to be more efficient, responsible, creative, vibrant, beautiful and glorious with every life cycle. To Jasites, apathy, sloth, and negligence are intolerable sins, and maintaining one's personal appearance is just another manifestation of mindfulness.
The church of Wee Jas has a great deal of subtle sociopolitical influence in many cultures, especially human ones. Jasite maesters often sit at the left hand of leaders, Jasite priests preside over rites of passage and thus may have connections with just about everyone in a community, Jasite burials are the most common funerary rite in many nations, and pro-Jasite Sorcerers are charismatic military assets. Being at every wedding and every funeral, whether they officiate or not, means they have their fingers in lumber, textiles, smithing, and even glasswork and jewelry craft. If the Heironeans want to go on a crusade someplace the Jasites don't like, they may just find that every blacksmith along the way has closed up shop for a couple of weeks. Many find it easy to overlook their pervasive power base until they're suddenly confronted with it, much like death itself.
Knowledge (Religion) DC 25:
Some academics argue that the pantheon wasn't recognized across the entirety of the world at all, but instead that what seems to be the recognition of the same gods over much of the known world is due to syncretism encouraged by enthusiastic Jasite movements, who claimed that the gods of cultures they encountered were just incarnations of their own by another name—or vice versa, incorporating foreign gods into their own cultures as it suited them. Records of the lost House Velanthe, for instance, appear to refer to Araushnee and Megwandir (typically both identified as aliases for Lolth) as separate entities.
Some detractors go so far as to claim that the Jasites have a way of going everywhere, getting into everything, and redoing your culture in their own melting pot fashion. According to them, they'll absorb your culture for the latest vain fashion trend, discard it when it gets old, and take loving care of the archives of its curious little memory.
It is said that the Phylactery of Wee Jas is hidden somewhere on the material plane, but that it would be a fool's errand to find it. After all, if it was ever unearthed, what would stop Nerull from beginning the Winter Age anew, effectively destroying the world as we know it? As such, it is regarded by many theologians as one of the most dangerous artifacts in the multiverse, which must never be found.
Organization: The Immortals
http://orig14.deviantart.net/29f9/f/2012/202/2/5/dark_knight_by_danielmchavez-d581gp5.jpg (http://danielmchavez.deviantart.com/art/Dark-Knight-315836105)
"They say we are what we are, but we don't have to be. We could be Immortals, just not for long. I am the second half of the hourglass."
- http://listenonrepeat.com/watch/?v=bOiVZNSrY-U#One_Piece_AMV___Immortals__15th_Anniversary
Some heroes are too good to die, like Obad-Hai taking the bullet for us every year. As the world is reborn again and again, ever progressing closer and closer towards unattainable Perfection, sometimes a person of great import is born. Their contributions cannot be permitted to be fleeting, and so their memory must be preserved.
The order of the Immortals takes this a step further, not merely preserving heroes in memory, but also preserving their roles in life. This monastic order, formed of monks of Wee Jas and Obad-Hai, finds and trains promising young warriors as the living reincarnations of legendary heroes. Donning ritual masks of great heroes of history, trained by re-enacting ancient ancestor quests, and equipped with sacred ancestral relics, the Immortals are a team of heroes that can never truly die. If a warrior should fall in battle, a new pupil called into the service of the order will don the mask, and the legend of that hero will continue. This leads to epic poems of heroes whose attributed deeds span centuries, through in truth the hero died and was replaced by a member of the Immortals expected to follow their example and charged with fulfilling their role.
If a great enough hero emerges and falls, sometimes the order will craft a new mask, inducting a new hero into the roster of the Immortals. The order is greatly respected in the societies where they are based, and those familiar with the heroic ancestors make certain allowances for those bearing the ritual mask of a hero. After all, certain behavior is expected from, and therefore acceptable for, any given iconic personality... and this sometimes allows the Immortals to fulfill certain useful cultural roles which would otherwise face all kinds of red tape or other social complications. In short, the order decides that a unique person's role to society becomes so important that it must be immortalized... and implements the resources to make it happen.
Essentially, a Justice League that knows not the limits of generations. If you want to truly honor your ancestors, the Immortals say, then be the second half of the hourglass.
Organization: The Scarlet Moth Academy
http://pre09.deviantart.net/b4b3/th/pre/i/2013/228/5/e/masked_lady_by_nosaj7541-d6ifjgm.jpg (http://jasontn.deviantart.com/art/Masked-Lady-393755206)
The Scarlet Moth Academy began its life as a Jasite library at the heart of a great trade city. Much like with the Library of Alexandria, all ships passing through the city were required by the city's rulers to surrender their books for copying by Jasite monks. The owners would receive the copy while the library kept the originals. As the collection grew, the city drew the attention of scholars from nations far and wide. The Jasite temple prospered, and sprawling campuses sprung up around the archive.
Today, the Academy is a world-renowned hub of learning and culture, where academics can come to find and share ideas from the far corners of the known world. In addition to its diverse collegiate faculties for scholars of every inclination (be they Clerics, Wizards, Archivists, Adepts, or Experts), the Academy maintains a reputation as the foremost institution for the housing and training of young Sorcerers. The Academy Knights who guard the library's treasured collection (amongst other diverse services to the temple and city) are primarily drawn from these gifted youths.
The Academy's collection is always growing, and it regularly sponsors adventuring expeditions to recover knowledge of lost cultures and faraway lands.
The academy encourages excellence in all things, including dress. The Academy's school uniforms are rather unique in that they're hardly uniform. The Jasites encourage and insist upon their own tailoring, often emphasizing their own particular cultural flair... be it a representation of the academy's diverse ethnic backgrounds or entirely new styles, often inspired by a mix of the ways of cultures past and present. They often experiment with new fashions, and the school is known for setting trends. The only thing that is consistent amongst the Scarlet Moth attire is that they are all expected to conform to an overall scheme of resembling the coloration of the very moths that lend the Academy its name.
https://s8.postimg.cc/gbwmnsszp/21966884.imp2177dsds_zpsffr62r8p.jpg (http://m4.i.pbase.com/u19/buckeyeland/upload/21966884.imp2177dsds.jpg)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/42/Cinnabar_moth_%28Tyria_jacobaeae%29.jpg/640px-Cinnabar_moth_%28Tyria_jacobaeae%29.jpg
http://img11.deviantart.net/463d/i/2015/214/6/9/mage_concept_by_jasontn-d93xgo5.jpg
An exquisitely attired Academy Knight.
Code of Conduct: Paladins of Wee Jas
http://orig01.deviantart.net/a14e/f/2012/344/0/9/take_breath_by_tahra-d5nm01v.jpg (http://blogof.francescomugnai.com/2013/05/the-incredibly-beautiful-digital-paintings-by-kyoung-hwan-kim/)
This code of conduct applies to those who would call themselves paladins of the faith, not just any follower of Wee Jas.
- Do not be apathetic. You should have an opinion about everything, even if your opinion is "I don't have enough information to form much of an opinion yet." Be a meddler (where appropriate) and look for things you can optimize.
- Do not be negligent, slothful, or wasteful. Always strive for efficiency in your duties. Reuse or repurpose things rather than simply discarding them.
- Make sure to take care of your appearance. Maintaining your appearance is just another manifestation of proper mindfulness.
- Treasure and preserve knowledge. The lessons of the dead must not be lost or forgotten. Do not permit the loss or destruction of knowledge (such as burning books or censuring intellectuals). Take an interest in the lessons to be learned from other cultures, including extinct ones.
- Respect life and the sanctity of the Chain, the cycle of reincarnation. Seek to refine your soul, and to facilitate the refinement of others.
- Where you find the spark of good and beauty in the world, kindle it, encourage it, enable it, and enhance it. When you find something that doesn't work, phase it out.
Also, intended to be readable in any order, and for it to be easy to transplant individual parts into other settings.
Wee Jas, The Stern Lady
http://orig04.deviantart.net/33ea/f/2010/121/c/f/cfba71234c7f33505ff167e7c7a3d7e5.jpg (https://www.pinterest.com/pin/31314159880439620/)
"Your body feeds the earth, as it once fed you."
- Wee Jas, from the epic poem "Estherian Odyssey"
“I would request that my body, in death, be buried, not cremated, so that the energy content contained within it gets returned to the earth, so that flora and fauna can dine upon it, just as I have dined upon flora and fauna during my lifetime."
- Neil deGrasse Tyson
Expanded Domains: Charm, Death, Deathbound, Decay, Domination, Inquisition, Knowledge, Law, Magic, Mind, Necromancer, Planning, Pride, Renewal, Repose, Time, Transformation, Spell, Undeath
Portfolio: Butterflies, Bureaucracy, Decay, Efficiency, Organization, Makeovers, Metamorphosis, Moths, Psychopomps (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychopomp), Rebirth, Repurposing / Reinvention, Responsibility, Sorcery, Syncretism, Transitions, Transmutation, Vanity / Fabulousness
Theme: http://listenonrepeat.com/watch/?v=05V4CgSL0lw#Belinda_Carlisle_-_Heaven_Is_a_Place_on_Earth_Lyrics
Knowledge (Religion) 10:
Wee Jas is the First Lich, who hid her heart away to foil Nerull, so that he could not bring an end to the cycle of life during the Winter Age.
Originally, she was a sort of "business efficiency manager" of the gods, making sure the cosmos ran smoothly through its transitions (especially arcane transitions such as Transmutation or the spark of sorcerous power). When Nerull went off the rails, she was called in to make sure the cycle of life kept running smoothly. It is Nerull that brings death, but Wee Jas is the psychopomp, responsible for the transit of souls and the transmutation of all things through decay and repurposing.
After every harvest season, Nerull slays Obad-Hai and hangs his body from the Summer Tree, ushering in the winter. At every winter solstice, Wee Jas sneaks off with Obad-Hai's body to use it to plant a new Green Man somewhere, which blooms into the new Obad-Hai to usher in the Spring.
Almost all Jasite sects celebrate a holy day honoring the dead, a joyous occasion filled with music, painted faces, dancing, and merriment. Here followers are reminded of what the lives of their loved ones contributed for them, and celebrate their transformation, returning from this life to the beauty of nature, in order to become something new and wonderful.
When flowers grow from the remains of the dead, it is said to be Wee Jas tending her garden. Her symbol is the butterfly, symbolizing transmutation and transitions. The perpetually youthful Obad-Hai sometimes serves as her consort.
The terms "Jasite" and "Jasidin" are both considered appropriate for referring to those who honor Wee Jas.
http://img00.deviantart.net/f33b/i/2015/072/e/6/dia_de_los_muertos_by_nadiezda-d5jv979.jpg (http://nadiezda.deviantart.com/art/Dia-de-los-muertos-335701845)
Wee Jas in her role as psychopomp, dancing with the deceased.
Knowledge (Religion) 15:
When something stops working, like your body, you have to change it. Change your skin, like a snake. Leave it behind, to feed new life. Go beyond your old self and become a new part of the universe. The Ruby Sorceress will be there to show you how.
For Jasites, death is not a sorrowful ending, but a new beginning. They believe in the Chain, a wheel of reincarnation both for flesh and spirit. With each life, there is a lesson to be learned, both by the soul itself and by those it leaves behind. Each turning of the cycle is an opportunity for us to grow. Learn from those who passed before you, and remain attentive to life's lessons. With each death, the flesh decays, and becomes a part of something new. Nothing is to be lost. That would just be sloppy, and the Stern Lady won't have that!
As such, Jasites disdain sealed casket burials or embalming methods which prevent a body from doing anything, and instead tend to bury the dead in the open earth. Jasite funerals traditionally sprinkle seeds over corpses and bury them in soil marked by cairns or memorial decorations, or in catacomb mazes with earthen walls that wind beneath farms and fields. Jasites often see poetry in the dead watching over their descendants even in death by giving them things such as food or beauty (such as the stunning bone gardens of the Ruby Temple). Some Jasites even encourage the use of necromancy to create unintelligent undead so that a body can labor to help or defend its loved ones even after death. Even intelligent undeath is unusually widely accepted by Jasites, for they see it as just another transition into a new form of being. However, other sects oppose everyday use of the undead, contending that undeath tends to infringe upon the ideal cycle of reincarnation and that, while it has a place, it is not for general use.
Jasite priests often preside over cultural rituals having to deal with important transitions in life, including birth, coming of age ceremonies, marriage, and also more unusual cases such as celebrating the discovery of sorcerous talent, a criminal's return to society as a new man after repenting for his crimes, welcoming an immigrant into a small town's society, or initiating a new recruit as a member of a team. Of course, the most important transition of all for the Jasite clergy is death, where a soul leaves its mortal flesh behind to meet with Wee Jas, the psychopomp who will guide their soul to its next destination, whatever that may be.
Just as the flesh of the dead should be put to use (one way or another), knowledge from those who passed before is to be preserved so that it can take root in new minds. Jasites are often keepers of relics and archives, or adventurers who seek to recover lost knowledge and culture.
Wee Jas values syncretism, and her followers emphasize that there is something to be learned from every culture. They say that we should derive strength from our differences, combining the ways of others with our own in order to create something vibrant and new, stronger than either could have been individually. Many Jasite historians frame the history of the world as an orderly metamorphosis caused by the contact, interaction, and merging of cultures. Jasites in general have a reputation for a love of the exotic.
The spark of sorcerous power is also held sacred by Jasites, as such a metamorphosis is said to represent the fruit of the cycles of rebirth and transformation. Bloodlines combine, and spirits meld with the world's magic. Jasites sometimes hold a rite of passage ceremony to inaugurate a newly discovered Sorcerer, and some Jasite churches even sponsor special schools that help young sorcerers come into their own and foster their newfound talents.
The first time Nerull killed Obad-Hai, it brought about the Age of Winter, a cruel ice age which brought ruin to the First Civilizations. The gods scrambled to find a solution, eventually empowering Wee Jas as psychopomp. It was she who reforged the Chain and grew a new Obad-Hai, ending the Age of Winter. When Nerull turned his scythe upon Wee Jas in retribution, he found that she could not be killed, for she had hidden her heart away in a place even the gods could not find, and would be reborn again and again. Nerull searches for the phylactery of the First Lich to this very day.
Knowledge (Religion) 20:
As a soul matures, it becomes suitable for higher forms of life, rising from the swarms of nigoda (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigoda) to the realms of beasts and men... and perhaps even beyond. The experiences you have during a given lifetime cause small shifts in the instincts which form the bedrock of your personality. After death, Wee Jas ushers your spirit into its next newborn life, where it will retain those same subconscious instincts and inclinations. Thus does the accumulation of wisdom become possible—though not inevitable, as it is always possible to spend a life learning the wrong kinds of lessons, and reincarnate in a lower form.
Not only souls, but culture and matter go through reincarnation as well. The philosophy of Wee Jas is all about change, rebirth, and reinvention. Some might find the concept of a Lawful goddess of change unintuitive, but to a Jasite change is anything but chaotic. The butterfly, her symbol, illustrates that change is not random or disorganized, but the effort of a careful and deliberate metamorphosis, each enticing feature of the future building upon the labors of the past in an orderly fashion. A caterpillar always goes in, and a butterfly always comes out. Nothing is random about that. To a Jasite, there is a plan, and it is beautiful.
Wee Jas is often seen as arrogant and vain, but really, her priests would point out, she just has a plan for everything... and no patience for lazy layabouts. Everything has to run smoothly. Everything has to keep getting better through iteration. Those who aren't a part of that, well, the world will keep turning without them, and she's there to make sure that it does... or, in her role as the Stern Lady, whip people into shape so as to be more efficient, responsible, creative, vibrant, beautiful and glorious with every life cycle. To Jasites, apathy, sloth, and negligence are intolerable sins, and maintaining one's personal appearance is just another manifestation of mindfulness.
The church of Wee Jas has a great deal of subtle sociopolitical influence in many cultures, especially human ones. Jasite maesters often sit at the left hand of leaders, Jasite priests preside over rites of passage and thus may have connections with just about everyone in a community, Jasite burials are the most common funerary rite in many nations, and pro-Jasite Sorcerers are charismatic military assets. Being at every wedding and every funeral, whether they officiate or not, means they have their fingers in lumber, textiles, smithing, and even glasswork and jewelry craft. If the Heironeans want to go on a crusade someplace the Jasites don't like, they may just find that every blacksmith along the way has closed up shop for a couple of weeks. Many find it easy to overlook their pervasive power base until they're suddenly confronted with it, much like death itself.
Knowledge (Religion) DC 25:
Some academics argue that the pantheon wasn't recognized across the entirety of the world at all, but instead that what seems to be the recognition of the same gods over much of the known world is due to syncretism encouraged by enthusiastic Jasite movements, who claimed that the gods of cultures they encountered were just incarnations of their own by another name—or vice versa, incorporating foreign gods into their own cultures as it suited them. Records of the lost House Velanthe, for instance, appear to refer to Araushnee and Megwandir (typically both identified as aliases for Lolth) as separate entities.
Some detractors go so far as to claim that the Jasites have a way of going everywhere, getting into everything, and redoing your culture in their own melting pot fashion. According to them, they'll absorb your culture for the latest vain fashion trend, discard it when it gets old, and take loving care of the archives of its curious little memory.
It is said that the Phylactery of Wee Jas is hidden somewhere on the material plane, but that it would be a fool's errand to find it. After all, if it was ever unearthed, what would stop Nerull from beginning the Winter Age anew, effectively destroying the world as we know it? As such, it is regarded by many theologians as one of the most dangerous artifacts in the multiverse, which must never be found.
Organization: The Immortals
http://orig14.deviantart.net/29f9/f/2012/202/2/5/dark_knight_by_danielmchavez-d581gp5.jpg (http://danielmchavez.deviantart.com/art/Dark-Knight-315836105)
"They say we are what we are, but we don't have to be. We could be Immortals, just not for long. I am the second half of the hourglass."
- http://listenonrepeat.com/watch/?v=bOiVZNSrY-U#One_Piece_AMV___Immortals__15th_Anniversary
Some heroes are too good to die, like Obad-Hai taking the bullet for us every year. As the world is reborn again and again, ever progressing closer and closer towards unattainable Perfection, sometimes a person of great import is born. Their contributions cannot be permitted to be fleeting, and so their memory must be preserved.
The order of the Immortals takes this a step further, not merely preserving heroes in memory, but also preserving their roles in life. This monastic order, formed of monks of Wee Jas and Obad-Hai, finds and trains promising young warriors as the living reincarnations of legendary heroes. Donning ritual masks of great heroes of history, trained by re-enacting ancient ancestor quests, and equipped with sacred ancestral relics, the Immortals are a team of heroes that can never truly die. If a warrior should fall in battle, a new pupil called into the service of the order will don the mask, and the legend of that hero will continue. This leads to epic poems of heroes whose attributed deeds span centuries, through in truth the hero died and was replaced by a member of the Immortals expected to follow their example and charged with fulfilling their role.
If a great enough hero emerges and falls, sometimes the order will craft a new mask, inducting a new hero into the roster of the Immortals. The order is greatly respected in the societies where they are based, and those familiar with the heroic ancestors make certain allowances for those bearing the ritual mask of a hero. After all, certain behavior is expected from, and therefore acceptable for, any given iconic personality... and this sometimes allows the Immortals to fulfill certain useful cultural roles which would otherwise face all kinds of red tape or other social complications. In short, the order decides that a unique person's role to society becomes so important that it must be immortalized... and implements the resources to make it happen.
Essentially, a Justice League that knows not the limits of generations. If you want to truly honor your ancestors, the Immortals say, then be the second half of the hourglass.
Organization: The Scarlet Moth Academy
http://pre09.deviantart.net/b4b3/th/pre/i/2013/228/5/e/masked_lady_by_nosaj7541-d6ifjgm.jpg (http://jasontn.deviantart.com/art/Masked-Lady-393755206)
The Scarlet Moth Academy began its life as a Jasite library at the heart of a great trade city. Much like with the Library of Alexandria, all ships passing through the city were required by the city's rulers to surrender their books for copying by Jasite monks. The owners would receive the copy while the library kept the originals. As the collection grew, the city drew the attention of scholars from nations far and wide. The Jasite temple prospered, and sprawling campuses sprung up around the archive.
Today, the Academy is a world-renowned hub of learning and culture, where academics can come to find and share ideas from the far corners of the known world. In addition to its diverse collegiate faculties for scholars of every inclination (be they Clerics, Wizards, Archivists, Adepts, or Experts), the Academy maintains a reputation as the foremost institution for the housing and training of young Sorcerers. The Academy Knights who guard the library's treasured collection (amongst other diverse services to the temple and city) are primarily drawn from these gifted youths.
The Academy's collection is always growing, and it regularly sponsors adventuring expeditions to recover knowledge of lost cultures and faraway lands.
The academy encourages excellence in all things, including dress. The Academy's school uniforms are rather unique in that they're hardly uniform. The Jasites encourage and insist upon their own tailoring, often emphasizing their own particular cultural flair... be it a representation of the academy's diverse ethnic backgrounds or entirely new styles, often inspired by a mix of the ways of cultures past and present. They often experiment with new fashions, and the school is known for setting trends. The only thing that is consistent amongst the Scarlet Moth attire is that they are all expected to conform to an overall scheme of resembling the coloration of the very moths that lend the Academy its name.
https://s8.postimg.cc/gbwmnsszp/21966884.imp2177dsds_zpsffr62r8p.jpg (http://m4.i.pbase.com/u19/buckeyeland/upload/21966884.imp2177dsds.jpg)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/42/Cinnabar_moth_%28Tyria_jacobaeae%29.jpg/640px-Cinnabar_moth_%28Tyria_jacobaeae%29.jpg
http://img11.deviantart.net/463d/i/2015/214/6/9/mage_concept_by_jasontn-d93xgo5.jpg
An exquisitely attired Academy Knight.
Code of Conduct: Paladins of Wee Jas
http://orig01.deviantart.net/a14e/f/2012/344/0/9/take_breath_by_tahra-d5nm01v.jpg (http://blogof.francescomugnai.com/2013/05/the-incredibly-beautiful-digital-paintings-by-kyoung-hwan-kim/)
This code of conduct applies to those who would call themselves paladins of the faith, not just any follower of Wee Jas.
- Do not be apathetic. You should have an opinion about everything, even if your opinion is "I don't have enough information to form much of an opinion yet." Be a meddler (where appropriate) and look for things you can optimize.
- Do not be negligent, slothful, or wasteful. Always strive for efficiency in your duties. Reuse or repurpose things rather than simply discarding them.
- Make sure to take care of your appearance. Maintaining your appearance is just another manifestation of proper mindfulness.
- Treasure and preserve knowledge. The lessons of the dead must not be lost or forgotten. Do not permit the loss or destruction of knowledge (such as burning books or censuring intellectuals). Take an interest in the lessons to be learned from other cultures, including extinct ones.
- Respect life and the sanctity of the Chain, the cycle of reincarnation. Seek to refine your soul, and to facilitate the refinement of others.
- Where you find the spark of good and beauty in the world, kindle it, encourage it, enable it, and enhance it. When you find something that doesn't work, phase it out.