Hello Jadebearers,

As we hit the halfway point in our four-week campaign, I've got a sneak peek at material coming to us next Tuesday: the Ascetics of the Petal Order.

But first, an interview with one of the writers on this book - Emma Summers. BM Corbin talked with Emma about Jadestorm in his latest Game Designer Interview

And now, back again... the rough version of the map of Eos. Remember, this is just a sketch to show the general political set-up and shouldn't be used for navigation.

Jadebearers in the World

The philosophies of Eos shape the world more profoundly than any crown. The major philosophies of Eos stand in the wake of ruin and revolution, ready to rebuild and direct Eos’ future. Entire cities have already vanished beneath the ambitions of these people who officially possess no authority, but many of them are Jadebearers, and that’s what makes the difference. The Wilds of Eos, in particular, are the battleground and holdfasts of these philosophies, and while all have presences (to varying degrees) in the nine realms, it’s in the Wilds where the Jadebearers and their competing schools of thought compete without laws to compel them.

The Petal Order monks are often described as the most reasonable people in the Wilds, but this isn’t intended as a compliment. Reasonable people in the Wilds make everyone nervous, so when someone at the market describes you as “eminently reasonable,” they’re actually describing you as “guarded and hiding something terrible.”

The Ascetics of the Petal Order began with a simple observation: the Infernal War happened because the Sovereigns sought more authority than they could handle. Every catastrophe that followed emerged from a refusal to accept limits and an unwillingness to bend. Strategic flexibility was one of their failings, so the Petal Order resolved they would always remain open to new ideas, new methods of handling problems, and an inner peace with the idea that they can always be wrong, so long as they learn from their mistakes.

The Jadebearers among the Ascetics know they inherited the same temptations as the Malefic, but they accept that the world was almost destroyed because of those temptations. As the Malefic were (and possibly still, actively, are) the cause of Eos’ woes, the Order has resolved that the obvious next step is to ensure the Malefic remain dead. Sure, if one of their echoes reveals themselves to have discovered honor, compassion, and a sense of justice, they can be flexible, but so far, no evidence of such has been forthcoming.

Therefore, to prevent the Jadebearers becoming akin to the Malefic, the Malefic must be utterly destroyed, echoes and all. The Ascetics’ mission started with the 57 lost Malefic of the Wilds, several of whom have been obliterated thanks to the Petal monks’ zeal and ability. Sooner or later, this mission will move to the Malefic echoes haunting the nine realms.

Petal monasteries are scattered throughout Eos, often hidden in the Wilds’ mountain valleys or perched atop lonely cliffs where meditation and commanding views are abundant. Travelers expecting ascetic misery are often disappointed. Petal monks laugh, drink tea, tell stories, and compose poetry. They simply do these things with a degree of moderation that many Jadebearers find vaguely unsettling.

A famous Collector once described visiting a monastery as “being judged by the walls, floor, and ceiling.” The monks considered this assessment (insulting though its intent) accurate. The world judges the Jadebearers; not just the Petal Order.

Rulers frequently employ Petal mediators during disputes involving Jadebearers, resulting in their presence throughout the nine realms. The Ascetics’s archives contain detailed records of infernal manifestations, meaning many make the pilgrimage to a Petal monastery to discover more about the past. Entire communities trust them to identify dangerous relics before someone accidentally awakens another catastrophe. The only payment the Ascetics of the Petal Order request is a simple, but costly one: for service to a community or settlement, they want that place’s orphans. Some have come to derisively regard the Order as child snatchers, though their aim is to educate young disciples in the way of the Petal in favor of seeing orphans struggling on the streets and ending their lives in the depths of iniquity.

W
hen the Petal Order concludes something threatens the world, they move with frightening decisiveness. More than one aspiring god has discovered that a smiling monk carrying a broom can become a remarkably efficient assassin when circumstances require. Though their power is concentrated in monasteries dotted around the Wilds, it’s rare to go more than a few days without seeing a monk on pilgrimage clad in bright robes or smelling fresh flowers and realizing their silent approach. The monks constantly wander, and so the Petals are never far away. 

Temple Diabolik sees the Petal Order as the gravest of threats. The Temple wants to resurrect the Malefic and the Petals want the opposite, so it’s a natural conflict. For the Petal Order’s part, the monks have no time for a philosophy they view as sycophantic and desperate at best, and as murderous and destructive at worst. Still, they prefer to debilitate instead of kill, where possible. The Petal Order has buried more monsters than most armies, but those monsters should rest assured that the Petal who dealt the killing blow at least considered all the alternatives first.

The most fabled of Petal Order monasteries exists in the Kir Sento mountain range. It’s almost entirely inaccessible to anyone not led there, whether by a guide or through visions, but it’s where several of Eos’ most famed Jadebearers of this philosophy came to study, and where their masters occupy the icy shelves and snowy climes still. The students at this perilously high temple are taught how to create fire in conditions that despise heat, how to survive in a climate that wants you dead, and how to find peace within struggle. They’re also constantly at work excavating the mountain peak, with the Petal Order maintains holds a treasure trove of unparalleled wisdom. Cynical students wonder if the digging is the point of the exercise, but sage masters just smile and say “Maybe. Keep digging and find out.”