Monasticism around the Dragonfly Sea

[Jubal]

What we might think of as "Monasticism" takes numerous forms in Kavis, as in our own world. In Kavis, not all monks by any means are strictly speaking religious in the sense of having affiliations with the gods or being priests, but they are almost always spiritual in some sense, and may variously act as tutors, guides, scholars, or simple ascetics withdrawing from the world. The orders and varieties are myriad, and many are local, acting as landowners and pillars of particular communities. The disconnect between strict religion and monastic practice is especially the case for the traditional monastic orders around the Dragonfly Sea, for the Heirophancy in particular traditionally had a dim view of competing religious institutions but will tolerate the practices of the Banasari or Gulmatines.

Below are some of the larger, more notable, or more mobile orders:

The Banasari
The striking sky-blue robes of the Banasari monks, that seem to shimmer like dragon scales, are rarely seen in the great cities around the Dragonfly Sea, but when they are it is often a cause of rumour and excitement. The Banasari are renowned aescetics, using practices of starvation and occasionally more drastic practices in a personal pursuit of a clearer vision of the universe. Whilst it is not a requirement, the Banasari also often appeal particularly to users of magic, who can retreat to a Banasari monastery or refuge to contemplate their connections with the world without the demands of society's rulers breathing down their necks. This connection with magic has given them a folk resonance where they are rumoured to be fortune tellers, or bringers of good or ill luck.

There are Banasari monasteries in the Falm archipelago, also known as the Wingbeaten Isles, the most remote area of the Dragonfly Sea due to the harsh storms and adverse currents.

The Laughing Monks
The Gulmatines, or Laughing Monks, are a simple brown-robed sect who have vows of poverty - they cannot accept money, nor own it, and must give away any they come by. However, this does not in any sense apply to accepting hospitality, and the Gulmatines' monastic practice also includes focus on the sensory aspects of the world. The Gulmatines have developed, thus, to be renowned as travelling cooks. 'Eating like a Gulmatine' is a byword-phrase for eating unusual and rareified flavours.

The Whisperers
The Order of Whisperers are wanderers, marked out by their blue and grey striped belts over humble peasant robes. In Tullactara and Palictara especially, they have a reputation among the elite as couriers and message carriers, seen as both more reliable than simply paying a merchant who might forget and as more discreet than sending one's own people.

The Meriphenes
Meriphene nuns - the order is all women - form convents across Dulshan and Camahay, which in some cases have become sizeable landowners or players in the politics of some Camahayan town-states. Meriphenic practice is largely focused on apotropaic rituals, though the sense of security this gives has led to the convents becoming popular places to give birth and to do important deals: the yard of a Meriphenic convent might often be the market site for a few surrounding villages in the hills of Dulshan.

The Blades of Time
The Blade of Time is another name for Tarudan, the Keening Maiden, a figure who in one of the Heirophancy's major heresies may one day slay the forces of both order and chaos to bring balance back the the world. The Blades of Time are a clandestine order of monks and hermits who are not so much her priests as her footsoldiers, bringing new members into her fold and instigating repercussions against those who try to root out her cult.