Krydàren of Kōdēul
A small krydàren founded to the south of Jædð in the first century HK; the Esàra’shal (Way of the Reptile) observed, adopted, and modified the fighting techniques of the indigenous Sha’al. When the Dekàlyr first came to the Dreamlands, they were amazed and awed at the strength and grace of the serpent men. A handful of visionaries realized that the style could be adapted for Yrūn use, and turned against their “unsavory” hosts.
An ivy covered white-brick monastery rises from the jummun-choked bank of the Run Kodé. A curving stone wall encircles seven domed buildings, with curtain doors marked with the symbols of an ancient and inhuman people. Working in the fields and training in the courtyard are white clothed people, carrying out those duties set before them a thousand years before.
The Esàra’shàl Kdar (Monastery of the Way of the Sha’al) stands centrally along the Peráram Coast, a half-month’s walk south of the City of Jædð, but not far from the towns of Çyl’ar, Sejal, and Vîmir. The monks of the Esàra’shal Kdar are viewed with suspicion by the surrounding populace, with the exception of the fiefdom it oversees.
The fraternity of monks keeps mostly to themselves, venturing out into town marketplaces for necessary supplies and produce at each Monthturn. When the fief is threatened, it is the monastery who reacts, though with the exception of the occasional wild animal and wayward monster, the jungles nearby are relatively tame.
The Order
The monks of the Esàra’shal devote themselves to idealized principles adopted from Sha’al philosophies and culture. Each member of the order serves a purpose within the kdar, and continuously seek to perfect themselves through that labor or until the high leader grants them a different duty. Sometimes, particularly gifted students are sent abroad to recruit new members or to establish branches of the kdar in distant lands.
The Esàra’shàl Kdar is led by a high leader named Ajèr’ad. Ajer’ad assumed leadership of the kdar in 1878 HK (632 DR), following the death of his teacher and leader Thul’om. Ajer’ad has not been an inspired leader, having been content to maintain the kdar as it was given him for most of his tenure. Now (653 DR), with his age advancing and no legacy to show for his period as leader, he has embarked on a final campaign to expand the kdar into distant lands by sending his most prized students out to establish new kdar. These errant monks were given few resources but instructed to prove themselves worthy to local benefactors by way of their learning, advice, and fighting prowess, while continuing their practiced lifestyle.
Lifestyle
The Esàra’shàl Kdar lifestyle is a simple one that enjoys peaceful entertainment; good food, art, music, dance, reading and storytelling. Like the Sha’al, the monks do not partake of drugs (including alcohol). They are hardworking and tireless, seeing sloth as a moral failing.
Discipline
The fighting style of the Esàra’shàl Kdar is heavily inspired by the Sha’al, with most moves and techniques given Sha’al terminology or describing a Sha’al movement. Similar to the Sha’al unarmed fighting style, the Yrūn mimic the wide rounding motions used by the Sha’al. The fighting style has adopted leg sweeps as a way of mimicking the Sha’al tail sweep.
Members
- Ajèr’ad
- Durmyel
- Kodéul
- Thul’om
History
Following the establishment of Jædð as the sixth city-state of Dekàlas (197 HK), there were undercurrents of dissatisfaction with the imperial machine. The indigenous people of the Dreamlands that had not succumbed to Dekàli rhetoric knew the Sha’al were not the villains their new leaders portrayed them as. In fact, many were witness to the Dekàli orchestrated horrors of the First and Second Battles of Elnàdra. Within this quiet sub-culture of thought, there was respect for the Sha’al, who had never broken promises or pacts and had even extended “olive branches” to make peace with their new neighbors, until the First Sha’al War (113-194 HK).
Among these thinkers was Kōdēul, a Sharári slave imprisoned in Panæð before being brought to Jædð to win his freedom. According to the history of Esàra’shal, during the Battle of the Old City, Kōdēul killed a Sha’al, who while dying forgave him. Kōdēul hid among the stones of the Old City for the remainder of the battle, surviving one last combat with a Dekàli soldier sent to kill the restless “unbound”. Emerging after the Slave Massacre, Kōdēul was emancipated along with other survivors.
Following the war, Kōdēul gradually attracted a following of slaves, indigenous people, and soldiers that had seen too-much conlfict and wished to put the atrocities behind them. Kōdēul founded a small two-building krydàren on his parcel (warrior slave renumeration was two acres) one half-month’s walk from Jædð.
In 202 HK, he left his following and journeyed alone into the Vast Untamed where he told the Sha’al he met there of his experience. As he’d expected, the Sha’al that he met were sympathetic to him, and eventually he was brought to Josh’al. The elder welcomed him and taught him the ways of the Sha’al. Kōdēul stayed with Josh’al sixteen years, returning only twice to his followers to relay new ideas to contemplate and tasks to complete in his absence. In 218 HK, Josh’al died and Kōdēul was granted the honor of setting flame to the elder’s corpse. With his teacher dead, he returned to Jædð to begin in earnest the instruction of his flock.
Upon Kōdēul’s return in 218, he found the kdar had grown in his absence. His hard working followers had been granted 12 additional acres of surrounding forest land, some of which they’d cleared and sowed. A “sympathetic” local lord had fended off concerns by Pryr Sūdul that the kdar did not tithe, and had constructed a decree obviating the kdar from temple “duties” so long as they continued to be productive and pay their yearly taxes. Reliable income did not come easily for common lords in the early years of the city-state as few wished to settle in the wild forests.
By the time of Kōdēul’s death in 233 HK, the Esàra’shal Kdar had 30 members, 5 buildings, almost 20 acres of land (12 cultivated), 1 ox, 4 milk cows, and 17 pigs. The members had adopted the Sha’al principles of peace and co-existence with their neighbors and nature. This outlook was soon overturned when a new leader, Durmyel emerged following the death of Kodéul. Durmyel, an early student of Kōdēul, believed that Kōdēul was missing a vital key to understanding the Sha’al. Kōdēul, he explained had studied with the white and the red Sha’al, but not the striped. He explained that the harmony of the Sha’al as a culture, hinged on the prinicple that each subrace served a necessary function within the society. In order to fully realize that harmony, the way of the warrior Sha’al should be studied as well. Despite early resistance to this idea, Durmyel soon had recruited double the number of members, offering the common lord yearly yeomanship duties in exchange for protection from temple and other interests. The lord was dubious at first, unsure of the value of light unarmed infantry, but eventually consented.
Esàra’shàl Kdar was granted fiefdom status in 266 HK (during the Second Sha’al War), with the leader of the kdar acting as baron for the lands surrounding.