Let’s learn all about the Order of the Fist in DireLands. Join Adam as he explores his DireLands fantasy campaign setting. You can learn more about DireLands here: https://reverendcampbell.com/direlands/
Transcript
Cold Open
The ancient Order of the Fist is believed to be the first to stand against the aberrations that descended the magical moon bridge in Locaston (low-cast-on).
Intro
Welcome to this continuation of my DireLands system agnostic, dark fantasy campaign setting! My name is Adam and in this episode I will be discussing the Order of the Fist in DireLands. If you appreciate the development of this campaign setting, or the features of other games on this channel, I would like to invite you to consider becoming a patron on Patreon. You can even purchase tabletop roleplaying games or get $10 by signing up to StartPlaying.Games using my affiliate links in the description below.
Details
As far back as the Fru’zier Clan of Orcs in Locaston can recall, they worshipped Connspann, the God of War. His iron fist was a symbol of determination and discipline to the Fru’zier and they crafted a lifestyle of martial prowess around him. When the twenty-five year cycle of the moon Dòiche (do-chye) would manifest its magical land bridge the Fru’zier Clan was waiting to fight back against these cosmic aberrations. The tribe didn’t do it to defend the other people of Faulest (faw-lest), they fought as a way of expressing their worship to their god. This was a rite all members of the tribe would go through, male and female alike. That is, until the poisoning of Gru’Jaw.
Gru’Jaw was the chieftain of the Fru’zier. In the age before the Beàrrta (bee-och-te) arrived, Gru’Jaw stood as a beacon to the neighboring tribes of the Seisei Lakes. They would hold tribal moots annually to test their strength off one another. In this pre-establishment epoch, the Wildlands were much more prevalent. They reached up past the Frew lake in northern Faulest. There was a rival chieftain, Jaq’lox of the Kl’awk clan who wanted the glory of standing against the cosmic invaders and sought to destroy the Fru’zier clan. He took from the Wildlands a leaf plant and bark of a tree which when combined, became a potent poison. He administered it to the draft the clan was consuming at their moot, and it manifested in an unexpected way.
The poison caused a madness to arrest the mind of all who consumed it, which was many from the Fru’zier clan, and others beside. The madness manifested in blood lust. Many members of the moot were murdered at the hands of their own and other clan members. This act of treachery changed not only the relationships between clans, but it completely changed the culture of the Fru’zier clan. Since that moot, the clan chieftains and all male orcs of the tribe were no longer trusted to command. It took a generation but the females took control and became the dominant face of the clans.
The following cycles of Dòiche were met not by the males of the clan, but instead by the females, as the power dynamic shifted. Out of this grew a myth about the heroine Saa’vis. Saa’vis traveled into the wildlands and it is believed, communed with Connspann. When she then faced the cosmic hoard, she alone slew their warband commander. Turning to her clan in victory she raised her bloody fist and the Order of the Fist was born. In the generations that followed, Saa’vis became a metaphor for all of the women who would enter the Order. To spend a life communing with their god, learning discipline through a monastic life, and being trained in the ancient ways of war, with foot and fist was an honor. Through the Establishment Epoch and into the Nations Epoch, they continued to face off against their ancient enemy, but everything changed when the Ice Age manifested in glaciers stretching across northern Locaston.
The orc clans migrated south, destabilizing other peoples of Locaston, causing war. The isolationist Order of the Fist was forced to migrate from their mountain temples in the northern Yezis Range to the southern Grux Range where they established their new monastery of Vulqua. The rise of the Witch-Queen saw some of the Order of the Fist leaving their monastic life. Without the cycle of battle, due to the glaciers covering the area of their ancient enemy, they sought new enemies. They joined with the Witch-Queen and stood against the free-peoples of Ciar-mhonadh. Their sister monks remained in isolation and peace, contemplating their history and the threats in this new epoch.
They were approached by Sir Dontar of Estow, an emissary of the Triumvirate with Feeg Ushior, the dwarven emissary of the Graanzier kingdom beneath the Grux mountains. Together they outlined the threat of the Witch-Queen and made a case for the Order of the Fist to join the free-people in their opposition. The Patron Mother Di’lou agreed to face this new threat, even going so far to claim the Witch-Queen was the ancient enemy reborn. This convinced the other members of the Order to stand against the Witch-Queen.
After the fall of the Witch-Queen, the survivors returned to their monastery of Vulqua. And as females began to be mistrusted throughout Faulest after the Witch-Queen, the Order became pariahs of feminine power, and were ostracised. The Order didn’t mind as their life was always one of isolation. And while members would at times leave the order, new members would invariably join periodically to maintain the population. Their lifestyle is one of constant caring for their gardens, practicing physical mastery, and worship. Their gardens are said to be breathtaking and even minor Wildlands unto themselves. This actually grants the Order direct communion with their god who warns the order about the armies that have been massing far to the north of Faulest since the Ice Age. The Order believes that one day soon they will have to return to their ancestral lands, now buried under miles of ice, and face their ancient enemy.
With this new threat imminent, the Order has sent emissaries to the Human realm of Bressus, and the Dwarven Kingdom of Graanzier to request aid. They wish to send a scouting party to verify the warning of their god. They will be traveling from their own Wildland gardens to the Yezis Range where there are caverns of the Wildlands under the glaciers. From there they will find a way to the surface.
Will the Order of the Fist be able to rally aid from those they stood with in the great war? Are the Wildlands in the north still there, and if they are, will the party be able to reach the surface? And finally, can they stand against an army that has had millenia to grow? Only your home campaign can answer these questions, as the future of these DireLands are in your hands.
Outro
Thank you for watching today’s DireLands Fantasy Campaign Setting episode. Please consider subscribing to this YouTube channel, liking and commenting on this video. And if you enjoyed this episode, consider becoming a patron on Patreon. Always remember that evil spelled backwards is live, so get out there and be evil!