Tishra Qal
From World of Kralis
Tishra Qal is an ancient monastic organization unified by its belief and observance of the Tome of Life. Its members, known as Qalun, are guardians of peace, justice and knowledge in the world of Kralis, primarily in the Southern Realms. Tishra Qal is a very large organization that once had many established sects through out Kralis. They rely on their powers of Jinhu and their faith in the Lord of Wisdom. The organization is secretly led by a number of Tishra Qal Niras (Council of Wisdom), the order was once great in numbers but has faced many trials from the dark forces of Azahak and the influences of Chaos.
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Founding of the Order
It is generally believed and accepted that the order was formally founded in 632 SR: Year of the Red Moon at the same time as the intial incarnation of the Senate of Dardura Sheva. The order was established secretly by several jinhur monks in the service of The Hall of Knowledge the church of Odiryn as a response to the growing darkness of the church of Azahak, The Courts of Decay, in the region of Dardura Sheva. The exact specifics of the founding are lost to memory as any written record was lost in the first attacks against the order by followers of Azahak in 875 SR, Year of the Dark Worm. According to the most commonly excepted history of the order is that it came to power in the city of Dardura Sheva.
Legend holds that the order was created from the remnant pieces of the first Church of Odiryn in the fledgling city of Dardura Sheva during a period of time when great evil and chaos was spreading throughout the region. This first early church was nearly crushed in a near fatal defeat in 530 SR: Year of the Dark Worm, when a splinter group from the Courts of Decay, known as the Yashur-Da, along with the great dragon Yuzaroik beseiged the Odiryn Temple in Dardura Sheva wiping out the temple and killing many innocent Dardura Shevians and many members of the church.
This led to the Kusuria War that lasted for nearly a century in the region around Dardura Sheva. The war came to a fevered ending in 632, when in a heightened and climatic battle in the Caves of Kishmar in the mountains to the southeast of Dardura Sheva when Yuzaroik was defeated by priest Xander Kasiden as he unleashed a powerful divine spell that ripped the soul from the great earth dragon which brought the whole of the mountain side down upon himself, the dragon and many disciples of both the Church and Yashur-Da.
From the ashes of this battle rose the foundation of the order. It was after this that a number of the churches best priests and warriors came together under the direction and tutelage of Ter Ashlan, a Grand Priest of Odiryn. It has been speculated that Ter was Odiryn in mortal form who came to teach the founding members of the Order the Ways of the Jinhuur.
From this the Order grew for several hundred years where it established a number of Order outposts through out the region. This established the order as a unified force against evil in the region and was looked to often by the new City-State of Dardura Sheva as peacekeepers and guardians through out the region.
The Darkness Wars
During its first two hundred years of growth the Order fortified itself not only in the Dardura Sheva City-State region but also in the newly founded Duchy of Mashrapur, Ahamkara and the Haaran Empire. It was a time of prosperity and peace for the order as it grew. Yet, there were whispers within its numbers of dark secrets and dark alliances that were being formed between memembers and dark chaos in order to ampify their jinhuur powers. Many of the monks devled deep into dark practices as they learned that with enough force of energy they could mold and bend life and the elements to their desire, even more so than spellcasters or priests. The monks believed that with sufficient intensity they could rival the gods themselves. Slowly over several centuries dissidents began to arise within the order as it became more apperant that many of the monks had devled into dark jinhuur powers and they became bolder in their use of these powers.
The dark monks, or Junda (Tainted Ones) as they became to be called, began to see that it was up to them to convince their brethren that the true path to power lie in the use of chaos energy to amplify their jinhuur which would lead them to be able to better protect, guard and keep the region in peace by placing the citizens of the regions under their control and mandates. Those that believed that this was not the proper way distanced themselves from the Junda. Firmly believing that the peoples within the regions that they wathced over desired and needed the monks to protect them from all forms of danger and including themselves, the division between those of the Old Order as it was being called and the New Order eventually turned into conflict amongst the monks themselves. Thus began the Ulatar Wars as the two orders fought each other for control of the order and their set of believes.
The Junda gathered their forces in the Duchy of Masrapur,an alliance that forever sealed the Duchy's fate. There they established the Grand Hall of Chaos where they established the Order of Kishra Tal (Dark Chaos). In the first half of the war the Junda raised their first armies of fell chaos zombies from dark jinhuur powers. These armies stromed across Kralis in wave after wave nearly crushing the Tishra Qal order. Many battles lead to the death duels between Junda and Qalun.
It was during this time that many Qalun believe that Odiryn had returned to them as Tar Ashlan and fortified the Order which allowed them to push back the rogue monks. By the end of the first half of the war the Kishra Tal were in a desperate state. They had become outnumbered and were losing this dark war. Unphased by this the Junda turned to darker powers, the Yashur-Da priests who pooled their powers and created some of the fierciest creatures of darkness and chaos the world had not seen since the beginning of time. Yet, the Qalun bolstered by the return of Tar Ashlan eventually pushed back the Kishra Tal. The last battle and stand of the Junda occured in 859 SR: Year of the Boiling Rat,deep within the Duchy of Mashrapur. The Kishra Tal, appearantly destroyed, went into secret exile leaving behind ancient ruins and fell chaos in the Duchy and fleeing across the Sea of Ithangar to dark lands of Azar and towards the Eastern Realms.
The Final Destruction of the Order
The Order once ridden of the of the Tainted Ones began to flourish through out the Southern Realms, establishing Orders through out the realms over the next several hundred years. As with all things, what was once, will be again, and as such there came the rise of the Nyreth Lords from ancient Ahamkara. In the year of 1035 SR: Year of Green Skies, those Junda that fled to the east had found solace in the dark lands of Ahamkara where they delved into darker secrets of chaos. Powered by great evil and pacts with the demons of the Neter-Kheret planes, these Junda began attacking Tishra Qal outpost orders, utterly destroying them and all those that had dealings with the Qalun. These Tainted Ones were led by the Dark Lord Teryan Edon who used powerful magic and jinhur to further the encroaching armies of the Kishra Tal.
For the next five hundred years wars and battles raged across the the Mintara Mountains and through out the southern halves of the empires of the Southern Realms. The wars and and battles depleted the forces of both the Kishra Tal of Ahamkara and the Tishra Qal, nearly extinguishing the light of the Tishra Qal. Smaller cults and dis-associated groups of the Ahamkara Kishra Tal disappeared in the volumes of time, very few of these groups have existed to this day, while a number of them were pulled into the Church of Azahak.
Victorious, but reeling from the massive loss of Qalun, the Tishra Qal would never be the same again. Rather than gather again into large groups of orders and bring war and destruction to the lands that they have sworn to uphold, they exiled themselves from the common view of the world and formed various cells each working to stave off the various forms of evil and chaos in their adopted regions. They have continued to work as a force through out Kralis and the Celestial Omniverse.
Political Organization
It was evidant to the founders of the original Tishra Qal that the Order had the great potential to influnce the politcal motivations and decisions of many cities through out the world as well as many countries, kingdoms and nations. The Tishra Qal formed a central politcal organization called the Tishra Qal Niras, or the Council of Wisdom. The Council was a gathering of great minds, deeply spiritual jinhuur masters (called Shudu Rezzak) and others that acted as a ruling body for the Order. Many of the members of the council also served in some capacity, predomintaly advisors, to many cities and towns through out Kralis, predominately in the Southern Realms and the skirting countries of the borders with the north. The council is made up of six live time members, and three members that changed on a yearly basis. Six of the members were Shudu Rezzaks, while three were Qalun Grand Masters
Prior to the the final destruction of the order in 1539 SR: Year of the Red Seas, the grand Temple of the Tishra Qal in Dardura Sheva was home to many other councils ranging from the Council of Knowledge, Council of War, and the Council of Peace. Among their many tasks, a number of larger cities and towns through out the Southern Realms, the southern parts of the Western and Northern Realms brought on Qalun as Protectorates, responsible for the organization and defense, including local law enforcement, of the cities and many of the surrounding counties or smaller baronies of these cities.
Code of the Tishra Qal
The code of the Tishra Qal, or the Tishran,is derived from the Laws of Odiryn and the philosophy of the jinhuur teachings. This code describes the way of life that Qalun adhere to and effects all aspects of their lives.
- One of the keystones of the Tishran is the core mantra:
- Bring Knowledge from Ignorance
- Deliver Justice to the Unjust
- Have Passion of Wisdom
- Create Wisdom from Foolishness
- Guard Life against Evil
- Protect Peace from Chaos
There are a number of other tenets that many of the order adhere to.
- * Qalun do not act for their own personal agendas
- * Qalun must put the needs of the many above the needs of the few
- * Qalun are not to be arrogant
- * Qalun are not to be stubborn
- * Qalun are not to be reckless
- * Qalun are not to be filled with anger
- * Qalun are not to be filled with hatred
- * Qalun must practice serenity
- * Qalun are to honor and keep oaths
- * Qalun must uphold peace
- * Qalun must insure justice
- * Qalun are to honor knowledge
- * Qalun are to provide support
- * Qalun must render aid
- * Qalun are to serve their duties
- * Qalun must defend the weak, the trod upon and the lost from evil and chaos
- * Qalun must respect all forms of life
- * Qalun do not take revenge for revenge sake
- * Qalun are to be self-disciplined
Tishra Qal Heirarchy
As Qalun evolved in their powers, and grew in the ways of the order they progresssed through different ranks.
Shudu Rezzak - The highest rank of the Tishra Qal. There are only ever six members that can attain this title as this title is for life.
Grand Masters - The second highest rank of the Tishra Qal. There are many of these individuals that have setup individual Tishra Qal Sects through out the Southern Realms.
Knight Guardian - These are the commanders of the Tishra Qal when there is battles to be fought, they are also the guardians of the holy sites of the Tishra Qal. Many of these knights travel with a Tishnal through the world.
Tishnal - These are the warrior ranks of the Tishra Qal. They are first into battle when there is a need.
Shudu - These are the file and rank individuals of the Tishra Qal. Shudu become Tishnal after passing the Tira Qal.
Apprentice - Individuals that have shown an interest and sensitivity to the Jinhur Pathways.
