"This Society of Ordered Minds..."

[Ryan]

"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster."

Wanna delve into the secrets surrounding the alien invasion of Faerun? Need a bit of intrigue in your character's life? Want to join a cult, but not leave Upper Sanctuary to wallow in the squalor of Lower? Just don't like aberrants? The Society of the Ordered Mind is for you.

The Society stands at the forefront of the Crusade - we're not as "preserve the natural order of things" as the Stewards, but we definitely have shades of that - hunting and killing aberrants, punching beholders in the face, and dealing with the potential consequences of exposing ourselves to the Dread Empire back at home is the name of the game here.

We're not big on ranks, but we have a robust support group and are friendly to basically any class type beyond nature-centric. The progression you can expect here is being able to influence what shape our all-important Crusade takes on. You can also expect a lot of disagreement on how that should be, pretty much ensuring a hotbed of inner-factional intrigue and backbiting.

Plus, we get pretty sweet stuff to help us in our job of murdering the crap out of aberrants, so anyone can expect to have a good time.

The thing to bear in mind is that while it's all well and good to pursue faction membership in-game, applications are really important too. You need an approved app to join the Society, and this is fairly simple to get done so long as you have a few interesting ideas for making the Society a better place.

We're always looking for new PCs, so drop an application if you're interested, people!

Some character concepts that would (at least I think!) fit especially well;

The Machievelli - an "ends justify means" approach to the Crusade. Zealotry taken to its natural conclusion, this crusader is willing to destroy Sanctuary itself to ensure the destruction of the Dread Empire.

The Lovecraft - a researcher who delves constantly into the weird and unfathomable depths of aberration, risking his sanity in the name of understanding.

The Death Seeker - the apocalypse has come and gone, and yet this character is still alive. She seeks the death she expects fighting aberrants would bring, but she just will not die.

The White Knight - enamored with pageantry and the promise of a noble cause in a lightless world, this idealist is going to discover that the Society - and Sanctuary itself - is not quite as black and white as they thought.

And generally we accept any characters with drive and cool ideas on how to defeat aberration.

Faction details in this post.

[Ryan]

Kind of in a rush, but I'll add what kind of characters would fit in later!

[MaimedGod]

The Society is an absolutely awesome faction with a ton of interesting connections in both Upper and the Underdark beyond, with a lot of potential for conflict. Being connected to it even loosely, as an Oathsworn, has driven my character along in her goals a great deal and it has been a blast so far. Hop on the Crusade train.

[Ryan]

Added some character concepts - feel free to add your own.

[Sankis]

This is a really cool faction that's pretty open, allowing for PCs to try and shape it and change it. There's room for all sorts of intrigue if that's your thing, as well as just plain old murdering of Aberrants.

It's a cool faction. You should join it.

[Ryan]

We're burgeoning with members, so I'll take this moment to highly recommend people look into other groups for now! Don't want the server to be 50% Ordinants!

[Dangotgam]

I've been playing an Ordinant for little over a month now, and I cannot even begin to explain the amount of fun I have had.  There is an endless number of opportunities currently available to pursue, so much though that we are finding that there is simply not enough time to explore them all.  Without getting into spoiler territory, the Society has seen a lot of activity, both from DM and player initiatives, with much, much more to come.  We are always looking for new players looking to get involved.  If interested, find any of us IG, or in #Society!

[Zango_Unchained]

[SIZE="3"][FONT="Book Antiqua"]Oh yes, I'm looking at you.

Have you ever wanted to be awesome?

You're already awesome you say?

Have you ever wanted to be so awesome you could say...

Kill a mindflayer?

You see you can do that in the society, you can be awesome.[/FONT][/SIZE]

[FONT="Book Antiqua"][SIZE="3"]If you join the society, next time you see this in your chat log, your name will be in front of it.

You may have heard of some of the naysayers out there..

Let me tell you this, does their uniform make you look like this cool customer here?

No?

Haters gonna hate, S'way of things.

Join up while the crusading fresh.

May just save yourself from ending up like this guy.
[/SIZE][/FONT]

[Kinslayer988]

Well said Zango, well said

[TheShadow]

having now play(ed) 3 oathsworn and 1 ordinant, I fully endorse this faction. Really fun, even if your just following an ordinant down to the lowerdark!

[MaximumOverDrive]

Never played an ordinant, but i've been trying to get involved with my pc who is a oathsworn and heard all about their adventures, and truly it's the stuff of epics, and no doubt comes packed with -immense- fun. You know how we see something like a big beholder and scamper away... We see a mindflayer and book it.. We see all these horrifying aberrant's where we sometimes struggle on what to do... these dudes whip out some major carnage... And live to tell the tale on those mean beasties haha

[Rookie]

A small twist in the typical Society path is being introduced.

For as long as I remember, the Society of the Ordered Minds has been primarily an Upper Sanctuary based faction.  While there is good reason for it, there is no shortage of fantastic Society based concepts that can work in Lower Sanctuary.

The theory behind the concept:  The Crusade transcends the politics, and feud, between Upper and Lower Sanctuary.  The neglect of Lower Sanctuary has made it ripe for Dread influence, presenting a clear danger to what remains of humanity.

Some things to think about...

• Lower Sanctuary is far more susceptible to attacks by Aberrations than Upper Sanctuary, as shown in recent IC events.


• Many Aberrant Cults have historically inhabited Lower Sanctuary.


• In Lower Sanctuary you are further removed from the Spellguard/Watchers, and can take a more aggressive stance towards them, should they interfere with the Crusade, than an Upper Sanctuary Citizen could.


• A bunch of rebels, scummy mercenaries, criminals, and other badasses trying to find redemption/vengeance in the Crusade is just awesome, and a different take than the holy/noble warrior who typically joins the Society from Upper Sanctuary because it is their 'divine duty.'
  

The road to being an Ordinant is no different.  I imagine this take on the Society being mostly made up of Oathsworn, with those who want to pursue being a full Ordinant having the opportunity.

Overtly evil concepts will likely have issues, as will ridiculously chaotic individuals.

It's a very loose, and new, concept right now that can go in a lot of directions.  Shoot me a PM, or find me in #EFU (dan) if interested.

[Blue41]

Martially-inclined classes are not the only types that would fit in well with the Society! The nature of their occupation involves travelling into some of the more dangerous locales in the Underdark, into contact with sights and sources that might not otherwise see the light of day (or dark.) It's at those times when what's most needed is a strong arm and a sharp sword, but a keen intellect.

Just going to make a suggestion about a few other potential concepts that could fit in with the Society-

--A mage who seeks to discover an alternative method of detecting and revealing thralls. Take volunteers or hire willing participants to test the reaction of their bodies under stress and other forms of stimuli, retrieve implanted specimens and attempt to remove them, earn distinction in working out from under the eyes of the Spellguard.

--A historian who wishes to chronicle the rise and fall of other civilizations to the Dread threat, in order to ensure that Sanctuary does not fall prey to the same mistakes.  

--A scavenger whose place in the Crusade gives him the legal authority and right to pick these fallen civilizations clean of any items useful to the Society- and perhaps selling the less harmful items on the side.

--A skald who accompanies the Ordinants to witness the battle between humanity and its conquerors firsthand for inspiration.

[TheShadow]

Hey, You! Looking to join up with a Faction, be part of some cool goings on, Fight the Dread Empire, or do any of the things listed above? Well, we're alive and kicking, And we're always looking for new members. Want to try for the Mysterious "Ritualist" Prc? Never a better time than now! Want to simply kick a few aberrant around? Well, We're always looking for Oathsworn. For the Crusade!

[TheShadow]

Ba-bump.