Council of Wardens

Beliefs

Wraiths (spirits like Bashir, the Shadow) exist within and outside of the Dream City, with a great number of them contained in The Palisades under the former Temple of Bashir. Wraiths are extra-planar creatures that gain power in the Dreamscape through the recognition and servitude of dreamers. Wraiths can exist intangibly and can also take avatar form. They are more powerful while in avatar form, but are also vulnerable to imprisonment and Dreamstrike. It can be beneficial for Wraiths and dreamers to coexist and use one another for mutual gain. It is wrong to worship Wraiths, lest they become too powerful, at cost to dreamers. The Wraiths imprisoned in the Palisades are presumably dangerout and must remain bound to the prison. Dynroth is demonstrably dangerous and must be kept imprisoned as well.

The Council of Wardens view the minor beasts as an extension of a long-escaped wraith. They feel that centuries ago, a wraith of great power broke free of the Palisades and the variant itself, fleeing to a foreign City where he or she established a religious order. Similar to the empowerment of Bashir with the Cult, this escaped wraith grew expotentially stronger and amassed a great following. Once the wraith felt comfortable in its own power, it decided to return to our variant to seek vengeance. At this time, he or she called on loyal followers to commit eternity to their self-styled god, transforming themselves into the Hotai, similar to the Echten Knights of the Coven. Despite some limited success on exacting vengeance upon returning to this variant, the master wraith felt his or her wrath was not being sufficiently executed. As such, the master wraith split its soul into a seemingly limitless number of fragments that took form as the lesser beasts (Emphants, Bogroms, Shamblix, etc) to more directly affront the City that had once imprisoned him or her.

With this view of the lesser beasts in mind, the Wardens feel it compulsary to take the essences and re-imprison the soul fragments into the Palisades. The goal is to, literally bit-by-bit, re-encarcerate the master wraith. The Wardens do not accept the other factions utilizing the essences: they feel an accumulation of wraith soul within the other factions' Primes will lead only to malice and destruction. They are willing to compromise should another faction wish only the essences' strength but will defer the soul fragment to the Wardens for proper handling.

Charter

1. Wardens will obey the commands of their superiors.
2. Commands will comply with the doctrine of the Charter.
3. There shall be no more than two rulers.
4. There shall be no fewer than two and no more than four guardians.
5. Candidates for initiation must be sponsored by an active Warden. The candidate shall complete a task set forth by the sponsor. Upon completion, the sponsor shall present the candidate for approval by the Council.
6. Guardians are appointed by and serve at the pleasure of the Ruler.
7. Rulers are the supreme authority in all matters relevant to the integrity of the Palisade and in extreme circumstances, may suspend part, or all of the Charter in order to preserve the long-term integrity of the organization.
8. Rulers are appointed by succession.

• 8a. If a ruler is absent for a period greater than three weeks, a new ruler shall be appointed by the Head Warden and confirmed with a majority vote.
• 8b. Rulers may be voted out of their position, in extreme circumstances. A member will publicly approach the Head Warden to initiate a vote of No-confidence in the ruler. The Head Warden will supervise the vote. In two-thirds total active members have no confidence, the Guide shall demote the ruler to initiate rank. A majority vote, conducted directly after the demotion, and supervised by the Head Warden, shall occur to instate a new ruler. If no clear majority exists, the Head Warden shall appoint a new ruler.
  

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10. Wardens will never intentionally bring harm to one another. Except in cases of ceremony, where deemed necessary.
11. Wardens will maintain their arms, their equipment, and selves at all times.
12. Wardens will actively harvest prime energy to power the house.
13. (Addendum) Wardens shall actively collect the essences of the minor beasts to imprison the soul fragments within them.
14. (Addendum) Wardens shall not tolerate other factions or individuals jeopardizing the soul fragments of the essences.

On Wraiths:
1. Wardens shall enter into parole agreements with imprisoned wraiths only in cases that pose clear benefit to the Wardens, and never to the extent that the wraith is given boundless freedom within the city of Underlight.
2.The agreement shall always stipulate a time limit.
3.Wardens shall never kneel to nor offer supplication to a wraith.

Key Individuals

Current Guide: Malloren
Former Guide: Sidari Kai
Current Ruler: Ash
Former Rulers: Ra'as, Jade
Current Guardians: Anyasha, Jade
Initiates: Cuero, Dar'canon, Gromnir, Naphtali, Trisha Pawm

References

• Codii as inscribed by Jade, available in the Archives of the Planes.
• Warden Standard in the Archives of the Planes.