The main governing force of the Drow nation. An order of monks, chartered to keep the Drow race's more violent and destructive tendencies under firm control through use of their martial arts and stockpiled knowledge.
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Conflicts with the Lolth Clergy
The Order of Orgolloyss and the clergy of the spider-goddess Lolth had been in direct conflict to one another since they were made aware of the others existence. The Order was as old as the Lolth clergy and while the religious zealots spread throughout the Drow nation so gaining dominence, the Order took a step back to bide its time and slowly push the clergy out of Drow culture. For many generations they were the Drow's boogeymen; always waiting around every corner to destroy everything the Lolth worshipers held dear. About one hundred and twenty-four years ago the Order capitalized on the majority of the clergy's military strength being outside the Girn Mountain range, and instigated a coup d'etat. The roles of the Order and the clergy were reversed in under twenty-four hours.
The Rule through Fear
"Fear is a guiding force throughout life. You eat because you are afraid of starving. You take up arms because you fear your property being stolen. You murder because you fear you, yourself may be murdered."
— Zilvudar, Chief Monstrosity of Orgolloyss
Upon consolidating their power, the Order set up a new government with stricter laws concerning Drow-on-Drow crimes such as: Assault, rape, murder, etc. For a time it seemed all would be kittens and rainbows. Men had equal rights, the practice of drowning third sons became frowned on, and many other pleasant things. However, this illusion was promptly shattered when the populace discovered that the Order was much stricter not only in the nature of their laws, but in enforcing them as well. People accused of a crime, not matter how insignificant, found themselves subject to a formal inquiry, with their entire lives taken apart in some cases, to be found guilty or innocent by the verdict of a Orgolloyss Monster. Those found guilty were either beaten publicly, and forced to remain in public stockades regardless of their injuries, or publicly tortured into insanity, then left in the stockades for the rest of their natural lives.
Structure
Prospective young monks of the Order are harvested from orphanages, and volunteers from the general populace. The training begins young in most cases, at around four or five years of age. They begin their training as Horrors, learning the basic mechanics of the world: Literacy, mathematics. In short, a basic education. Once they are suitably trained and educated, they are promoted to Terrors, who then train themselves in a variety of fields to appeal to Boogeys (adepts), to take them on as Nightmares (apprentices). The Boogies train the Nightmares on a personal basis in the fields of investigation, the law, combat, and further their ki abilities while continuing with their specialized knowledge. The Chief Monstrosity then examines the Nightmares, and decides whether or not they can then ascend to Boogey, while their Boogey teacher in turn becomes a Monster. The ranks are named thus to teach the young to associate the rank with the word, furthering the fear instilled by the Order. The penultimate rank of the order is the Chief Monstrosity; who administers in the absence of the grand master: The Nothing.
Disputes between those of equal rank could be settled by asking a Monk of a higher rank to arbitrate the issue, with the loser in the conflict condemned to execution. This was brought about to keep the entire Order in harmonious accord, completely free of dissent. The only exception to this policy in recorded history is Sszeyl of Orgolloyss, who was not executed, but commissioned to find evidence that his theories about the Rule of Fear were correct. The reasoning for this is yet unknown, though it is possible the Order did not want to lose his great talent for the martial arts-having been skilled enough to injure a Monster, if temporarily.
The Nothing
"I am Nothing! And No Thing is eternal!"
— Shii'ntree, Fifth Reincarnation of Orgolloyss, upon manifesting as The Nothing.
The Nothing is No Thing. It is the absence of something. A howling chasm. The Nothing is the reincarnation of Orgolloyss himself, who administers the cycle of reincarnation (more on that below). The Nothing is called Nothing because the only concept which can inspire more fear is the unknowable nonexistence, which Orgolloyss has seemingly delved wholeheartedly into. No images of the Nothing survive into the present day, all artists who attempt to paint a portrait only paint the scenery and the Nothing's garb; unable to paint its features. Those who have seen the Nothing do not remember its face, or the sound of its voice. The only workaround known for this is for an individual to have known the Nothing before it manifested. Thus seeing who the Nothing was before, and not the Nothing as it is now. The Nothing is the Grand Master of the Order which bears its ancient name, and it's mere presence is enough to induce debilitating fear and to kill lesser beings. Other powers of the Nothing include teleportation, multiplication, selectively altering time, overwhelming physical strength, and invulnerability. Unlike the current Chief Monstrosity, these powers have somewhat stronger basis in fact, given the previous Nothing has only 'recently' passed.
Reincarnation
The cycle of reincarnation was started as a supreme effort by Orgolloyss, his children, and his fifty students to break free of Lolth's hold, by establishing their own afterlife. Or rather, a lack of an afterlife. The reincarnation works off a series of entities known as Firsts. These beings were the original lives the current persons lived, ages ago. Some are old enough to have lived literally millions of lives. The first is all that matters in the grand scheme, and when the current incarnation dies, they become nothing but memories and perceptions to the First, ceasing to exist in and of themselves. Every so often, an incarnation will prove to be so powerful or enlightened, that they may exist outside of the chain of reincarnation. While they are still connected through past lives to the original First they had, the individual becomes a new First in all respects, and the previous first immediately reincarnates upon this happening. Reincarnation takes place shortly after death, at most fourteen days afterward. Souls can be brought into the cycle from outside the network of firsts by subscribing to Orgolloyss' teachings, and a ritual which allows them to become a First. Occasionally, but rarely, souls will reincarnate outside of the Girn Mountains, Orgolloyss explains that this is to not remain detached from the outside world, and so have passing (if outdated) knowledge on the aboveground, or other races.
[edit] Martial Arts
The Order's style of martial arts was heavily influenced by spiders, specifically the massive specimens which wove the great webs above Ezzebek. It focuses on spatial awareness of the most extreme degree, then assaulting opponents which infringed upon that space with singular, powerful strikes. The major failing of this style is that it is completely reactionary, requiring an opponent to make a first move which might the monk might not be able to counter. Those ranking below Nightmare were only taught the combat stance to result in non-fatal damage, with the other more dangerous stances being taught as the Nightmare's instructing Boogey saw fit. Zilvudar of Orgolloyss however developed a sister style to this one, which emulates scorpions instead, which is much more aggressive at the expense of the defensive powers of the Order's default style. However, when the two are combined carnage is sure to ensue, as evidence with the Order's successful coup.
Known Members of the Order
- Sszeyl of Orgolloyss -exiled Terror
- Tebryn of Orgolloyss -A drow of Orgolloyss.
- Yazagh of Orgolloyss -A Drow Monster.
- Zilvudar of Orgolloyss -The (Acting) Leader of the Order of Orgolloyss.