The Order (DK)

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==The Order==
Psionics is a cornerstone of Athasian life and society. In the wilderness, a creature's psionic powers are often as important as its physical strength and speed. In civilization, psionics is a tool for advancement and political survival. 
To the purist, the true student, psionics is a gift that is given to all but understood by very few. The uncounted wild talents are the mindless masses of Athas, granted by nature a basic psionic trick that they barely understand and bandy about with all the care of a mekillot in a tent city. They are mere animals-indeed, less than animals, for the purists regard animals with psionic abilities as noble beasts. 
Only when one pursues the psionic sciences and disciplines in earnest does he gain even a glimmer of understanding. The search for psionic mastery is the noblest of all endeavors, but most who find its strengths use them for their own selfish ends. That is not how nature intended the mind's precious powers be used. So says the purist. 
The Order is a rigid organization of the highest-level psionicists on Athas. They are dedicated to these two precepts: Psionics should only be studied for its own sake, and psionic talents should only be used to preserve the natural order. 
Psionics for its own sake: To members of the Order, psionics is not merely a tool or a means toward an end. Psionics is a higher understanding, an area of study that purifies the mind and strengthens the spirit. A purist of the Order believes that he gains more awareness of the universe with every new science or discipline he masters, with every new iota of psionic strength that he can muster. 
Psionics to preserve the natural order: In the doctrine of the Order, psionics is a part of the natural order, used by animals and primitives to survive against the harsh environment and against each other. Animals have retained this philosophy, but intelligent races have perverted psionics, polarizing it along with their moralities. Nature knows no such moralities. To a member of the Order, ambitions and ideals can only interfere with the purity of psionics. The use of psion ics to further such ambitions, whether good or evil, is a crime against the natural order. Psionicists who use their talents to further causes of extreme good or extreme evil are criminals who must be located and stopped. 
===Organization===
The Order has an organization that is at once loose and rigid. It is rigid in the sense that members fill different roles depending on their level of psionic mastery, that there can be only so many members at the upper levels, and that each member must adhere to the doctrines of the Order as a whole. Its organization is loose, however, because there are no regular meetings (physical meetings, that is) and because each member operates independently within his given role. 
The Order is organized into two major sections, the lower and upper orders. 
The lower orders: All psionicists in the lower orders are of levels 21 through 26. Lower level psionicists cannot petition for entry. Those of level 21, 22, and 23 are entrants, while those of level 24, 25, and 26 are mediators. As the most junior of the lower order, entrants perform most necessary day to day interactions with the rest of Athas. Mediators make decisions about Athasian affairs; they usually send entrants to deal with perceived problems. Though the number varies, there are usually around 30 entrants and 10 mediators in the Order at any one time. 
The upper orders: This elite body, consisting solely of psionicists of levels 27 through 30, is structured in sixes, according to the six psionic disciplines. There are six cerebral masters, one assigned to each discipline, and beneath each of these are six psiologists. There are always exactly 42 sapient beings in the upper orders. 
===Entering the Order===
Once any creature attains 21st level as a pure psionicist, his mind attracts the Order's attention. Mediators send one or more entrants to investigate the new psionicist and learn his motivations. If the new psionicist is of neutral alignment, they approach him to join the Order as a new entrant. If his alignment is either good or evil, or if he refuses to join the Order, he is marked for death. Ultimately, this practice allows three types of psionicists above 20th level on Athas: the unapproached, members of the Order, and the renegades. 
Unapproached: Characters who have recently risen to 21st level but who haven't yet been contacted by the Order are considered unapproached. They operate unaware that the Order is watching and evaluating them. The Order will contact them before they reach 22nd level. 
Members: Once taken into the Order, a character still acts as an independent entity. He can still operate with other character psionicists and otherwise and he may range the entire span of Athas unhindered. However, he must adopt the Order's agenda, described below. 
Renegades: High-level (21 +) psionicists of either good or evil alignments, or who have refused to join the ranks of the Order, must proceed in the campaign as renegades. Renegades have committed no special crimes against anyone else on Athas, and so need not fear the common people. However, the Order hunts them relentlessly, sending entrants and even beast servants against them until they are destroyed. Provided he can avoid the Order's wrath, a character can advance as a renegade to any level of experience. 
It is also possible that a member of the Order may commit a breach of the agenda, becoming a renegade at a much higher level. 
===Agenda===
Members of the Order are the self-appointed champions of psionic purity. As they see it, the upper orders pursue psionic purity, whereas lower orders root out heretical psionicists. 
The Order defines "psionic heresy " as the use of powerful psionics for causes of extreme good or evil. Powerful psionics are powers used by a psionicist of greater than 20th level; below that level, the Order regards psionicists as hardly more than children, who cannot be held responsible for their actions. 
The attitudes of such low-level characters toward law or chaos do not concern the Order. 
Characters using other powers (armies, elemental or wizardly magic, etc.) to further their good or evil ends also do not concern the Order. Only the use of powerful psionics draws the Order's attention. The Order is not interested in supporting neutrality as such they only seek psionic purity as they have defined it. 
All members of the Order must uphold this agenda. They must personally confront heresy according to their roles; they must pursue greater psionic mastery themselves; and they cannot personally use their psionic powers for any purpose that is completely good or evil. 
===Roles===
Within the Order, each classification of psionicist has specific functions and means of advancement. There is very little room for deviation within this scheme. Radicalism can lead to disbarment, leaving the radical a hunted renegade. 
Entrants: The bottom rank of the lower order, entrants are the enforcement arm of the organization. They wander Athas in search of psionic heresy, which they must report to their mediator contacts. They may act upon such heresy only after receiving specific instructions from the mediators. 
Advancement from entrant to mediator: This is a matter of time and, in game terms, experience levels. An entrant automatically becomes a mediator upon reaching 24th level. 
Mediators: Mediators must collect information on psionic heresy and delegate the responsibility for eliminating that heresy. Mediators only occasionally involve themselves personally with the destruction of psionic heresy, calling on entrants to perform the actual hands on work. Mediators only rarely inform the upper orders about their activities; they are ultimately responsible for the suppression of heresy. The upper orders dislike such interruptions. 
Advancement from mediator to psiologist: Bridging this gap is more difficult, since it is the leap from the lower orders to the upper. Since the upper orders have a fixed number of members, a mediator of merit must often wait for a position to open up. A mediator gains merit by reaching 27th level, but he continues to gain experience as a mediator until a psiologist position becomes available. This may be immediately after many years. The position that becomes available dictates his specialty discipline in the upper orders. 
Psiologists: The junior members of the upper order are concerned with physical research into psionics. They concentrate on their specialized discipline. They study psionic beasts, ancient records and ruins, and the use of psionics by all intelligent creatures. They must convey their findings to the other five psiologists in their discipline and to their cerebral masters, but they choose their own research projects and work methods. 
Advancement from psiologist to cerebral master This promotion is a matter of seniority within a specialty discipline. When a cerebral master dies, the most senior psiologist takes his place. Experience level has no effect. A 27th level psiologist might become a cerebral master, though this is unlikely. 
Cerebral masters: The six cerebral masters devote their lives to personal psionic growth. Basing their research in their own minds, they meet only with other members of the upper orders, and then only occasionally. Their solitary existence calls for minimal contact with the world; they renounce all but the necessities of life. A cerebral master might be mistaken for an elderly vagabond. A cerebral master chooses his own " home," then rarely leaves it. 
Because it takes many years to become a cerebral master, and because any psionic means of life extension would be unacceptable to the Order, cerebral masters tend to have only short tenures in their positions. Naturally long lived characters such as dwarves, elves, and halmngs-last longer. No thri-kreen has ever become a master. 
Within the Order, a character knows the identities of all members of his station, and he has up to three contacts in the next higher level. For instance, a mediator is acquainted with all mediators and entrants, and up to three psiologists, but no cerebral masters. 
===Psionic Beastmasters===
Members of the Order have no special affinity for druids, though their outlooks on life seem compatible, at least on the surface. To the Order, the druid's devotion is misguided by faith. To the few druids who know of the Order, the psionicists' obsession with only one facet of nature's richness is equally misguided. 
The Order does, however, hold psionic beasts as the most noble creatures on the planet. Psionic creatures with animal intelligence use their powers for only the purest ends-survival. Members of the Order often study or even revere psionic animals. Some members of the Order find work with psionic animals both comforting and mutually beneficial. 
Beast mastery: Available only to psionicists above level 20, this telepathic devotion appears in Appendix 3. DMs should understand its powers and limitations fully before using beastmasters within the Order. 
Roles and the beastmasters: Any member of the Order may use beasts, provided they help him in his role. Entrants and mediators, for instance, use their beasts to seek and stamp out psionic heresy. Psiologists and cerebral masters use their beasts to further their research and understanding of psionics. 
Renegades as beastmasters: Renegades may also use beast mastery, and their use of psionic animals is unrestricted. Animals have no concept of the Order or its agenda.