Elon Gar

The **Elon Gar** are an order of monks who practice pseudomagical mental training.

## Abilities

In general, the Elon Gar possess superhuman control over their own minds and bodies.

One of their abilities is eliminating the need for sleep. A master requires only ten minutes of meditation a day to be fully rested. There are no drawbacks, making this one of the most effective methods of eliminating sleep on Aerb. For this reason, many Ell train under them.

Elon Gar can exhibit superhuman control over their facial features, making them incredible liars, with an expert being able to fool even a Devil. (However, not all trainees reached quite that level of ability.) This physiological control is on a par with a devil's poker face. Their control is such that they can suppress any physiological tell, even to Bethel's countless senses, although Valencia suspected that some tells might still show through.

Elon Gar can organize their memories better than a normal person. Fenn claimed, as a cover for Juniper's abilities, that some Elon Gar can "think a bit better" by focusing with their eyes closed.

## In The Game Layer

Juniper speculated that the Elon Garr were to mental and social skills what Blade-bound were to combat skills (that is, a series of combo virtues associated with multiple skills), but he never figured out how to unlock their abilities. He didn't try very hard, beyond a failed attempt to provoke a quest.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 “You trained with the Elon Gar,” said Valencia.

Masters nodded once, cautiously. “It’s not uncommon for my people,” he said. “Sleep is more of a thief to us than almost any of the other mortal species.”

I was inwardly groaning. The Elon Gar were an order of monks who specialized in manipulating the mind; they could get by on ten minutes of meditation instead of sleeping, they could organize their memories far better than normal, and in general exhibited a degree of control over their own minds and bodies which on Earth would have been considered supernatural. Checking them out was on our list, but there was no quest, despite efforts at prompting one, and no obvious skill that needed unlocking. My guess was that they were the equivalent of the blade-bound, but for more social or mental skills, and ostensibly ‘non-magical’.

Their best ability? Total control of their facial features. The monks of the Elon Gar were masters of keeping a stone face, which made them impeccable liars. And it was *just* like the Dungeon Master to throw one at us now that we had Valencia.

“You were trained inexpertly,” said Valencia with some satisfaction. She turned to look at me through the eye slits of the armor. The decorative thorns around them looked a bit like flames. “He’s lying.” - Chapter 108: The Dream That Skewers
2. ↑ “The Elon Gar have a way to eliminate sleep,” she said. “The masters need ten minutes of quiet meditation a day, and that’s it. This is the first time I’ve ever slept in full plate. I wasn’t too impressed by the experience.” - Chapter 50: Copse and Robbers
3. ↑ Kenner’s Eye was pushing off sleep, and would continue to do so for another week before it started to wear on me, and another month before I would be forced into sleep, by which time we would hopefully have something to replace it with which could eliminate sleep entirely. The Lord of Dreams could do it, as could the Elon Gar, but those were the only two methods that we knew of that would last forever without drawbacks, and both presented pretty serious problems. - Chapter 164: In the House of God
4. ↑ Juniper had warned Valencia, early on, that having someone like her on the team would mean that various problems would crop up to stop her most powerful abilities from functioning. [...] On the social side, that meant people who had extensively trained with the Elon Gar, entads that could conceal thoughts and emotions, or species whose physiology and thought patterns were rare enough or opaque enough that a devil would still have trouble. - Chapter 168: Hollow
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Valencia walked into the room, not displaying any of the fear she was feeling. She was as perfectly in control of her physiology as any of the Elon Gar, but even they weren’t necessarily so perfect that they could fool someone who could literally see right through them. Some of it might show through, and Valencia had to accept that. - Chapter 168: Hollow
6. ↑ Heart rate up, pupils dilated, hairs standing up. I’ll admit she’s keeping her cool, but I can read the fear response of all but those trained by the Elon Gar. - Chapter 127: Full House
7. ↑ “He’s thinking,” replied Fenn. “He trained with the Elon Gar, but only for a fortnight before he was kicked out. The only real trick he learned was to think a little bit better by shutting out the world for a moment. No doubt when he opens his eyes back up, he’ll have something clever for us.” - Chapter 31: The Loyal Elf