The Hashewami are an order of monks based on Isewalus on the planet Clarus. Their speciality is conflict resolution through combination of non-lethal force, good manners, fluency in Latin and Greek, physical toughness, and an ability to travel with the minimum of equipment. They refer to themselves as an order of adjudicators. The order was founded over a thousand years ago. Their philosophy is summarised in the Book of Hashawami, to which each Head Adjudicator adds one and only one aphorism. The natives of Isewalus are dark-skinned: anything from dark brown to jet black. Almost all Hashawami monks are dark-skinned natives of Isewalus, but one in ten are immigrants from other plantes, granted passage to Clarus by the Gods. These immigrants can be of any race.
The order accepts initiates no younger than sixteen years of age, whom the order considers to be adult. A monk remains a initiate until they pass certain tests, which can occur as early as the age of eighteen, whereupon they attain the title acolyte. When the conjunctions of Isewalus align, the acolyte can choose to embark upon an inter-planetary journey to Olympian. Once they leave Clarus, they attain the title journeymen. On their journey to Olympia they are expected to advance resolve conflict and advance their skills. Once they reach Olympia, they take up residence in the Hashawami Temple and attain the title arbiter. Using the Olympian temple as their base, they spend a year serving the Olympian Council on the Open Worlds. The monks are assigned missions for which their expertise in non-lethal combat, their facility with languages, their kindness, and their interest in human motivation are seen as the best means to resolve conflict or provide protection for Olympia's representatives. In assigning these missions, the Olympian Council respects the beliefs and customs of the monks, for the monks reserve the right to decline any service they deem unfitting, and to abandon any mission they deem unfitting. The end of a monk's service on Olympia will be marked by the arrival of a convenient route home to Isewalus. The CSOA6, otherwise known as the Monk's Conjunction, occurs near the Hashawami temple on Olympia, and is a typical route home. Upon their departure form Olympia, the monk attains the title adjudicator. Most adjudicators proceed to leave the order and raise families, but some remain in the order and attain to the higher ranks of the order.
Hashawami monks do not wear armor. It is against their code to do so. The monk seeks to appear peaceful and confident. The monk aspires to be quick and tireless. They endure hardship to increase their toughness. They meditate to develop their precience. They run to increase their stamina and speed. They are proficient with fist-and-foot and with full-length staff. They are trained in the use of a sling and in throwing all mannter of blunt objects. They do not use blades, arrows, or poison, for these are against their code. The monk should avoid bloodshed and killing whenever possible, for the blood and death undermine the efforts of an adjudicator far more than broken bones and concussion. Among the equipment of a journeyman are: staff, sling, stones, colorful trousers, colorful shirt, green or brown hat, green or brown robe, sandals, bedroll, blanket, tarpaulin, notebook, pencil, eraser, and the Book of Hashawami.
Hashawami monks bear no tatoo or other marking to indicated that they are of the order. They carry no necklace nor any other talisman to indicate their membership in the order. It is not their way to use their membership of the order to resolve conflict, or avoid consequences. The monks do, however, shave their heads so long as they serve the order. They tend to wear shirt and trousers whenever the climate allows, this being the tradition in Isewalus. The shirt and trousers can be of any color. The natives of Isewalus enjoy bright colors, so bright colors are common choices for the monks on their travels.
The first planet the monks visit on their journey to Olympia is Draxius, which has a maeon wind 1.6 Y compared to Clarus's 1.0 Y. All other things being equal, the number of dodging points bestowed upon an adventurer increases as the square root of the maeon wind strength. When they arrive on Draxius, the monks have been through years of rigorous training and education, but they have not faced mortal combat. We award them adventurer level three at the start of their journey, to represent their skill and training, but we bestow upon them only the number of dodging points they would receive upon Clarus if they were adventurer level three, not the 126% that the stronger maeon wind would normally imply. Once they leave Draxius, we begin to apply the usual rules for dodging points on new planets. On Igneus, for example, with its wind of 0.4 Y, they will receive 63% of the dodging points they would receive on Clarus.
According to one school of thought among the Hashawami monks, the book of aphorisms actual purpose is to prevent the creation of any official, serious document to codify the principles of the order. The first Head Adjudicator is reported to have been disdainful of efforts to curb human excess through the written word. But she felt that if she did not create some kind of document, one of her successors would do so. Thus she attempted to create a document that would prevent the creation of a serious document. According to another school of thought, the first head adjudicator was lazy, drunken, unintelligent, and lascivious. She was attended constantly by a court of male monks, and bore endless children at the order's expense. According to this school of thought, it is the work of subsequent Head Adjudicators that created the order as it is today, having constrained the excesses of its leaders with aphorisms added to the book. Here are some of the eighty-six aphorisms in the Book of Hashawami, beginning with that of the First Adjudicator, Mistris Ananke.
Let the written word record what we observe with our senses. Small things that we think are unimportant can later be seen in a new light. But do not let not the written word take the place of argument. We must force the cunning deceiver to show her face. We must not let her hide behind her written words.
Do not injure when you can subdue. Do not wound when you can injure. Do not kill when you can flee.
When arbitration requires combat, be quick to accept this fact. Do not attempt to avoid or delay what is inevitable. Let the combat take place at a time and place that favors you, but do not forget that the object of combat is peace.
Each sentient being tells a story, and in that story they are redeemed. To resolve a conflict, we must force the antagoists to adopt new story, one in which each of them is redeemed.
Speak softly, but carry a big stick.
Let the acolyte go to the new city, Let her enter in, rather than pass by, For how else can she find ways to serve? How else can she make the world glad?
Seek freedom, and become captive of your own desires. Seek discipline, and find your liberty.
Do not create conflict, for our mission is peace. But if conflict exists, seek to resolve it. There are conflicts that can be resolved only by combat, but this combat must not plant the seeds of future conflict. Combat that leads to lasting peace is the aspiration of the Hashawami.
Do good, but let it be known what you have done.
Record names, deeds, and places, for notes bring memories to life, and details can be consequential.
Do not rely upon the reputation of the order to resolve conflict. Do not brandish the reputation of the order to achieve advantage. Do not hide behind the authority of the order to avoid the consequences of your actions. Not unless you really have to, that is, in which case: try it.
Isewalus is an island in the Scarabic Ocean, four thousand kilometers west of Idonius. It lies on the equator, a thousand kilometers across, but of such an irregular shape, so that its land area is no more than a two hundred thousand square kilometers. This land area is divided into a dozen principalities and republics. Temples of the Hashawami monks are to be found all across the island, but their chief temple is set on one hundred square kilometers of land owned by them in the highlands at the center of the island. The Hashawami estate is at an altitude of two thousand meters, where the climate is cooler and drier than in the jungles of the lowlands. The Hashawami territory is part of the state of Aynek, a republic ruled by a democratically-elected government.
The center of the Hashawami territory is at latitude 0.1°N and longitude 17.9°W. The following conjunctions occur on Isewalus. Note that 1° of latitude or longitude on the Claran equator is roughly 100 km distance. We use "Cdy" for "Claran Days". We give the date of a recent occurance of each conjunction as well as its location.
CRCS2: Comitor-Clarus Two, Period 467 Cdy, 06-JUL-2474, 0.1°N, 17.9°W.Here is the route embarked upon by Journeymen of 2479:
Route from CS 0 -18 to CS 0 -18 58 km 148 Cdy CS 0.0 -18.0 CSDS3 -0.5 -18.1 991 km 226 Cdy DS 38.8 65.7 DSIS4 39.1 53.2 991 km 227 Cdy IS 55.7 14.6 ISKC1 55.7 14.6 6266 km 393 Cdy KC 57.2 17.3 KCPG3 24.7 151.2 6294 km 484 Cdy PG 44.6 124.0 OAPG2 44.9 123.9 6294 km 856 Cdy OA 39.1 52.8 CSOA6 39.1 52.8 6444 km 862 Cdy CS 1.3 -17.9 END 0.0 -18.0 Depart: Gregorian 2479:Nov:24:13:21:36 Fri Arrive: Gregorian 2481:Nov:09:12:00:00 Sun Conjunctions: CSDS3 DSIS4 ISKC1 KCPG3 OAPG2 CSOA6
The CSDS3 conjunction leads to Draxius. It opens on 2479:Nov:27 for 15 Cdy. On Draxius (DS), DSIS4 opens on 2480:Feb:13 for 7 Cdy. It is 933 km due East of CSDS3. The travellers have 78 days to make the journey. The DSIS4 conjunction leads to planet Igneus (IS), a volcanic moon orbiting a giant planet along with three other open worlds. On Igneus, ISKC1 opens on 2480:Feb:13 for 5 Cdy within a kilometer of DSIS4. The ISKC1 conjunction leads to the northern hemisphere of Kryanic (KC), where a journey of 5276 km east across the ocean brings the travellers to KCPG3, which will open on 2480:Jul:29 for 7 Cdy. The travellers have 166 days to make this journey, which they will most likely accomplish by submarine. Once through KCPG3 they find themselves on Pagomenos (PG). They need travel only 28 km to OAPG2, which leads to Olympia (OA). But OAPG2 opens 84 Cdy after KCPG3 closes, so they will be waiting around for 84 Cdy on Pagomenos. They arrive on Pagomenos in late winter, and will depart in late spring. Once on Olympia, they wait 372 Cdy for CSOA6 to appear within 1 km of where they arrived, and this conjunction takes them back to their starting point.