The Prison of the God of Madness lies underneath the ruins of an ancient city. The inhabitants of that city slowly went mad, killing and torturing one another until there was no one left. Their ghosts still haunt the halls.
Now, a monastic order guards the tomb, living in the ruins of the city. They are focused on order and fighting against the encroaching chaos of the mad god’s influence. They hold madness at bay from the world by fighting its manifestations in the ruined city above the Mad God’s Tomb. Over time, the mad god’s touch affects them as well, and when they show too many of the signs of madness, they are purged from the World.
Like any monastic order, there is a hierarchy, and every monk takes a practical job that help sustain the commune, with the young performing physically demanding labor, regardless of faction.
The monastery accommodates both men and women, and though sexual relations (both hetero and homosexual) are understood to happen, their public expression is largely frowned upon. Pregnancy is strictly prohibited. All dormitories are co-ed and accommodate multiple monks.
Different ways of fighting chaos define the major factions and the nine sub-factions:
1. Intellectual Rigor (scholars/engineers/philosophers)
2. Physical Rigor (athletes/laborers/ascetics)
3. Spiritual Rigor (artists/servants/theologians)
Scholars: Study, catalogue and test the effects of the madness
Engineers: Build and maintain machines that fight the madness
Philosophers: Create tactics for fighting the madness
Athletes: Fight the physical manifestations of the madness
Ascetics: Fight the madness in themselves through strict forms of abstinence
Artists: Create harmony to fight madness
Servants: Tend to the those fighting the madness and their wounds
Theologians: Tend to the spiritual services of the monastery
Gifts of Order: Eidetic Memory, Danger Sense, Lightning Calculator, Artistic Prodigy, Quick Reflexes, Ambidexterity, etc.
Gifts of Madness: Hallucinations, Phobias, Delusions, Manias, Compulsions, Deformities etc.
