Nesh was absorbed in her labors; she did not see the nightmare descend
from the sky. Back bent, eyes to the ground, she remained focused on
her task. When she at last looked up, all around her had fled.
—The Torovar, “Nesh’s Labors”
Rigor: Physical
Focus: External
Color: Brown
Adjective: Neshi
Overview
The Neshi put their faith in one thing and one thing only: manual labor. It is their strong belief that the routine of physical work is the greatest way to propagate Order in the world. Setting a goal, planning its execution and performing all the requisite steps to bring it to manifestation is order incarnate to the sect and the satisfaction of a job well done is magnified by knowing that idle hands, a playground for madness, have been kept busy.
Structure
The monks of this sect perform all kinds of labor, but tend to specialize depending on the size of the monastery they inhabit. In smaller communities, where one monk must tend to many tasks, the specializations are broad. In larger monasteries, however, Neshi monks can fill specialized niches. After all, efficiency is part of Order as well. They are the farmers, cooks, herders, fence-menders, milkers, gardeners, handy-women and all around janitorial staff of the Connovar Monastery.
Neshi monasteries are notoriously productive and notoriously egalitarian. The demands of physical labor coupled with the belief that everything else is less productive make considerations of rank and in-fighting almost non-existent. Neshi despise politics perhaps more than any other sect and, so, they simply refuse to practice it. While they have, like other monks, the ranks of Abbot, Prior and Dean, those positions are usually reserved for older monks who can no longer physically labor as rigorously as in youth, with each lower rank seeing someone slightly younger. Usually these posts are taken by volunteers, and if more than one person wants the job, the contestants usually work it out amicably over a lunch break. Alone among the monks, they do not use titles within their own ranks. The only place Neshi vote politically is at the Connovar monastery where the Abbot is selected from among all sects by the populace.
The Neshi have a special office called the Foreman. The Foreman in any monastery is in charge of organizing a work force for special projects or for those jobs which do not have a regular monk assigned.
Special Vow
In addition to the traditional vows of obedience and poverty, Neshi monks take a vow of industry.
Rituals
(to be determined)
