Happy New Year, travelers! Did you miss us?
How did you spend your holidays? As for me, I met with my friends and relatives, had guests over and was a guest myself, went to a theater, etc. I had a very busy schedule, even too busy—as per usual.
The start of a new year is a time for new beginnings. I, for example, started writing a script for a new game set in the Midian universe.
This is a cause for joy, but don’t throw your hats in the air yet… and hold your ‘hooray’s for two reasons.
Firstly, my script can easily be cut off at the root or sent back for a complete re-write.
Secondly, the script is the lowest priority for me right now. I have enough things to keep me busy, but whenever I get a free minute or hour, I happily fill that time with working on the new story.
I wonder what I could tell you about it. I don’t want to spoil it, plus the end result can turn out very different from what I’m going to reveal now…
Alright, Let’s Go
The new story will be about the firebrothers. They’re my personal favourites, and they definitely deserve more attention. I’ve already drafted a script idea in one of the previous diary entries. If you’re just as zealous as the brothers of Fire, you’ll find it. But keep in mind that drafting ideas and writing scripts are not the same, and that’s to put it mildly.
The game will be in a different genre, but that might change. There will be one playable character, but that might change. As you might easily guess, that character is a brother of fire, and that won’t change. Mortis and Millenis will be in the game, and that won’t change.
The new script has connections to the plot of KOTCL and is built on the same basic principles but it has its differences, of which there are already plenty. It’s in no way a cover of an old song, but an attempt to tie a new game to the first one narratively and conceptually.
That’s probably all I can tell you.
Oh, Right!
I’ve meant to tell you about a monastery of the Brotherhood of Fire for a long time now, but for some reason or another, I’ve kept putting it off. Well, now it’s suddenly just the right time, methinks.
Firebrother MonasterIES
Surely, you didn’t think there was a single monastery? The plot of KOTCL implies the existence of at least two, but actually there are many more of them. They’ve spread across entire Midian like mushrooms after a rain. I’m going to describe everyday life in one of the monasteries for you. Here we go!
A Typical, Average, One of Many, Firebrother Monastery
Life in a monastery is far from exciting or eventful. I mean, have you ever seen a jolly monastery with festive games and courtesans? Although if we’re to believe Bocaccio, some medieval monasteries were a lot of fun. But what we have in the game is a mix of Christian and Buddhist frater abodes in their conventional sense, and life there is spent in continuous prayer, self-restraint and training.
Novices and brothers make up the bulk of a monastery’s residents. Aside from them, there are fire zealots, an abbot and his retainers. Let’s look at them one by one.
0. Novices
Anyone who has embraced the ideas of the Brotherhood of Fire and wishes to join their ranks has first to spend some time as a novice. In fact they’re simply slaves who attend to brothers, work in the fields, herd livestock and twist cows’ tails. Yard-keepers, cooks, barbers—all of them are novices. A monastery’s infrastructure is supported by them.
The time one spends as a novice is not defined. In theory, a novice is promoted to a brother once he’s proven his commitment to the Brotherhood’s ideals. In reality, it happens when needed. The more brothers die in battle, the bigger are the chances that a novice becomes a brother. The fewer people willing to become a novice, the slimmer those chances are. Novices are sort of a strategic reserve.
1. Brothers of fire
The aforementioned continuous prayer, self-restraint and training is what all brothers of Fire are about. It would seem that there’s nothing else to say here, but that’s far from the truth. There are things to say because there are several types of brothers of Fire.
Warriors
I admit that there’s nothing else to say about these ones. Feel like joining the Brotherhood already? No? You simply haven’t properly experienced life in Midian.
Secret envoys
They travel around Midian looking for unholy beings. They assume the guise of merchants, outcasts, and adventurers. They train the skill of being mundane and unremarkable to get in everywhere they need to. They are the Brotherhood’s eyes and ears.
Inquisitors
They travel around Midian looking for unholy beings. They don’t assume any guises—they kick open any doors because the Brotherhood’s reputation makes it almost impossible to oppose the inquisitors.
2. Fire Zealots
While brothers pray mostly to fortify their moral values, fire zealots do so to specifically obtain mana for the brothers. Don’t forget that the Fire Spirits are not some hypothetical entities, in which you’re supposed to believe blindly; they’re a real, fundamental force of Midian. If you worship the spirits properly, they respond in kind—they guide, reward, and punish. All of the firebrothers’ might is built upon the Primordial Spirits and fire zealots.
3. Abbot
The abbot of a monastery is always chosen from inquisitors from other monasteries. This is a very important rule: a charge of a monastery can never become its abbot. This custom exists to prevent individual monasteries from becoming too insular and turning to worshipping some sort of fire demons.
4. Retainers
An abbot brings together a number of fire zealots to serve as his aides. There can be no retainers at all in a given monastery, or there can be many of them. More often, though, it’s one advisor alone who acts as the steward as well. The abbot has too many important duties to concern himself with daily life, as you would understand.
Who Is Our Brother, and Who Is Not?
Novices and fire zealots are not brothers. The others are.
So What is Around the Monastery?
I’ll talk about this next time. That was enough for today, I think.