Warriors of Mameka
A Knightly Order of The Hierarchy of The Eternal Flame

Service Features

A Lay Mass often begins with prayer and song and culminates in a ritualized combat between randomly selected members of the Warriors who are present. The combat is performed with real weapons, and the dangers should a Warrior misstep or forget his moves, are equally real.

The Lay members watch and listen as a priest tells a story which is carefully played out by the Warriors. A good showing ends with one Warrior willingly allowing the other draws blood. The Warriors strive for perfection during these combats, and are guided through the steps by reading the Nazar signs made by the priest telling the tale.

It is during such combats that Laumaki are expected to practice their Nazar reading.

A High Mass often includes an animal sacrifice to Agrik, and a real combat between two randomly chosen Warriors. As the congregation sings and prays, the Warriors fight for their lives. While the battle is suppose to stop at first blood, this is most often the place and time where duels are fought. Killing ones opponent during a High Mass is acceptable, but frowned upon. While it does weaken the Warriors, the dead are in a divine state of grace and thus go to Baldashang blessed.

Occasionally thieves, captives or slaves are sacrificed to Agrik during a special mass. Such events culminate in the Warriors, including the Laumaki, dipping their weapons of choice into the blood from the sacrificial victim. The Warriors believe such weapons to be blessed. These special masses are rarely held for the laity and tend only to occur just before battle.

The Pillar of Craft

Each member of the Warriors learns the art of weapon-making. As a general rule, each Warrior concentrates on learning to make the weapons he himself will use on the battlefield: Haragki make broadswords, maces, lances, and 'chivalric' weapons, while Laumaki make short swords, bows, arrows, spears, and other 'commoner' weapons. Telmen and higher ranks are expected to specialize on one particular aspect of their weapon.

Weapon-making is both a practical and a ritualized activity. It is typical, when making any kind of a weapon, for a warrior to mix several drops of his own blood into all liquids used for tempering its metal or treating its wood, so as to make his 'own fiery soul' a part of the weapon.

The Warriors do not make fetishes out of their weapons. Instead the creation of the weapons is symbolic of the forging/creation of a warrior from its baser metals. Weapons is a broad category that sometimes includes the arts of boyary and fletching, spear-making and even the study of poisons, and throwing knives or darts.

The Pillar of Silence

The Warriors observe the pillar of Secrecy in several ways. First, they are forbidden to communicate the tiniest scrap of information about the order's lore, rituals, plans, or possessions to outsiders. Even the least violation of this rule is punishable by either a trial by combat (where they are unarmed and unarmoured) or a trial by flame.

Those who have captured members of the order and sought to extract secrets through torture report being laughed at by their captives, who claim: "Nothing you can do to me is can possibly compare to what my brethren would do, should they learn I betrayed them."

The Warriors, like their priestly masters, are also taught to avoid frivolous and unnecessary speech, even when alone or with other brethren. Those who violate this rule are generally punished by whipping; repeat offenders may be punished (and 'cured') by having their tongues ripped out by red-hot pincers. Surprisingly, this emphasis on silence has created within the Warriors a hierarchy of skilled speakers, who always choose their words carefully and convey ideas clearly and succinctly.

Finally, the Warriors of Mameka preserve their secrecy by being the only Agrikan fighting order in Hârn not to accept Anasi, that is to say, honorary members. The risk that such half-outsiders would betray the order's secrets is deemed too great.

The Pillar of Trial

A Warrior, it is said, must constantly be tested, both on and off the battlefield. If one's martial skill is not tested, one cannot be sure one is a great warrior. For this reason, members of the order are encouraged to constantly be testing themselves (individually) against their brethren in 'mock' combat and against the order's enemies (collectively) in real combat.

Each warrior, upon being initiated, is subjected to some kind of 'loyalty test' comparable to that which Agnichari of their sponsoring order have to endure. Those who pass this test are accepted into the Warriors as full members. Those who fail are never seen again.

Martial Practices

In battle, each Warrior uses a weapon he has made himself. As with most other orders, the mace is a preferred weapon for many Warriors, although the spear, the short sword, and the bow are more typical for Laumaks.

Unlike other Agrikan orders, the Warriors of Mameka do not generally practice advanced unarmed combat techniques, such as Sashata. Instead, they are taught a rather curious 'style' of combat called 'The Empty Fist'.

The Empty Fist is a system of fighting that teaches one how to use available, seemingly non-deadly objects as weapons. This might include anything from throwing dust in an opponents eyes to blind him, to slipping a spoon's dull edge between his ribs so as to puncture his lungs, or using a cloak to entangle or smother him. This practice, which requires extremely quick and creative thinking, probably originated back when the Warriors were more like a covert band of assassins rather than a military organization.

Treat the Empty Fist as a specialty on Unarmed. Such specialties are available only after Unarmed reached ML80+. (See HMC: Combat.)

To use the specialty an NPC must make a successful INT check to be able to grab the desired "weapon." For PC's allow the player to role-play the situation, or make a successful WIL check.

Invocations

The Warriors of Mameka have only 3 circle 1 invocations. These are practiced only by the Akarata and his Tenaka. While it is unusual for a fighting order to actually have invocations, the Warriors explain it as being very close to their priestly order. The Akarata and Tenaka are seen as lieutenants in the

Symbols

Bladed weapons are important symbols of the Warriors of Mameka, as are mailed fists. They prefer the Mace, Whip and Sickle to other weapons, as most Agikans do, but do not feel limited to them.

They believe that blood and its depiction (the color red) are both equally holy. The Warriors do not interpret symbols regularly, using them only during Lay Masses when ritualized combats sometimes require symbolic deaths, or representations. They leave such signs and portents to the Order of Mamaka.

Artifacts

The Warriors claim there are valuable artifacts in the ruins of Kuistan. In 718 a group of Warriors attempted to reclaim those artifacts from the ignorant Kuboran. Their attempt failed. The Warriors are assured that, should they recapture these ancient artifacts, their order will obtain success and wealth in all things.

What, exactly, these artifacts are unknown to the Order. The artifacts were believed to have been brought to Kuistan to help sanctify the temple there. Whatever they are, they were lost to the Order when the outpost fell. The Order of the Warriors has come to believe that the retrieval of these artifacts from the hands of the tribesmen in the area is their new purpose for being.

Instruments

The Warriors use a variety of flutes and drums. Almost every other Warrior has a skill with some type of musical instrument. A few Warriors at Bedenes have begun working on a musical version of Nazar, but their "language" is far from complete.

Warrior music is suprisingly light and uplifting. In their free time Warriors are encouraged to learn jigs, reels and other dance tunes. Combats are sometimes preceded with dancing and music around a camp fire where Warriors in full armour will dance to the wordless tunes.

A few priests have said practice with wood-wind instruments has assisted in increasing the Warrior's endurance and stealth. But most assume the Warriors learn and practice this form of music because it is enjoyable to them.

Animals

The Warriors associate the war horse (Destrider) with Mameka. They train their own horses to love the smell of blood, and indeed their horses seem to enjoy combat almost as much as their riders. They prefer dark colored beasts, but horses with stars or stockings of lighter colored hair are considered lucky.

They attribute seeing the raven and the wolf as good omens when on a battlefield, and bad omens everywhere else. Snakes, dogs and death birds (ravens, crows, gulls, and hawks) are all seen as representatives, or messengers for Agrik and his forces.

The raven is the messenger of Mameka, as it likes to roost on metal, and is often seen near weapons in battlefields. Hearing its call early in the morning is said to promise a good day. Hearing its call late at night is said to foretell your death.

The Salamander represents the power of the forge and the might of weapons in battle.

This page was last updated on 30 June, 2000
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