Monastery of Unblinking Flame

Monastery of Unblinking Flame

(Organization)

Type

Monastic

Leader

Anandala

Headquarters

Niswan, Jalmeray

Members

Monks

Source: Adventurer's Guide, pg(s). 101 (1E)
Impossible Lands, pg(s). 196 (2E)

The Monastery of Unblinking Flame is one of the four monastic orders comprising Jalmeray's world renowned Houses of Perfection. The Monastery of Unblinking Flame is one of the most renowned martial arts monasteries of the Inner Sea region, with applicants flocking from neighbouring nations to learn the order's secretive techniques.

Techniques

Students of the House of Unblinking Flame can infuse their martial strikes with elemental fire that not only harms their foes but also illuminates their foes' weaknesses.

The monastery applies the properties of elemental fire in its teachings: how fire burns upon contact but allows physical strikes to pass through it, how difficult it can be to contain, and how it can bring light that can be illuminating or blinding. Its martial techniques emphasize speed and deception, defensive prowess, and a definitive finishing blow.

A monk of the monastery is sometimes referred to as a brazen disciple. The most powerful brazen disciples perfect their emulation of an ifrit to such a point that they transform their fundamental nature into that of a planar being and gain the ability to grant limited wishes.

In combat, students of the Unblinking Flame can harness their qi to resist the effects of fire, and can emit an inner burning flame that manifests in their strikes or harms those who attempt to restrain them. These flames can also illuminate and dismiss illusions. Some employ both mundane and magical fire and smoke to confound and punish their foes, while those who exhibit mastery over their inner flames can stoke them into an aura that grants them supernatural vision and the ability to propel themselves into the air through fire.

They are also known for their speed and misdirection. Students learn to attack swiftly when an opponent's error grants them an advantage, and to employ rapid and unpredictable feints to open their opponent's defenses. Their innate fire can also illuminate an opponent's flaws.

Students are also demonstrate skill in deception and duplicity outside of combat by adopting the guile of an ifrit, such as when they attempt to bluff others or disguise themselves, design puzzles to obfuscate the truth, or exploit loopholes in agreements and contracts.

Possessions

The monastery possesses a beloved statue called One-Who-Waits, the theft of which was the subject of a dispute between the monastery and Pathfinder Society in 4719 AR.

Membership

Admission

To be admitted to the monastery, a prospective student must outwit an ifrit by perfectly phrasing a wish that the ifrit has no choice but to honor as intended.

Leadership

As of 4722 AR, the monastery had been led for decades by the timeless Grand Master Anandala, long rumored to have been exiled from her native Vudra for an unknown transgression against her family. She deviates from the other Houses' exclusive focus on physical combat to also embrace the study of occult philosophy.

Notable members

See also: Category:Monastery of Unblinking Flame/Members

The psychic Rivani applied for admission to the Monastery of Unblinking Flame in her youth, but was denied by Grand Master Anandala, who considered Rivani to be not a student but a teacher and accordingly not yet sufficiently seasoned in life.

• Manyala Ahmoza, who competed with her twin sister Rijana Ahmoza of the Monastery of Unbreaking Waves in the 4721 AR Ruby Phoenix Tournament
• Meleeka Sanvara
• Rashmivati Melipdra, a former student who left on good terms after suffering a narrow loss in the Challenge of Sky and Heaven against her twin brother Shristi Melipdra of the Monastery of Untwisting Iron

References

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