Brotherhood Lands - Silent Ones Monastery

[Vutall]

Silent Ones Monastery
The Silent Ones Monastery, devoted to Tsugumu, Fortune of Secrets, is hidden near the City of Lies. Scorpions with secrets weighing heavy on their minds go there to unburden themselves, bringing messages and journal pages containing their secrets to alleviate the isolation of hidden knowledge. Those who bring their secrets often also bring donations to thank the monastery for keeping safe the information they cannot keep themselves. A small, walled complex built into the side of a hill, the monastery is easily overlooked. The monks are part of the Brotherhood of Shinsei, but some of their practices set them apart; for instance, most of them wear black and tie a black cloth over their mouth.

The head monk is identifiable by his scarlet robes, which distinguish him from the others. He is lean with sharp features and an unflinching gaze that makes even the strongest bushi uncomfortable. He is greedy for secrets, and he has a way of drawing them from people, even without speaking.

The Founding Secret
The details of the founding and building of the Silent Ones Monastery have been deliberately removed from all records and histories. Some even say that the engineers and builders involved came to abrupt ends after its completion, ensuring that the secrets of the structure remain hidden.

False Impressions
Outsiders quickly find themselves lost and confused within the Silent Ones Monastery. Instead of the feeling of tranquility that pervades many monasteries, visitors feel only a sense of deep unease and anxiety. This is the result not of spiritual power, but of the strange techniques involved in the monastery’s construction, and of the ceaseless actions of the monks to conceal and mislead

The interior of the monastery is seemingly much larger than the outside, with concealed passages and secret rooms, entire stories hidden under the ground or between floors, and puzzles and traps to confuse and disorient. The many statues of the Fortune are identical, so that many rooms appear the same as many others. Any rooms in which the monks might sleep, train, or eat are hidden, further isolating visitors. Visitors wait in comfort in small chambers containing thick tatami and shōji screens in Scorpion colors, until a single monk eventually arrives, leading them to a statue to confess their secrets

Scorpion Tales
The monks don’t burn the secrets they receive; they hide them inside their monastery, stuffing the statues of the Fortune with them. If anyone got their hands on even one of those statues they could blackmail half the clan, but nobody would risk stealing from the temple.

The monks are completely silent: they never speak, and even their feet make no sound. They’re like shadows, or shinobi. They leave their monastery when they haven’t been given enough secrets and spy on everyone in the City of Lies.

The monks don’t speak because they don’t have tongues; they cut them out when they’re initiated into the order. Then, they burn them as an offering to Tsugumu.