Monk of the long death

Monks of the long death belonged to the Order of the Long Death monastic order. These monks studied the nature of death, and were particularly interested by the moment of passing. They did not bother about the afterlife or nature of the soul. The ceremony of introduction was filled with hideous acts meant to test the resolve of initiates. As they became more powerful, they gained limited abilities related to death and study alchemy, poisons, and resistance to death effects.

Though the organization known as the Monks of the Long Death was strongest in Thay, it did have monasteries in several other parts of Faerûn, including the Silver Marches. Some two dozen members of the order dwelled in a hidden stronghold built long ago by unknown hands in the Turnstone Hills, not far from where the pass was blocked by a gigantic landslide. From here the monks pursued their one abiding interest: death.

These monks sought for the secrets of life by studying death. It was the condition of being dead that concerned them most, and not what lay beyond: The afterlife held little interest for them. Their laboratories were full of decaying, dying, and dead animal and plant specimens that they studied with detached interest; they frequently purchased rare specimens that they could not obtain easily themselves from adventurers and merchants. But such studies were only part of the monks' daily life: They sought to understand death as it pertained especially to intelligent living beings.

To this end, they exhumed corpses from crypts and graveyards, and then they transported the corpses to their monastery. There they examined the cadavers in their well-stocked laboratory and observed them as they decomposed. They also - and it is for this that they were most reviled and feared - purchased living slaves and put them to death, slowly, recording their observations and asking the perishing slaves questions about their fatal experience. Slaves were hard to come by in the Silver Marches, however, because Lady Alustriel and her confederations condemned the practice. The order had been obliged to obtain its living specimens by other means, such as abducting them from outlying farmsteads and poorly-defended hamlets in the dead of night. The monks suffered no moral qualms about these deeds: Death was the most natural thing in the world, from their perspective, and to expire in service to its principle was the most profoundly holy experience any living being could hope to enjoy. It is for this reason that the monks themselves did not fear death, and while they studied death, they did not seek that state themselves.

Most of the order's members were either scholars who shared mutual fascination with and worship of death and dying, or clergy who worshiped one of the deities concerned with death. Some of the monks considered themselves to be nothing less than visionaries whose work would pave the way for a better future for all Faerûn: When death was truly understood, it could be harnessed and used as a tool for the betterment of all, or so they rationalized to themselves. Others who took the Vows of Death could not possibly care less about anything other than increasing their personal measure of understanding about their chosen subject.

The Monks of the Long Death were easily recognized by their pale skin and gaunt features. They ate little, and they spent most of their time inside their monasteries, in crypts and graveyards, and other dark places where there was little natural light. They affected the trappings of death in their garb, wearing long, dark robes and shroudlike hooded cloaks to hide their features. Though fearful of those who did not understand them and who might seek to thwart their studies, they could be civil hosts if approached by learned folk who offered to share knowledge or wisdom. Their narrow vision and single-mindedness made them dull hosts, however, and the rigid structure of their society seemed quite stifling to outsiders.

Notable Monks of the Long Death

 * Ewa
 * Idim
 * Grimgnaw
 * Lenet the Cold
 * Malark Springhill
 * Seyjayanus
 * Tohkis