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 Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2026 3:39 pm
"Right is right, even if everyone is against it, and wrong is wrong, even if everyone is for it."
— William Penn
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Posted: Sat Jun 13, 2026 11:58 pm
Every member begins with the same First Oath: to aid those in need, to stand against injustice, and to never turn a blind eye to those burdened beneath another's will. Only after joining the Order and completing their apprenticeship within the Academy do new members discover their Second Oath, which will define their lives from then on with an individualized promise. It is then etched into an oathstone, forever bound to its bearer and the promise they have chosen. Should they forsake that vow, the oathstone shatters; a lasting reminder that a broken word leaves no promise untouched. From that day onward, their oath is a constant companion, leading their decisions in life as those within the Order uphold both the First Oath and their own.
Whether they become a knight who travels far beyond the frozen icelands, a healer tending to the injured, a craftsperson strengthening the community, or a teacher guiding the next generation, every role is held with equal honor. An oath is not measured by glory, but by conviction.
The Order does not seek to spread its ideals through conquest or even persuasion. Those who need them will find them — or call for them when no one else will answer. Their Companies venture beyond the North Icelands to answer those calls, freeing the imprisoned, protecting the vulnerable, and standing against tyranny wherever it takes root. Those who seek refuge are welcomed with open paws, provided they are willing to embrace the Order's way of life and swear themselves to a promise of their own.
Though the North Icelands are unforgiving to the unprepared, the Order has transformed the frozen wilderness into a place of warmth, purpose, and unwavering fellowship. Every member passes through the Academy, where they learn not only the history and customs of the Order, but discover the calling that best suits them. Here, no life is considered lesser than another. It takes all walks of life to strengthen their foundation.
To live within the Order of the First Oath is to understand that a promise is more than words; it is a choice made freely, and honored every day after. Here, every member is bound not by chains, but by the promise they chose for themselves, and by the shared belief that no creature should ever be denied the same freedom. Quote: 「Page One」「Page Two+」✥ All additional posts are clan updates + forms.
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Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2026 2:39 pm
Tucked deep within the coldest heart of the Icelands, where the winds bite, and the land itself resists all but the most prepared, lies the Order’s primary settlement, called the home base. It is a growing city of stone, crystal, and ice where available, shaped by claw, paws, and will rather than by any modern hand. Built against the base of a vast, formidable mountain, the settlement spreads both across the open tundra and into the mountain itself, with homes, the Academy, and other essential structures carved into the stone when needed, while larger communal spaces remain above ground.
Deep within the mountain lies a hidden tunnel known only to members of the Order: the resting place of the oathstones. Here, hundreds of crystals shimmer in a spectrum of colors, each one waiting to be etched by their bearers' Second Oath. Once chosen, each stone is carefully shaped in the deep forging caverns, then bound with the vow it will hold for life. Within these same caverns lies the only known source of lava in the nearby vicinity, its origin unknown but long since integrated into the work of the Order’s blacksmiths and stoneworkers.
Smaller settlements can be found scattered across the Icelands and beyond, often founded by families or Companies who wish to continue the Order’s way of life while remaining closer to their origins. These settlements vary depending on region, climate, and the Company that established them, but all remain bound to the Order’s shared structure. They report back to the central settlement and may be returned to freely by any member, as all territory within the Order remains open to those sworn under the First Oath.
✥ Biome: North Icelands (with a few smaller branches scattered everywhere).
✥ Weather: Cold, frigid, but consistent. Smaller branches will have varying weather patterns to observe. Quote: 「Protection」 The Order’s main home is protected both by the harshness of the North Icelands and by deliberate design, shaped through the careful work of paw and claw. Continuous effort is devoted to maintaining and reinforcing its defenses, with each generation strengthening what came before as the Order grows in age and experience.
✥ The Frozen Wall: Built from stacked stone, timber, and packed ice, the Outer Wall encircles the open tundra settlement of the Order. It ensures that all arrivals are seen before they reach either the town or the mountain itself. The main gate is reinforced with a simple but reliable drawbridge system, constructed with the aid of smaller, more agile members of the Order.
✥ North and South Watch: Two watchtowers stand at opposite ends of the Outer Wall — one to the north near the mountain’s base, and one to the south overlooking the gate. Guards rotate regularly between them, maintaining constant vigilance over the surrounding tundra. Quote: 「The Outer Commons」 Within the Frozen Wall lies the Outer Commons, accessible immediately beyond the main gate. It serves as the Order’s communal exterior space, where daily life, trade, and gathering are encouraged under open sky before the road continues inward toward the mountain.
✥ Exchange Row: A trading strip located just beyond the gate. Here, market stalls and services offer goods, repairs, crafting, and general trade for both members and visitors.
✥ Festival Grounds: A wide circular gathering space used for seasonal festivals, ceremonies, and communal events. In the absence of celebration, it serves as a training ground for sparring and public gatherings.
✥ The Notice Post: A board built from timber; postings painted on leaves and fabrics can be found here. Company departures, calls for aid, or even missing persons requests can appear here. The board is kept up to date, noting anything important that must be seen by as many eyes as possible.
✥ The Snowgardens: Carefully maintained cultivated plots where hardy herbs and non-native plants are grown under controlled conditions. Entry is regulated, and the gardens are treated with respect; disturbances are discouraged, especially among younger members.
✥ The Hearth Circle: A permanently maintained communal hearth situated near the Festival Grounds. It provides warmth during the harsh cold and serves as a constant gathering point for conversation and rest.
✥ The Melting Baths: Heated using a combination of controlled mountain runoff and the fires of the Hearth Circle, these communal baths provide a place for rest and recovery. Pools vary in size to accommodate both individuals and larger groups, offering warmth and reprieve from the harsh cold of the Icelands.
✥ Traveler's Rest: A connected set of lodgings positioned near the district’s center, offering shelter to visitors, traders, and newly arrived members before they are formally integrated into the Order. Quote: 「The Stone Road」✥ Stonevein Road: A long, stone-paved road that runs from the Outer Commons and leads directly into the heart of the mountain. It serves as the primary route between the surface district and the Order's inner halls. Quote: 「The Mountain Entrance」 Massive and constantly being carved deeper as the Order expands, the mountain serves as both shelter and foundation for the most sensitive and private areas of the settlement, while offering stone-clad protection from the elements. It is rich in unique minerals and illuminated almost entirely by touchstones — glowing stones that activate upon contact and remain lit for hours.
There is only one commonly known entrance into the mountain: the Hall of Oaths. From here, the structure opens inward into a vast, expanding interior, while those entrusted with the Order’s safety know of smaller, concealed entry and exit points used for movement and defense.
✥ Hall of Oaths: The main entry chamber at the base of the mountain, formed as a long carved passage lined with the names of the Order and their sworn oaths. Every member of the Order inscribes their name and Second Oath into the stone, ensuring that all who pass through are surrounded by the promises of those who came before.
✥ Ceremony Chamber: Beyond the Hall of Oaths, the passage widens and opens into a great central chamber. This space serves as the heart of communal gathering, used for feasts, celebrations, and large-scale meetings. From here, numerous tunnel branches extend outward into the deeper mountain, connecting to the Order’s inner districts and allowing passage between both surface and subterranean regions. Quote: 「The Veins」 Beyond the Ceremony Chamber the mountain opens into an expansive network of carved halls and natural caverns called the Veins, each dedicated to a different aspect of life within the Order. Touchstones line the primary passages, offering a gentle glow when traveled, while private residences and workshops often supplement them with their own lanterns and torches.
✥ The Hearthwarrens: The center of the Order's culinary life. Here lie the communal kitchens, food stores, smokehouses, pantries, and preparation halls that keep the settlement fed.
✥ The Dwelling Burrows: The primary residential district of the mountain. Countless tunnels branch into family homes, shared residences, private alcoves, and quiet gathering spaces. The Burrows are divided into the Low Wards, home to civilians and families, and the High Wards, where knights, guards, and other martial members reside closer to the mountain's hidden exits.
✥ The Heart Caverns: Widely regarded as the spiritual heart of the Order, these twisting caverns are rich with oathstone crystal and pockets of naturally occurring lava. Here, oathstones are chosen, carved, and prepared to receive the vows of their future bearers, while nearby crystal chambers allow new formations to grow undisturbed. Tucked quietly among the caverns is a simple meditation chamber, where members may sit in silence among the unclaimed oathstones before reflecting upon the promises they have made — or those they have yet to make.
✥ The Forge Galleries: Fed by carefully contained lava flows, the Forge Galleries house the Order's smiths, stoneworkers, and craftspeople. Weapons, armor, tools, and everyday necessities are all forged here, ensuring the settlement remains as self-sufficient as possible.
✥ The Company Gate: A sprawling district where the Order's Companies establish their headquarters. Each Company maintains its own meeting hall, communal quarters, equipment stores, and planning rooms. At the entrance to the district sits the Gatehouse, where knights may seek assignments, learn which Companies are seeking new members, or receive news from those returning from their Charges.
— Every knight leaving to answer a Charge walks beneath the same stone archway. Those returning pass beneath it once more before reporting to the Order. Over time it became known simply as the Company Gate, for every Company leaves through it, and every Company hopes to return through it. Quote: 「The Academy」 Connected by a narrow tunnel beyond the Ceremony Chamber, the passage opens into a vast cavern whose ceiling seems to disappear into darkness. Every creature wishing to join the Order, whether young or old, begins their journey within the Academy. Those ready to begin their apprenticeship are called the Unsworn — a title they hold until their initiation is complete.
Here, Unsworn learn not only the history, customs, and expectations of the Order, but also the practical skills needed to serve the community. Over the course of their apprenticeship, each individual is encouraged to experience many facets of Order life before discovering the calling that best aligns with both their talents and their values.
✥ Instruction Halls: Much like the Veins branching from the Ceremony Chamber, the Academy's corridors spread from the central entry into dedicated classrooms of learning. Current subjects include: History, Law, Etiquette, Diplomacy, First Aid, Survival, Literacy. All hopeful Unsworn will attend these classes on a schedule, usually separated by age groups.
✥ Training Grounds: Combat isn't the only focus on the Training Grounds. It is here where Unsworn will further develop their skills through weapon practice, sparring, rescue techniques, endurance, and teamwork. There is talk of constructing an obstacle course for yearly athletic competitions, should there be enough interested participants.
✥ Workshops: Unsworn will rotate through established workshops meant to show all walks of life in the Order. Unsworn are required to partake in at least three, spending two weeks in each, before choosing the path they wish to follow within the Order. Workshops vary by availability and are intended to cover all aspects of living in the Order. Common workshops include helping in the Hearthwarrens, assisting healers, shadowing blacksmiths, accompanying archivists, aiding Companies, tending the Snowgardens, preparing food, and other broad skills.
— It can be assumed that there is a workshop for each specific rank's skill, and players may loosely write about these experiences without needing the specific titles of these workshops.
✥ Oath Hall: No words spoken within the Oath Hall are considered casual, and tradition holds that every promise uttered beneath its ceiling carries the weight of the mountain itself. Reserved for Unsworn ready to receive their title and swear their Second Oath, the chamber is kept small, private, and illuminated only by carefully placed touchstones. Accompanied by their mentor and greeted by members of the High Council, each Unsworn swears their personal oath upon an oathstone, inscribes a personal rune to seal their vow, declares the role they wish to fulfill within the Order, and is then led to the Hall of Oaths to carve their name and oath into the mountain alongside those who came before. Quote: 「The Archivum of Vows」 Deep within the mountain lies the Archivum of Vows, a sacred network of caverns dedicated to preserving the Order's history. Records of past oaths, Company histories, legal disputes, sworn agreements, maps, and countless other documents are safeguarded here, protected by winding passages that only the Archivists fully understand. The Crystal Library is the only area readily accessible to the public, while the deeper reaches of the Archivum remain reserved for the Archivists alone.
✥ The Crystal Library: The heart of the Archivum, the Crystal Library is a magnificent cavern carved almost entirely from crystal. Shelves rise naturally from the stone itself, filled with thick tomes bound in a variety of materials and containing knowledge available to all members of the Order. More sensitive records are kept deeper within the Archivum, hidden amongst its labyrinthine passages and entrusted only to the care of the Archivists.
— Though much of the library may be borrowed, a select few volumes are never permitted to leave its halls. These include The Book of the Fallen, recording the names and oaths of every departed member; The Complete History of the Order of the First Oath, an ever-growing chronicle of the Order's past and present; and The Shattered Oaths, documenting those whose oathstones were broken and the vows they failed to uphold. The Shattered Oaths is not kept to mock the fallen, but to instead remind future generations that even the strongest intentions must be upheld through dedication and action.
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Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2026 2:40 pm
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Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2026 2:44 pm
words Quote: 「The First Calling and Apprenticeship」
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Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2026 2:46 pm
traditions
my least favorite thing to type up, come back to this at the end after i claw my eyes out
- possibly have a game to help flesh out?
[OATHSWEARING]
[OATHSTONE CEREMONY "find notes on better name"]
[NAME SHEDDING]
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Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2026 2:49 pm
history
[CURRENT HAPPENINGS]
- Freya is still unsure why it seems that many new paws in her life think she's the one fit to lead the order, but a part of her claws for a chance to prove herself worthy of their honorable mentions. Lots of development in the inner caves is underway, and order is being established where needed.
- A party is being formed to take on a mission to rescue a known captive in the grasslands, with the hope that it can be done peacefully, if possible. It's... going to be a whole thing, eventually.
[FREYA'S ORIGINAL JOURNEY]
[THE FOUNDING MEMBERS]
[CREATION]
[THE FIRST MISSION]
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Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2026 2:51 pm
ranks
wouldn't you like to know
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Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2026 2:53 pm
promotions
do good. be good. get recognized and rewarded. yay
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Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2026 2:54 pm
seasonal prompt
yes i know crows has it, and so will starborne tbh, but not until they have Their Own Forums. it's too messy to track otherwise.
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Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2026 2:55 pm
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Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2026 2:56 pm
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Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2026 2:58 pm
relations
allies
acquaintances
- the crows: they vaguely know of them, of course. there's feelings about the pack, but it'd cause too much suffering for those innocent to directly tackle them. currently, the order is not a fan of the flock, but what can you do, y'know?
- that's a trick question -- there's plenty to do and not an entirely 0% chance of a squirmish someday
enemies
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Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2026 3:02 pm
lingo
[expressions]
- i had a bunch planned but i didn't write them down, which is my fault. i've had ADD my entire life, and yet here I am, doing the stupid
[terms]
- oathsworn: swear sworn oath swear
- cracked oath: bad stinky judgment hm :<
- bloodoath: how many times can i say oath before it's not a word
- oathbreaker: swear oath broke oath bad ew gross shame begone
[other]
- HAHA, sigh
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Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2026 3:03 pm
forms
siGH WE ALL HATE FORMS but alas, necessary. enjoy.
[joining as an outsider]
[breedings]
[joining as a prisoner]
[rank change]
[promotion]
[party forming]
[leaving]
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Reply
