On Ordinators

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alex25
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On Ordinators

Post by alex25 »

On Ordinators

Introduction:
The Ordinators are the holy warriors and guards of the Temple, pious mer that are sworn to uphold the Laws Ordained, protect the Faith and fight the enemies of the Tribunal. However they should not be viewed as mere soldiers, for like all other members of Temple they both teach through their actions and lead the faithful by example.

Ordinators are both part of the Temple and set apart from it, just as the Hortator is set apart from the Houses. This was ordained by the Holy Tribunal in the days after Red Mountain, after the death of Nerevar when Saint Olms, may his name be forever blessed, went before the Three and said: "Woe upon us for the Hortator is dead and Resdayn is laid bare against its foes." The Almsivi heard their plea and said in one voice: "Go and gather all those who held Nerevar close to their hearts, for as long as there are mer willing to lay their lives down for His dream Resdayn shall not falter." So Saint Olms went amongst the troops and gathered warriors from all Houses, of both noble and of lower birth, united only by valor and piety. Upon seeing this the Three who are One showed themselves in their full glory and said: "As you keep Nerevar in your hearts so shall you keep order amongst the Dunmer. The face of the Hortator you shall wear, His valor you shall have and like Him you shall walk." Since that day the Ordinators have been the faithful keepers of Nerevar's legacy through their deeds.


Organisation:
As written in the Gospel Of Saint Olms, the Anticipation Boethiah told the Chimer: "Divide ye like your enemies." Thus the Ordinators are divided into Four Orders, one facing each of the Four Corners of the House of Troubles. The threats were themselves divided by the first Alma Rula, Saint Olms the Just, first by origin into internal and external threats and then by type into physical and spiritual. As such:



The Order of War fights against threats external and physical: outlanders, Daedric summonings and the unholy forces of the Sharmat. They are in opposition with the Rebel Daedra Malacath for it is he who encourages war against the Dunmer.

The Order of Watch defends against threats internal and physical: murder, theft, rebellion and all other ordinary lawbreaking. They are in opposition with the Daedra Molag Bal for it is he who spreads strife, discord and lust for power amongst the people.

The Order of Inquisition defends against threats internal and spiritual: heretics, dissidents and madmen. They are in opposition with the Daedra Sheogorath for it is he who buries madness and unclean thoughts amongst the minds of the faithful.

The Order of Doctrine and Ordination defends against threats external and spiritual: heretical books, ideas and teachings. They are in opposition with the Daedra Mehrunes Dagon for it is he who brings uncertainty, despair and destruction.

The leader of all the Ordinators and the most senior of all Temple officials is the Alma Rula, who answers only to the Holy Tribunal. The first Alma Rula was Saint Olms (blessed be his name) and since him many other worthy mer have held the title. Next in rank are the four Archmasters, each leading one of the Orders. Bellow them are the Masters (or in certain special cases Grandmasters) who command the various forces.

Two groups deserve special mention: the High Ordinators and the Ordinators in Mourning. The High Ordinators are the few Ordinators that have the honor of being stationed in Mournhold-Almalexia, under the direct command of the Alma Rula. They are chosen during a number of grueling trials and wear special weapons and armor that have been blessed by the touch of the Goddess Almalexia. The Ordinators of Mourning are the Guard of the Holy City of Necrom. These Ordinators stationed here do not belong only to the Order of Watch but are drawn from all the Orders as a reward for their faithful service.

Recent events:

In recent times the Sharmat and the Sixth House are the greatest threats to the people of Morrowind. As such most War Ordinators are stationed near Red Mountain to fight the unholy forces and prevent any Corprus-infested monsters from escaping. Unfortunately this has allowed a resurgence amongst Daedric cults in the more remote areas of Morrowind. The large number of outlanders coming into Morrowind is also a problem as many of them are prone to thievery, heresy and other uncivilized behavior. Even worse their disdain of local customs incites much unrest, although the ever vigilant Watch Ordinators have, thus far, dealt with all problems of importance. The Order of Inquisition has brought most if not all of the so called 'dissident priests' to justice and while the influx of foreigners have brought many works of dubious value the Order of Doctrine and Ordination has found few truly heretical works, although we advise Dunmer to avoid reading outlander works that have not yet been approved by our order and bear in mind that even works that have been deemed harmless have very little value.
Last edited by alex25 on Tue Dec 31, 2013 5:55 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Gnomey
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Re: On Ordinators

Post by Gnomey »

First, a few small errors I noticed:
alex25 wrote:"Voe upon us for the Hortator is dead and Resdayn is laid bare against its foes."
"Woe upon us [...]"
alex25 wrote:"Go and gather all those who held Nerevar close to their hearts for as long as there are mer willing to lay their lives down for His dream Resdayn shall not falter."
"Go and gather all those who held Nerevar close to their hearts, for as long as there are mer willing to lay their lives down for His dream Resdayn shall not falter."
(The comma; it's sort of easy to miss)
alex25 wrote:Next in rank are the four Archmaster, each leading one of the Orders.
Next in rank are the four Archmasters


You could make mention of the "Elite Ordinators" who appear in Ald Daedroth.

I find it odd that, with several mentions of Nerevar and the Tribunal, St. Olms is the only one to get the "may his name be forever blessed" treatment. It gave me the impression that the author was part of St. Olms' minor House or something, which isn't a bad thought, but at least the Tribunal should probably get a little more attention from the author.
Edit: on the topic of titles and such, I'm not sure if Nerevar should be getting the capitalized "His" treatment.

I like the overall text and how the ties to Nerevar are handled. You could mention the Alma Rula and perhaps one or two other important figures by name, and maybe give the year of publication, to go along with the "recent events", and you could elaborate more on the Ordinators in Mourning, specifically the symbolism behind their appearance. Neither point is very important to the text, though.

I'm not sure whether the author should be so forward about the threats facing Morrowind, though, specifically the Sixth House. It's been too long since I properly played Morrowind, but I'm pretty sure the Temple kept a tight lid on Sixth House activity. I'd go with more generic mentions of Corprus beasts and Blight storms. I'd consider putting more focus on heretics, including the dissident priests.
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Yeti
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Post by Yeti »

Do we really need more literature about the Ordinators? Besides them already receiving a ton of attention at TR and the community in general, a lot of this text feels like a repetition of information we already know about from the game.

Also, I could of sworn someone already wrote a book about this around here...

Edit: Found it. Chin Music wrote a [url=http://tamriel-rebuilt.org/old_forum/viewtopic.php?t=21182&highlight=ordinators]an Ordinator guidebook[/url] back in 2008 that was never added to Data. Yours is obviously superior, alex, but I still can't help but feel there are a lot of topics more deserving of the book treatment than this.
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alex25
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Post by alex25 »

I'd say that Ordinators are interesting as a topic partly because they receive lots of attention (also I'm currently doing an Ordinator int which is why this was written in the first place). Also we really don't have enough temple books- I'm finding it hard to clutter the massive Almalexia temple ints without being repetitive.

In regards with the other stuff- the obvious errors have been fix and I'll try to add some new stuff on the Ordinators in mourning. Do we know who the current Alma Rula is? I'd love to add more info on him and current Indoril related events but I know very little about this stuff. Also the i've always thought the Ald DAedroth ordinators are just simple war ordinators who didn't wear armour because they had to travel by boat and didn't want to drown. Any lore on them?
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Post by Aeven »

In my opinion we do need this book, even if only for the Ordinator complex in Almalexia.
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Post by gro-Dhal »

I think that the last thing an Ordinator int needs is a guide to the Ordinators. This is stuff they should know already.

Some lateral thinking may be required. A book about combat techniques using Ordinator equipment? A roster of notable Ordinator achievements/deaths? A battle prayer specific to the organisation? That sort of thing.
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alex25
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Post by alex25 »

I'll also add a few interior specific books and notes for the Ordinator fortress. This guide would also be valuable for some other temple related ints and would fit well since its meant to be written by the Order of Doctrine.
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Yeti
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Post by Yeti »

alex25 wrote:Also we really don't have enough temple books
Counting our Saint Sermons and all the vanilla-related Temple books (they don't call them the 36 Lessons of Vivec for nothing), I'd say our selection of Temple literature is already pretty broad. I admit, however, that more variety is almost always a good thing.

If you're going to write a book about the Ordinators you pretty much have to approach it from a innovative perspective. They've been covered extensively in the game already, making it difficult to write about them without being repetitive. Our books should be focused on building lore, not summarizing lore that already exists. This is why I just don't think a general overview of the Ordinators can work as an in-game book.

I definitely think parts of your current text have potential. The religious references you've worked in are especially fitting. What you need, in mu opinion, is a more narrow topic. Something that hasn't been extensively covered before. For example, an Ordinator writing about his experience as a member of the Order of Doctrine and Ordination would show players a side of the Ordinators that hasn't been focused on in the game yet.
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Post by Gnomey »

alex25 wrote:Also the i've always thought the Ald DAedroth ordinators are just simple war ordinators who didn't wear armour because they had to travel by boat and didn't want to drown. Any lore on them?
I don't think so. Most of them are named, but there's at least one dead one in Ald Daedroth with the generic name "Dead Elite Ordinator", and they are also referred to as such in the CS. They might just literally be high level Ordinators, though. I don't think it's made clear whether their robes are part of their uniform or simply worn for practical purposes.

Edit: the problem with books is that actual libraries easily contain thousands of books. As such, when it comes to filling bookshelves in Morrowind, books will generally be lacking no matter what, and you either have to go with an odd mix of genres, a lot of copies of the same book or padding out the bookshelves with miscellany. That being said, the 36 Lessons of Vivec probably aren't the best example for the wealth of Temple literature; as skill books they probably shouldn't be present in most libraries in any great number.

Edit again: if we don't already have one, though, an outlander's guide to Ordinators might be a good idea, even considering TR's plentiful guidebooks. If I were a tourist in Morrowind, I'd probably want information on the masked law enforcement officials in gilt armour who mumble darkly every time I pass them.
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Post by Bero »

I really liked this book. I think we should have more books like yeti said though. And simillar book on buoyant armigers would be nice too.
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Re: A note on Naming

Post by Rats »

Well-written text, and after a few edits it should definitely be added.

Regarding the current Alma Rula; we do know that he is the brother of the head of House Indoril though I don't think we've quite agreed on his name (if you got something cool-sounding to suggest, shoot). Regarding the Alma Rula's position in a more general way, I always thought that one of his duties was to warm Ayem's bed every once in a while (one of the reason's they wear Nerevar's face).
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