The Walkers

The Wold is filled with violence, hatred and death. But there are those that would face the dark heart of the Wold and offer a simple promise: hope. The Walkers travel the land, spreading a message of peace and love to all who will listen.

Membership Requirements:

Class: At least one level of Monk

Level: Any

Race: Any

Alignment: Lawful Good

Deity: The Walkers follow Flower and Alemi.

Deed: A prospective candidate, having befriended an existing Walker, must impress them with personal qualities such as calm, compassion, diplomacy, pacifism and an unquenchable desire to help others. If the Walker is convinced that the candidate is suitable, the offer to join is a simple one: "Walk with me, my brother."

Oath: None

Fee: None

Background:

Sphere of Influence: The Walkers are nomadic by nature. National boundaries mean nothing to them; they simply go where they are needed, or where their heart takes them.

Ethos: "Peace and Love to you my Brother". The Walkers walk the Wold spreading their message, turning those they can from the path of violence, and defending the helpless. The act of travelling is holy to a Walker, the journey representing a mortal's journey through life.

History: According to the secret Lore of the Walkers, which has been passed down by word of mouth from one Walker to another over many centuries, the first Walkers were a group of six disciples of great Alemi himself while he was still mortal. The tradition has been passed on to this day, when at best guess there are several hundred Walkers in the Wold.

Organisation:

There is no formal structure to the Walkers. There are no leaders, followers, apprentices or governing bodies. Walkers are bound by a common philosophy and unity of purpose, not by rules. If any sort of hierarchy exists it is based upon seniority and the respect the young pay the old. Large gatherings in times of great crisis have been known, but they are very rare.

However, fate often brings Walkers together in their travels, and at these meetings Walkers exchange varied deep pieces of lore about the Wold (and the places beyond the Wold).

When people join the Walkers they renounce all their Woldly goods, keeping only that which they can carry on their journey. Everything else they sell, usually donating the proceeds to the Church.

Walkers believe that it is possible to grow closer to divine purity through the practice of peace, love and the mental discipline of the Unending Pilgrimage. Consequently they may inflict only subdual damage to living creatures. A Walker who knowingly inflicts normal damage may no longer call himself Walker or enjoy the benefits of that organization without first completing a month's period of atonement.

Walkers have close ties with clerics of Alemi and Flower, and particularly with the Server and Healer Prestige Classes. It is not uncommon to find Walkers in their company, serving as protectors, guides or simply travelling companions. Indeed, many Walkers take levels in these classes (see Benefits). They are also often found with adventuring groups, attempting to act as a force for peace not only with their enemies, but with their companions also.

Headquarters: "The winding road is my home, the path my destination" (Walkers Lore proverb). Walkers have no homeland or base of operations. Theirs is a nomadic existence, from the day they find the Path to the day they die.

Politics: Walkers do not band together, and so have no coherent politics. They are merely a force for good in the Wold, and looked upon with a mixture of respect and amusement by the Wold at large.

Benefits:

Special: No Walker joins for such base motives as prestige, and it is certainly not a path to wealth. The calling to the open road is a difficult one, and many falter along the way.

But for those whose faith is strong and whose hearts are pure, there are rewards to be had.

Walkers are unique in that the Monks who walk the path are able to freely multiclass between Monk and Cleric (Flower or Alemi only), and the Healer and Server Prestige Classes (providing they meet the entrance requirements).

Walkers know about many places in the Wold, and they learn more easily. All Walkers gain Knowledge (Geography) as a class skill. All walkers also gain four free ranks in Knowledge (Geography) when they become Walkers (although total ranks cannot exceed 3+character level, as with all skills).

Walkers are the only people in the Wold who may take the Horizon Walker prestige class in the DMG. However, note the following changes in the PrC:

• (1) All competence bonuses gained through Terrain Mastery or Planar Terrain Master are in fact insight bonuses instead.
• (2) At sixth level the Horizon Walker gains the spell like ability to cast Plane Shift once per day, but only to planes in which the Walker has taken Planar Terrain Mastery.