Are their any official products that say who the Master of Obedience, their Emperor, is and any information on him/her?
I hear that their Capital City, Hesuel Illshar, is on a plateau surrounded by dozens of fortresses at the top. Why is most of their food shipped up to the capital, and why of all places a plateau? What is their capital city like?
Will, in any module, will their Empire be brought down?
I want to know more about the culture of the Scarlet Brotherhood. What names and surnames do they have? How is their currency different from the rest of the Flaneass?
There was a supplement called The Scarlet Brotherhood that answered these questions. They don't have surnames, except for Korenth Zan. Mostly they're named after former WotC designers (for example, Foster Uncle Pramas).
I can't find any ruling on the currency. If there isn't any official name, I suggest gold pieces be called purities or xerbos.
Why do they ridicule Suloise that aren't Pure-blooded
They're racists, by and large. They believe in the superiority of the pure Suel line.
In Red Tide, a player said that in order to get more slaves, sometimes they have children with the slaves, despite the fact that they aren't Pure-Blooded? I thought they hated Suloise blood mixing with others.
Slavery is seen as a very good use for half-breeds. Because they aren't pure-blooded, they aren't deserving of citizenship. When you hate something, enslaving it is a very effective method of taking out your frustrations.
Are their any official products that say who the Master of Obedience, their Emperor, is and any information on him/her?
There was a full profile of him in the Greyhawk Adventures hardcover way back when (1988). He's also mentioned in The Scarlet Brotherhood accessory. His name is Korenth Zan. In 1st edition, he was said to be a 16th level monk. The Scarlet Brotherhood said he's a 17th level monk by now. He's kind of crazy and paranoid.
Why is most of their food shipped up to the capital, and why of all places a plateau?
It was originally a monastery maintained by a secret order of fanatics. It didn't become the capital until those fanatics took over the penninsula. Or maybe I'm confused. The Brotherhood itself traces their origin back a thousand years or so to the destruction of the Suel Imperium.
Because Hesuel Ilshar has little resources of its own, to maintain the bureaucratic apparatus of the government and all the assassins, monks, wizards, and rogues based there, a lot of food needs to be shipped from the plains. The rain falls on the plain, mainly.
Keeping the capital on the plateau is useful for defensive reasons, as suits the Brotherhood's paranoid and secretive outlook. A secret location on a steep, barren, plateau is very easy to defend.
The city has a lot of temples to the Suel gods, government ministries, and magically engineered slaves.
Will, in any module, will their Empire be brought down?
I doubt it.
The Brotherhood itself was founded in the final years of the Bakluni-Suel wars as a way to safeguard pure Suloise tradition. This tradition continued when the refugees made their way to the Tilvanot peninsula, but bitter infighting plagued the tempestuous Suel for many years. In 489 CY, unification came from a strange source when an unusual people descended upon Suloise settlements bearing a strange resemblence to the Bakluni (oriental in fact). Irith Van, then the leader of the Scarlet Brotherhood sent scouts to secretly meet with the group and form an alliance with them, having seen their unique fighting style (they were called monks because of their ascetic doctrines). Desiring the benefits of an alliance but not desiring to admit to cooperation with "impurities", Irith ordered the construction of a new fortress to serve as the headquarters of the Scarlet Brotherhood. It was called Hesuel Ilshar, which in Ancient Suloise means Breedhome of the Suloise. The entire episode of the incursion was expunged from history and the presence of the monks was a closely guarded secret forgotten to the ages. In Fate of Istus, the city was the site of a climactic conclusion to a campaign that took the PCs to the width and breadth of the Flanaess. At the end, a portal was opened back to Kara-Tur (the original homeland of the monks) through which many of the orientals passed. The option was made available to continue as an oriental campaign if the PCs passed through or for them to remain and continue their adventures in the Flanaess. Basically, Hesuel Ilshar is pure once again, but the martial artist heritage was originally learned from the oriental monks.
One thing rip said that isn't entirely correct is the thing about the temples. According to Fate of Istus "There are no temples to the deities in Hesuel Ilshar, only a few small shrines to the lawful, neutral, and evil members of the Suel pantheon. The Brotherhood does not encourage observance of these deities, except as an expression of Suel culture..." Scarlet Brotherhood agrees basically with this mindset, although I believe there is the occassional reference to the presence of a temple to a Suloise god on the Tilvanot Peninsula, if not in Hesuel Ilshar itself. Some people also don't like including Fate of Istus as an incredibly accurate canon source, but my experience is that it is merely light on details and possibly commits error by omission, but is not necessarily incorrect.
The Brotherhood itself was founded in the final years of the Bakluni-Suel wars as a way to safeguard pure Suloise tradition. This tradition continued when the refugees made their way to the Tilvanot peninsula, but bitter infighting plagued the tempestuous Suel for many years. In 489 CY, unification came from a strange source when an unusual people descended upon Suloise settlements bearing a strange resemblence to the Bakluni (oriental in fact). Irith Van, then the leader of the Scarlet Brotherhood sent scouts to secretly meet with the group and form an alliance with them, having seen their unique fighting style (they were called monks because of their ascetic doctrines). Desiring the benefits of an alliance but not desiring to admit to cooperation with "impurities", Irith ordered the construction of a new fortress to serve as the headquarters of the Scarlet Brotherhood. It was called Hesuel Ilshar, which in Ancient Suloise means Breedhome of the Suloise. The entire episode of the incursion was expunged from history and the presence of the monks was a closely guarded secret forgotten to the ages. In Fate of Istus, the city was the site of a climactic conclusion to a campaign that took the PCs to the width and breadth of the Flanaess. At the end, a portal was opened back to Kara-Tur (the original homeland of the monks) through which many of the orientals passed. The option was made available to continue as an oriental campaign if the PCs passed through or for them to remain and continue their adventures in the Flanaess. Basically, Hesuel Ilshar is pure once again, but the martial artist heritage was originally learned from the oriental monks.
One thing rip said that isn't entirely correct is the thing about the temples. According to Fate of Istus "There are no temples to the deities in Hesuel Ilshar, only a few small shrines to the lawful, neutral, and evil members of the Suel pantheon. The Brotherhood does not encourage observance of these deities, except as an expression of Suel culture..." Scarlet Brotherhood agrees basically with this mindset, although I believe there is the occassional reference to the presence of a temple to a Suloise god on the Tilvanot Peninsula, if not in Hesuel Ilshar itself. Some people also don't like including Fate of Istus as an incredibly accurate canon source, but my experience is that it is merely light on details and possibly commits error by omission, but is not necessarily incorrect.
Weeeell - not quite.
A lot of what you've presented here is based on Fate of Istus, in which the presentation of Hesuel Ilshar as a rectilinear grid (and all this Kara Tur, oriental monks disappearing nonsense) is, quite frankly, appalling IMO. A far more realistic and imaginative take on the city is given in Sean Reynolds' Scarlet Brotherhood sourcebook, I think.
Though FoI has some great background on several Flanaessi cities, its whole underlying premise is pretty weak - explaining the loss of certain PC classes between 1st Ed and 2nd Ed - kind of like the Time of Troubles for the Flanaess - all in all an object lesson in why rule mechanics should never impinge on the fabric of setting background.
FoI has been the source of many a canon battle. The best way (IMO) to resolve the starkly different visions of FoI and tSB is to assume that much of the detail on Hesuel Ilshar in FoI is SB disinformation (especially if it's silly).
In tSB sourcebook, Hesuel Ilshar is presented as a large city, laid out on a roughly radial plan, with large monumental buildings including temples and the like. It was founded soon after the Suel arrived in the Tilvanot after the Rain of Colourless Fire and so is an ancient city - one of the oldest in the Flanaess. As for religion, the SB revere the Suel pantheon and especially: Syrul, Pyremius, Wee Jas, Bralm and Kord (IIRC).
The Kara Tur portal idea for why the SB have monks is also pretty weak IMO. A better explanation is that such disciplines either arose among the Suel in the days of the Imperium (hence the SB's devotion to them) or they were imported from the West (Celestial Empire perhaps?) in the early days of the Imperium and were subsequently assimilated in to Sueloise culture to such a point that by the latter days of the Imperium, when the SB was founded, these disciplines were regarded as being a Suloise invention (they were rather arrogant, those imperial Suel; the SB doubly so).
That's my opinion on it, though I'm certain YMMV.
P.
As for monks, an even better solution would be to remove the Asian mythical overlay from the whole concept, and just treat them as people who fight with their bare hands. Not to dump on the Asian unarmed marital arts, which would be rather silly for me, but Europeans, and others, knew how to fight barehanded, and developed systems to train and practice such. Thinking that a monk has to be Shaolin Master of Death, or whatever HKAT type concept you prefer, is a needless limitation of development.
I myself favor treating the whole thing as an arcane alternative, similar to sorcerors, and taking inspiration from the Mystics of Nog in the Complete Sha'ir's Handbook for the Al-Qadim setting. While terms like "ki" still lurk about, it becomes a lot easier to use the class.
Monks aren't featured in my Greyhawk game, but I always assumed the SB(also not much featured) were from 'lands to the east', ie some place exotic enough culturally to justify the existence of asian style monks and middle eastern assassins.
What does the original folio say about the Scarlet Brotherhood, are martial arts mentioned there?
Concerning the martial arts, I have the WoG Folio (TSR 9025). Each realm has its paragraphs. The SB one is fairly short. The SB do not read as Asian.
The leader is The "Father of Obedience (Master of Autumn)" (No actual names were given in the original folio, just title, class and levels).
The Scarlet Brotherhood is said to be "an order of monastic religious militarists was founded long ago on the remote plateau south of the closed city of Kro Terlep."
Thieves are at the bottom of the government/command structure, then assassins, then the monks.
"The temple and monastery of the Scarlet Brotherhood is supposedly a fortress and walled town unto itself, guarded by soldiers, humanoid legions which are being readied for future conquest, and monsters trained to serve the Brotherhood."
That's it. I cut out the parts about Suel supremacy and their then (576 CY) current plans.
The WoG Boxed Set repeats the text almost to the word.
You can get a copy of the old stuff at rpgnow.com
As for religion, the SB revere the Suel pantheon and especially: Syrul, Pyremius, Wee Jas, Bralm and Kord (IIRC).
Bralm, Pyremius, Syrul, and Wee Jas. Kord is listed as a minor god (even though he's one of the most popular Suel gods in the Flanaess as a whole). Llerg is listed as a major god, but only in the southern jungles rather than the Tilvanot.
I dislike the Kara-Tur connection as well, and I'm pretty sure it was officially decanonized, back when that meant something.
Within Oerik, fighting-monks are part of both Baklunish and ancient Suloise culture, and that works fine.
On the other hand, Artifact of Evil revealed that it's He Who Sleeps Unbreakably that the Scarlet Brotherhood serves.
Yeah - tSB sourcebook kind of kludges this issue a bit. It says that the whole Scarlet Brotherhood worship Tharizdun angle (from Artifact of Evil and FtA) is a big piece of disinformation designed to scare the daylights out of everyone else. Since the SB is based on rigid law and order with the ultimate goal of restoring the Suel Imperium, the idea of Big T's absolute entropy (not to mention the small matter of the probable end of the world) is anathema to them.
However, in a bit of double bluff, there is actually a secret cabal within the Brotherhood's ranks who DO worship Tharizdun - the Black Brotherhood. How influential this group is has never been truely detailed, but there's a lot of scope for wheels within wheels/the secret puppetmasters being puppets of even more secret puppetmasters kind of angle here.
P.
So far, my players have run into agents from the Brotherhood many times but they believe they were all *true* SB members while fully half of those they met were from the BB sect. They are just beginning to understand the difference from clues they gathered in the Underoerth. If anything, it has made them even more paranoiac!
If anything, it has made them even more paranoiac!
Yay! I learned a new word for crazy people!
Does anyone use the Scarlet Brotherhood actively in their campaigns? If so, how? I've sure used them in different guises for other worlds/games - they make a great adversary.
The best way to use them is not to use them - overtly anyway. NPCs get assassinated, plots are hatched and mature - the PCs deal with the patsys (ambitious noblemen, disguntled younger siblings, religious fanatics, mercs etc) but never seem to be able to get to the Big Bads. And never, ever is there a blonde guy in Scarlet robes with a Scarlet Sign tattoo (unless it suits the Brotherhood to want the PCs to be paranoid about the Brotherhood). The revelation of that the Scarlet Brotherhood is behind things should be waaaaay down the line plot wise, a major twist/revelation.
Wheels within Wheels...
P.
I mainly deal with the SB wit their organizations: the Crescent League and the Iron Ring.
The Crescent League is from “Hidden Agendas,” Dragon Magazine #256 (Feb. 1999). They used to work for the SB and are trying to get back into the fold. The PCs ran into them because many of them are presently working for the Iron Ring.
The Iron Ring is a slaver organization from the adventure Night's Dark Terror, one of the first adventures I ran for the group when I moved to Ohio. I established them as a slaver organization (placing the adventure in Geoff before the Greyhawk Wars) and later placed their main base of operations in the southeastern Sea Princes. The Iron Ring is (secretly in my campaign) working for the SB though this fact is only known by a few of the higher-placed Masters of the Iron Ring.
The PCs have mostly dealt with the Iron Ring (rescuing my wife's PC's long-lost father from them) and the Crescent League (who are presently working for the Iron Ring).
PS - I've taken the Psychic Rogue class and Psychic Assassin PrC and made them into a similar hierarchical structure for the Black Brotherhood as found in the Scarlet Brotherhood. I then determined the Crimson Blades and Scarlet Fists to be the Scarlet Brotherhood's means to combat the Black Brotherhood. Making the Black Brotherhood a psionic counterpart of the Scarlet Brotherhood fits well with Tharizdun's theme of dreams, force, etc.
Does anyone use the Scarlet Brotherhood actively in their campaigns? If so, how? I've sure used them in different guises for other worlds/games - they make a great adversary.
In our campaign the Scarlet brotherhood is our enemy, we are using 1e rules but 3/3.5 campaign material. It's turning out to be interesting.
~Gwenfloor