Even More Monastic Wizards

This is part 3 of my current wizard bender.

part 1
part 2

Basically, nearly every wizard in Centerra belongs to a wizarding tradition.  Sometimes these are magical academies (big, powerful, political) but most of the time they are monastic enclaves (small, weird, traditional).  Here are 3 more monastic enclaves.

The Garden of Winding Paths

If you ever find yourself travelling through the scraggly, coniferous forests of southern Kaskala, you may find yourself entering an area where the stones are seem to be arranged and the trees healthy.  You are in the Garden of Winding Paths, the domain of the Silver Wizards.

Unlike other wizarding orders, the Silver Wizards actually train extensively with a single weapon: the quarterstaff.  Each wizard is given a single staff, made from dense, black wood and capped with steel.  Their symbol is a small, silver tipped nail that they hammer into their forehead, on top of the site of their third, spiritual eye.  They eschew robes, instead preferring to wear snug-fitting tunics and leggings of brown, green, and orange, patterned in large, bold squares.

They charge travelers a fee to pass through the Garden of Winding Paths.  Since going around the garden would be a large detour through less safe areas, most travelers will gladly pay the toll.

The Garden is the eternal work of the Silver Wizards.  For the last 150 years, they have been working to improve this section of the forest.  In some parts, this manipulation is more obvious than others, but the Silver Wizards have long favored a subtle touch.  Every tree that grows in their forest has been guided by their hand. Unwanted weeds have been banished.  Stray branches have been pruned. Sickly squirrels have been caught and groomed (or disposed of, if they are too mangy). Ponds have been excavated and stones have been moved dozens of miles and tastefully arranged in meadows.

The Silver Wizards believe in the beauty of natural chaos. Rugged hillsides.  Asymmetrical trees.  The graceful swell of a branch over a pond. They seek to carve this into the world around them, but also to impress it into their own souls.  Self-improvement through adversity and constant introspection.

Silver Wizards adventure to test themselves, but also to collect things for the Garden.  They are expected to send back rugged rocks and striking flora and fauna.  They are monetarily compensating for these things, of course.

Observances
- Must meditate each morning within sight of some natural beauty.  (Even some mold growing on a rock counts, if you describe can describe its beauty to the other players.)
- Must never damage a man-made object.  (No kicking in doors).
- Cannot cast any spells without a staff in your hand.

Special Ability: Staff Fighting
While wielding a quarterstaff, you get +1 to hit and +1 to AC (treat as a shield).

Level 1 Silver Wizard Spell List

1. Clarity*
2. Detect Magic
3. Hold Portal
4. Light
5. Locate Animals*
6. Magic Missile
7. Obedient Stone*
8. Read Languages
9. Shield
10. Sleep
11. Whirling Staff*
12. Woodbend*

Clarity
A target within 30' makes another save against a emotion-affecting effect (fear, anger, sadness, pleasure, pain).  This can affect yourself.

Locate Animals
Name a type of common animal (wolf, squirrel, turkey).  You now know where the nearest example of the animal is.  Range is 1 mile/caster level and duration is 1 hour/caster level.

Obedient Stone
Cast this spell on a stone small enough to fit in your palm and then give it a command.  It will attempt to follow this command to the best of it's ability.  If thrown at a target, it will get +10 to hit.  It can also be asked to trip targets when they run past, jump off a shelf when a certain person enters the room, etc.  Basically, it's limited to a single, small hop (or equivalent).  Lasts 1 hour / caster level or until the stone does something (hop, be thrown).

Whirling Staff
You can cast this spell as a free action (it takes a negligible amount of time).  You get +1 to your AC while you whirl your staff around with both hands.  The next attack you make with the staff does 1d6 damage + 1 damage/caster level.  This lasts for 1 round/caster level or until you make an attack with it.

Woodbend
Like warp wood, but must touch object to cast it. A bit of wood bends or unbends, as if warped by wood. Straight doors can be warped and stuck. Warped doors can be straightened and unstuck. Wooden-hafted weapons will get -2 to hit while all bent up.  Trees can likewise be molded.

Monastery of Drowned Men

The Wizards of the Drowned World, also called the Thirsty Wizards (but never to their face) wear purple eyeshadow, sew coins into their clothing, and paint their fingernails black.  They travel with a small white dog, which is the receptacle for their magic.  They shave lines into their heads, and cast spells by clapping their hands together.

Their Drowned World is a state of mind that only they can can reach, and only then through meditation. They claim it is the ghost of a former world (although it may just be a type of meditation).  Either way, the Drowned World is supposed to hold the ghosts of unborn children and memories forgotten by damaged wizards.  It gives them no knowledge, but balances their minds with visions of cool blue vistas, slow motion, and blurred, apathetic, presences of others.

Theirs is the Monastery of Drowned Men, located in the dry plains north of Shar.  It is said that every Wizard of the Drowned World who dies by drowning is sent straight to hell, regardless of what deeds they did in life, as part of an ancient, forgotten offense against the ocean.  As a result, every Wizard of the Drowned World lives in fear of drowning (and are frequently subject of water-based taunts, i.e. "Thirsty Wizards").

They are also involved in pursuing the Conspiracy of Heaven, sort of a shadow government that is said to control the world's government, if they exist at all. They've also been accused of being part of the Conspiracy themselves.  Either way, they are the inheritors of a decrepit spy network.  Many people used to work for them, and many people have an distant uncle that they once suspected of writing letters to the Wizards of the Drowned World in exchange for a few silver coins, but very few people are actually on their payroll.

The Wizards of the Drowned World are in decline, you see. They are powerfully unpopular--a bunch of old dudes in a decrepit monastery mumbling about conspiracies, while little white dogs yap underfoot.

Wizards of the Drowned World adventure to map the secret borders of the world.  They are especially interested in mapping leylines and characterizing their intersections, and finding the lost city of Bastoc.

Observances
- Cast spells by clapping their hands together.
- Cannot prepare spells without a white dog (or canine substitute), who joins you in the meditation.
- Cannot drink water.  (But things like tea or kool-aid are fine).
- Level 1 wizards follow the dress code (as above) and begin with 2d6 copper coins dangling from the front of their robe.

Special Ability: Ley Lines
If you cast a spell on a single target that is exactly 37' to the north (determined by the magnetic fields of the planet), you cast it at +1 caster level.

Level 1 Wizard of the Drowned World Spell List

1. Command Coins*
2. Detect Magic
3. Dessicate*
4. Grease
5. Slam Portal*
6. Light
7. Magic Missile
8. Metal Chime*
9. Mighty Lungs*
10. Read Languages
11. Shield
12. Magic Cramp*

Command Coins
Up to 1000 coins per caster level will leap up and obey your single-word commands.  Affects all unattended coins in 30' of you and lasts 1 hour.  Coins can be commanded to follow you, hide in crevices, serve as rollers for heavy statues, but they are mindless.

Dessicate
Hydrated target within 30' takes 1d6 damage plus 1 damage per caster level, no save.  Can also be used to turn meat into jerky or evaporate water-based liquids (wine, most acids), up to 2 gallons per caster level.

Slam Portal
This is a fancy version of the spell that slams a door shut and/or locks it (if it has a lock).  Most wooden doors will get stuck shut, and require a Str check to open.  Works on any door within 100', but doesn't work on non-doors.

Metal Chime
You touchn and enchant a piece of metal to make a terrific noise the next time it is banged.  All within 30' (except you) must save or be deafened for 1 minute.  If used as a signal, it can be heard up to a mile away.  The enchantment will last for 1 day/caster level.  Yes, you can balance coins on top of doors to make noise traps.

Mighty Lungs
Your next inhalation allows you inhale 10x the normal amount of air.  Not only does this allow you to hold your breath for 10x as long, but if you exhale forefully it will release a blast of air strong enough to knock pigeons out of air and polish your teeth.

Magic Cramp
Target takes 1d4 damage plus 1 damage per level of the highest level spell they are capable of casting.  Additionally, their caster level is lowered by 1 for 1 minute.  They get a save to cut the damage in half and negate the caste level penalty.  Nonmagical creatures, or creatures that have no spellcasting ability, are unaffected by this spell.

House of the Fat Fox

The Fat Fox Wizards are exceptions in many ways.  They dress in warm oranges, yellows, greys and whites.  They are largely itinerant, and at any given time, only a minority of them will be found residing in the House of the Fat Fox, a modified hunting lodge given to them by one of the kings of Tau Solen.  They have a reputation for being overweight, sociable drunkards.  Many of them are Afner (halflings).

They each have six copper-capped ponytails and tripartite beards (similarly capped).  They communicate with each other through code and smoke a lot of hensetta, a drug that calms their nerves and eases spellcasting.  They cast their spells with their breath, and begin each day with breathing exercises.

Each one has a prized possession: his fox-tail bag.  These a big leather pouches that they wear around their waist.  These are simply fashion accessories for them, and if it is destroyed, they'll simply mourn it with a night of drinking and make a new one.

Most of them carry bows. Their leader is Tom Bondelero, who is said to travel in a chariot pulled by foxes.

They believe that the sentient races are the natural masters of the wilderness.  This philosophy causes them no shortage of friction with druids, with whom they feud, unless they are working together towards some goal that is both important to the natural ecology and the hunter-stewards.

They mostly adventure to protect forests from druids, or to find wives.

Observances
- Never sleep for more than a single night in a place where you are a guest or a prisoner.  (Exceptions: places that you own, have rented, or are unwelcome in.)
- Never cut any of your own hair, or allow it to be cut.
- You cannot cast any spells unless you ate heart in the morning after your breathing exercises.  The heart must be at least the size of a rabbit's heart.  (Level 1 Fat Fox Wizards begin play with a bag containing 3 salted rabbit hearts).

Special Ability: Breath Magic
You don't need your hands to cast spells, merely the ability to exhale strongly.

Level 1 Fat Fox Wizard Spell List

1. Bondelero's Bounce*
2. Charm Person
3. Detect Magic
4. Enhance Water*
5. Fire Breath*
6. Hide from Animals*
7. Light
8. Magic Missile
9. Protection from Evil
10. Shield
11. Sleep
12. Travelling Breath*

Bondelero's Bounce
For the next 10 turns (1 minute), you ignore up to 20' of fall damage per caster level, and bounce an amount equal to the distance that you ignored, either vertically or horizontally.  Blunt weapon damage (not from falling) is also reduced by 5 points per caster level.

Enhance Water
Up to 1 gallon of water per caster level is turned into beer.

Fire Breath
Reskinned version of burning hands.  1d4 fire damage per caster level, 15' cone, save for half.

Hide From Animals
Like invisibility, but only works against animals.  Affects a single target you touch and lasts for 1 minute/caster level.

Travelling Breath
Your next exhalation is teleported to a point within sight.  You can use this to whisper in the ears of someone distant, blow out distant candles, or whatever a teleported exhalation could normally do.