The Brothers of the Way.

The Brothers of the Way are priests of a small sect dedicated to travelling and helping others to travel, and worship  Ptah, Creator of the Universe and Opener of the Ways, from the Egyptian mythos.  They do not especially revere the rest of the pantheon and tend to see Ptah as a deity of paths and roads. 

As far as the Egyptians (and there are very few in my world) are concerned they are a renegade cult with questionable beliefs and as such are despised.

The Brothers make an ideal refuge for demi-humans and occasionally humanoids who cannot find another place in society.  In many cases these brothers are multi-classed and, so long as these skills are not used to the detriment of Ptah, nobody minds at all.

Individual brothers are often found travelling with merchant or settler caravans or even travelling alone or with small groups of adventurers.  The holy houses of this order are all small way-houses generally located on well travelled routes, often in towns and villages, occasionally on the open road. 

The brethren are a loosely coupled organisation and there is no over-arching heirachy, the priests and way-houses are responsible only to themselves and each other.  All of the brothers are expected to travel while they are able, when they become infirm and are no longer able to travel, they are expected to support, or establish a way-house.

Way Houses

Way-Houses are small, and built of what ever material is used locally.  They often function as inns and hostels, and provide cheap, safe lodgings for other members of the brethren and poorer travellers.  The way-houses normally comprise a small hall, kitchens and simple living accommodation for the brothers of the house.  The hall is a general purpose room, there will be trestle tables and benches for meals and general activities, there will also be a stock of pallets so that it can be used as overnight accommodation by guests.  Most importantly there will always be a closable alcove that contains a shrine, which can be uncovered for services and holy days.

Guests at way-houses pay a small fee, which covers an evening meal, a pallet in the hall over night and a light breakfast.  Dinner is normally vegetable stew with bread, and breakfast is  bread and fruit, both meals are served with a tankard of small ale.  Cold meat and cheese are often available to supplement the dinner, and flagons of small ale are available at both meals.  Charges for these "extras" are slightly higher than would be expected, and the extra money is used to subsidise the basic accommodation.

The living quarters for those brothers resident at way-houses, are equally simple, most brothers have a small cell, perhaps seven or eight feet square, in which to live and sleep.  All resident brothers are expected to help out in the gardens or the kitchens, brewing the ale, and with all the other tasks associated with this type of operation.

The Brethen

There are two types of brother within the order, friars and lay-brothers.  Friars are full members of the order, they have learned all the secrets of the order, taken vows and become priests.  Lay-brothers are not ordained priests and do not follow such a strict regime as friars.  Novices in training for friar-hood are also considered lay-brothers.

Friars

The friars of this order wear a black habit, and have a jade decorated, silver symbol of their god hanging from a chain around their neck.  This symbol is normally worn on the outside of the habit to proudly declare their allegiance to the order.   Friars are expected to travel, and only the sick, infirm or disabled remain in one place for any length of time. 

Many friars sign up as caravan guards, or work as guides for parties of travellers.  It is often considered good luck to have a member of the Brothers of the Way travel with your caravan.

When on the road friars have to be prepared to defend themselves, and often wear light armour under their habit, some also carry a shield blazoned with the symbol of their order.  They often use a club or mace as a weapon, but some friars have been known to use flails and even swords.  They are not usually skilled with bows, but often carry a small throwing weapon for emergency use.

Friars are skilled travellers, many are skilled horsemen or animal handlers, some are teamsters, others know about boats, but all friars have experience of some type of travel.  Their other skills are generally travel related as well, they will be well versed in such things as navigation, fire lighting, scavenging from the land and finding water.  Although in later life they may start to learn skills that will be useful in a way-house.

Lay-brothers

Some lay-brothers are taken into way-houses as orphans or young people without established family links, others are road weary or disabled travellers who have been converted to the faith.  The lay-brothers work in the way-house and learn about the brethren, some go on to be friars, others stay as lay-brothers and some leave the order all together.  Lay-brothers wear black habits but do not display a holy symbol.  Occasionally a lay-brother will be found travelling with a friar, this normally means that the lay-brother is expecting ordination as a friar in the near future.

The Order

Many of the brothers are loners and generally shy away from relationships with other people.  Their constant travelling puts them in contact with many people, but only for a short while and they never seem to develop any close friends.  This is made worse by the way that the order recruits its members from orphans and social outcasts, and it is often seen as an ideal refuge for the odd half-ork ,or trollkin, who for some reason cannot be killed or turned away completely.

Although members of this order are referred to a brothers throughout, both friars and lay-brothers can be of either sex, the order does not place a restriction on the race of its member either.  It is perfectly possible for a female half-ork to be a friar of this order.