“The Oba teaches us to respect and love the forest but to fear the beings it harbors because the spirits dwelling in the trees and rocks, who sigh with winds and dance in the morning dew, are no friends to us. Thankfully, the nganga are watchful guardians who shield us from any threat the forest might make.”
Gulg’s templars are divorced from common society and relegated to the fringes as watchers and mystics. Called the nganga, they are strange figures of frightening aspect and occupation because they treat with the forest’s spirits, enslaving them and taking their powers for themselves. The nganga are also vigilant protectors, defending Gulg from enemies without and also those from within its own bounds.
Recruitment: All children undergo a difficult initiation to mark their passage to adulthood. Each child ventures into the forest with no food or water. They are expected to wander until they receive a vision from a spirit who will serve them. Most endure the experience, associating themselves with a particular beast, return to their village, and carry out their lives in accordance with their custom and station. A rare few demonstrate the necessary power to overpower the spirit and bend it to their will. Those who do walk the path to becoming nganga.
Training: Nganga sever ties to family and friends, because their family is that of the Oba and the other templars who serve her. Many initiates watch as their families perform funeral services to grieve the loss and formally release the new templar to continue his or her studies. Training to become an nganga is no easy task, because the initiate must overcome his or her fears when dealing with the spirits and mastering the magic passed down through the generations. Many initiates do not survive to become templars and those who do seldom emerge with their innocence.
Duties: The nganga are mystics, seers, and witchdoctors. They attend the sick and injured, watch for division or disloyalty among the people, and advise the warriors in matters of battle. They are also murderers who slip through the night to eliminate anyone who offends the social order or who is suspected of plotting against the sorcerer-queen.
Advancement: Power defines status. Age, experience, or social standing have no bearing on the nganga’s standing. Gulg’s templars recognize potential in their peers and defer to those who can wield greater magic. Thus it is possible for a strong youth newly risen from an initiate to attain a position of honored elder by dint of his or her mastery over the Oba’s magic.
Adventuring: Being relegated to Gulg’s fringes,
the templars are free to roam the Crescent Forest and
surrounding lands, to safeguard the ancient wood
from Nibenese exploitation, and to combat the horrors sometimes arising from the forest’s depths. Since
it is customary for templars to continue their spiritual
journeys, many templars vanish for weeks or even
months at a time, though all are expected to resume
their duties on returning.
Missions can also carry templars from the citystate. Such ventures could involve expeditions to
sabotage Nibenese logging operations, gather information about the Shadow King and his intentions
in the surrounding land, or pursuing anything that
might aid the Oba in seizing even greater control over
the primal spirits in the Crescent Forest.