The Same

History
According to The Same, the group founded long ago by a man named Ody. Born to a powerful noble family in Altathair, his mother died in childbirth and as such, his father lavished him with anything and everything that he could ever desire. Nothing was spared in his rearing. A sickly boy, despite getting his every wish, Ody grew up melancholy without a mother and with bad health, and no amount of material things ever cured that.

On the cusp of becoming a man, he left his home, first taking residence with the Monks of the Golden Blade, the small order that made their residence in the Shrine of the Golden Blade. For some time, he studied with them, learning their dogma and following their practices. After some time, he grew disillusioned with the order, appreciating their monasticism but finding no solace in their messianic ancestor-worship.

Leaving the Monks of the Golden Blade, he joined a caravan that took him to Huzuz, the great city within the 1000-Eyes Desert. He lived in the city for some time, spending the majority of his time in Great Library of Huzuz. While the tomes there were impressive and contained more scholarly knowledge than he had ever seen in one place before, studying alone in a locked away vault left him just as empty as the blind ancestor-worship of the Monks of the Golden Blade. In short order, he left Huzuz, eventually making his way to Bay of Bai’el, where he lived among the wildlings and the tribes of the area.

It took some time to integrate himself into hill tribe society, but once he finally was, he took comfort in their sense of community. The wildlings had communal values, but their chaos and constant warring and conflict turned him off. Once again, Ody went searching for what was missing from his heart and conscious and left.

Distraught, he was reaching middle age and still had not found what he was looking for, he headed north. The hill tribes told stories of mystical shaman in the wintry north and Ody left to go seek them. Because he had few roots, he simply disappeared, fading from the memories of those that knew him.

Years later, he returned, preaching a radical philosophy in the Altathairian countryside. His new philosophy, which called for the empowerment of all people through radical redistribution of power that abandoned the concept of social status, was attractive to those peasants. His following grew, and while he gained the attention of authorities, he and his followers were peaceful.

Ody eventually commanded his followers to spread his word, as he determined that his time on the planet was coming to an end. In the decades and centuries since, his followers have continued doing so. As for Ody, nobody knows what his ultimate fate was. According to some stories, he was meditating under a waterfall and then turned into a rainbow and disappeared. According to other stories, an angry Altathairian noble captured, imprisoned, and tortured him before he finally succumbed. According to other stories, he is still alive and anonymously travels with his followers, ensuring that they continue spreading his gospel.

Attitude
The core concept behind The One’s philosophy, and the cult’s central thesis, is that pain and suffering come from inequality. For people to truly be happy, they must become homogenous, meaning that all people should occupy the same social status, the same economic standing, the same philosophies, and even looking the same. As a result of this, members of The Same give up whatever material wealth they own, either abandoning it or donating it to the cult itself to be used in a manner that benefits all. Initiates choose new names upon entering the group, leaving behind everything they once had, including social standing- meaning that all members, despite their origins, are seen as no more superior or inferior to any other acolyte.

Organization
The Same are extremely decentralized. Groups ranging in number travel the large parts of world, not necessarily evangelizing, but sharing their philosophy with any who inquire. Once a year, coinciding with Castle Blaze’s Independence Day, many groups of The Same gather to join in the festivities.

Regions of Influence
The Same generally stay in the north, in the area around Castle Blaze and Altathair, but nothing except the distrust they receive from others keeps them there. Periodically, groups of travel south, into the Hedgelands and even across the Inner Sea into Valouria and Parlera, but they are rarely encountered in those countries.

Leadership
The Same are led by an individual known as The One. According to the tales that The Same tell, The One is a reincarnation of Ody, their founder.

Allies
The Same have very few true allies, though certainly many individuals may look at them favorably based on their dogma or their high-quality wares. More than anywhere, they are tolerated and looked favorably in Castle Blaze more than almost anywhere else. According to local legends, Castle Blaze was attacked by a zombie horde long ago and The Same were instrumental in defending the city and protecting her people.

Enemies
The Same do not have enemies per se, as much as people generally do not understand them, and as such, fear them.

Joining The Same
The group generally draws its recruits from those who are downtrodden and down on their luck. Because they are mobile and travel from place to place, they are able to draw from a wide pool of potential recruitees. Their presence in many places, because of their odd appearances and behavior, has been known to arouse some degree of fear, unrest, and unease- especially in smaller, more rural settlements. Membership is open to anyone, and nobody is discriminated against because of their social status, age, appearance, or anything else.

The Same do not actively evangelize or recruit. If a person wishes to join the group, they are allowed to do so with no questions asked. When an individual begins traveling with the group, they are accepted without question. There is no formal entry into the group- a person can simply walk into a camp of their and start following, learning as they go. There is no specific way to leave it, either. A member can simply wander off and never return. There is no set mechanism for forcibly kicking out a member, as that scenario has never played itself out in the decades long history of the group.

Costs and Benefits of Membership
For some, the costs of membership can be difficult, while for others, they can be easy. Members are expected to give up everything they had in their ‘old’ lives- money, possessions, family, friends. For some, who don’t have a lot of those things, giving it all up can be easy. For those who had those things in excess, giving them up can prove difficult. Most notable, members of the group give up their names. Upon joining, members take new names, adding the suffix -ODY to their former names or some other designator. So, for example, someone named “James” would become “Jamody”. Someone named “Marshall” would become “Marshody”. Someone named “Sarah” would become “Sarody”.

<p class="MsoNormal">The Same are known for the ritualistic appearance. While it is not mandated, most members do various things to their bodies in order to mirror the appearance of what their stories say their founder was like and each other. Taller members crouch and bend when they walk, to be the same relative height as their fellow acolytes, while shorter members wear shoes with height-increasing insoles. Members wear make-up, often cut their hair, and wear plain, gray robes. Most wear a pin of the group’s symbol, or carry on their person linking rings, a children’s toy.

<p class="MsoNormal">Because of their appearance and demeanor, The Same often cause fear, unrest, and unease among communities they travel to. To alleviate this, members of the group take up trades, which encourages positive interaction between acolytes and non-members. When group arrives in an area, they generally bring with them a host of goods and other crafts that are sold to locals. Of particular note, The Same are known for creating exceptional firearms, such as pistols and shotguns, as well as bullets. They do not sell their secrets, but do occasionally sell firearms in small numbers.