The Order's Rite

The Order§0 §0 §0 Rite and Ritual§0 §0 §0 §0 §0

Preface:§0 §0The Order was founded for the purpose of bettering the civcraft community and the members of the order through charitable acts and bringing an sense of fraternity to this all too frigid world. Its goals are this:

1. To preserve the integrity and stability of the order itself through good deeds, and to improve the prosperity and influence of the order.§0 §02. To assist members of the order whenever possible, when said assistance does not conflict with the interests of

the order.§0 §03. To improve the communities in which lodges of the order reside, and by extension improve the global community.§0 §04. To preserve the traditions and secrets of the Order to the death.

By striving to achieve these goals and proving himself an asset, an initiate of the order can ascend to the rank of journeyman and finally master of the order.

Form of the lodge:§0 §0The lodge itself must have a room dedicated to official lodge business. This room must be a rectangle with a width no smaller than 1.5 times its height. This room must have its longest side be perpendicular with the East-West axis. In

the center of this room, a black and white checkerboard pattern shall lie, symbolizing the strength and integrity of the Order. The lodge shall also have a podium at the base of the checkerboard to address the lodge from. A pyramid shall rest at the

eastern side of the lodge. At the most basic level, this is all that is required for a lodge to be legal, but additional amenities can be added, including space for beds, food chests, a library to store important texts of the Order such as books of ritual

, membership rosters and minutes. Lodges must be reinforced on stone at the minimum, and chests containing the texts of the Order must be reinforced on diamond. The shroud of secrecy that guards our organization from those who would seek to hurt the order

must be protected. Thus, lodges should be either underground, or in a place where they would not garner suspicion, such as someone's home or an indiscreet building.

Offices of the lodge:§0 §0 §0Each lodge shall have 3 offices that govern its membership and bylaws. These three are the Grand Master, Senior Warden, and Tresurer positions. The senior warden acts as a deputy to the Grand Master, The tresurer handles

materials and monetary expenses of the lodge, and the Grand Master controls the lodge itself, and has executive power over it. More about the Grand Master's duties and responsibilities will be discussed later.

Initiating someone into the lodge:§0 §0The process of recruiting a member into a lodge is fairly straight forward. First, one notify an officer of a candidate for membership without telling said person. If anyone comes to the lodge asking for membership, the

lodge has failed its utmost goal of not being seen or heard by other members of society. The canditate will then be voted on by the 3 officers in a ritual in which each officer is given a black piece of wool and a white piece of wool. Black corresponds to

not letting someone join, and white is permitting them. Each member places his piece of wool in a chest, which is then broken before the lodge. If there is any black piece of wool in the contents of the chest, the candiate is barred from entry.

Journeyman of the Order:§0 §0 §0After being accepted into the Order, an intitate becomes a Journeyman, the stage before full membership: Master. Journeymen must complete tasks assisting the order or members of it to achieve full member ship in its ranks.

This may include but is not limited to assisting of the building of lodge's in foreign jurisdictions, building structures for the lodge in the local community, harvesting food and traveling to colonies of the lodge to replenish food stores, or simply

aiding a master in a task. Once the journeyman has proven himself sufficiently, his case is brought before a officer to decide whether or not he shall advance to Master of the Order. If he is approved, a ritual occurs where the journeyman strips his

and weapons, recites vows, and finally drinks a vial of P with his officers and brothers, cementing the bond of fraternity that this order was built on.

The Grand lodge:§0 §0 §0The First lodge ever founded, the one of Breslau, shall be known as the Grand Lodge. It effectively holds the place as chief body of the Order. Its powers are thus, to approve the creation of new lodges and jurisdictions, to

edit current jurisdictions, and to change the laws of the Order as a whole. The Grand Master of the Breslau Lodge shall be referred to as the Arch-Master of the Order, with the warden and tresurer being the Arch-Warden adn Arch-Tresurer, respectively.

Forming a New Lodge:§0 §0 §0The process of forming a new lodge and jurisdiction of the Order is as follows. First, the person wishing to form this lodge must convince 2 others to be his senior warden and tresurer, for no lodge is complete without all three

offices. Then, he must petition the grand lodge for the recognition of this new lodge and power over its jurisdiction. Once permission has been granted, he must construct a lodge fitting the specifications set out at the beginning of this book, and

recruit members in the normal fashion.

Binding laws of the Order:§0 §0 §01. The secrecy of the Order is of the utmost importance, and if it is ever infringed on by a member, the most drastic punishments await, including banishment and imprisonment.

2. Members of the Order should think of each other as brothers and act according to this fraternity. §0 §03. All disputes between brothers must be brought to the Grand Master, and handled accordingly. §0 §04. The Grand Master has the power to issue decrees

regarding his lodge and his decision can only be reversed by a veto of the Tresurer and Senior Warden. §0 §05. If you are in a town with a lodge and wish to find a member of said lodge to visit or refresh in their facility, type the Capital letter G into chat

If you see the letter G typed into chat, you are bound by this law to respond in private chat with a G back, signaling that you are a brother of the Order. §0 §06. Brothers of the Order must help each other in situations regarding preferential treatment,

favors, appointments, etc. As any brother of a family must, you are expected to help your brothers.§0 §07. You are required to make decisions in your public life that help the Order, and never hurt it. §0 §08. Lodges are expected to provide for their communities

via public works and charity projects, but seek no glory from doing so, other than a simple O emblem left at the site of the act to distinguish it from other acts of charity. 9. Grand Master's have the authority to level membership dues on their lodge,

only after approval from the treasurer and a majority of the Masters of the Order. 10. Lodges should keep accurate and expansive archives and libraries including books of rituals, membership rosters, and meeting agendas, so that future generations of the

order can study our history look back on it.

11. If a Grand Master wishes to abdicate, the Senior Warden will be elevated to the position of Grand Master and a new senior warden be elected from the body of the Lodge. §0 §012. Journeymen and Masters are expected to follow the orders voiced by the

officers, Officers are expected to issue fair and just orders.§0 §013. The process of removing an officer involves a unanimous vote from the body of the lodge, excluding the officer in question, or the relieving of duty from a grand master in the case of the

senior warden or treasurer. If a grand master relieves the officer of duty, the body of the lodge is expected to elect a new officer. If an officer abdicates, the Grand Master may appoint a new officer.

14. Other lodges may be allowed to write their own rituals and bylaws as long as they do not conflict with the laws expressed here, which are the binding laws of the Order as a whole. 15. Containers that hold the texts and secrets of the Order must be

reinforced with diamond.

Symbols of the Order: The checkerboard in all lodges symbolizes the strength and integrity of the Order. The All Seeing Eye Pyramid and corresponding banner symbolize the ability to monitor the activities those not in the order and our

duty to act to preserve the order as the pyramids have been preserved throughout milennia. Journeymen to the order must wear a grey tunic when in the lodge or during an official ritual. Masters of the Order must wear a Black Tunic.

Officers of the lodge wear purple tunics in these circumstances.

Afterword: Using the guidelines set out here in this book and possible future bylaws and rituals, the Order can grow to a formidible presence in Civcraft. The ultimate goal would be to have a lodge in every town, influencing the outcomes and

policies of the town, so that peace and prosperity are the norm. The Order will not discriminate against nations, and where there is a populace of able and willing possible members, there too shall be a possible lodge. If we could live in a world where

Order is the deciding factor in global conflicts, it would be a wonderful existance to have.