Sub-Faction Write-Up: The Illuminated Eye

The Illuminated Eye
Sub-Faction of the Mind's Eye

Philosophy: To harness one's inner power to shape the universe to one's liking.
Nicknames: Blade Bait, Enlightened Ones, Lady Riskers, Third Eyes
Headquarters: The Outlands
Majority Races: Aasimar, Elves, Half-Elves, Humans, Tieflings
Favored Classes: Monks, Priests, Psions, Sorcerers, Wizards
Factol: Aola (CG Aas M 23 Priest of Aoskar)
Prominent Members: Umbra (CG Alu-Fiend F 7th Thief/6th Priest of The One True Being), Dexter (CE Tiefling M Fighter 13)
Alignment: Any
Symbol: The Shattered Temple

Philosophy

The Illuminated Eye teaches a philosophy that the universe is entirely shaped and controlled by one's belief. The first genuine synchronity between the Believers of the Source and the Sign of One's philosophies, the Illuminated Eye do not believe that any single individual shapes the Multiverse with their will but that all beings possess the potential to shape the 'shared dream' that is the universe.

The Illuminated Eye is growing increasingly more prominent in the Believers of the Source as the obviousness of Belief's power in the Planes only makes it sound sensible to the extremes of the Sign of One and Believers of the Source's hardline views. Furthermore, Aola's charisma is enough that many are drawn in by his explanations.

The Illuminated Eye does suffer some bad publicity due to the 'outrageous' claims that they are basing their views on the teachings of the fallen power Aoskar. Furthermore, the Illuminated Eye is charged by some as attempting to resurrect that fallen power. The Illuminated Eye merely shrug their shoulders and shake their heads at the absurdity of the idea. Only the upper-most ranks of the sub-faction know that this charge is completely true.

Brief History

The Illuminated Eye was founded almost immediately after the movement of the Mind's Eye to The Outlands. There, Aola the Priest of Aoskar appeared and swiftly ingratiated himself with numerous members of the Faction. The sub-faction has proven one of the most stable parts of the newly formed Mind's Eye as it provides much common ground to both Believers of the Source and Sign of One philosophy followers.

Unfortunately, it's success is not without some trouble as Factol Ombidias does not trust Aola's sudden appearance or believe that he has no hidden agenda. The fact that much of Factol Darius' previous inner circle has found its way into the Illuminated Eye hasn't helped the man's opinion and he believes they are going to attempt an internal coup of his leadership.

In truth, Factol Ombidias could not be further from the truth. The Illuminated Eye, for the most part, is far too concerned with their own spiritual advancement and esoteric pursuits to care much about who holds the temporal power as leader of their faction. Most of the secret maneuverings and dealings that he's suspicious of are part of the much grander scheme to resurrect the fallen deity Aoskar.

Unfortunately, Factol Ombidias would be even more horrified by the fact that they are tempting the Lady of Pain's wrath by trying to bring back a divinity slain by her. Indeed, the Voadkyn would immediately make a move to have Aola dealt with and the sub-faction dispersed if he knew the truth. Thus, the Faction has been keeping a tight lid on this act and their association with Aoskar's returning cult is merely something that is the subject of many rumors.

The Illuminated Eye, if it does not get destroyed in this adventure, will go on to form the bedrock for much of the Mind's Eye's fully developed Faction philosophy. Thus, most of its membership will become mainstream and the cult will become indistinguishable from the greater faction as a whole.

Goals

The Illuminated Eye is a faction that has a very understandable methodology to most seasoned planars. They believe that belief shapes the Multiverse and thus the majority of them must learn to be able to manipulate the matter of the cosmos in order to achieve greater enlightenment. This makes it naturally appealing to magic-users of all types whom believe that growing in power in their chosen craft is a sign of their deepening enlightenment and vice versa.

The average goal of the Illuminated Eye's members is to simply further their particular crafts and knowledge. Many of its members are either deeply spiritual types whom believe communing with their god will lead unto this state of perfect enlightenment or are hardcore academics whom have a great deal in common with the Fraternity of Order in their studies. Thus, the Illumined Eye has swiftly become one of the largest holders of arcane books and other esoteric manuscripts in the Outlands.

Quite a few Illuminated Eye members are also planewalkers as they believe that travelling the planes is one of the only ways to become familiar with the unique rules that govern them. Many of them have familiarized themselves with portals leftover from the days of Aoskar or taken to venerating the god (amongst other travel deities) in addition to their own enlightenment.

Secretly, the Illuminated Eye is devoted to restoring Aoskar to life. To this end, much of their research is devoted to finding any traces of his divine essence and researching cases where deities of the past have been restored to life. This has lead to some research on the 'Orcus incident' and some god named 'Bane' on the Prime Material Plane amongst others.

Allies

The Illuminated Eye has a friendly relationship with the Fraternity of Order and the Transcendent Order as they believe both are actively seeking further enlightenment about the universe. The Illuminated Eye are strangely cordial to the Xaocists as they hold that both are attempting to seek a greater understanding of the universe through chaos. The fact that the Xaocists have no idea what they're talking about hasn't stopped this general friendliness. The Harmonium believes the Illuminated Eye to be cracked but otherwise holds them to be harmless. The Sons of Mercy shares a similiar belief about the Illuminated Eye, though some are intrigued by its ideals.

Enemies

The Illuminated Eye actively annoys the Athar in ways that neither of its parents sects ever did due to their belief that deities are 'enlightened beings.' The Illuminated Eye gets along extremely poorly with the Bleak Cabal, Doomguard, and Dustmen due to the inherent optimism of the sect. The Revolutionary League's belief about the tearing down of all society also contrasts sharply with the Illuminated Eye's fundamental serenity about the nature of the cosmos' purpose. The Sodkillers find the Illuminated Eye's members to be just another set of weirdos wandering through the streets.