Hunter · Warrior
The mortal body grounds all living creatures to the world surrounding. Without a vessel, the spirit runs free, and one’s soul is detached from the mortal needs and beauty of all life around them. In life, this physical connection is needed for understanding and surmounting greed. Like everything, indulging too much in the physical may corrupt the soul and seclude or trap the spirit within. Balance is brought to the physical by taking only what is needed, sharing with those unable to help themselves, and purging those who take too much.

Adventurer · Ecologist
Respect must be given to the earth and all that makes it. Everything, no matter how small, has a purpose and must be protected. Souls should seek understanding and guidance from the earth. Balance is brought by ensuring the world’s gifts are respected, restoring damage by stimulating regrowth, and protecting all from predators or overpopulation. Elements should not be removed from their native habitats, and lost nature must be returned to its source.

Visionary · Counselor
All life is connected through the cosmos in one way or another. One person’s grief is caused by another’s success, and this trade-off is consistently interlinked. Few are able to see these paths that bind us, but those who can must bring comfort and understanding to those who cannot. Balance is achieved by connecting mentally or spiritually with those surrounding. The cosmos ensures no side is forever in favored light, but it is the individual who must bring back souls from the darkened depths so that they may find comfort, move on, and shed their burdens.

Medic
Just as one can take life, one must know how to mend it. Death is not a solution; it is an event all will go through with time. Until that moment comes, one must know how to make the most of the moments we are given and expunge impurities within the vessel. One may argue the paths of the Natural or Spiritual may overlap, and in part, they do. However, The Art of Healing primarily focuses on what can be mended without the patient’s effort or willingness. Balance is brought by mending that which has been broken or finishing what is too far gone.

Imbalance must be pruned with restraint. One cannot take a moral side to any situation or fully cleanse half of the scales; otherwise, the balance will be destroyed. Total imbalance will drown all living things in chaos, and worse problems will emerge from the wreckage.

What is considered good or bad are moral concepts that rely on one’s position or upbringing in the universe. Hence, a need for separation and indifference when taking action. Everyone is right to a degree, and one’s actions will be justified within their own mind.

Gods are arbitrary, and everyone has their own beliefs as to what is real. With no way to prove someone's history or culture false, it is encouraged to learn all that you can to further one’s understanding.

Reference to gods is to reference all gods. Individuals may choose to follow personal gods, but in general, The Order sees all life connected with one’s essence returning to the flow of the universe. Rebirth is common; rather one remembers themselves or begins anew.

There are only two purposes in life meant to be fulfilled: to learn and pass on all obtainable knowledge, or to achieve balance in one’s self and the world surrounding.

One must be willing to let go of all personal belongings, be they collections, emotions, or spirits, to surmount greed and prevent feeding a lust for more. One cannot move forward and will not change until they take this step. One is not forbidden from accepting gifts, but it is encouraged to deny lasting possessions.

Masters (Sensei, Shihan, Kaicho or direct Kaicho rank) are to always be addressed with their title before their name or by title alone as a means of respect. The only exception is for direct family members, who may use familial honorifics instead.

All members receive a nickname before leaving the temple for the protection of their identity, family, and the Order. Nicknames usually represent non-fabled animals but may also be an element, plant, or no name equivalent. To avoid confusion, nicknames will not overlap unless a signifying difference is provided or the name is passed down the family. This name is to be used at all times beyond the temple’s walls.

All are encouraged to learn other languages to communicate and properly assess the state of other regions or groups. Japanese, Korean, and English are common tongues within the temple.

One is to not practice wrongful breeding. This may take many forms, such as a show of force, shared familial bonds, a discrepancy in a suitable age, disloyalty, or any other form where consent, safety, or well-being are impaired.

When members take the steps to be recognized as bonded, their loyalty must remain with their bonded partner(s). Breaking this bond and betraying the marriage is highly frowned upon. If a bond is betrayed, the marks of its union will be smeared with mud staining it forever with one’s disloyalty. The pack will also shun the offending partner for the following moon.

Each member is expected to surmount greed and give up earthly possessions. Likewise, one is expected to give up their lust for what they desire. The purpose of this act is to prevent one from wanting more than one needs and refuse the influence of desire to act in ways that may benefit oneself over the balance, such as bribery. Gifts may be accepted, though some may still reject them as a show of faith in the balance to provide one with what they need.

One is to forgo their own bias or morality when tasked with missions outside of the Order. As a neutral force to keep the balance, sometimes one must dirty their paws with something that goes against personal beliefs. Letting one’s emotions and bias control them goes against the practices of the Jade Lotus.


Above all else, members of the Order are to not endanger the balance. This may come in the form of heavily breaking one of the founding philosophies or influencing outside factors to tip the scales purposefully in favor of a biased or “winning” side. Aid to outside factions may not always be physical. Tips or otherwise diverged intelligence can heavily factor into the actions of others and is likewise seen as tipping the scales.


Individuals are not to encourage or force one's mind, will, or spirit into a darkened state. This goes for themselves and those around them. Allowing your mind or clouding another’s is a direct path to imbalance and can only worsen the state of an individual.

Given the lengths the Order goes through for seclusion and secrecy, revealing detailed locations of the claim or otherwise compromising the Order’s missions are grounds to be marked. Due to the sensitive information that the traitor disclosed, they will likely be kept as a prisoner in the claim to prevent them from sharing more secrets or silenced, be it through death or scarring.