Nalpazca

Nalpazca are a monk order of the Tacan people from the Ixamitl Plains.

Background
The Nalpazca distinguish between the material world and the imagined world of perceptions, feelings, and false structures, seeing the latter as the limiting force that prevents a person's transcendence. They employ extreme practices to remain ever-conscious of what is truly real, and are known for exhibiting bizarre anti-social behavior in public settings, consuming powerful hallucinogenic drugs, and inflicting great pain upon themselves, all so as to allow themselves to "see more clearly." They are even rumored to ritualistically cannibalize the flesh of the recent dead so that they might come to terms with their own mortality, though such rumors have the ring of superstition.

Practices
The three most notable practices of the Nalpazca focus on removing vanity, pleasure, and fear of death, things that cloud their mind the most.
 * Vanity is tackled by embracing revulsion. A monk must become loathsome and digusting to all around him, offending all the senses. It is difficult to achieve in regions where Nalpazca monks are common, but far easier in areas such as the Dyrwood, where a monk can throw up on nobles to their heart's content and bask in the loathing they receive. The point is to liberate yourself from the way others view you - or you view yourself.
 * Pleasure is countered by embracing discomfort and pain. The inventiveness of monks knows no bounds and typically includes some form of self-harm, scarification, sleeping in the most uncomfortable of places, or even purposeful mutiliation.
 * Fear of death is conquered by confronting it. Nalpazca monks will bury themselves in the ground and meditate for days among the dead, even allowing carrion eaters to burrow into their flesh. Some masters, like Zahua's, would further reinforce their point by burrowing their students in mass graves.

Notable members

 * Zahua