History Monks
| Universe | Discworld |
|---|---|
| Type | Religious order |
| Founded | Wen the Eternally Surprised, although exactly when is probably impossible to say |
| Location | Valley of Oi Dong, in the high Ramtops |
| Key people | Wen The Abbot Lu-Tze Lobsang Ludd |
| Purpose | Maintaining Discworld history |
| Technologies | Time-shaping "procrastinators". Qu's devices that explode unexpectedly. |
| Powers | Control over time and limited time travel Monks trained by Lu-Tze can pass unnoticed anywhere |
History Monks (also known as the The Order of Wen the Eternally Surprised, The Fighting Order of Wen, Men In Saffron and No Such Monastery) is a fictional secretive religious organisation in the Discworld novels of Terry Pratchett, based in the Monastery of Oi-Dong. They are one of a large number of monastic orders that occupy the high Ramtops. A Buddhist-like sect, it maintains Discworld history, based on the huge History Books in their Ramtop monastery.
The Order first appears in Small Gods where they are described as having the responsibility of observing significant events so that they become 'history', instead of just things that happen. However, there is a slight reference to the Order in Guards! Guards!, where at the end of the novel there are many bright orange robed men loading barrels and one specifically mentions the name Lobsang. They also have responsibility to see history follows the right track, as set out in the huge lead-bound History Books – 20,000 of them, ten feet high, with printing small enough to need a magnifying glass to read. "When people say it is written – it is written here." According to Small Gods, three people go at a time to access the books because once in the past one person used to go in alone, learn about the future, and won a large sum in bets before he was found out.
In Thief of Time we find that this is a simplification, and the main role of the monastery is to ensure anything happens at all. To do this, they have a number of methods for moving and storing time, for example by means of spinning cylinders called procrastinators. Procrastinators look like Tibetan prayer wheels. (It having been established as early as Wyrd Sisters that people's perception of time affects its flow on the Disc, the Monks must ensure this does not become a problem, by, as an example, taking some time from the middle of the ocean ('how much time does a codfish need?') and putting it in a busy Ankh-Morpork workshop with a deadline to meet.)
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