Jedi Guardians of the Peace

Jedi Guardians of the Peace
General information
Headquarters	Ossus

The Jedi Guardians of the Peace (often shortened to JGP) was a Second Life Jedi group based at Ossus. The Order has now closed for the foreseeable future, although this is not the first time it has taken a rest.

Background

Originally called Jedi Master (nicknamed JM), the group was formed in November 2005, and at the time was the oldest surviving Jedi Order in SWRP, though not the first. During their long and distinguished history, JM/JGP fostered a community atmosphere of learning and philosophy, and have been slightly outside the usual roleplay-focus of SLSWRP, with their unique combination of Jedi Realism and roleplay. It continued until June 2009, when it finally was laid to rest by its Council due to low numbers but it is hoped that its spirit lives on and inspires others in SWRP and beyond.

Code and philosophy

Like most Jedi Orders, the Jedi Guardians of the Peace follow the Jedi Code; however Grand Master Leonardis Mission felt that an additional Code was required to emphasise qualities that were specifically required of Jedi in Second Life. He therefore took the pattern of the original Jedi Code and formed an additional Code, which the Jedi in JGP subscribe to:

There is no drama; there is discipline

There is no griefing; there is negotiation

There is no role to play; there is reality

There is no politic; there is only the way

Due to the origins in Jedi Master, Jedi Guardians of the Peace is not a pure roleplaying Order but an educational and philosophical organisation which does roleplay. The difference is subtle but the emphasis is on the first half, and roleplaying is an optional feature and not as a full-time computer game. Despite this, the Order has some of the most experienced roleplayers in the community, and is a broad church of those who spend most of their time roleplaying to those who do not roleplay in the conventional sense but who partake in community learning with the light theme of Star Wars. The Jedi of JGP are therefore well-read, taught to be polite and helpful and value the codes above all things, including roleplay. Whilst they do not view Jediism as a religion as such (and many of them are members of various faiths or are not religious), the Jedi of JGP do consider it a way of life, or a mindset and are therefore inherently spiritual. The aim of a JGP Jedi is therefore to explore this through the medium of Second Life and try to improve their First Lives this way. Roleplaying is a fun past-time and being over-serious in it to the detriment of one's other commitments in First and Second lives is not encouraged. A secondary motto of JGP is "RL comes first" and the members are all encouraged to follow this.

History

As a Second Life group, Jedi Guardians of the Peace came into being in February 2007, founded by Master Leonardis. However, he would not count himself the Founder of the Order overall, since Jedi Guardians of the Peace is merely a renaming of an older Order (for the history before JGP, please see Jedi Master ). Jedi Guardians of the Peace was formed around the same core members and using the same location in Ossus that Jedi Master had and the name now more accurately reflects the purpose of the organisation. At the turn of 2007, a group of Jedi from Jedi Master attempted to span the small hiatus between it and Jedi Guardians of the Peace by preserving the ideals of Jedi Master. These were the Wandering Jedi, lead by Odenviscar Knight. When Jedi Guardians of the Peace reorganised fully, the Wandering Jedi were brought back into the main fold, bringing the core of Jedi Master again under the same roof.

Masters

Current Masters

The current Masters in Jedi Guardians of the Peace include Zoom Kilian, Odenviscar Knight, Hans Melnitz, Dwight Clutterbuck and Maximus Blankes. The Masters in bold are the members of the JGP Council.

Former Masters

The illustrious Master Marcus Moreau was the Chief Librarian of the Great Library of Ossus, having brought it over from Anoth to Ossus. He remained as a Master in the Jedi Guardians of the Peace into his twilight years and until his ((IC)) death. His work lives on in the Library and especially for a memorable series of lectures he carried out at JGP on the history of the Jedi of SL and what lessons can be learned. Former JM Master Kokiri Saarinen returned for a short time to Jedi Guardians of the Peace but also retired in due course. Leo Mission (aka Leonardis), finally retired from his position of Grandmaster in early 2009, after the longest tenure of any of the Masters of JM/JGP. His former Padawan and Council Master, Master Ter Watanabe, also retired at around this time and Master Bliss Darrow was also retired.

Applying

Applying to join Jedi Guardians of the Peace is done in world at Ossus Praxeum. On arrival to the telehub, there is an area of the lobby which is devoted to applications. A computer panel dispenses an information card and an application form. The information card should be read and understood first before the application form is filled in. Once complete, the application should be dragged from the inventory into the black and white striped inbox next to the computer terminal. All applications are carefully reviewed and vetted, and only the ones fulfilling criteria will be invited to the Hopefuls group and then taken further for interview. Due to Jedi Guardians of the Peace's selective applications process, not all applicants will make it to being accepted into the Order and from here on training takes many months, even over a year. This is to ensure that all who take part in the Order are like-minded and understand the JGP Mindset. The Council of JGP will however always try to suggest an alternative Jedi Order for any applicant who is not successful in gaining entry to the Order.

Training scheme

Basic training (in the Younglings and early Padawan stage) concentrates on learning about the Order and about the planet of Ossus, as well as understanding the fundamentals of being a Jedi in SWRP. After this, Padawans are asked to specialise into one of five Schools, divided amongst two Colleges. Each School is headed by a Jedi Master who devises the curriculum and oversees the training. Padawans find their own Master from within the School that they are accepted into.

College of reality

This College of the Order concentrates on non-roleplay aspects of being a Jedi. The Schools are as follows: ;School of Philosophy:This school is ideal for those who wish to concentrate on the Jedi mindset, and who are prepared to spend time and thought discussing and writing about philosophies from Canon and from RL which could be considered Jedi

School of Artisanry

This school is ideal for those who wish to be Jedi, but wish to concentrate on honing their SL skills of building, scripting, animating, etc and who wish to focus on this as their future contribution to the Order and to SWRP

College of roleplaying

This College of the Order concentrates on the roleplaying aspects of being a Jedi, allowing the members to concentrate on this for SWRP. The Schools are as follows: -

School of the Warrior

This school is for those who wish to be a Jedi Warrior (aka Guardian), training in combat, RP skills and flying skills. This School also contains the Sentinel class, although this is an Advanced class and one assigned by the Head of the School to those who merit it

School of the Diplomat

This school is for the Jedi Consular, who prefers negotiation to combat. The School will concentrate on the different groups and sims, and the characteristics of each, so that the trained Consular will be eventually be an experienced Diplomat and able to form links with other groups and to negotiate, even in the most trying of situations

School of Medicine & Lore

This school is for the aspiring peaceful RPer. Non-combat RP is the focus here, especially healing RP. The School of Lore eventually will be involved with contributing to the Great Library of Ossus.

The present

Jedi Guardians of the Peace is no longer active. However, the Order lives on in a way through the members who have reactivated the Wandering Jedi.

Leonardis 15:23, 16 June 2009 (UTC)