The Oolbat is the primary teacher of Oolbatism, and is believed to be the reincarnation of the religion's founder, Challabahn. The current Oolbat is named Sūng.
Responsibilities[]
The primary role of the Oolbat is to guide the willing on their path to enlightenment. This enlightenment is believed to be connection with, and ultimately escape to, the True World. This involves two distinct jobs: teaching, and maintaining a conduit to the True World.
Teaching[]
The Oolbat officially lives in the temple at the heart of Refuge, and spends much of their time there teaching and arbitrating. There is no official text of Batsi beliefs, so all guidance on Batsi beliefs and practice come from the mouth of the Oolbat. These teachings are collected in text, however, and the Oolbat has access to records of all previous incarnations in a library within the temple that is not open to visitors. The Oolbat keeps regular hours in which they sit in the temple and teach any who arrive to hear them, though each Oolbat is free to set this schedule themselves. During these times, they will answer questions from anyone in attendance and impart wisdom to guide any issues within Batsi society that has not been satisfactorily addressed by government officials.
Maintenance of Reality[]
The official belief of Oolbatism is that the world mortals know is a fake one created by Illusion, and that escape from it requires knowledge of and access to the True World. The Oolbat is believed to have the power to hold Illusion at bay to a limited degree, allowing some amount of the True World to be accessible to mortals. This requires a great deal of mental effort by the Oolbat, as well as the use of the Gilded Dagger and the Staff of the Oolbat, although the exact role of each implement is unclear. As such, the Oolbat has a number of hours each day, and at least one day each week, where they are unavailable to the public and expected to be in solitary contemplation or meditative work to recharge and focus on the task of combating Illusion.
Personal Life[]
The Oolbat is not restricted from living a relatively normal life outside of their responsibilities, and most Oolbats have maintained some sort of living arrangement outside of the temple. This both ensures they maintain some amount of direct connection with the society at large, and that they have a home lined up for any family they may have. Many Oolbats marry and have children; however, due to the nature of the cycle of reincarnation, their families do not hold any special place in the religion after the death of the Oolbat. This means that, while they can (and often do) live in the temple during the Oolbat's lifetime, they must have somewhere to go when it is time for a new Oolbat to move into the temple. Batsi society has always found a way to support families of a former Oolbat that did not have arrangements made in advance, but this is considered an avoidable burden and is usually avoided by the Oolbat simply securing another home during their tenure.
Oolbat Sūng has a husband and two children, and helps at her husband's bakery during many of her contemplative periods.