While the origin of the Hoodenza is the subject of great speculation, the monks have a sacred responsibility to protect an ancient knowledge. The teachings and practices of this secretive order have been kept closely guarded for centuries, only bits and pieces of the knowledge has been shared with mankind.

The Hoodenza monks train in secret, isolated from the rest of the known world, engaged in extreme meditative practices. All trainees undergo rigorous mental and physical disciplines in order to prepare their bodies and minds for receiving the knowledge transmitted from the ether.

The Hoodenza lived a life of extreme asceticism, practicing martial arts, meditation, and various forms of physical and mental disciplines that would seem barbaric by the standards of modern man. They were forbidden from marrying, having children, or forming any attachments to the outside world. The monks trained for the sole purpose of working with the life-force within the Breath of Life - a trained Hoodenza monks controlled the power to both give and take away life with the breath. As a collective unit, the Hoodenza controlled a force unparalleled in the world.

For centuries, the Hoodenza remained hidden from the world, living in their mountain fortress, deep in the heart of a remote and treacherous wilderness. Many tried to seek the Hoodenza to learn this power for themselves, however they were known to only a select few, and even then, only by reputation and rumor.