The Order of the Blue Robes
The Order of
the Blue Robes was founded during the turbulent years of the Faith Wars in
Hyrkania some 1,400 years prior. During this time of turbulent revolution and
religious conflict the sorcerers of the empire realized their vulnerability as
individuals and conspired to forge a sort of brotherhood of mutual
self-interest and preservation. The original founders were numbered twelve, and
it was from this that the Council of Twelve was formed. One of the twelve was
Warenis Burghest himself, the immortal reincarnate of Order, and his presence
on the Council lent a great deal of power and religious protection that helped
those wizards of the time stay safe in a period when practicing sorcery could
lead to a swift death. It was also during this time that the notion of the
“blue robes” became an indelible descriptor for the order, as its members and
supporters all chose to wear deep blue dyed robes as a show of solidarity and
support.
Over the
centuries the order has prospered and grown to a complex organization
supporting colleges of magic and study in eight major cities throughout the
Middle Kingdoms, including Hyrkan’ien, Hyrmyskos, Octzel, Yllmar, Jnril,
Eastonia, Karan and Krythia. Individual mages belong to the order throughout
the empire and the rest of the Middle Kingdoms, and a record of the Blue Robe’s
living members suggests over two thousand practitioners of magic belong to the
order.
Though the
Blue Robes were founded at a time when religious fervor led to the prosecution
and murder of practitioners of magic, the order sustained itself through the
beneficial network of mutual study and research that it propagated. The
founding wizards of the Council of Twelve each imparted a portion of their
knowledge into a library of archived spell records in the Grand Librarium of
Hyrkan’ien where the volume of arcane lore has expended dramatically after
fourteen hundred years. Today, being a sorcerer in the Empire of Hyrkania means
being a member of the Blue Robes; without that recognition of membership
practitioners of magic are suspiciously regarded as hedge wizards, rogue agents
or worse: cultists of chaos. The cult’s nature, then, is order and knowledge.
The Blue
Robes have organized like a true college of learning focused on magic and the
availability of shared resources and research. Lay members are like
card-carrying guildsmen, but the next tier of the order are the teachers who
provide tutelage to eager apprentices. The Blue Robes long ago began providing
educational classes to laymen of the Empire and abroad, as well; the
furtherance of their educational studies have led to a more educated
civilization overall and they have in this way influenced the thinking of men
in the Middle Kingdoms to be more accepting of magic and the practitioners of
such.
Aside from
the apprentices, lay members and teachers there are academic positions and
collegiate administrators, but all of these layers defer to the ever-present
Council of Twelve, which represents the twelve greatest wizards in the world of
Lingusia, or so it is said. The Council is always open to include Warenis, the
champion of Order, when he manifests (such as he has in the Age of Strife). It
is his continued efforts to further the order’s needs that have provided more
stability over the last fourteen hundred years than anything else.
Membership
The standard
process of joining the order initially requires a donation of services, goods,
spells or coin to assist the local branch or college. Once the individual has joined a lay member then he may participate
in the local convocation, and have a say and vote in activities. To become a
teacher or faculty at one of the colleges the mage must demonstrate impressive
skill in magic and be nominated by the regional council.
Alternatively
an individual with raw natural magical talent may be found and indoctrinated
into the order as an apprentice. Once an apprentice reaches a level of skill
that would allow him or her to graduate, he is then expected to provide a
minimum of two years of service to the order, making him a lay member in formal
status.
The senior
leaders of the colleges are culled from among the finest of the order and
sometimes even invited to sit on the Council of Twelve when positions become
available. The Council has the ear of no less than four ruling kings and the
emperor himself in the Middle Kingdoms.
Restrictions
No mage who
has ever worked with either the Red Robes or the Black Circle will be allowed
in the order. Mages convicted of crimes or heresies are exiled from the order
as well. Anyone who demonstrates a talent for barbaric magic is regarded
carefully before any possible consideration for entry. If an individual is
unable to maintain a minimum level of skill and proficiency in magic they will
be excised from the order as well.
Learning Magic Through the Order
The Blue
Robes have existed for a millennia and a half now, and the accrued knowledge of
thousands of professional wizards over this time has led to a ponderous level
of knowledge on sorcerous arts. Virtually all sorcery spells can be found
somewhere within the Grand Librarium or in the individual archives of each
college. Failing that, there is a member somewhere who might likely provide
tutelage for a price.
For game
purposes, each location has roughly 1D12+12 spells available at that particular
college (each spell is level 1D10 with the “0” meaning a cantrip). A true
member of the order may spend several years in each of the major cities
studying the libraries of each branch college.
Long Term Membership
The ultimate
goal of an aspiring member of the order is to achieve sufficient fame, skill,
and sorcerous prowess as to be invited onto the Council of Twelve. Membership
on the Council is a world-wide level of influence, and provides access to
resources and knowledge unattainable anywhere else. The process of achieving rank on the Council
does require a gift in turn: a unique spell to be added to the permanent roster
of knowledge for the order (cult evolution).
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