Circle of Magi
The Circle of Magi is an ancient organization of powerful mages commited to protect Adar from threats of a transplaner, magical, or mosterous nature.
It is unknown when the Circle was founded. Records from early civilizations mention an organization very similar to the modern Circle. During the time of the four empires the Circle stepped out of the shadows. They presented a proposal to the imperial delegations during the legendary Quadruple Council of 388 BIC. The Circle would work to protect the world from major threats. They would impart knowledge onto orders of knights, monster-hunters, and trustworthy mages for the purpose of combating more local problems. In return the Circle would be given juridistiction over all High-Magic. Every truly powerful mage would be required to join the Circle, and remove themselves from politics. This was accepted by the Council of the Empires.
The Circle remains powerful in the modern age. Yet they are confronted with many threats to their authority. The fall of the empires means that it is more difficult for the Circle to police the use of magic. The Circle maintain that the agreements concluded with the ancient empires, and the authority which was granted to the Circle is still valid for the present day nations of the world. Yet some disagree. The Evonian Republic refuses to recognize the Circle's authority, while the orcs of The Thousand Sails claim that the Circle failed to protect them from a transplanar threat (the elves and as such they no longer feel bound to obey their treaties with the Circle.
The Circle is associated with the Defkalions, an order of monster hunters. In most human kingdoms they are responsible for the formation, dissolution and surveilance of lesser mage-guilds.
Structure
The true Circle is a small organization with only a few dozen members at any one time. These are all mages capable of High Magic. They recieve the title of "Archmage".
The Archmages tend to take on a number of apprentices. Each mage is responsible for their own apprentices. Some build elaborate hirarchies within the student ranks. Others take a more egalitarian approach, and still others take on only a single student at any one time. These apprentices are not formally Circle mages and do not have any formal rank.
In many parts of the world the Circle runs schools of magic, usually called Circle Towers, or simply "Circles". Here mages recieve mandatory magical education, and if they satisfy certain criteria they recieve a lisence to practice magic. Mages without such a lisence are normally barred from practicing magical trades, banned from casting spells, and barred from military service. In some countries it is illegal to be a mage without a lisence to practice, regardless of wether or not one uses magic or not.
Mages with a Circle issued lisence are not formally members of the Circle, and are not obligated to come to the Circle's aid, or follow the Circle's rules. However, most mages are under strict supervision in their home countries, and many prefer Circle service to service under more wordly rulers.
The Circle has a number of associated organizations over which the Circle retains some authority. These organizations have their own internal structures inderpendent of the Circle. The most important of these are the Defkalion order, and order of physically enhanced monster hunters. Their mission is to deal with supernatural threats too minor to warrant an intervention by Circle mages. This order has declined in importance as the states of Adar have strenghtened, and the wilderness has been pushed back. Defkalions are especially rare in the Free Cities, while they are fairly common in the eastern regions of Myzia.
History
The exact age of the Circle is unknown. Circle records go back more than five thousand years, though early records are fragmentary and of uncertain reliability. It is thought that cooporation between the most powerful magical beings of Adar goes back to the very discovery of "higher magics" at the dawn of civilization. But this remains speculation. The formal Circle of Magi that is known in the modern world coaleced about 2000 years ago when a "Council of High Mages" negotiated several treaties with four powerful empires of Adar which were in ascendancy at that time. These treaties gave the Council responsibility for dealing with transplanar issues, and rule of "high magic". All mages past a certain power would be subject to the Council's authority. This had been the de-facto case before these treaties. But with the treaties this practice gained the support of all the Great Powers of the world. In return the Council, now called the Circle of Magi, commited themselves to never interfere in politics and to never participate in wars between the Great Powers.
Since then the Great Powers have fallen, yet the Circle still maintains that these treaties still stand, and act accordingly. The Circle's greatest challeges post the imperial collapse have been the emergence of the Evonian Republic and the rise of The Lucidians. The Republic refused to aknowledge Circle authority. The high percentage of magic users among the elves allowed them to fight the Circle on equal terms, and after decades of fighting secure themselves an exception from the Circle's control of High Magic.
The Lucidian movement arose in the 9th and 10th centuries IC. Resentment at the treatment of mages in many countries and by most religions gave Rhea Lucidia ample recruits for her rebellion against the Circle. They supported her push to tear down the current order and usher in a new world where mages could be free. Even some of the Circle's archmages turned to her cause. The Circle has proven unable to stamp out this rebellion. Every time they believe the spark of rebellion has been extinguished, the fires of revolution kindle somewhere else. The very crackdown against the Lucidians provide the fuel for renewed rebellion.
Continued conflict and strife, combined with increased push for control by national governments have weakened the Circle greatly over the past centuries. Never before in recorded history has the organization been challenged as it is today.
Founding Date
Unknown (Pre-Imperium)
Type
Guild, Mages
Alternative Names
The Circle
Subsidiary Organizations
Location
Controlled Territories
Comments