Blademaster
the known assassin is a failed one
The Order of Blades is the open secret of the Mageguard. The name is whispered cautiously amongst senior members of some guilds, but completely unknown to most. Even amongst the Mageguard themselves, the Order of Blades is only acknowledged and discussed unofficially, usually as awed whispers. At the highest levels of the Mageguard and The Council, the "Blademasters" are generally considered one of the three "special orders", along with the Council Guard and the Service Corp.
Their numbers are extremely few, and they are used very rarely. Their skills can make them effective spies, but they are more specialised in assassination.
Qualifications
The Order of Blades membership is not just unique in their function and general status, but in how members are recruited and treated. They are the only guild or Mageguard order in Austur, for whom membership is not optional. All Blademasters are "blood-minded" and all blood-minded children are sent to the Order of Blades. The basic symptoms include extreme ego-centrism, minimal emotional range, lack of remorse, and usually a love of violence, cruelty, and high risk behaviour. The training and treatment of members of the order are extremely brutal and manipulative, but effective. They include extreme physical punishments, ritualised combat to the death, and addiction to a powerful drug called "sanar".
Requirements
When Uma begin visiting children around age 5 for their first signs of magic, they also look for signs of various "conditions of mind". If they believe a child to be "blood minded" they first report it to their Umkuula for confirmation. If it is confirmed then the child is removed from the family for "treatment". The family is told they will never see the child again, but that they will be taken to a safe place for treatment and be taught skills that will one day make them capable of contributing to broader Austurian society. From a certain point of view, this is true. The children are in fact sent to "blade camp".
It is here, under the supervision of Uma, former Blademaster instructors, and Mageguard officers, that the children who survive their training are raised to be members of the Order of Blades.
Duties
The Blademasters are first and foremost, assassins. Though there is less call for such a profession after unification than before, there are still occasional problems in the administration of Austur that can only be solved with an assassination. Similarly, though most cultists and royalists are best made a public example, there have been some discovered over the years who need to never be seen in the public eye, even to be arrested, and yet need to be dealt with.
Though there are very few Blademasters in all of Austur, numbering only in the dozens, there is little enough of their main work that they spend a great deal of their time idle. Their skills are not just in physical combat, but in stealth, acrobatics and general secrecy, and these skills have a variety of uses. They are generally at the disposal of a few Tessars and The Council itself, and are occasionally utilised as spies, secret bodyguards, and even messengers.
Responsibilities
Like the Order of the Rangers and the Service Corp, the Order of Blades does not operate within a six person unit structure. Unlike any other order however, no Blademaster can ever be in a command position. They are all given the rank of Senior Leftan as a tradition, but they cannot give orders even to a Tiran. Similarly, when on a field mission, they are not strictly required to follow the orders of anyone under the rank of Tessar. They might do so in certain circumstances, if those orders don't conflict with their mission objectives, but it is essentially discretionary.
All Blademasters are assigned to Tessar and become their personal responsibility. Not all Tessar's have a Blademaster assigned to them though, in fact some have never even met one or had their existence confirmed. Those Tessar who are assigned a Blademaster however, are also tasked with their management. This means assigning missions and accepting reports, but also managing the Blademaster's daily sanar.
Accoutrements & Equipment
Though used very rarely, the Order of Blades are known, and named, for the long double edged dagger they all bare: the akinaash .
A trainee receives their weapon if they survive their "bleeding day", and they are considered "bonded" to it for the rest of their lives. This begins the third phase of their training, and the trainee is only considered a true "Blademaster", when they can successfully use their akinaash to draw the blood of their training master.
From the moment the dagger is granted to them, a trainee or Blademaster may never be separated from it. Being actively disarmed by an opponent results in the Blademaster being expelled from the order. In practical terms this means they can no longer receive the sanar, eventually leading to an incredibly painful and tortuous death.
History
The Order of Blades was formed as part of the Mageguard with the signing of the Austur Declaration .
The initial members of the Order were drafted from the surviving membership of the Blademasters, an elite group of Zaahani warriors. Though the Blademasters were officially disbanded in 550AS with their defeat at the hands of the Caalesh Accord, and a few of their remaining members volunteered to take over the training for the new Order of Blades. This was done unofficially, and the new order never strictly mentioned in the various documents of the Austur Declaration. They were however, recognised as an elite order by the Council , the Uma and the Mageguard command structure.
The Zaahani Blademasters were provided with a secret, high security settlement and a variety of resources to begin the new order. As the Uma began their new duties across Austur, the Blademasters adapted their old ways into the new programs and lessons that would become the training regime for new generations of blood-minded children.
"A blood-minded child is a danger to themselves and all of Ashvaarya, but a Blademaster can be a useful tool in the defence of The Six and The Council."
- unnamed Uma (661AS)
Type
Civic, Military, Generic
Status
secret
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