Fort Sunless.

"Gods! Gods what is this!? Stop! The pain! Gods the pain it's too much! Stop! Please Stop! AAAAAH!" -Failed Initiate

The Arcane Coalition, magick knights of the crown tasked with protecting kin and country from all who wield the arcane arts with wicked intent; Take their charge most-seriously, accepting no-less than the utmost exhaustive, grueling standards of training imaginable in-order to ensure their men and women are up to the task. This place, Fort Sunless, is where that training is done, where young initiates will be refined into great soldiers, or will never be heard from again.

Structure

Fort Sunless, being the Coalition's exclusive training center as-well-as the prison where many of the most dangerous magickal criminals in Everwealth are imprisoned; Has ensured the group maintains a heavy presence here which follows a strict chain of command:
Cameron O'Leary:
Race: Dwarfish
Occupation: Magus - The ranking officer in-charge of the entire facility, only 7 of their rank among the entire country-wide guild, considered a vicious spellblade almost-unrivaled. The representative of the Coalition who delegates funding and necessary tasks/routines of his subbordinates assigned to him and this facility, a charge he takes seriously as the Coalition takes theirs.
Description: Cutthroat, stern, hard-to please. The man is goal-oriented as he is clean-shaven from head-to-toe. Cameron also suffers a condition called albinism, making his skin ghostly pale and the entire surface of his eyes blood red, this coupled with his jagged features gives him a uniquely disturbing presence to those who encounter him, some likening him to a demon or a serpent. His matter-of-fact, no-nonsense demeanor not aiding public perception, many under his care consider him a cruel taskmaster swift to abuse his higher-up position, having guild members reassigned or demoted over minor infractions.
Taskmaster Gallavan:
Race: Smallfolk.
Occupation: Head Instructor - The primary master of training, he who dictates the mysterious curriculums and regimens the new initiates will complete, or else. As-well as requesting funding or resources of the headmaster directly, based on the needs of him or his subbordinates.
Description: A lesson for every short curly gray hair on his old head. Taskmaster Gallavan was once an Arch Mage (Essentially an army General to their order) in his youth, one renown for his tactical efficiency and aptitude for spellcraft despite his lackluster inclination towards it. He is wrinkled now, reaching the end of his rope practically soaked in scars and liver spots his green eyes fading by the day. Yet he persists, seemingly out of sheer grit and not without capability either; Allegedly the 'Ancient Artifact' as he is jokingly referred to, singlehandedly overpowered several Coalition members attempting to defect recently, with a singular bolt from one hand alone effortlessly reducing these men's every thought, memory and aspiration to a red splatter the janitors have-yet to be able to clean up. Until his next eventful evening though, he will do as he has done the last three decades, molding the future of the Coalition, however many initiates have to die to guarantee only the best fill their ranks.

Task Mages: The common rank and file guild members, who for duty or pay perform whatever tasks required of them in the name of the Coalition, be it guarding the halls or mopping up the initiate who tried to escape their obligations.

Initiates: Citizens of Everwealth who have pledged their lives to the Arcane Coalition, sent here to train under the many soldiers in a variety of techniques over the course of an allegedly exhausting 4 years of study; Lessons so-intensive many initiates for unknown reasons do not survive, the exact nature of these studies, like the Fort's location itself, a closely guarded secret.

There is one more, unusual, denizen of this fortress, believed to be here before even the Arcane Coalition and the only link to the castle's mysterious former masters they have. They call it 'The Watching Man'. A mute silhouette of a tall bald man made of inky smoke; No one understands its nature or its origin, just that 'he' can be at any-spot in the castle at-any time, silently fading into blackened embers before reappearing several floors up several halls over in the same moment. The only constant habit it seems to possess what dubbed it its name, everyday, all day, watching. A secret meeting, hours of simple paperwork, Task Mages while they sleep; The longest his attention fixed on something being 38 years ago, when an inmate was driven to suicide after The Watching Man stared at him in his cell for over 19 days. Though he has never physically interacted with any of the castle or responded to attempts to get him to do so, swinging a sword at him, offering him a drink what-have-you; There was one chilling account where it spoke. On the first encounter with the entity, appearing to the initial Task Mages on the grounds at the end of a long corridor, startled, the men allegedly asked the creature to reveal its intentions, before he answered in a whispered gravely voice only the word "soon". They say every new Initiate that comes here to train has a 'Watching Man story', many of the Coalition also say, that even decades after leaving Fort Sunless sometimes it still feels like he's there watching them again.

Culture

General unease of the strange limnal space outside the fortress aside, as the name would imply, Fort Sunless is cold, no warmth or light found in its ancient gray stone walls; Prisoners afraid to speak out against their often inhumane treatment lest they be lobotomized for being 'a threat to themself and others'. The ferverous dedicaiton of the Arcane Coalition's members, especially of the Magus in-charge, humoring no unprofessionalism, and seemingly no joy; The guild members methodically carrying out their assigned tasks without question, or they are replaced... Only replaced if they are lucky. Many initiates for one reason or another having a change of heart, only to realize they will keep to their training or they will not be allowed to live, forced to survive the demanding ordeal that has taken the lives of many initiates, or be ripped apart by Task Mage lightning as the Guild entirely lacks tolerance for insubordination.

Public Agenda

The Arcane Coalition's second-largest concentration of forces; Charged mainly with training each new Coalition recruit, and secondly to imprison the Guild's fiercest enemies. Though if rumors are to be believed, the Coalition uses these prisoners, and possibly even dissenting initiates, as specimens for inhumane magickal experimentation, before silencing them or outright killing them in-order to ensure their dark deeds are undisturbed; These concerning allegations... Have yet to be proven...

Assets

If it even exists, rampant speculation from many aside, something of unknown nature called 'The Item'rumored to be in the Guild's possession allegedly resides here, and worryingly, they supposedly should not have it at-all. A renown Coalition Half-Elf Magus 'Norlan Jireen' who ran the facility before Cameron O'Leary, allegedly fell and injured his head during a visit to Everwealth's capital of Opulence; When he came-to, the onlookers reported a sharp change in-his demeanor, as-if he 'snapped-out of something', before a teary-eyed Norlan began to loudly plead for the concerned crowd to 'Take it from them!' 'The Item please listen! Fort Sunless, it's there! You have to take it from them!' and continued to do-so before his detachment of Task Mages took him away from the scene. Following this event, although reportedly vigorous by all-accounts somehow 'dropped dead' out of sight as the Task Mages were reportedly 'taking him to the doctor'.

History

Whether due to the Great Schism burning away most of recorded history like a broken lantern to a family home, or the Castle's original masters creating this place in secrecy before they left only 'The Watching Man' in their wake; Who built this place, why, how it got here or... where exactly it is... are a complete mystery. During an Arcane Coalition investigation some two-hundred years ago; A mirror-like sliver of rock the size of a doorway was discovered deep in the Grandgleam Forest, responding guild members then and to this day reporting a subtly nauseating feeling of dread around the area, doubly so within what-seemed to be another dimension that this rock transported them to when touching it. A hauntingly lifeless place consisting of nothing but an island fortress surrounded by endless pitch black water, under a blank 'sunless' sky that never shifted to night or day. The Coalition supposedly also found something they deemed immensely important when searching the fortress, so-much-so that whatever it was incentivized them to immediately allocate large amounts of resources to occupying the castle, also ensuring whatever the cost that all-future Coalition members are trained here and nowhere else. The castle's secondary function as a prison for magickal assailants a later development made convenient by the large, empty labyrinth of dungeons within the bowels of the fortress.

"No light, no hope, no mercy."

Founding Date

Unknown, possibly before The Great Schism.

Alternative Names

"The Bad Place.", "Hell", "The Belly of the Beast".

Training Level

Elite