Amethystine Regiment

No love, no hate, no attachments, no sadness. How can someone act like more construct than man?

— confused Aletheian soldier

The Amethystine Regiment are a faction of the Medimian military that encompass all arcane mages within the country. They are universally considered slaves, with no member of the regiment joining willingly.
Though all Medimian forces are kept under strict discipline, the Amethystine are expected to live up to far higher standards, and take far harsher punishments for their perceived failings. They are also largely isolated from the rest of Medimia, when not in active use, with external relationships being kept under strict eye if not outright forbidden. However, within their subterranean base of Castrum Taenarius, near enough to Mount Arduum in the country's northwest, they have some measure of freedom.
It is here that friendships, relationships, and alliances form and fall, free from the usual stressors of everyday life. No arcane mage need fear hunger or poverty under Medimian rule; they live lives of relative comfort when not in use on the battlefield, able to live and love as they please (within the strict framework set out for them, of course). With this in mind, their role is never forgotten. A highly prized attribute, and one that sees many Amethystine rise in standing, is the ability to master one's own emotions - to be one's own self as needed and the perfect soldier the next moment, to never give in to rage, fear, or sadness. Even in moments of peace, this is carefully remembered - for their higher-ups see all.
The study of matters arcane and beyond is heavily encouraged within the base, and its libraries are extensive. Those rising in power particularly fast are watched carefully, and the most powerful members of the Regiment face far sterner restrictions and control than their fellows. Any member with access to spells at fifth level of higher is dimensionally shackled to prevent teleportation, and any member with spells at or above seventh level is kept under watch. Those with ninth-level spellcasting are typically either kept in carefully-controlled prisons, or are made use of as members of high society, with freedoms and powers that none of their kin would imagine possible.
The only people who have ever escaped the Regiment are those who have either developed strength in secret and used it to escape before shackles could be placed, or those with far superior magic to the rest. Even then, their indoctrination usually kicks in to keep them trapped - and if they do not escape the Empire fast enough, they will be brought back by Freedom's Thorns.

Recruitment

Praise the Emperor. Praise the Empire. Stand down, or be incinerated.

— member of the Regiment

Arcane magic has a wild freedom to it. It bubbles to life in the bloodlines of unsuspecting mortals, and flourishes in those willing to study it for long enough. Divine magic is far less free with who can use it - the gods and the land bless precious few with the ability to heal and channel their power for good or evil. It should come as no surprise that arcane magic, therefore, has developed a stigma - particularly since it incited the War of Magic and the ensuing Worldrend.
Most nations that still, after five thousand years, have damaging laws for arcane users limit the spellcasters to keeping their abilities secret or not using them within the land's territory. The Medimian Empire takes things a step further. Any person of any age that is detected - through standardised nationwide tests - to have arcane ability is quietly removed from their family and society, and recruited to the Amethystine Regiment.
Those detected later in life receive no punishment for their failure to be caught earlier, owing to an understanding of arcane magic's spontaneous nature. With that said, those who intentionally avoid their rightful enslavement are punished harshly, and the worst offenders may well be executed if no possibility of indoctrinating or making use of them is found - though this is unlikely, as the Regiment is often called on to simply provide raw power.

Type

Magic

Overall training Level

Trained

Used by

• Medimian Empire

Ranks & Titles

• Rubies Regnant
• Ruby of War

Joining the Regiment

One does not volunteer to join the Regiment. The only people welcome into the Amethystine Regiment are those with arcane magic, and they are given no choice.
Immigrants to Medimia from other nations are also subject to this limitation, though typically receive information - albeit biased information - about the Regiment when first discussing their impending immigration.
Arcane mages who are simply visiting the country are not at risk of being pressed into the nation's forces, for the most part.
They are asked to not practice arcane magic within the country without significant and state-approved cause, and may be supervised or otherwise restricted during their time there.
Those that breach these rules are more at risk of greater punishment, such as execution or sacrifice, than of being forced into the Regiment, though loss of citizenship and subsequent service to the Regiment has been used as a measure of mercy in previous years.