The 8th Sanctum
Intelligence isn't a privilege, its a gift to be used for the betterment of mankind. Magic, much like knowledge, is a gift to be used to improve the lives of those around us. A tool of great creation and inspiration that also shows us the measure of an individual and the character of their soul. -Magistrate Bob Ross
Structure
The 8th Sanctum is run like a college. At the top is the Magistrate who is elected from amongst the Deans and is generally the most powerful of all the magic users. The Magistrate is in charge of all 8 branches and the Deans are the leaders of each branch individually. Below the Deans are the teachers who instruct students in the various applications of magic depending on the students own naturally proclivities.
Culture
The 8th Sanctum is spread out across the Jaxxian Galaxy and as such the way they interact with the planets governing body largely determines the culture within the Circle.
Tranuae (Azura): Created last by the 8th Sanctum the Azuran Circle was constructed in 100 GA. The Azuran Circle is a laid back Circle to say the least. Despite their cavalier attitudes towards the application of magic and studies of it the Azuran Circle has the greatest proficiency of elemental mages, specifically hydromancers and cryomancers for obvious reasons. Due to their interesting political situation as vassals under Citalia the Azuran Circle does require tuition and is often seen as a secondary campus for the Citalian Circle. However they are very much independent in the eyes of the 8th Sanctum.
Paaria (Citalia): Citalia is the home of the most liberal of all the Circles in the galaxy. Treated like a normal college the mages who enter the school are treated with respect and have the most resources available to pursue their studies. The cost of admittance is high on Citalia given that almost no other Circle charges admission. However this tuition funds the Circle and allows it to maintain a fairly unrestricted and well funded presence amongst the Citalian elite.
Ferrum (Rashuldvia): The Rashuldvian Circle is often viewed more as a military academy than a dedicated member of the 8th Sanctum. Partnered with the Empire this Circle teaches students the art of combat magic and uses magic to enhance their battle prowess. The Rashuldvian Circle is often considered a subdivision of the Rashuldvian empire as the Dean works with the Empress as an advisor due to their family history with mages.
Ignotrina (Salavaria): Studious and proud. This Circle is open to all who wish to study the deeper applications and manipulations of the magic which infuses the galaxy. These cloistered scholars work tirelessly in the Library of Lumenarres to study the hidden nature of magic in this universe, focusing on theoretical magics. This Circle is proud to hold the claim of producing well rounded pupils with studies beyond that of magic but also in history, literature, and science as well. They boldly claim to have been the ones to originally discover space travel despite the 8th Sanctum not reaching Salavaria until after The Day of Spaceships.
Oase (T'Salizar): The most unstable of all the Circles, the T'Salizar Circle lies independent from both the Hive and Ma'atra. Open to both groups as a place to study the arcane this Circle tends to have quite a few brawls in the halls and endures suspicion and often open hatred from both sides. However the mages who learn and leave the circle often become indispensable to their respected homes and so the Circle survives by their council.
Yolvight (Vernos): Home of tinkerers, inventors, and enchanters. The Vernosian Circle composes historically of dwarves who are notoriously less attuned to the magical world as other races. While of course some exceptions do exist, while rare, most dwarves cannot access arcane magic. As such the Circle teaches its students primarily about rune scribing and enchantments via magically attuned materials and machines.
Arcanium (Voxia): The birthplace of the 8th Sanctum, this circle is the seat of leadership for all the Circles and home to the Magister. Constructed long before the Day of Spaceships in a city known as Aderran this Circle was a respected power amongst the Voxian nobles. Especially when a Magister known as Waltor Windbeak became King of Voxia, uniting both the magical and mundane worlds. However, with the rise of the Church of Voxia vestiges of the old world like this became focuses of scrutiny by others. Arcane and Divine magic have always been at odds with one another due to the perceived perversion of the natural world which is held as a divine blessing from the gods. As such the 8th Sanctum lost most of its power and maintains an unstable understanding with the current theocracy. The Arcanium along with Ferrum are the only Circles where the government forces mage children to attend by law. This creates mild tension between the Arcanium and the Church of Voxia still as the 8th Sanctum disagrees and despises the governments forceful displacement of arcanely gifted children. Not to mention that whenever a noble child proves to be of arcane talent they can seemingly avoid this travesty that affects so many families.
Frost Keep (Zakatash): This Circle is home not to the people of Ice Watch or Raxxia but to the natives of this frozen planet. Located in the mountains this icy fortress of knowledge is often where the native kapinchinos travel to enhance their knowledge of magic. This Circle is not open to the people of Raxxia and admittance is strict as to prevent those with ill intent from entering into their halls of magic. This has put a strain on relations between the Circle and the Ice Watch with Ice Watch historically setting up blockades to cause struggle and strife amongst the faculty and students.
Public Agenda
The 8th Sanctums goal is to educate magic users on the responsible use of their powers. This is performed in different ways depending on each sanctum and their relation with the governing structure of the planet.
History
First discovered by the elves of Voxia many centuries ago, magic became the deciding factor in who would rule. However this discovery of magic soon created abominations. Abominations were created when untrained magic users allowed the magic to overwhelm them, transforming their minds and polluting their thoughts. The would become extensions of the inherent chaos that comes with manipulating magic and would destroy entire villages. While this didn't happen to everyone, the few highly skilled mages banded together to create the 8th Sanctum. The 8th Sanctum represents the eight schools of magic and the eight mages who founded the organization. The 8th Sanctum took in mages of all disciplines; sorcerers, wizards, bards, mystics, etc. Back in those days they even took in practitioners of divine magic. The 8th Sanctum would spread across all of Voxia with each of the original mages created their own Circle. While each one was important the circle known as the Arcanium holds the most historical weight. Built in what would become the town of Aderran the Arcanium gave rise to one of the most powerful mages in the entire galaxy and is now the home of the magistrate.
The 8th Sanctum was not always perfect. With no intention to rule the magistrates simply became advisors to the king putting them often at the mercy of the current kings policies. However, the pride of the elves at the Arcanium often prevented non-elves from admission into the Circle. Leading to eventual measures taken by kings under the magistrates advisement to either eliminate or contain mages from the only other native Voxian race, the Kenkus. Kenku's were cordoned off into the slums of Aderran that became known as "The Coop" and magic users from amongst the Kenkus were often killed. This however changed entirely when a kenku known as Waltor Windbeak escaped Aderran and trained in secret with the help of his future elven wife Jane who was a student at the Arcanium. He would return many years later to challenge the current Magistrate and with his victory he gained the position as a Dean and eventually became a magistrate himself who would then later become King of Aderran while still holding the title of Maigstrate.
On The Day of Spaceships the Church of Voxia rose to power by the whim of fate and with the masses behind the new faith the circles fell. Voxia became a one government theocracy with the support of Salavaria and the 8th Sanctum became nothing more than a prison for arcane practitioners no matter the faith. It would be many years until the church released their restrictions on the 8th Sanctum but by that point the Magister had turn the group to the stars and set up Circles on 8 different planets where restrictions weren't as tight.
Since then the Circles of the 8th Sanctum have operated as colleges for the arcanely gifted. In some cases mages are still required to go to these circles upon the discovery of their magical gifts like on Rashuldvia and Voxia, unless you have the money to avoid it. But in large the 8th Sanctum stays true to its mission of teaching would be mages how to better control their gifts for the betterment of the galaxy.
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