The Keepers of The Oath

Guardians of Magic and Stewards of their Craft

"Looking for the Keepers? Fourth floor, mind the excavation gear in the corridor as you exit the lift. They had a crew get back from a nasty expedition yesterday. Still, they seem cheerful. It's not often they neutralize a large Wizard Artifact like what they found.

I hear there's cake."

The Keepers of the Oath are far from the reclusive organization one would believe Mages would attend. If anything, they are the opposite of their magical ancestors, the Wizards: Open and communicative, working together to ensure a better future for magic. Their name draws from the Oath they take at the completion of their training to respect magic and report any Wizard Artifacts found so that they may be removed from the Mortal Lands in their entirety.

Structure

The Council are the core leadership of the Keepers of the Oath. Aside from several aides and heavy-lifters, it is these men and women who oversee the day to day operations of KOTO. They are also the ones with whom judgment is trusted on more serious articles and actions.

Public Agenda

Expeditions

Tied in with their Research Branch are the expeditioners. A mage can either collaborate with KOTO to fund and pilot an expedition to an uncharted ruin or reclaimed territory, or may simply rent equipment from KOTO's vast storehouses. These expedition's primary function is to find or travel to known Wizard Artifacts and neutralize or destroy them. Preferrably both, knowing Wizards.

Oath Conferment

Every Mage, upon completion of their training, undertakes a ceremony called The Oath-Taking  in which they take the Oath of the Mage. This oath is binding, and is proof and responsibility rolled into one. KOTO is the one who confers these oaths and records their taking. They can also rescind an Oath and with it, a Mage's Status as a respected member of the magic community. While mages are not carefully monitored, any reports of wrongdoing are swiftly reported to the council. This being said a particular Mage, Aramis the Pirate, has eluded KOTO hands for almost five years now.

Alchemical Solutions

One of the newer branches of KOTO, The Alchemical Solutions branch of the organization dedicates itself not to the past, but to the future of Mages. It has long been understood that the magic of a father and mother can pass along to their child, but the exact methods still remain a mystery. Still, the chemists at KOTO have devised potions designed to either encourage or discourage a particular magic type from being inherited in a child, or from having magic children at all. There has been some ethical debate regarding this subject, but most of the time the practicality of raising more than one child that can set fire to the furniture wins out.

The Destruction of Wizard Magic

Likely both their most important agenda and most contentious. Mages as a whole believe that Wizard magic as it is currently known is too dangerous to be used, and have done their best to stamp out the practice. The wiser members will explain that it is not the magic itself that they hate; in its ancient, uncorrupted form it was used to great extent in the Ageis kingdom, as well as a variety of other lands. However, Wizards mixed forbidden techniques learned from the Infernal Realm with this magic, creating the Wizard Magic that corrupted the land for centuries. KOTO hopes that, when the last trace of the Wizards is eradicated save from the history books, it will be safe for non-mages to use magic again, in its uncorrupted form.

Current Organization structure

The Chair: Chief Presider of KOTO.

The Steward: Second in Command of KOTO.

The Coffer: Chief of Finances.

The Study: Chief of Research.

The Traveler: Chief of Expeditions.

The Cauldron: Chief of Alchemical Solutions.

Founding Date

676

Alternative Names

KOTO

Demonym

Keepers

Location

Poartlind

Related Traditions

• The Oath-Taking

Notable Members

• Dr. Anthony Hewitt

Assets

One of the Core Tenets of the Keepers is cooperation. Unlike their Wizard predecessors, Mages encourage sharing information and will often pitch in together on research projects. The Pinnacle of their work is the WAR; the Wizard Artifact Registry. Every known Wizard Artifact known to the Mortal Lands, their current status and their threat level are recorded here. When the Primary Entity is updated, its copies across the eastern sea are updated to reflect the new changes, allowing the near-instant transmission of life-saving information.
The Keepers also have several sets of artifact extraction gear, designed for articles larger than can fit in the traditional Mage's box. There are available free of charge to any Mage who needs to use them.

History

The Keepers of the Oath began as the Holy Order of King Rothwell III in the early Marble era, circa 676. Based in the newest wing of Castle Cascada, the Holy Order strove to establish standards for the quickly-proliferating Mage population so that they would not fall prey to the mindset of their Wizard predecessors. In 1253 The Holy Order separated from the Royal Family after Queen Celeste attempted to require loyalty to the Queen in the Mage's Oath. A fierce political, philosophical and moral debate ensued, resulting in the Holy Order decreeing that Mages owed loyalty to no one but the Creator that had blessed them with their gift. They established their new headquarters on the grounds of what would become Poartlind University. They renamed themselves the Order of the Mage's Oath, in honor of that which they had sworn to defend.
In 1679 The Order nearly split in two over a matter that historians would later describe as 'trivial.' As a result, the group was renamed one final time.
Today the modern institution, The Keepers of the Oath, Maintains their base of operations at Poartlind University. They now also have several satellite locations located in countries across the seaboard, continuing their mission of eradicating Wizard magic and ensuring the safe use of Mage magic across the globe.