Red Feather Regalia
They put a cloak of red feathers on her shoulders and a necklace of beads and fangs on her neck. She stands raising the Blade of Callisto above her head and calls down the lightning with a song. The cloak spreads on her back, becoming wings of red fire. Her tattoos glow gold and she leaps triumphantly into the sky. The heavens roar their approval.
The best war mages in the world enter the ranks of the Red Feather Battlemancers. Their leader, the Battlemaster, wears the Red Feather Regalia, a set of magic items won in battle, acquired as gifts, or custom crafted by one of the world's arcane orders.
When the current Battlemaster dies, retires, or ascends beyond the Divine Gate a contest is held to replace them. Every child knows the name of all the Battlemasters by heart. Most grow up dreaming of one day winning the Red Feather Tournament.
Red Feather Battlemancers
An order of war mages who put duty to the world over allegiance to school, country, or ancestry.
Red Feather Battlemaster
Leader of the Battlemancers, winner of the Red Feather Tournament, which is judged by the Crimson Quills.
Dance of Red Feathers
Red feathered wings,
A gilded sarong,
Crown of lightning,
Callisto's Blade strong,
Orb of pure light,
Dance full of joy,
Master of Might,
Our foes destroy.
The Regalia of each Battlemaster is unique to their rise to the title. The epic song "Dance of Red Feathers" describes the typical pieces of a Battlemaster's Regalia and describes the most famous collections in detail.
The stories about each item, how its owner acquired it, and how they used it becomes part of every Battlemaster's legend.
Every child knows the stories: how the Blade of Callisto was lost and found, the song of Voban's lute, and how Zahvin tricked the Minokawa into giving up its feathers.
Rise and Fall of the Red Feathers
The original Battlemancers were followers of Callisto Redwing, the first Dean of Evocation at Wizard's Peak University. She taught a style of battle magic relying on flight, ranged attacks, and light armor.
Callisto and her Red Feathers dominated the field of battle during the War Against the Far Realm. The arrival of red wings in the sky were a symbol of hope for ground forces on the verge of defeat.
The aberrant generals sent a group of renegade warlocks to hunt the Red Feathers. They discovered the base where Callisto and her followers were headquartered. Callisto was assassinated and her followers wiped out in the Night of Black Feathers.
The Red Feather Battlemancers never recovered and the War had to be won without them.
Red Feathers Reborn
The memory of the battlemancers remained in stories of the War and the imagination of children. Two human generations passed with no Red Feathers in the sky. They were a fond memory of a bygone time.
Meanwhile, warlocks had been hunted to the brink of extinction. All warlocks were blamed for their betrayals, the near-destruction of the world, and the loss of the gods.
In the early years after the War, the Pit was not yet fully tamed. The arcane orders squabbled amongst each other allowing an invasion from the Abyss to spread beyond the Zone.
It took a warlock, Melosa Metias, the New Red Feather, to unite them with her pact weapon, the Blade of Callisto. The mages rallied at the sight of her fiery Red Feathered wings. They anointed her the First Battlemaster of the modern age.
Melosa's Red Feather Regalia
Melosa Red Feather, Battlemaster followed the voice in her head to rediscover the Blade of Callisto. She formed a pact with the blade, becoming the first modern Battlemaster and reigniting the arcane order of Red Feather Battlemancers.
Red Feathered Flames
Melosa's fiery wings manifested from her connection to the spirit of Callisto. Multiple wings of pure flame propelled her through the air, inspiring awe in her allies and fear in her foes.
Wings are a custom warlock invocation.
The Fangs of Fiends
Melosa collected the teeth of fiends and monsters she slew as trophies of victory. She dipped them in gold and strung them between her jade and gold earrings. The Fangs were enchanted to abjure fiends, aswang, and undead.
Uses Talisman of Pure Good stats.
Tattoos of the Sun
Ancestral tattoos hand-tapped by her grandmother. Her first tattoos signified great beauty. She earned the later ones for heads taken in battle.
They glowed with golden sunlight, warding and enhancing her.
AC 18 and contain up to a 5th level spell.
Callisto's Ginunting
For Melosa, the Blade manifested as a curved sword, a ginunting, in honor of the dead moon goddess. A formidable sword master, she wielded blade, spell, and flame with equal ease and deadliness.
A Flame Tongue and Vorpal +3 short sword.
Since the time of Melosa, the mightiest mages in the world from all the arcane traditions compete in a Grand Tournament to earn the title of Battlemaster and the right to wear the Red Feather Regalia.
The Crimson Quills invite the most powerful mages from across the world to compete. The price of entry is a red feather from a powerful magical being given willingly to the entrant. The contestants compete in trials by combat, flying competitions, a display of talent, and a live interview.
Donating or creating a piece of the Regalia is a high honor. The arcane organizations of the world vie with each other to sponsor a prize. They play political games to craft a piece or award one as a prize.
Gyrard absolutely dominated the Grand Melee, but he tanked the all-contestant group dance performance. L'Dante sang his heart out during the talent portion and he's the best flyer in the bunch!
The Regalia of L'Dante
Battlemaster L'Dante Antonel Katigbak currently serves as the Commander of Chagroth's Tower. L'Dante's voice booms over the battlefield as he calls down evocation magic. His song rallies the Battlemancers to war.
The Blade of Callisto
The Blade manifests as a short sword, called a barong. Not actually a skilled swordsman, he only wields it ceremonially.
Uses Flame Tongue stats.
The Phoenix Cape
L'Dante came to the Tournament with a bundle of phoenix feathers as his entry fee. Those feathers cemented him as the early favorite. The efreeti Rajah Harqiss, proud of his illegitimate son, gave him the feathers.
Uses Wings of Flying stats.
Red Feather Battlemaster
L'Dante Katigbak is a fire genasi war mage, the current Red Feather Battlemaster, and Commander of Chagroth's Tower.
The Salakot of Defense
This armored hat, a salakot, was carved from a magical gourd and inlaid with adamantine. It protects the wearer from psychic attacks.
+1 AC & resist psychic damage.
L'Dante's Thunder Gauntlet
L'Dante's gauntlets are an arcane focus made from the leather of an ibingan, a water dragon that almost killed him.
+3 spell attacks and save DC's.
The Gilded Sarong
L'Dante wears an elaborate jacket and sarong woven with the traditional patterns of his mother's Talino people.
It is gilded with gold and silver but enchanted to be as light as silk and as strong as steel.
Uses Robe of the Archmagi stats.
The Pieces of the Regalia
The Cloak of Red Feathers
Battlemancers take their name from the magical red feathers somewhere in their clothing or gear. The Battlemaster is known for the splendid cloak of red feathers that they earn by winning the Tournament. The capes transform into red metal wings, granting the ability to fly.
The Crimson Quills choose a different arcane academy, guild, or coven to create the Cloak at the beginning of each Tournament. The group of mages use the entrants' feathers to craft the cloak. They take inspiration from the contests and the contestants as they proceed through the Tournament. The enchantments and rituals that create the cloak finalize with the victory of the new Battlemaster.
Each tournament is unique, starting with the feathers that the competitors bring and continuing through each of the trials. We weave the story of the contest into the cloak: every fight, every song, the failures, and the final victory. By the end of the tournament, the Cloak fits the Battlemaster perfectly.
The Blade of Callisto
Every Battlemaster wields the Blade of Callisto Redwing, the founder of the Battlemancers. The rediscovery of her sword led to the reemergence of the Battlemancers and their return as the foremost warrior mages in the world.
The weapon adapts to the strengths of each Battlemaster, becoming a dagger, a ginunting, a greatsword, or whatever form best suits its new wielder.
Unknown to most, the spirit of Callisto still acts through the blade, influencing the organization she founded from beyond the Divine Gate.
When a new Battlemaster is needed, the towering Crimson Quill Statue, bearing six incarnations of the Blade of Callisto comes to life. It flies to a large arena in a great metropolis and floats above it. The Statue hovers silently, the unformed Blade of Callisto floating before it until a new champion has won the Tournament.
The Crown of Dawn
The wizards and artificers of Wizard's Peak University claim the right to create a unique piece of headgear, referred to as the Crown of Dawn, for every new Battlemaster. It isn't always a crown, sometimes it's a simple headband, an ornate headdress, or an armored salakot.
The enchantments on the crown sometimes tie the wearer to a particular element, serve as a scrying device, or turn the headpiece into a weapon.
Some Battlemasters never have a crown. Some bring their own headgear to the role. Others turn down WPU's contribution in favor of one from their own guild.
The Kirinal Pit grants us its power at dawn. The Battlemaster stands at the Pit in defense of the world. Through the Crown, they gather power to make their voice heard through the heavens. That power rattles the bones of the world.
The Battlemaster's Focus
Callisto's Blade, Voban's Lute strung with ki-rin hair, M'Celyna's Red Feathered Rod, L'Dante's Thunder Gauntlet; all the different tools used by arcanists fit this category. Each Battlemaster usually brings their own arcane focus to the role.
Members of all arcane traditions: wizards, warlocks, sorcerers, bards, and artificers have held the role through the last 100 plus years.
This unique item becomes synonymous with the legend of its owner. It often becomes a shorthand way of referring to each Battlemaster.
Callisto's Blade blazes flame, through Voban's Lute the ki-rin came. Deliten with his Orb renewed, Melosa's sword through demons hewed.
The Gilded Garb
The Battlemasters famously bring their distinctive style to the job. Being the leader of the Red Feathers requires a flamboyant nature and a complete lack of shame. The current Battlemaster, L'Dante Katigbak, can be seen coming from a mile away in his golden lamé jacket and sarong embroidered with the colors and patterns of his mother's Talino family.
In the past, others have worn red mithral chain shirts, flowing red robes, or magic tattoos that glowed with power. M'Celyna the Beautiful was known for entering battle in a gold and white ball gown that remained magically clean, no matter how hard she fought.
M'Celyna the Beautiful darts above the fight in a spotless gown of gold and white. She laughs aloft, her heart is pure. With sword and staff, her aim is sure.
Nice article! It is a cool concept to have many of the items linked to the battlemancer role but still have some items that they determine themselves causing each generation to have a different set. That Callisto's spirit is still influencing through the blade is pretty interesting as well! One not for a sentence I found strange 'They all have in common the ability'. I would just drop the 'in common' here since it seems redundant. In all good read!
Thanks for the detailed response! You're right, I made the change. Definitely more work to do before it's done.
For your consideration, my submissions for the WorldAnvil Worldbuilding Awards 2024. (I've also included some of my favorites other worldbuilders.)