The Dasarian Provincial Mages Guild Proposal

[sirius]

This is a proposal for a mages guild I've put together. I've actually already forwarded most of it on to the admin@dasaria.net email in the form of a normal proposal - but I figured I'd give people the chance to pick it apart and make recommendations, laugh maniacally, fling insults. Even if it doesn't get accepted, it might give people ideas for different factions, so it will most likely have positive results in the end anyway. So, read on. I recommend skipping the codes, as they're most likely contradictory in places - and boring to boot. The Aspects part (particularly the Phoenix Guard) is more interesting. Thanks. P.S. The formatting is all out of whack.

(Oh, and if this goes ahead, I'll be taking requests for a host of people to take up the rank of Mage or Mage-Knights straight up, and I'll elect some to the Council, and Electorship, so if you're interested, let me know with a reply, and I'll add your name to the list).

EDIT: Updated.

Dasarian Provincial Mages Guild

Goals and Beliefs

Goals and Introduction
The Dasarian Provincial Mages Guild (“the Guild”, “the Mages Guild”) aims to establish a collective society of the users of arcane magic (hereafter referred to as mages or arcanists). The Guild aims to work alongside the provincial government, the Empire, the churches and other public organizations to produce beneficial results for Cear, Dasaria and all Varana. The Guild will be in part, a mercantile faction, streamlining the sale and procurement of magical items, the production of magical items and their subsequent sale, and the collection of arcane resources of all natures. The Guild will be open to all those who practice arcane magic, and the only race unable to apply for membership will be the drow elves. The Guild will be a quasi-democratic organization, with a faction-head, the High Arcanist (High Arch-Mage), with the ultimate power in many decisions made by the administrators of the faction, the Arcanist Council, the members of which are the Arch-Mages. The organization itself is divided into a number of “Aspects”, which are perhaps best thought of as ‘wings’ of the entire faction, each representing a particular aspect of the practice of arcane magic (hence the name). The current official Aspects are the Tower Mage Aspect and the Tower Guard Aspect. Every member of the faction belongs to one of these Aspects. More detail on these Aspects will follow.

Beliefs: Overview
The Guild is an entirely public, lawful organization, and in no way seeks to subvert the glory of the Emperor and his dominion. By applying for membership to the faction, members swear allegiance to the Empire, and to the laws of the Empire, and to in no way challenge the glory of the Emperor for any end.

The Guild is in part, religious, worshiping Lochwar, Brintha and Farallis as the primary and most relevant deities of our group The Guild is against all forms of heresy, and should the Imperial Pantheon or any Imperial laws change, the faction swears to abide by the doctrines of the Empire indefinitely.

The Guild is not inherently racist, but as with the churches, it restricts membership to a degree. All races are welcome, bar the dark elves, or drow, for unspecified reasons. Elves, tieflings, aasimar, low-folk and half-caste orcs are accepted and tolerated as full members, though their chances of reaching the illustrious Arch-Mage rank may be less than that of a human.

The Guild is not restricted to pure users of arcane magic, indeed, users who have mixed talents will find there are Aspects tailoring to their specific skills – and even those who are not arcane users at all have opportunities within the faction (Soldiers for example, can apply directly to the Arch-Mage and High Mages of the illustrious Phoenix Guard), However, regular membership requires some manner of arcane talent, and the Phoenix Guard and other future unique Aspects are the exception to this rule.

High Arcanists, Arch-Mages, Mages, Mage-Knights and High Mages are encouraged to take upon an Apprentice as a Charge. This is a way of easing the process of inducting an Apprentice into the Guild, through the process of patronage (funding of the Apprentice) and training. However, it is not necessary, and many Apprentices never become Charges.

The Guild believes you progress through excellence and contribution – a gift to a higher member of the Guild will always be seen as a contribution to the faction, and as a rule, should not be denied. Contributions are given to the Treasurer of the Aspect, who confers with the High mages and the Arch-Mage of the aspect to determine what to do with said wealth.

The Codes of the Dasarian Provincial Mages Guild
I.
Laws of the glorious Empire, and the Emperor, are taken as the absolute authority in all matters. No member must in any way contradict these laws, or they risk expulsion and their forwarding to the proper authorities.

II.
Jurisdiction within the Guild depends on your rank. The High Arcanist has jurisdiction over all, with special addendums. The Arch-Mages have jurisdiction over their Aspects members. High Mages have jurisdiction over those of the Aspect below them. Electors have no jurisdiction over anyone, and are only under the jurisdiction of the High Arcanist.

III.
The Arcanist Council is the supreme authority within the faction, and it retains the right to amend these codes at any time, without consultation to the faction as a whole.

IV.
Any action taken by the Arcanist Council is voted upon by the Arch-Mages, and the High Arcanist takes into consideration the vote, and makes the final decision. However, the High Arcanist only has the equivalent authority of an Arch-Mage in specific cases (such as in the delaying of a challenge).

V.
The High Arcanist is able to be challenged by any member of the Arcanist Council for his or her position. If the High Arcanist declines the challenge, the challenger is automatically victorious and ascends to the position. If the High Arcanist wishes to delay the challenge, the Council (including the High Arcanist) votes ‘For’ or ‘Against’ the proposal. When a High Arcanist is defeated in a challenge through traditional duelling methods, or by default, he or she automatically takes upon the position of the victorious challenger temporarily, until a reassignment of positions is determined (For example, if the Arch-Mage of the Phoenix Guard were to challenge the High Arcanist, and be victorious, their roles are automatically reversed until the Council (not including the ex-High Arcanist) decide upon which Aspect to give the defeated control of as Arch-Mage).

VI.
An Arch-Mage can only challenge a single High Arcanist once. If the Arch-Mage fails, they can no longer ascend to the High Arcanist position through challenging.

VII.
A challenge is a simple duel, taken at a specified place, decided upon by the High Arcanist. The challenges are non-fatal, and to admit to defeat before a challenge is over or even begun is common and both accepted and respected. Preferably, a healer will be present to ensure the combatants are not permanently injured. It is the responsibility of the Arch-Mage to arrange for a healer to be present, if the High Arcanist should request it. If a challenge is inconclusive, it is assumed to have been a failure on the part of the Arch-Mage – thus, it is critical that Arch-Mages are certain they come prepared, because they only have ONE chance.

VII.
There are no codes concerning the removal of a High Arcanist, because there are sufficient means by which one can be removed (Challenging, death etc.) without action.

IIX.
A High Arcanist has the right to stand down from his or her position, and elect an Arch-Mage to take his or her place as High Arcanist. The High Arcanist who is stepping down can either temporarily take up the ex-Arch Mage’s position until the Council decide upon a reorganisation of Aspect control, or to retire entirely (gaining the default position Mage should they return).

IX.
An Apprentice application to the Guild costs half of an Emperor (500 Crowns). A special application costs 1 Emperor. This money is directly entered into the coffers of the Aspect to which the individual is applying (The Grey Aspect in the case of initial applications). A contribution of 2 Emperors must be made by Apprentices or Charges entering an Aspect (The Grey Aspect not included), and in the case of Charges, this must be matched by a 2 Emperor contribution of the Charge’s master on top of the Charge’s contribution. Becoming Arch-Mage requires a minimum contribution of 7 Emperors, and becoming High Arcanist requires a minimum contribution of 10 Emperors – which, as usual, directly enters the coffers of the relevant Aspect.

X.
Mage is defined as anyone possessing arcane, or arcane-like powers. This includes those considered to be in any way, shape or form, wizards, sorcerors, bards and warlocks. Powers granted by the worship of a deity do not qualify.

XI.
Mages and Mage-Knights are divisions of the same rank, and are organized in this way for functionality. A Mage-Knight is any mage who practices martial combat on top of the arcane. The two are absolute equals, and any codes, amendments or the like that apply to Mages automatically apply to Mage-Knights, and vice versa. Mage-Knights are typically the main source for the Tower Guard Aspect and Phoenix Guard Aspect recruitment.

XII.
Membership of the Guild precludes membership of other factions (excluding churches and Imperial organisations) – unless there is a Mutual Membership Pact in place between the two factions. Any faction that is lawful and loyal to the Empire is free to apply for a Mutual Membership Pact with the Dasarian Provincial Mages Guild, and their application will be judged by the Council fairly. The final decision rests with the High Arcanist in the matters of cross-membership, though these pacts are mutually beneficial, and thus, rarely turned down.

XIII.
There is a period of free-reign for every High Arcanist, in which they cannot be challenged for their position, nor retire. This is to prevent exploitation of the ‘Challenging’ system. The period is a minimum of 1 day (real time relative to the GMT of the High Arcanist) and a maximum of 3 days. It is upon the High Arcanist to decide on the length of their free-reign period, and if this step is somehow overlooked, it is assumed to be the maximum limit of 5 days in real time.

XIV.
SPECIAL: This temporary code is in effect for the first High Arcanist reign of Sirius Calasthere. To ensure the Guild becomes stable, operational and establishes a reasonable membership base, Sirius Calasthere will be unable to be challenged or have his position as High Arcanist revoked in any way, shape or form. This is merely a precaution to prevent early sabotage of the Guild by outside powers or accidental oversights.

XV.
SPECIAL: Sirius Calasthere will retain absolute authority until the period of his first reign ends, all decisions by the Arcanist Council will be accepted or denied by Sirius until the end of his reign, but all members will retain their usual powers, bar this temporary amendment. See Code XIV for clarification. If Sirius takes upon the High Arcanist position for a second time, codes XV and XIV are null.

XVI.
The Phoenix Guard, though a part of the Tower Guard, is unique in its position. At the beginning of their reign, the High Arcanist will elect a member of the Phoenix Guard to serve as the Captain, who is essentially the representative of the Phoenix Guard with the Captain. The Phoenix Guard reports directly to the High Arcanist, and any Arch-Mage giving them orders must confirm them with the High Arcanist beforehand - so essentially, the Phoenix Guard report 'only' to the High Arcanist.

XVII.
The Phoenix Guard Captain holds a special rank, and due to the close connection with the High Arcanist is able to sit in on any Arcanist Council meeting, but not vote (This may change in the future, and the Captain is an adviser to the High Arcanist, so can effect decisions nonetheless). The Phoenix Guard itself is also allowed to attend if the High Arcanist requests it, though of course, this would be somewhat burdensome.


Hierarchy and Faction Organisation

Arcanist Council (“the Council”) (Tier 3, Highest):

(One) High Arch-Mage (a.k.a. the High Arcanist)
Head of the entire faction. A position of power, beginning with the first High Arcanist. High Arcanists can be challenged by any Arch-Mage for his or her position, but only once per Arch-Mage to prevent exploitation of this law. High Arcanists, along with the Arch-Mages, deliberate to choose which High Mages (or even Mages or Mage-Knights) should be elected to the Arcanist Council, but the High Arcanist has the power to veto any ruling by his or her inferiors concerning recruitment. A High Arcanist cannot deny any challenge for his or her position, though the Arcanist Council can vote on a short-term delay of the challenge if there are extreme circumstances, if a High Arcanist chooses not to accept the challenge, the challenger is automatically the victor, and their roles are reversed as if the challenge had taken place and the challenger had won. If a challenger is defeated, nothing changes, though they lose any future chance at ascending to the High Arch-Mage position via challenging, and could only be voted in by his or her peers in the future if the High-Arch Mage position became vacant.

Arch-Mages
Elected by the Arcanist Council to be the heads of particular Aspects (Sub-divisions of the faction pertaining to skills, schools of magic, roles etc.). The process of electing an Arch- Mage is as such: an Arch-Mage notes the performance of a particular High Mage or Elector (and in some cases Mages or Mage-Knights), and presents them as a candidate to the Council. The Council each vote for or against the proposal, every member (Including the High Arcanist) has an equal vote, and if the number for should exceed the number against, then the candidate is thus elected. Arch-Mages can only be elected when an established Aspect is without an Arch-Mage for any reason, or a new Aspect is proposed by a member of the Council, or a vote is called to depose an Arch-Mage, and is thus successful.

Aspects (Artificer Aspect etc.) (Tier 2):

Electors
The Electors are a group responsible for assessing the applications of Apprentices and Charges to join a particular (true) Aspect, or if they feel there is sufficient premise they can request an Apprentice who has not made an application to be elected to an Aspect. There are only three Electors, chosen by the Arcanist Council, in the usual voting fashion (‘For’ or ‘Against’) and only when there is a position free. No Electors can be from the same Aspect unless the High Arcanist decides there is sufficient premise for the action, and if the High Arcanist does so – the decision stands permanently).

Treasurer
Every Aspect has a single treasurer, who is voted in by the Council in the usual fashion. The Treasurer keeps an accessible ledger of contributions, donations etc. of gold, artefacts etc. and this is cross-referenced with the donator to ensure credibility. The Treasurer confers with the High Mages and the Arch-Mage regularly, to decide what to do with the contributions.

High Mages
Elected by the Arcanist Council in the usual fashion for their exceptional deeds, or commitment to the Art and the faction. High Mages are leading figures within their Aspects, and assistants to the Arch-Mage of their aspect. High Mages may choose to take upon an Apprentice. There are up to two High Mages per Aspect.

Mages and Mage-Knights
The core of the faction, Mages and Mage-Knights (any hybrid mages of the military profession) are the foundation of the organisation. Mages and mage-knights are at the command of the High Mages and Arcanist Council, Electors have no jurisdiction over them. Mages and Mage-Knights belong to a particular aspect depending upon the functions of the Aspect (If they are Mage-Knights, they may do well in the Phoenix Guard Aspect for example) and their particular skills relative to the Aspect. Mages and Mage-Knights may choose to take upon an Apprentice.

Charges and Apprentices (Tier 1, Lowest):

Charges and Apprentices
Every member of the faction, no matter their rank, begins as an Apprentice, and if they are taken upon by a Mage, Mage-Knight or High Mage as an Apprentice, they become a Charge of their master, though the umbrella-term Apprentice still applies. Charges and Apprentices are the inductees into the faction, and all mages (Wizards and sorcerors) are able to apply for membership – whether they get beyond the absolute lowest tier is dependent upon their contribution, effort and experience being noticed by those above them. Charges and Apprentices fall under the jurisdiction of the High Mages of the Grey Aspect (the introductory group (Aspect) to which all Charges and Apprentices belong until elected out of it.). It is common, and acceptable for Apprentices or Charges to withdraw their application, whether it be temporary or permanent is up to them. There is no penalty or limit on how many times any one Apprentice may join, or withdraw from the faction. This is not the case with higher tiers of the faction, however.

Faction Information

Current Official Aspects (and preferred nomenclature):
The Grey Aspect
Arch-Mage: TBA High Mages: TBA, TBA Electors (if any): TBA
The Grey Aspect represents the Apprentices and Charges of the faction. Belonging to this Aspect is common tradition, and it is the most well known Aspect, as it is highly public and often holds displays in Cear to recruit young mages. This is essentially the introductory Aspect, and it’s main goals are advertising and active recruitment, not to mention usual faction tasks. Mage-Knights and Mages sometimes choose to apply as a full and official member of the Grey Aspect, usually because they excel at advertising and recruiting for the Guild.

The Tower Guard Aspect (“the Tower Guard”)
Arch-Mage: TBA High Mages: TBA, TBA Electors (if any): TBA
The Tower Guard are the security force for the Dasarian Provincial Mages Guild. They act as guards, patrols and general soldiers for the organization. The Tower Guard are also available as mercenaries, escorts or guards to the government, churches or private entities. The elite wing of the Tower Guard is the Phoenix Guard. Generally one must become a Tower Guard before becoming a Phoenix Guard, but there are possible exceptions. The Arch-Mage of the Tower Guard has control over both the Phoenix Guard and the Tower Guard, making him or her perhaps the most powerful of the Arch-Mages. It is possible to be recruited directly to the Tower Guard or Phoenix Guard with no arcane talent, and this requires the submission of a ‘special’ application, with a cost of 1 Emperor, to be lodged with the Arch-Mage of the .

The Tower Mage Aspect
Arch-Mage: TBA High Mages: TBA, TBA Electors (if any): TBA
The Tower Mages are one of the three primary Aspects. The Tower Mages are wizards, sorcerors and warlocks who are beyond the rank of charge or apprentice and are not proficient with martial combat. The membership of the Tower Mage Aspect is diverse, and it represents the largest Aspect within the faction.

REGISTER

High Arcanist (High Arch-Mage) (1 Total)
Sirius Sejanus Calasthere

Arch-Mages (1 Per Aspect)

High Mages (Up to 2 Per Aspect)

Electors (3 Total, Elected by Arcanist Council)

Mages/Mage-Knights (No Limit)
Cedric Le Veil (Forum Account: Unknown)
Will Smith (Forum Account: papaya taco)
Ashano Rhyersen (Forum Account: velve)
Phelan (Forum Account: Peregrinus)
Ramen Pride (Forum Account: Wumpus Slayer)
Ad Avis (Forum Account: Unknown)
Thrar (Forum Account: Unknown)
Barto Geigers (Forum Account: kikkelipoika)
Amnon Meshullam (?) (Forum Account: bobzim)
Name Withheld (Forum Account: -).
Falcon Silvermane (Forum Account: Warlock).
Julio Peck (ForuM Account: Mas)
Darwik (Forum Account: Eowade(?) )

Charges/Apprentices (No Limit)

Unspecified (Or TBA)
-

[Elrith]

Wonderful write up Sirius except for... this:

...and the only race unable to apply for membership will be the drow elves.

*shakes fist*

On a more serious note I like what you've presented so far. You have a basis for goals and functions of the various arms of the organization covered. Your system of challenging also seems appropriate for a faction driven by magical power.

[sirius]

Thanks Elrith, I had contemplated making it an organization based solely on an individual's own merit (their reputation, power etc.), but the drow are so widely despised it would probably cause a lot more issues to include them than to not. Sorry.

Of course, if the proposal goes ahead, there could be votes amongst the Council to allow anyone in - no matter of race. It really just depends.

[SnorriHT]

...
The Guild is an entirely public, lawful organization, and in no way seeks to subvert the glory of the Emperor and his dominion. By applying for membership to the faction, members swear allegiance to the Empire, and to the laws of the Empire, and to in no way challenge the glory of the Emperor for any end.

The Guild is in part, religious, worshipping Lochwar and Farallis as the primary and most relevant of our group. The Guild is against all forms of heresy, and should the Imperial Pantheon or any Imperial laws change, the faction swears to abide by the doctrines of the Empire indefinitely.
...

looks great mate! Above was the key elements for me to maintain the belief of the all pervasive Empire.

As for Drow, my understanding the Empire only tolerates them...for now.

[sirius]

Thanks for the input Snorri. I'm look forwarding to hearing how many people are conceivably interested - the main issue I see is that most people don't use the forums, so if I get the go-ahead, I'll have to start doing some heavy IG recruiting.

Oh, and so far I'm taking the term 'mage' to mean wizards and sorcerors, and depending again on interest, I may extend it to include warlocks. And just to confirm, your build won't really matter for regular membership, you could have only a couple of wizard or sorceror levels and be theoretically eligible.

EDIT: I've noticed a few spelling errors and grammatical mistakes there, it should say "...primary and most relevant deities."

[stoned-raider]

Really nice work Sirius !!!

I´d like my wizard Cedric Le Veil to apply for the Overwatch aspect of the guild. Since this is OOC, I´ll wait for you to put something in the IC-section of the forums until I apply IC.
I´ll talk to you anyway the next time i meet you ingame, since Cedric heard you are able to scribe scrolls of powerful spells. Maybe you can give me some IC info then.

See you around,

stoned-raider

[sirius]

Hey - thanks for letting me know. I'm not sure if the DMs will go for it, but here's hoping.

I've put you on the list, and included your preference. Anyone else who would like to join, you are able to choose any Aspect and begin as Mage, so if the faction proposal is accepted, we are able to get right into the swing of things and the 'necessary' components of the organization will be in place.

*waits in anticipation*

[kikkelipoika]

Too long, didn't read

Seriously though, i might know a certain warlock who could be interested, if the faction includes the exchange of magical knowledge and collecting magic writings. Perhaps we can finally have a decent library in cear through this new faction (if it's accepted by the das team). I can already see the heated debate rising between those who take the religious and patriotic parts of the faction more seriously and those who only want to enhance their magical powers and aquire more knowledge. Looking forward to seeing this IG.

[Greyshore]

Thanks for the input Snorri. I'm look forwarding to hearing how many people are conceivably interested - the main issue I see is that most people don't use the forums, so if I get the go-ahead, I'll have to start doing some heavy IG recruiting.

I might be able to help with that by advertising the faction to customers.

And I really hope the guild will be accepted. I see no reason why it shouldn't.

[sirius]

I honestly wouldn't expect you to read most of it anyway, unless you were concerned with the rules etc.

The Aspects part was what interested me most. I just think Phoenix Guard sounds really cool.

[Minuvas]

The Church approves.

[Rob]

You're going to have trouble finding enough mages to fill all those positions.

[kikkelipoika]

How hard would it do to create magic ritual scripts? like some kind of ritual that requires multiple mages to participate, some magical items and stuff, and then the effects could vary from a misc object that can cast some kind of über spell once (1 charge) to a different buffs and debuffs (for punishment purposes ect.) and perhaps teleportation and such.

[Stormknife]

A better question would be is it worth the effort to put in a bunch of ritual scripts that will most likely end up forgotten and abandoned if/when this faction dies off?

[kikkelipoika]

A better question would be is it worth the effort to put in a bunch of ritual scripts that will most likely end up forgotten and abandoned if/when this faction dies off?

those rituals could be stored in IG books, and when the faction dies out, another could make use of them. The whole point of my question was whether or not these kinds of things are easy enough to make for them to be worth it. It would certainly add to the depth of magic, and would benefit all the scholar-type characters. If it's ridiculously hard to make then i say forget it, if it's ridiculously easy to make, i say add some.

Besides if someone comes up with a good pattern for ritual making, then new ones could be made just by changing the items / spells / number mages / gold / anything required and the effects caused. At least it sounds like it could be easy, but as the toolset doesn't run properly on my PC, i can't test it myself. The thing is, once you get a proper script for one ritual, you could easily copy paste and then modify the existing code to create unlimited number of rituals with relative ease. Some of the rituals could grant access to summonable NPC's, like demons and such, which could be used to do something via dialogs or something.

I think this would be a great idea, if it's not too time-consuming.