Circle of Embers
"ENOUGH," Havika shouts, staff slamming against rock. The sparks that spit from the impact briefly threaten to catch in the hems of the suddenly silent apprentices surrounding her. "I will hear no more talk of abandonment," Havika says, her voice quiet. "This city is our circle. And we shall defend it regardless of what the Element demands."
The Circle of Embers has held its roots in the summerlands for centuries, longer even than the Summer Kingdom has. It first gained widespread recognition in Summerian society in the days of the Fire Element, when such arcane magic was highly respected and associated with political power. When the Element Wars ended, many arcane societies began to decline and eventually disband. The Circle of Embers is one of a few that continue to this day, due in no small part to its emphasis on learning and community.
Beliefs and Practices
The Circle of Embers is best known for being a bunch of fire mages, but its beliefs are more well-rounded than that. At least, so they claim. There's only so much they're willing to gab about to outsiders.
Learned Lessons
The Circle is and always has been a place of learning. Circle members (cleverly known as Embers) are dedicated to preserving the knowledge that is given to them, whether in the written forms stored in the Circle's library, in the physical forms stored in items and objects, or in the more intangible forms stored in minds and memories. While all knowledge is important, the Circle's pool of knowledge and resources is mostly composed of evocation and element-based magic and members are encouraged to seek out and preserve more of the same. As such, those attracted to the Circle tend to be those interested in learning and mastering such skills.Fire at Heart
Okay, so there is a certain extent to which the Circle is definitely a bunch of fire mages. Every initiate is expected to master a set of fire-based spells as part of their training, mostly for the tradition of it all. It is also meant to teach initiates to respect an element that can be so extreme and destructive. While other schools choose to work up to destructive magics, the Circle chooses to begin there in order to impart caution and control in their students. However, fire is also taught in order to show students that forces can be as creative as they are destructive, as bright as they are charred.Circular Thought
The Circle takes inspiration from structure as much as they do from element. One of the founding members of the Circle, Havika the Havoc-er, believed in the magical significance of circles, that they strengthened magical potence. Current magical theory is pretty skeptical on that front, but the Circle still looks to that foundational belief in its practices.Initiates are each added to a circle of peers who are at roughly the same point in their magical education. They are encouraged to learn from one another as much as they learn from circles ahead of them. The leadership of the organization is also formatted this way, with each Master Ember having an equal say in the running of the Circle. This can make change a bit... difficult. And not all of the Masters are big into administration anyway. So a few Masters often take up the lead on running the Circle while the rest do whatever it is Masters do with a lifetime of magical knowledge.
Naturally, the Circle of Embers is an organization of circles within circles, of literal and metaphorical and theoretical circles. As such, initiates are taught to think of the world as a series of circles within circles. A family is a circle within a town which is a circle within a kingdom. And the Circle of Embers is a circle that exists within the larger circle that is the community. And the strength of a circle is dependent upon the strength of the circle in which it resides. This is why the Circle of Embers has always made it a point to do what it can to contribute to the community around it.
The community isn't always super grateful for such contributions, but these contributions have helped smooth many a suspicious feather...
Reputation
The reputation of the Circle of Embers is a complicated beast.
On the one hand, the Circle is very vocal about its goodwill towards the larger community. Embers regularly run volunteering projects and contribute to various temples in Felimandoo and offer magical aid free of charge. Such efforts create a lot of goodwill for the organization in return and turn a lot of opinions about them firmly towards the good side of the spectrum.
However, there will always be an aftertaste of unease when people speak of the Circle. Those Ember people use magic, right? Isn't that big black tower of theirs bad luck? And weren't they involved in the Element Wars somehow? Such questions are easy to scoff at and tuck away when an Ember is currently helping out. But they're harder to quash when in the shadow of an imposing black obilisk...
So. Complicated.
Trade
Anyone who studies the arcane arts knows that magic ain't cheap. Especially if you're relying entirely on know-how and not working with any kind of innate ability. And since the Circle of Embers regularly donates funds to the community, they're even harder up for cash than usual. So they naturally have ways of generating trade.
The Circle's biggest trade is in the buying and selling of magic components. They keep a portion of the components they aquire for their own use, but a far larger amount is exported for distribution across the kingdoms. Any well-stocked magic shop in the kingdoms likely got at least part of their stock from the Circle. When buying magic components directly from the Circle, you can often get them at a discount because you're effectively buying them wholesale.
The Circle also enchants, buys, and sells magical items for trade. They don't distribute these as widely or as prolificly as they do components, in part because they simply cannot compete with independent enchanters or the Volokin. However, it's mostly because they don't interface with individuals often enough to make magic item trade worthwhile and their knowledge is too focused towards evocation to be well-suited to magic item creation.
History
The Circle of Embers was established by a small group of mages in 167 AD. The mages were all upstanding citizens of the Fire Element, respected for their abilities. However, none of them were politically-minded enough to sieze power within the established order. They bonded over shared magical theory and ideals of collective responsibility and learning that set them apart from others in their Element.
Time passed and the Circle began to gain both members and reknown throughout the Kingdoms. After the first hesitant additions to the Circle, people began to travel from all over for a chance to become an Ember. The organization gained a reputation for skill and the kind of strength that is calm in its confidence.
By the time the Element Wars began, the Circle of Embers was one of the foremost arcane organizations in Summer. As such, the Circle was naturally called to the front lines. The oldest Embers remember a time when the Circle was focused more on enemy magicians than they did on protecting books or gathering spell components. And they would remain so for quite some time.
However, when the time came for a ceasefire to be discussed, the Circle was among the loudest proponents for first a temporary and then a permanent cessation to the fighting. And they took part in the discussions that followed regarding what the leadership of the new Quintessency should look like. It is due in large part to the Circle of Embers that the Quintessence is backed by the three Quins of the State rather than ruling alone.
Following the end of the Element Wars, arcane organizations across the kingdoms began an abrupt decline in power. They were heavily associated with the kind of societal structure that lead to the Wars and as such, were regarded with suspicion and distaste. The Circle wasn't the only organization to resist society's new dislike for the arcane, but it was one of the only ones to overcome it. As group after group disbanded, the Circle of Embers stayed strong. Perhaps not quite so powerful or wealthy as it was before the Wars, but just as stable. In fact, there was a slight swell in ranks in those years as individuals who had been part of dissolving organizations joined the Circle for a new place to belong.
Centuries have passed since then, cementing the Circle of Embers as a slightly strange, slightly shabby, but ultimately solid part of the Summer Kingdom.
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