Keeper's Arcane

An ancient sect of mages who once ruled over Verous. They were a secretive bunch, many of whom engaged in cruel and unethical experiments on their local populace. They behaved like untouchable rulers of their domain, but were eventually defeated by the Six Holy Champions during the Feroxian Liberation War.
At their founding, they created the First Charter of the Keeper's Arcane, and bound a celestial's soul to a book made of vlodiron and fiendish flesh. These members then underwent the Ritual of Lichdom, and discarded their former mortal lives to become Lich Lords. 
As of present there are only 7 remaining. Many slain at various points in history; most notably, the Feroxian Liberation War.
After the Zygallic Schism, the remnants of both the Keeper's Arcane and La'Cunae's followers formed the Shadowed Heart, a group that combines a warped ideology of Grandmother Stars and the Keeper's Arcane's practices.
According to the First Charter, the following members still exist:

• Oxidus
• Veatrum
• Sanguinus
• Excalus
• Maladus
• Virae
• Necronis

Structure

The Arcana were a collective of powerful archmages and Lich Lords. In theory they were all of equal authority, given free reign to do as they pleased across their dominion. However, it is obvious to all members that none held more sway or might than Arcana Oxidus themselves.
Arcana Oxidus was the one who not only first organized the group, but is also the one who gave them a purpose from which to study the world.

Culture

The Keeper's saw existence as a means to an end, that end was to understand magic to such an extent as to replicate the Zohar's findings and miracles. They considered understanding magic at all costs to be paramount in any and all pursuits, and often worked both with and against one another in that goal.
Sometimes this meant forcing an entire population to mine for precious metals. Sometimes this meant fighting amongst one another over a rare and powerful object. Sometimes it even meant collaborating when the time called for it. Their group was constantly shifting alliances and methods to achieve their goals.

Public Agenda

The general public had no idea what the Arcana were doing, which was entirely intentional on the Arcana's part. Any non-Arcana was considered exploitable resources, and their dominions often reflected what specifically the Arcana found most valuable. To that end, their individual domains were as complex as they needed in order to facilitate whatever experiments they conducted.
For example: Arcana Malar'Chi allowed his subjects to grow crops and granted small fiefdoms to persons who would oversee his lands. He did this to keep a steady populace alive so that he could test the effects Apertures had on wildlife and settlements. Arcana Ly'Canus however, did not allow for fiefdoms, and instead created grotesque monstrocities which he unleashed on his subjects. He would allow them free reign to ravage the populace, and would only intervene when he and his mechanisms collected sufficient data.

Disbandment

During the Feroxian Liberation War, the Keepers Arcane were systematically and ruthlessly dispatched by the Six Holy Champions. Though not all Arcana were slain, all had their systems dismantled and either submitted to their conquering force or were rendered impotent. The last holdout was Arcana Oxidus, who was eventually defeated in 5 A.E.

DISBANDED/DISSOLVED

Beyond Logic, Beyond Emotion, Beyond Mortality

cir. 500 A.E. - cir. 1 A.E.

Type

Geopolitical, Magocracy

Alternative Names

Keeper, Arcana

Successor Organizations

• Holy Zygallic Church
• Shadowed Heart
• Sovereign Empire of Ferox
• The Twenty Orders

Training Level

Elite

Veterancy Level

Veteran

Leader

Arcana Oxidus

Leader Title

Arcana

Government System

Magocracy

Power Structure

Confederation

Economic System

Palace economy

Location

Verous

Official Languages

• Galderic

Related Ethnicities

• Verousian