The Assembly of Arcane Advisement

"Just as petty kings and queens divide and rule the lands, so shall we rule over the arcane. You will be incapable of even the smallest magic trick without our knowing, and in time, our permission." -J'oabor

The Assembly of Arcane Advisement often referred to as the Assembly or simply 'AAA' was an organization of powerful mages, wizards, and other magically gifted individuals that spanned the continent of Lorlithar and acted as a governing body of magick users not restricted by the borders of mundane countries. The Assembly was active in Lorlithar from 312 IE to 9999 IE when the organization was assumed destroyed by The Great Flood, during which they wrote treaties to the ethical use of magicks, funded arcane research, and established a network of arcane advisors to the courts of every nation.

Structure

Arch-Mage
Master of Arcane Arts
Assembly Mage
Apprentice

History

Founding

The Assembly was founded in 312 IE by Tharrad GogMoque and twelve other of the worlds most powerful wizards and mages. Tharrad's dream was to build an organization that would act as an advising council for the ruling classes of Lorlithar in the responsible use of arcane power. The Assembly's charter was approved by its original thirteen members on the summer solstice, and so they began the work of convincing the nations to head their word.
Many monarchs feared the power of so many great and powerful wizards, so they conceded to the Assembly's authority without hesitation, however, others did not give up their right to abuse magick so easily. From 312 IE - 368 IE the Assembly traveled the continent backed by the armies of those kingdoms already agreed, to force the holdout nations to defer to their law. The Dwarven kingdom of Azgulrennkazad was the final region of acknowledge the Assembly, thus solidifying it as a permanent institution.

Early History and the Vainland Wars

By 415 IE there were so many nations asking for advisement from the Assembly. The second arch-mage Rahlar Zunem decided the Assembly's tasks could be more easily filled if mages lived in the nations they advised. Thus the first Court Wizard, Lady Ixis , was sent to Renfall. Soon court wizards were sent to every nation and small kingdom who petitioned for one. The court wizards were firstly loyal to the Assembly, then to their new lords, creating a long period of peace on the continent, during which a university was built in Fjellen in 1034 IE to teach mages to become court wizards to fill the growing demand. This demand led to the Assembly allowing sorcerers to train as Arcane Advisors in 1086 IE. Many arcane advisors became trusted members of the court and valuable negotiators for their lords.
However, this peacetime was interrupted by the Vainland Wars of Expansion. Vainland, which at this point in time was a small kingdom bordering the Grecon Sea, began annexing its poorer, smaller neighbors under Vostir Nen, and the help of his court wizard, Oderon. Once several small nations in central Lorlithar had been absorbed, the larger nations began to feel the threat to Vainland grow, and a coalition of kingdoms including Jadir, Ere'mire, Aldmoor, Fjellen, and Renfall declared war on Vainland in 1543 IE. The continent was plunged into an all-out war with nearly every nation on the continent and even some gods and extra-planar beings taking sides. During this conflict, magick was abused to the limit of its power. While the first 100 years of this war were extremely bloody, the two sides eventually reached a draw where neither could gain ground on the other. Entire cities had been obliterated by war magick and both factions understood that to continue to use such destructive power would result in retaliation and mutual destruction. The next 900 years of the war were spent developing more destructive and deadly magicks and technology. Few of these magicks saw use before the war was ended in 2589 IE with the signing of the Treaty of Vennia, that while spelling out the conditions for the end of the war, also codified the laws of magical warfare including the outlawing of necromancy except in the pursuit of healing, the use of power words, and excessive arcane force, assuring that the atrocities that took place during the war would never be repeated

Assembly Expansion

After the war, the Assembly saw an expansion of its duties. Now not only did the College of Arcane Arts now train wizards and sorcerers to become arcane advisors, but they also trained them for any other magical profession from healers to alchemists, and diviners to adventurers. The management of all the magically gifted individuals in the world became too much for one body to handle, and so other chapters of the assembly were chartered around the continent, the first being the Volpian chapter founded in 3206 IE. By 3565 IE most regions had their own branch of the Assembly which would handle the appointment of arcane advisors to the surrounding nations.
It wasn't until 3652 IE, that warlocks were allowed to apply for membership into the Assembly after a heated debate on whether individuals granted their powers by magical beings could be trusted to keep the Assembly's secrets.
Scandal enveloped the Assembly in 4658 IE when Urhan Ostrogar was removed from his position of Arch-mage for aiding several other wizards in obtaining lichdom, which was illegal under the Treaty of Vennia's ban on necromancy. This resulted in several decades of a witch hunt to track down necromancers and execute them for practicing the illegal school of magic. An estimated 20,000 mages, many believed to be innocent, were murdered in what would be known as the Urhan Trials . Many wizards fled the continent to Izera and the surrounding lands where they founded a separate mages guild there with the help of the natives.

The Rune Wars and End of the First Era

In 6027 IE, through unknown powerful planar magick, the emperor of Vainland, Emperor Daedulim Bassix contacted the god Primus asking for the wisdom to assure order and justice in the world. In response, Primus gave the emperor a child whom they said would lead the world to unity. When Emperor Bassix died, his son Icarum ascended to the throne and took the surname Primum to declare his real parentage, Primus themself. Icarum began his long laid plan to unite the world under one supreme order. Thus beginning the Rune Wars.
In the early days of the wars, the other nations of Oanus fought a losing battle against a seemingly endless army of clockwork soldiers, automatons, and modrons, however, clever mages in the Assembly learned quickly from the scraps of destroyed Mechanus soldiers and created their own. Thus was the birth of the Warforged, a combination of machine and organic life. With the easily produced warforged charging to the front line, the armies of Icarum were routed back to Mechanus. Before the capitol of Vainland could be taken, Icarum committed suicide rather than face punishment for his crimes, and the city soon surrendered in 6032 IE.
However, this was far from the end of the war. With these new war machines, old grudges boiled and infighting began over the division of Vainland territory. The spark that would plunge the world into yet more conflict and chaos finally struck in 6034 IEwhen a group of warforged soldiers flying the Cadorimar flag raided a Volpian border city, leaving no survivors. Other nations immediately declared sides, and a bloody hundred-year war ensued resulting in the deaths of nearly one-hundred-million people.
Within the Assembly there developed two factions in a schism that would shake the organization to its core. The Unionist believed the Assembly should immediately cease production of warforged and seek a diplomatic end to the war, meanwhile, the Centralists believed the Assembly should build its own army of warforged and take the world by force to save it. The split became most apparent when Arch-Mage Shadrisse Yalarren died suddenly and a new Arch-Mage needed to be chosen. The unionist selected Esidona Aridel a wizard from Jadir while the centralists nominated J'oabor a charismatic warlock from Bisyl. The council narrowly elected Esidona by a 7-6 vote, however, allegations of enchantment were thrown around the room in a confrontation that ended with the centralists leaving the Assembly, taking nearly one-third of the organization's members, declaring the Assembly in Fjellan illegitimate, and moving to the Volpian branch.
The Centrists moved forward with their plan and began producing not only warforged, but also other terrible machines of war, each more horrible than the last. Thankfully many of these machines did not see use, as the war was ended in 6138 IE by the Second Treaty of Vennia, as Vennia which had stayed more or less neutral during the war. A major stipulation of the treaty was the decommission and destruction of all warforged, as the Assembly believed they posed too great a threat to civilization. Of course, there was no way to track every warforged and be sure they were destroyed as some nations kept some in secret just in case peace was temporary. The treaty also named J'oabor as an enemy of civilization for his role in the elongation of the war, and he began to lose his grip on the Volpian branch until they had abandoned him completely. When he was finally apprehended, he was banished to a pocket dimension prison where he would wait out eternity as punishment for his actions.
After the war, the assembly played a vital role in the reconstruction of nations that had suffered the most destruction. They even went so far as to sponsor adventures in the pursuit of ridding the world of evil beings such as aboleths, chromatic dragons, and mind flayers. There was now a time of peace and tranquility for the Assembly and the world.
The Assembly was, however, taken by surprise at the meteor that spelled the world's doom.

Disbandment

The Assembly was effectively ended in 9999 IE by The Great Flood. Those chapters closer to the point of impact had little to no warning while those on the other side of the world had some time to try and save what they could. It is not known if any chapters survived the cataclysm, nor what evils have grown in their absence.

DISBANDED/DISSOLVED

The Deep Magicks Binds

The History of the Assembly for Arcane Advisment

35th Second Seed, 312 IE - 9999 IE

Type

Guild, Mages

Alternative Names

The Assembly, AAA

Leader Title

Arch-Mage

Controlled Territories

• College of Arcane Arts