Jade Tower
The Jade tower is both a place, and the organization which resides in that place.
When one traverses the Spire Mountains, one eventually comes to a slender pass; up the pace are set wooden spikes on which sit the skulls and heads of both normal people and also horrible monsters. These serve as both warning and advertisement; the tower permits itself to be found, but is not for the feint of heart. Offers to go back are plentiful.
A small town surrounds the tower itself, which is a hideous structure of Green Jade. The tower is perhaps a hundred feet in height and thirty in diameter, yet it seems, to those who watch it, to change size almost continually, as if it grows and ebbs with the tides. It has a number of windows on it's tallest point, but no obvious doors. Becoming an apprentice earns you the right to know how to open the tower, and more knowledge of this secret thing comes with higher ranks.
The Tower is a place to train Wizards. That is it's purpose and stated goal; to spread and sustain all types of magic, but principally the magic of humans. It is the greatest source of such magic in the Veld and perhaps the world. While other places, like the Elves, can boast more or more powerful wizards, few can boast of the eclectic nature of magic at their command as the Tower. It gathers all knowledge to itself, seeking to take secrets and turn them into common threads of power.
Structure
The Jade tower has a highly hierarchical structure; The Archmage stands above all. While he rarely directly involves himself in the day to day running of the Tower, any time he does it is nearly instantly law.
Beneath him are the Masters. Becoming a Master requires the recognition of the Arch-Mage, but usually is preceded by recognition of at least two other Masters. Elevation to this status is certainly about magical power, but also about responsibility and judgment. Becoming a Master requires the addition of some piece of magical knowledge not presently 'known' by the Tower.
Beneath the Masters are the Mages. Anyone who has graduated from the Tower, passing their tests, has earned this title, though it has also bee 'assumed' by others when they gain a comparable degree of knowledge. Indeed the term was used before the tower became the entity it is today and thus it is more true to say the Tower adopted the name rather than invented it. What the trials involve seems to vary year to year, but is both a test of magical ability, the ability to reason out of problems, and the capacity for simple judgments.
Below the Mages are the Apprentices. Anyone accepted into the tower but not yet a Mage is an Apprentice. Apprentices have the right to instruction unless they are expelled and yet many remain in this status for decades. The course of study is based around 'lessons' from various masters, but there is no guarantee a given master will teach you.
The Organization itself also has non-mage members; mostly mundane servants and the population of the town that encircle the tower itself.
History
The Archmage formed the tower, both as an organization and an artifact some five centuries ago. How he 'grew' the tower is unknown, but it is known that the tower itself connects to other realms and the World Tree itself, and is said to have been partially 'grown' from that tree and the strange mineral green jade that forms it's exterior.
The Tower has been a mysterious, often aloof force for the Veld. Members of it's order have involved themselves in Veld politics for yeras, but always as a mysterious force whose eventually objectives have been heavily occluded. Mages of the Jade tower are trusted by those who seek knowledge, but often viewed with skeptical disdain by those of a more martial bent. They may be the organization with the most powerful Human mages in the Veld and perhaps the entire continent.
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