Order of the Five Sages

Overview

The Order of the Five Sages was founded in the year 312384 during the Era of the Trees and was the central authority in magic in the Empire of Asargam that had its center of power on the continent of Ayemniyama. One of the founding members was the then emperor Adjanyaj, a mighty magician skilled in different forms of alchemy and enchanting. Later, however, the Order of the Five Sages became an institution engaged with the research of magic and its application in crafts, politics and warfare. As not all emperors were equally capable of using magic, the order was never necessarily required to have him be part of it.

The orders seat was in Asargam's capital Nilapur. There a special building, a research building as well as the centre of operation was built for them on behest of emperor Adjanyaj. It was called Asargam's Tower of Vision, a name that might have been chosen to account for the observatory on top of the tower.

Known members

The Order of the Five Sages has presumably had some 60 members during the time of its existence. Not all members are known though, as the catastrophic event known as the Great Scorching destroyed almost all traces of the existence of the Empire of Asargam on Ayemniyama. Even of the members it is for the greater part unclear. The following list only shows a small fraction of the members in their presumed chronological order.

Adjanyaj: He co-founded the order in the seventh year of his reign as emperor to integrate magic use into concrete politics.

Varsa: He was a co-founder of the circle and is reported to have been a master in vocal enchanting.

Pahatali: She too belonged to the first five members of the order. She was strongly connected to the element of Fire and used it in ways that today are not known any more.

Arunsarya: Some time before the catastrophe that led to the Era of the Fire, Arunsarya was part of the order. He is said to have specialised in manipulating other people's minds. His abilities were especially helpful in pushing forth the empires borders, making him one of the more well known members of the order.

Narun: One of the last five members of the order was the most accomplished in working with the element of Shimmer. One of his greatest accomplishments was forging Ramuna's Will, with which he inadvertently aided to make Ramuna immortal.

Ramuna: She belonged to the last members of the orders as well and was a mighty sorceress. She is said to have had strong persuasive powers and to have been a great manipulator. Even though her body died, her consciousness and soul still lives on in the ring called Ramuna's Will, to which she bound herself.

History

Today only fragments of the orders history are known because of the Great Scorching. The continent of Ayemniyama was for the most part destroyed, leaving only little evidence for the accomplishments of the order. Founded in the latter third of the Era of the Trees, the order soon became what it was intended to be: a formidable institution within the Empire of Asargam that helped it to employ magic in different areas of life, soon making it not only a strong, but rather pre-eminent power on Samthô. The empire soon was able to stretch its power beyond the shores of its home continent. After the south of Ayemniyama proved to be impossible to conquer, Asargam built a mighty fleet to subdue Murahisi and Auchalpa. They were successful in the east as well as the west. First the Vayazza were driven from the east coast of Auchulpa and forced to move north. They then pushed inland against the Thujha living there. In the east the greatest progress was made under the leadership of Arunsarya, who himself served at the front. He hardened the soldiers' will so they did not know fear to sail the Benyen Ocean separating them from Murahisi. The had to face a coalition of Orohlen and Tuuqasleen or Mdûlûn there. The Orohlen population was completely wiped out during this campaign; of the others only remnants survived. It was around this time, that the gods, who had withdrawn from Samthô before the Era of the Water, took notice of their doings and started taking measures against their arrogance and pride.

Type

Religious, Coven