Althea: Notable Factions
Atlas University and the Municipal Government
Best known in its original Long, "走得越深，知道的越多," the motto of Atlas University (and consequently all of Althea) roughly translates to: "Who ventures farther knows more."
With Althea's entire existence centered around it, Atlas University and the staff who run it also serve as lords and masters of the city. The highest office is the seat of the Arch Dean, backed by a council responsible for different facets of running the school and city and who each hold the title of Scion. The municipal government of Althea is modeled after a system of governance in Azir, wherein an elected Governor (one of the Scions) presides over a team of six Magistrates. Despite their being little to no overlap with the school's activities, the Governor is considered a Scion and as such the government falls directly under the command of the Arch Dean.
Between the regular tithes from all seven other city-states and a technologically advanced society that enjoys substantial automation of mundane tasks, the political climate of Althea is perhaps the most temperate in all of Qarna; its people are united under a single purpose and find themselves wanting for little with the level of investment the city puts in their health and wellbeing.
The Arch Dean
As the highest seat of office in Althea, the Arch Dean is elected by the Council of Scions to lead the City of Quills. While primarily concerned with academic matters, decisions made by the municipal government which impact the city invariably also concern the school - so they must gain the Arch Dean's approval before passing. The current Arch Dean is a renowned Maqqian scholar named Kyran Alcazar.
The Council of Scions
Effectively serving as a parliament to the Arch Dean, there are six Scions in total who oversee matters such as Planning and Resource Allocation, Educational Policy and Student Committee, and Estate and Groundskeeping. Like the Arch Dean, they are simultaneously concerned with both the university and the city as a single unit, though they focus more heavily on the school; leaving planning, construction, and legal affairs in the city to the municipal government.
University Deans
A handful of elected Deans oversee each program that the university offers, and are entrusted with the recruitment, appointment, and retention of academic administrators, faculty, and staff. The most notable examples are of course the Dean of Magical Studies, Arch-Mage Hecate Quick; and the Dean of Practical Science, Doctor Brigid Leer. Below the Deans are individual department heads, generally hired internally through inheritance and often upon the unexpected death or retirement of the previous professor. These professors employ a variable number of assistants and/or lab technicians, as well as PhD and post-Doctorate students.
The Governor
The Governor of Althea is elected by popular vote - expressly so by citizens who are not involved with the University. While no less capable than those serving in similar roles anywhere else on Qarna, the Governorship as previously mentioned falls under the rule of the Arch Dean.
Magistrates
A team of six delegates serving under the Governor, the Magistrates are also elected by popular vote. They oversee all efforts in their associated districts, from planning and construction to development and enforcement of legislature.
The Sentinels
Althea's Sentinels are famed for their unbreakable spirit and loyalty to the city and one another. Chosen only from among Althean-born citizens, this decision was made to reduce the potential for foreign espionage agents and saboteurs to gain access to sensitive information or facilities through the guard. As an additional measure, Sentinels are bonded in pairs during training. Cohabitation and an expectation of career-long partnership foster strong bonds of trust, loyalty, and often romantic love.
Sentinels are trained and managed by a detachment of Shielded Faith Conservators dispatched directly from Chamatkaar. As in other city-states, their main objective is to keep Althea's magical activity peaceful and measured - an arrangement especially beneficial there due to the volatile nature of some of the research that goes on. The Conservators are carefully selected from top candidates at Chamatkaar, and screened for strong leadership, even temperament, and incorruptibility.
Sentinel pairs' close bonds, elite training, and extreme fortitude make them prime candidates to become Welldivers: brave explorers who don specially crafted pressure suits made of Skysteel and deicite and physically descend into The Well. The rare few with the mental, physical, and magical strength required to survive such an extreme endeavor bear witness to some of the most closely guarded secrets in all of Althea.
Other
Booktenders
A city dedicated to serving as an archive for all the literature in the world has great need of expert librarians. The Booktenders are experts in their craft, knowledgeable in all things literary and with regards to the safe keeping of written works. While visitors may find the arrangement of materials throughout the city hectic, it is in fact carefully planned out using a novel records system that allows the Booktenders to track down individual pages of certain works.
The Booktenders are headquartered in The Archive, but are frequently seen roaming the city doing what they do best: tending to books. Ranger Corps While the Sentinels maintain law and order within the city, a volunteer group known as the Ranger Corps offers guides, guardians, and rescuers in the wilds of Dry Pines. Many of the Rangers are actually current or former Explorer's Guild adventurers, sometimes given the rare privilege of an explicit invitation to reside in Althea rather than having to go through the immigration process.
They have a lodge at the Crow's Nest from which they operate, and man the towers there alongside the Sentinels. Each Ranger carries at the very least a map, a compass, and an enchanted firework similar to a powerful Roman Candle with which they signal back home should an emergency arise. These can be reconfigured to fire off a variety of different signals, each with a distinct meaning understood by any Ranger who sees it.
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