Mahoryo

Mahoryo is a small elite group who officially report directly to the Eastwind. Members of Mahoryo are officially call Mahori, but the slang name of Hound or Mage Hound is even more common. Mahori are individuals who each wield magic in a way that makes them uniquely qualified to hunt and deal with magical threats. Individual Mahori often work alone, or sometimes with a small detatchment of soldiers allocated by the Shudan Shogunate for their personal service.

Many Shudani regard the Mahori dubiously for one of two reasons. Those who disapprove of magic distrust Mahori for their use of it. Those who adamently support magic distrust Mahori for their singular goal of hunting their fellow magic users. Still, many understand the need for such a group. Those who have been aided by individual Mahori will often have a kind or favorable opinion of that particular Mahori while still being dubious of the group as a whole.

This dubious vision of the group is further enhanced by the fact that they intentionally keep their personal abillities and histories largely shrouded from the public in an effort to prevent enemies from being able to counter them effectively. Publically the members are known by codenames, such as the Golden Rise.

Command Structure

Officially all members of Mahoryo are ranked equally and answer directly to the Eastwind, but over time the Golden Rise has become the unofficial leader of the current iteration of the group. Political and diplomatic tasks are often left to him.

Qualifications

Each Mahori has a specialty which makes them more qualified to deal with a particular type of magical threat than any other Mahori or anyone else in the entirety of the shogunate.

Recruitment

Although the Eastwind also maintains the ability to grant or revoke membership, it is most often the Mahoryo itself that controls admittance and dismissal of members.

Owing to the fact that the public is not aware of what abilities or specialties individual Mahori have, it can be difficult for one to know if they are qualified to join or not. The application process requires the applicant to demonstrate the entirety of their abilities to an existing Mahori, who will then serve as the applicant's sponsor.

If the sponsor believes that the applicant's abilities are insufficient, or that their specialty is already served better by another Mahori, the applicant is rejected.

If the sponsor beleives that the applicant possesses a specialty that is not already served by another Mahori, they need only convince one other Mahori to co-sponsor the applicant before they can be admitted.

Any time a new Mahori is admitted, their specialty and a summary of their abilities is made known to the Eastwind and all other Mahori. Some new Mahori opt to share more details, while others prefer to keep the full details of their abilities as a closely guarded secret between themselves and their sponsors.

Grounds for Removal/Dismissal

In the rare cases where a sponsor believes that a new applicant shares a specialty with an existing Mahori and may in fact exceed the existing Mahori in ability, then it is up to the sponsor to collect the consent of a majority of the current Mahori. If a majority consents, the existing Mahori will lose the title which will be passed on to the applicant in their place.

History

During the early years of Shudan, a small group of talented magical practitioners was frequently called upon by The Hotsukai to solve magic related problems or face threats with magical origins. Membership varied depending on the task, but collectively the group came to be called Mahoryo (Hunters of Magic in Shudani).
In the years immediately following The Break and the escalation of anti-magic sentiment in Shudan the group began to lose prominence, leading to the disbandment of the Mahoryo in B12.
In S235, as magic was becoming more and more of a threat for the miltary of the Shudan Shogunate, Hatomi Remingale officially restablished the group.

Nicknames
Hounds, Mage Hounds

Founding

S235 (re-established)

Used by

• Shudan Shogunate

Current Members
Crimson Dawn
Golden Rise
Cerulean High
Purple Twilight
Azure Dusk
Blackest Night