The Council of Landezon
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Black Mercies HQ
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For information on the Council's present heads, see Organizational Structure: Council of Landezon. The Council of Landezon is the central governing force in the north with respect to magical matters. The High Council Chamber is situated with the fortress of Solumiral, in the city of Miricdal, within the Drakoyan province of Sabellis, although most of the Council's holdings and official business take place in the provincial capital, also named Sabellis. The Council had already been founded and run by The Berythian Order for over a thousand years before it expanded during The Old Empire (1501-1212) to include Nurhetic and Aurimbic Traditions. Presently, Council representation is divided three ways, though Berythian influence still looms large due to stronger economies in the territories they hold Stewardship over. The Council has two main functions: providing arcane training, and safeguarding the mundane population from magical threat. The latter is a complex task which involves forging laws and treaties with mundane lords, instituting rules for the practice of magic and punishments in cases of its abuse, liaising between Traditions to ensure consensus on key principles, diplomacy with non-Council affiliated arcane groups, search and seizure of contraband items, and policing the open enemies of the Council, most notably The Exiled Tradition. The Council is heavily bureaucratic. Its members consist chiefly of high-ranking mages who have been indoctrinated into its mysteries. Levels of clearance are required even by those with seemingly unimportant duties due to the heavy number of secrets possessed by the Council. As an ideal, the Council upholds a policy of non-interference into individual Traditions, though distinguishing just where the boundaries are drawn between Council and Tradition jurisdiction is far from a simple task.
HISTORY
The fall of The Kingdom of Khyr brought against its lands the claims of three competing factions: the Thruden from the north, the Dolprivat from the east, and the Obertari from the south. Each at first was successful in seizing a small portion of the once-great Kingdom. The Berythians, bound by oath to serve whichever lords ruled over the land, were soon divided in their loyalties. Traditionally their sole allegiance had been to the Khyr. This new situation meant that mages of the Order living in opposed territories could by right be called upon to combat each other, should the reigning lords opt for war - which surely they would. To provide a measure of political insulation, the Berythians founded a Council in the now-ruined city of Landezon, at the dead centre of the three factions. The Council decreed that any mage wishing to fight for any one particular side might freely join it, but that the Order would not be divided three ways. In exchange for autonomy in certain areas, the Council vowed to train any child with the Gift living on either Thruden, Dolprivat, or Obertari lands. Without the agreement of all three lords, the Berythians would refuse to train any one side. Thus, begrudgingly, all sides agreed. While nuancing treaty considerations with the nobles, the Order (through the diplomat, Occas of Ailami) secretly reached out to the Nurhetic mages of Delhiza and the seers of Arlok, who at this time were still a loosely affiliated group, lacking the unity of the Aurimbic Tradition to come in a little over a century with the birth of Keldaroth. Ailami's hope was to strengthen bonds between magical traditions in these different regions, so as to gird against undesirable changes in the mundane sphere. His efforts were largely unmet with success. The Arlokian Seers opposed him, citing visions of Dragons (symbolic of Berythians) intent on melting the ice of the north. The typically hermit-like Nurhetics were nearly on board, but when the Dolprivat rulers of their native Delhiza threatened to start training new crops of Berythians on their soil, the Nurhetics revolted, reluctantly agreeing to come out of their dusty caves and help reinforce Dolprivat reign. Despite these setbacks, the Council of Landezon did open a few small Chapters of the Order northwards (in present-day Ceweren and Chalornok) and eastwards, as far as the nation of Del, spreading knowledge of the Berythian Tradition to these locales and elevating the study of the magical lineages found there. However, the Council was ultimately forced to relocate following a major crisis with the Obertari, whose citizens it was less well-equipped to train because their lands were situated so far south. Travelling south was well known to have certain ill effects for mages (see the article, The Wrack for a full description), but up until this point in history, southern regions had merely been avoided. Their contract with the Obertari demanded that Berythians contend with this problem for the first time, with real stakes: open war was threatened should they not make good on their promise. Because no satisfactory solution to the Wrack could be found, the Obertari launched a full-scale attack and seized control of Thruden and Dolprivat-controlled territories. So began the Obertari Reign (2550-2242) over northern Rela. In exile, the scope of Council power and that of mages in general was diminished due to the lessened magic in the Autumn Yield, where they moved to en masse. The Council was finally reinstated during the Cativene Dynasty (2000-1685), during which an influx of arcane trade from the south forced its division into two branches - Educational and Administrative. The former dealt with the training of new mages as traditionally the case, while the new latter addition with the nuts and bolts of a new magical economy. When the Drakoyan culture replaced that of the Cativenes, becoming the foundation of the The Old Empire (1501-1212), Nurhetics and Aurimbics were formally invited to join the Council, representing a major step forward in interdisciplinary friendship and lending the Council the triune structure it holds today.
Below: Early version of the Council of Landezon's crest, featuring symbols of the The Aurimbic Tradition ('The Keep', top left) - The Nurhetic Tradition ('Owl of Asi', top right) - and The Berythian Tradition ('Taharjin passant', bottom).
Founding Date
2587
Parent Organization
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