Cobalt Sun

This document has been contributed by: the Cobalt Sun

The Cobalt Sun is the central authority across Vehasi and Valadia for mages, wizards, bards, and all those who study magic. All universities that teach any of the schools of magic must have direct communication with the Cobalt Sun, and high-ranking Cobalt Sun members often teach at such institutions. The Cobalt Sun is composed of nine branches, one for each colour of magic. Each of these circles has an official circle of that colour, with which any mage who wants to graduate from a university must register.
Notes from Saibra

This is the organisation where I work - I'm a member of the Revelatory Circle of Energy, if you're curious. There are some issues with the structure of the organisation, as it stands - we had some issues a few years prior with the Fundamental Circle of Aether becoming biased due to 3 of the 5 members being coworkers elsewhere - that issue has since been resolved, thankfully, though I do worry what this means for the future of the organisation if no changes are made.

Structure

The Cobalt Sun is a collection of nine different branches, each governed by a Circle. These circles are run by the Circle of High Archmages, composed of one member of each of the Circles. There is one Grand High Archmage, who leads the Cobalt Sun and is voted into their position from and by the Circle of High Archmages.

Circle of High Archmages

The highest authority within the Cobalt Sun is the Circle of High Archmages, with nine members, one for each of the major schools of magic, and each the head of their own circle of their type of magic. The Circle is responsible for overseeing each of their respective circles, and communicating any major issues their circle is facing with the other High Archmages. The leader of this Circle is elected by majority vote of the other High Archmages, who are not permitted to abstain or vote for themselves, at risk of being removed from the Circle and replaced by the next-highest ranking of their board. The current leader is Athlai Lealla, the youngest leader of the Cobalt Sun in history. The Circle meets monthly in Sardonin.

Circle Structure

There are nine branches of the Cobalt Sun, which are each led by a circle. Each of these circles has 5 members, including the head of the board, who is a member of the Circle of High Archmages. All decisions in a given circle are made by a majority vote, meaning anything attempting to be passed needs 3 votes in its favour in order to do so. In order for any member of any of the boards to be removed from the board, or for a member of the Circle of High Archmages to be removed, a unanimous vote is required between the rest of the members of that circle (or Circle).
Within a board, the highest-ranking member is known as the High Archmage of their colour. The second-in-command in a board is known as the First Archmage of their colour, and performs the duties of the High Archmage if the High Archmage is, for whatever reason, incapable of doing so. The other three members of the board have separate responsibilities, with one being the [Colour] Spellmaster Archmage, one being the [Colour] Warmaster Archmage, and one being the [Colour] Inscriber Archmage. The Spellmaster is responsible for reviewing and managing spells within their colour, the Warmaster for regulation the applications of their colour of magic within war and other interpersonal conflicts, and the Inscriber for keeping track of the registered members of the colour as well as keeping track of any legal documents relating to their circle. If any of these three positions is opened for any reason, the rest of the board must choose via majority vote (with the High Archmage of that circle being the tiebreaker) a new member for their circle. Members of any of the boards within the Cobalt Sun are not permitted to have ties to government organisations, on threat of removal from their circle.

Titles

The members of the Cobalt Sun have long titles. When introduced at official events, they are introduced as [Colour] [Rank] Archmage (of the Circle) [Name]. However, this title is long and clunky, so most prefer to shorten it to [Colour] Archmage [Name], or just Archmage [Name].

Professions

Because of the influence of the Cobalt Sun, members that are not part of the circles still gain some benefits from registering with one of the circles. Arcane researchers and archaeologists studying sites that are arcane in nature can apply for and receive funding from the Cobalt Sun for their research. In addition, universities often hire through the Cobalt Sun, and all universities require registration with the Cobalt Sun for their spellcasting professors.

History

The Cobalt Sun was founded in 1524 E.G., when the practice and study of magic was becoming widespread on the continents. It was based in southern Vehasi, and is one of the few organisations that survived through the God War - during which it organised the creation and population of safe houses across the continent, pockets of space within the Astral Plane inside of which only non-devout were permitted entry. Though the organisation has changed much since its creation, and now only spans two continents, its original goal has remained - to make magic accesible to as many people as possible, and to limit its use so as to insure unethical practices are not commonplace. Whether or not they have achieved these goals is somewhat up to debate, and does depend on the specific branch in question, however.

Founding Date

1524 E.G.

Type

Guild, Mages

Leader

Athlai Lealla

Ruling Organization

Circle of High Archmages

Leader Title

Grand High Archmage

Subsidiary Organizations

• Divine Circle of Fortune
• Enlightened Circle of Body
• Fundamental Circle of Aether
• Moribund Circle of Souls
• Potent Circle of Mind
• Revelatory Circle of Energy

Related Ranks & Titles

• Grand High Archmage

Notable Members

• Athlai Lealla

Related Myths

• The Abomination

University Certification

In order for a school to be legally allowed to call itself a university in most nations across Vehasi and Valadia, it must be registered with and certified by the Cobalt Sun. This means that the members of any applicable circles conduct routine investigations into the schools registered with the organisation, often quinquennially. This investigation is generally either done by the Inscriber or First Archmage of the applicable circle(s). In order to qualify for certification, a school must adhere to any applicable ethics guidelines dictated by associated circles, both in offered course content, as well as any funding that the school provides for research. In addition, they must require any students graduating with arcane degrees to register with the Cobalt Sun in order to graduate.
The benefits for certified universities are twofold: it ensures a level of trust in the school's administration for those looking to enroll, and provides them with some additional funding through the Cobalt Sun.

Registration with the Cobalt Sun

In order to become a member of the Cobalt Sun, one must be studying at least one type of magic at a school certified by the Cobalt Sun, adhere to the ethics guidelines determined by the circle whose magic they are studying, and be on track to complete a degree in at least one type of magic. If a person fulfils this condition, they may sign up through their school to become an interim member of the Cobalt Sun. Interim members become full members when they receive their degree.