The Fellowship of Quill and Shield

The Fellowship of the Quill and Shield is an apolitical group dedicated to the collection, preservation, and dissemination of knowledge. Their headquarters is a massive ancient library known as The Athenaeum , which is the largest repository of knowledge in the world. Members are identifiable by the large books they carry on their backs, which contain the research to which they have dedicated their lives to.

Recruitment

The Fellowship will allow anyone to join as , accepting prospective members as Inkhands . Inkhands work at the Athenaeum in exchange for an education. It is common for less-privlaged families to send their children to the Athenaeum for a high-quality education and a chance at a better life. After two years an Inkhand is eligable for promotion to full member status, but this requires sponsorship by a Linescholar or Pageknight. Their sponsor determines whether they become a Penscribe or Wordshield.

Organization

After one is raised to Penscribe or Wordshield, they are granted their first tome, marking their induction into the Felllowship as a full member. Penscribes act as research assistants to Linescholars while also performing their own research. Wordshields' duties are a combination of scribe and research assistant, and are expected to follow their Pageknight into the field on missions. It is up to their mentor when a Penscribe or Wordshield is eligable for promotion, with each mentor having their own standards, but it is generally accepted that one must complete their first tome of research before they can be promoted.
Pageknights and Linescholars are the backbone of the Fellowship. it is a Pageknight's duty to go out into the field and locate lost knowledge, perform field research, and protect Fellowship assets. Linescholars perform a more traditional scholarly role, performing research, teaching Inkhands, and performing outreach projects to better the lives of the general populace.
Chapter Masters and Chroniclers are the heads of their respective divisions. Chapter Masters are responsible for dispatching Pageknights on missions and overseeing the training and promtion of wordshields, while Chroniclers oversee the day-to-day operations of the Athaeneum, and direct the Linescholars and Penscribes. Chapter Masters and Chroniclers are selected from the ranks of Pageknights and Linescholars respectively by the Master Archivist.
The Master Archivist of the Fellowship of Quill and Shield is the head of the organization, and while they are obstensibly appointed by the previous Master Archivist, this has never happened, as Illsharn has lead the organization in a series of different guises since its founding.

Culture

At the heart of the Fellowship's lies a deep appreciation for diversity of thought, innovation, and intelligence. Members are encouraged to embrace their individuality and contribute their distinctive perspective. However, this diversity also brings about challenges. The Fellowship’s members often find that they are more productive and effective when working in pairs or small groups, rather than as a single cohesive unit. This is largely due to the fact that each member tends to have their own set of priorities and approaches to problem-solving, which can lead to conflicting goals and strategies when trying to tackle larger projects as a whole. When the Fellowship finds itself in a position where it needs to rally a large group of its members, it falls on the shoulders of the Master Archivist, the Chapter Masters, and the Chroniclers to organize their subordinates into something approaching a cohesive whole.
As a result of this divergence in viewpoints and methods, many members of the Fellowship are perceived as “eccentric,” “weird,” or even “bat-shit crazy” by the general populace. Despite these external perceptions, the organization values and harnesses this unique blend of ideas and approaches, recognizing that it is precisely this unconventional thinking that drives their innovation and success.

Public Agenda

The Fellowship was founded to spread knowledge. They provide free education to anyone willing to come work for them, and send their members out where their knowledge could be useful to teach. Their library is open to anyone who wishes entry. It is only in very rare circumstances where a piece of knowledge is determined to be too dangerous to loose on the world that the order will lock knowledge away in the Vaults of the Athenaeum.

Assets

The Athenaeum

The Fellowships' most significant asset is the Athenaeum, a massive library that extends deep into the earth, which predates the organization itself by nearly a millenium. The Athenauem was rediscovered by Illsharn, who claimed it as their lair, and when they founded the Fellowship, they made the Athenaeum the headquarters.
Since its' founding, the Fellowship has slowly been reconstructing and reclaiming the ruins of the Athenaeum, slowly working their way downwards as the Fellowship and library's collection expands. Today, in addition to coutless books, the library contains living quarters for Fellows, classrooms, labratories, training rooms, and more.
The library itself is so massive, that it has not been fully explored. The unexplore portions, known as The Deeps, are generally off-limits to the majority of the Fellowship, as they are infested with man-eating beasts known as Bookworms.

Manpower

The Fellowship is home to some of the brightest minds in the known world. Outside of their substantial scholarly assets, the Page Knights of the Fellowship make up a small but effective combat and intelligence force in addition to their role as field resesarchers.

History

The Fellowship was founded by Illsharn with the goal of improving the lives of the mortal races through the proliferation of knowledge. They claim they did this as "a promise to a friend" but if they have told anyone else more, those they have told have been tight-lipped about it. It has steadily grown since its founding, renovating more and more of the Athenaeum as their collection of books grew and establishing research outposts across the known world.
Since its founding, the Fellowship has been responsible for several major scientific innovations, one of the most impactful being gunpowder. Originally meant to be used for mining, the techonolgy was quickly adapted for military uses, leading to an extremely bloody war. After this, the Fellowship decided there was some knowledge that did more harm than good, and instituded a series of strict policies for its researchers to prevent another such incident occuring, and locking away anything deemed too dangerous for the public to know in The Vaults hidden deep in the unrestored depths of the Athenaeum.

Evil flourishes where ignorance thrives.

Founding Date

743

Type

Educational, Library

Alternative Names

The Fellowship, Page Knights

Demonym

Fellows

Leader Title

Master Archivist of the Fellowship of Quill and Shield

Founders

• Illsharn

Location

The Athenaeum

Related Ranks & Titles

• Chronicler
• Inkhand
• Chapter Master
• Master Archivist of the Fellowship of Quill and Shield
• Pageknight
• Penscribe
• Wordshield

Controlled Territories

• The Athenaeum
• The Deeps

Notable Members

• Illsharn
• Tesran Marwan

Related Plots

• Book 1: Introduction

Related Historical Events

• 743
  Founding of the Fellowship of Quill and Sword

Notable Members:

Illsharn, the Master Archivist

Illsharn is an elderly dragon who has been leading the Fellowship disguised as a series of different mortal personas since they founded the organization. Motivated by an unquenchable thirst for knowledge and facination with the mortal races, Illsharn wishes to use what they have learned to make positive change in the worldn, and has little patience for ignorance or fools. Their current persona through which they lead the Fellowship is Leila Valynore, an energetic elvish anthropologist with a particular interest in ancient sports and recreation (Illsharns hyperfixation for the last four decades).

Tesran Marwan, Chapter Master

Tesran is an unparalleled martial artist who was recently raised to the rank of Chapter Master in the Fellowship. Tesran joined the Fellowship at a young age after being orphaned. Throughout her youth she demonstrated a fierce intelligence, but found it hard to focus on a single thing at a time. It wasn't until she was introduced martial arts by the person who would become her sponsor that she found a way of disciplining her mind. Since that time, she has made it her goal to master as many of the world's martial arts as she can.

Apoculus, Guardian of the Vaults

Dwelling inn The Deeps of the Athenaeum, Apoculus is a sphinx with the body of a panther, the wings of an owl, and the head of a man who guards the Vaults where the forbidden knowledge of the Fellowship is stored. Few ever meet him, as he is content to explore the deeps. Illsharn and he have an understanding, but only they know the true nature of the agreement. Like all sphinxes, Apoculus enjoys a game of riddles.