World of Æor

Once nomadic and individual, the tradition wizards have found greater strength through organization and passing on their skills through apprenticeship. Tradition wizards all seem to possess a similar set of traits; intelligence, pride, drive, and incredible patience. They study the arts as an apprentice under a wizard. Those common folk who parent a tradition wizard’s apprentice are justly proud, but seldom see their child again. These apprentices are awakened from their mundane sleep during their apprenticeship. Tradition wizards generally have one proper name that they append with titles of their power and their deeds. They speak as the noble and educated commoners only in the proper language of Tolmarain, never in the more common Tolarin familiar to peasants and beggars. Wizards read and write in Cævas Togran, a cryptic and difficult symbolic language from ancient times. Tradition wizards will never write in proper Tolmarain and read it only when necessary, even though it is the native script of only the most fortunate of apprentices.

Tradition wizards have written most of the historical records that survive to this day. To that end, they have of course been around since the beginning of recorded history. Recorded wizard history begins with Grand Archmage Vertalu who led the ancient tradition wizards out of the dark times. Vertalu is the only wizard to ever hold the title of Grand Archmage. Although his magic was not unusually strong, he was wise and his leadership is legendary. For hundreds of years he kept the entire continent’s tradition wizards unified under his single ruling council. He hunted and converted most of the non-tradition wizards to near extinction. In time however, a growing allegiance of nephandi captured and killed Vertalu. Without his leadership, the single governing body has forever been divided into no less than four geographic regions. Although four out of five wizards today are tradition wizards, most of the tradition wizards agree that they will never know what they are to do for ascension until their council is once again made into one whole.

Tradition wizards have a society and political system completely independent of those maintained by the feudal commoners and other wizards. Today, there are four geographic Domains in the lands of Æor: Domain of the Dragon in the north, Domain of Firestorms in the south, Domain of Eagles in the west, and the Domain of the Great Empire in the east.

A council called a Kalari leads each Domain. All recognized traditions in a Domain are granted a seat at this council to be filled by one wizard selected by any means that tradition sees fit. A recognized council member is known as a Kalar. Together the Kalari elect from their ranks a leader to represent their Domain. This leader is given the title Archmage. The time of Vertalu marked the only point in tradition wizard history when a single Kalari represented all of the tradition wizards. This was The Central Domain of the Stars.

By tradition, the Archmage does not cast any votes in the Kalari except to break a tie. His vote when cast, however, is worth just less than half of all the other votes combined. A Kalar can be removed from the council by a majority vote of all members. An Archmage can be reduced back to a Kalar by a majority vote of all members or by three votes – whichever is fewer.

Each Kalari has a designated meeting place. Northern Domain meets in the Spire of the Suns on an island in Shantile Bay. Western Domain meets in the Turret of Fæorn on the White Cliffs. Eastern Domain meets in the Tower of Glass on the Plains of Zimm. Southern Domain meets in Valon Temple near the city of Rivermeet where the river Aire becomes the Four Rivers of Gold.

The core rules of the Kalari are strictly enforced. Because of the power that wizards yield, few would ever argue that tight control is required to keep the order that most wizards support and require. A few of the other orders are strictly political, slightly questionable, but followed none-the-less. The seven Orders of the Sacred Trust:

• No wizard shall awaken an Outsider
• No wizard shall refuse an order of his Kalari or the Archmage representing it
• No wizard shall exercise force outside of his Domain
• No wizard shall raise or maintain an army
• No wizard shall maintain a position of power subservient to a sleeper
• No wizard shall deliberately break any of the Rites
• No Kalar shall have an apprentice while they hold a seat on the Kalari