The Archivists

Syrena Malloren had lost count of the hours she had spent in the library the last fortnight. She had been tasked with researching an odd artifact that the Archivists had acquired. Without warning, Syrena had been summoned to the Archmage's tower in the middle of the night, and been shown a gem-encrusted cube, about two inches on its side, whose origins had stumped both the Librarykeeper and the Loremaster at the university.

It had fallen on her to rummage through the codices and scrolls for any trace of information about it. As thousands upon thousands of books were kept in the winding corridors of the Great Library, the consensus of the leadership was that one of them had to contain the answer - a note in a margin or some small footnote in an ancient arcane manual.

The light from Syrena's thin halo illuminated her golden hair and white flowing robe as she put a scroll aside (it contained instructions for some mundane spell she did not care about) and reached for the next leather-bound tome. It was the verbose diary of a long dead archmage, written in an archaic form of gnomish. She was starting to doubt the information she was after was even in the library.

She turned a page and almost knocked the stack of unread tomes over as an illustration of the exact item she had seen was on the page. She scrambled for her notes and compared the diagram with a drawing she had made. It matched exactly. She reached for the pouch on her belt, pulling out a small length of copper wire. Touching the wire to her lips, she focused and muttered the familiar incantation under her breath. "Loremaster, I have found something you need to see." A voice in her head, that was not her own, responded. "I am in my office. Bring what you have found."

Syrena grabbed the book, and spoke an incantation. As she finished, she disappeared in a flash of light, her halo lingering for a couple seconds before the library went completely dark.

The Archivists is the most influential magical research organization across the Estian Sea. They research and catalogue the runes in order to decipher the mysteries of the magical weave that permeates the world. The Archivists are a part of the government of the Estian League, acting as scribes and magical advisors of the Estian Council. The leader of the Archivists has a voting seat on the council. This role is currently held by Archmage Hedwig Crimeon, a skilled tiefling conjurer.

The Archivist's patron deity is Odin, who gifted understanding of the runes to the mortals. Most Archivist facilities house a shrine to the All-father, but it is not a religious organization by any means.

While the Archivists definitely employs many wizards, members of many more classes are counted among their ranks. Many bards, sorcerers and warlocks are also known to study in the libraries, perhaps focusing on slightly different subjects. The Archivists also employ artificers, especially in Greystone. There are also many support personnel with no or minor magical knowledge.

Mission

The Archivists provide magical support and guidance for the Estian government. They also run schools of magic, most notably the Greystone Archive. Education at an Archive is not cheap, available only to nobles and wealthy commoners. A few gifted students are also given scholarships, awarded through a lengthy and highly competetive process.

Members of the Archivists choose for themselves what to study. Some become generalists, learning a little about many different subjects and schools of magic. Other hyper-specialize, devoting a life of study into a single spell. Most fall somewhere inbetween. Many who enroll in the ranks of the Archivists spend a few years doing menial scribe-work for the League government, in order to pay their tuiton.

Almost any area of magical study is permitted for study, except for Necromancy. Some members find this rule arbitrarily limiting on their chosen area of study. Of course, it is allowed to study about Necromancy, but actually performing the spells is off limits.

Leadership

From the tallest tower in the Greystone Archive, Archmage Hedwig Crimeon leads the Archivists. She is tasked with furthering the organization's scholarly pursuits, as well as seeing to the magical needs of the Council, on which she sits.

Reporting to the archmage are the Loremasters, each responsible for running an Archivist facility. While the Archmage herself resides at the Greystone Archive, there is still a Loremaster there to run day-to-day operations.

Below the Loremasters are the Examiners, who are experienced teachers. Some Examiners hold large lectures for first-year Novices, others only tutor a single student at a time. Generally, as the magic gets more advanced, the amount of pupils decrease.

Archmage Hedwig Crimeon

(tiefling, LN, 55): Archmage Hedwig Crimeon is the current leader of the Archivists. Starting from almost nothing, she used her considerable magical talent to join the Archivists as a scribe apprentice and worked her way through its ranks tirelessly. She now sits on the Council of Estia, the only Tiefling to do so.

Archmage Crimeon has deep-red skin that is almost purplish in hue, and large curved horns. She dresses in elaborate robes of purple and red, matching her skin tone. She has never married, although rumor has it she has an ongoing relationship with Baroness Salome Cassaro, but this has never been conclusively proven.

Crimeon is a master conjurer, able to call on creatures from other planes - her detractors say that she has gained her position through collusion with evil extra-planar forces, but this is usually dismissed as anti-tiefling prejudice.

History and founders

When the Estian League was founded, the Council required magical support in many areas. For the first decade or so of the League, this was provided in a ad-hoc manner by individual councilmen dealing with mages in their constituencies.

In order to coordinate better and to promote magical learning, the Council passed the Archive Acts of 1212, which established a central magical authority, headquartered in Greystone. Sira Blazefire was appointed to the Council as the first Archmage, in exchange for personally funding much of the development of the new organization.

Sira Blazefire

(half-elf, LE, 1063-1213 AUC): Alchemist who discovered the process to make ashresin. Not only a brilliant experimentalist, she was also a fierce businesswoman, and she became fabulously wealthy. She funded much of the development of the Greystone Archive, and it is built on the site where her laboratory stood.

Emblem

The Archivist emblem consists of four interlocked glass rings in purple, affixed to an orange base, usually also glass. As a symbol of their mastery, Archivists make their own personal insignia once they achieve the rank of Apprentice, at which point they are considered to have learned enough magic to shape the glass into the intricate knotwork required. Some members keep their first emblem throughout their career as a reminder of where they started, others remake theirs as their acumen grows, perhaps imbuing it with illusion magic for special effects.

Locations

The Archivists operate in four major locations, but have several smaller outposts. Some members prefer to study in solitude, and reside in another location, perhaps a remote wizard's tower.

The Greystone Archive focuses on the schools of Evocation and Conjuration, as well as research into various matters of arcane knowledge.

Covenant Scriptorium

see page

The Archivists also maintain the Scriptorium next to Council Hall in Covenant. The mages here arrange for magical transportation for council members to and from their constituencies. They are also responsible for council meetings remaining secret. Many Archivist-trained scribes are also scattered throughout the government, doing everything from secretarial work to accounting.

The Scriptorium holds extensive records on the matters of government, and research here focuses on Alchemy and Divination.

The Conservatory teaches its students in various performance arts, as well as Illusion and Enchantment magic.

Wolfgarde

see page

Situated near Covenant, this is where Spellswords are trained for the armies of the League. The is more martially minded than the others, and is a part of the Purple Legion.

At Wolfgarde, the training and research focuses on the Abjuration and Evocation schools of magic.

The sages of the Magicademy study many subjects, but they are considered the experts when it comes to the Transmutation and Conjuration schools of magic.

Background: Archivist

This background is available for use when you create a character.

Skill Proficiencies: Arcana, Investigation

Languages:: Two of your choice.

Equipment: An arcane focus, a bottle of ink, a quill, 5 rolls of parchment, a set of travelers clothes, and a pouch containing 15gp.

Feature: Researcher

When you attempt to learn or recall a piece of lore, if you do not know that information, you often know where and from whom you can obtain it. Usually, this information comes from a library, archive, university, or a sage or other learned person or creature. Your DM might rule that the knowledge you seek is secreted away in an almost inaccessible place, or that it simply cannot be found. Unearthing the deepest secrets of the multiverse can require an adventure or even a whole campaign.

Suggested Characteristics

d6	Personality trait
1	I have a hard time interacting with those who lack training in the arcane arts.
2	I love a good puzzle or mystery.
3	My favorite place in the world is a library.
4	My fashion sense is somewhere in the last century.
5	I am full of proverbs and maxims for any situation.
6	When I find something that interests me, it consumes my whole attention span.

d6	Ideal
1	Control: I want to learn to bend the universe to my will. (Evil)
2	Knowledge: I want to read every book in every library. (Neutral)
3	Preservation: Information needs to be collected and curated. (Good)
4	Independence: Magic gives me the means to determine my own fate. (Chaotic)
5	Secrets: I want to learn what others don't want me to know. (Any)
6	Immortality: My research is all in service of staving off death, forever. (Evil)

d6	Bond
1	I want to learn the answer to a question that has been eluding me for years.
2	I seek the means to undo a mistake I did in my youth.
3	The school where I was taught means more to me than my family home.
4	I want to finish my research by compiling a magnum opus.
5	I borrowed a lot of money to fund my research, and the debt is coming due.
6	I seek a powerful magical artifact, but so far I have only heard whispers.

d6	Flaw
1	If a problem cannot be solved with magic, I believe it to be impossible.
2	I am very blunt in conversation, and often say things I shouldn't.
3	I can't keep a secret to save my life.
4	I am convinced that people are always trying to steal my research.
5	I grow bored easily, preferring not to focus on an area of study too long.
6	I am convinced that I will be the greatest mage the world has ever seen.