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Sample Spellweaver:
Vadim Ardovich |
| VARIANT: Spellweaving Magic System |
| The Brotherhood of Stahryc uses the
Spellweaving Magic System in its
entirety and without modification. |
| Details Of The Brotherhood |
| The Brotherhood of Stahryc (STAHR-eek) is a guild of spellcasters that
uses the
Spellweaving Magic System. Individual members of the
Brotherhood are called Stahyrca (star-EEK-ah)
singularly and collectively. |
| The Brotherhood actively seeks to identify, recruit, and train
new members to keep the Order's ranks filled, serves as a political lobby
for the aggrandizement of Stahryca, and as a self-protection network for its
members. In return members are expected to champion the organization and
occasionally carry out tasks when directed to
do so by the leaders of the society. |
| NOTE: In the
World of San'Dora,
the Brotherhood exists in the Nordmanner lands of the north, and is
strongest in the south eastern counties. They compete with several other
groups of Spellweavers as well as practitioners of
Metier. Their great rivals,
to whom they are underdogs, is The
Order of Esow. |
| PATHS LESS TRAVELED |
| Though it is technically an esoteric society, with the
principle design of advancing the magical knowledge and potency of its
members, the Brotherhood is also a temporal organization that endeavors to
advance themselves politically and financially on the
behalf of both the Brotherhood as a whole as well as individual members
within it. |
| The Brotherhood of Stahryc is a smaller
organization, and functions in a somewhat clandestine fashion, with a public
face that reveals little and a good deal of obfuscation and misdirection,
which they believe helps them be successful in their competition with rival
organizations and individuals. As the organization has limited resources,
they make a habit of doing more with less, relying on subtlety, and being
opportunistic. |
| Many members of the Order are skilled at a wide variety
of undertakings, many of them of a less than upright nature. It is not
unusual for a Stahryca to be an effective spy, smuggler, saboteur,
second-story man, schemer, or all around agent provocateur in addition to
their skills with magic. Due to this dichotomy of skill sets, Stahryca are
often less advanced in their mystical studies than rival organizations'
Spellweavers of the same age and general experience. |
| FRATERNAL ORDER |
| As implied by the name, the Brotherhood is a fraternal
Order; women are not allowed. Although there are some women who serve the
Brotherhood in some fashion, they are not initiated into the magical
practices of the group and are not in fact members. This policy has come
under attack from time to time over the years from within by more liberal
members of the organization, but has always represented a minority position. |
| ORDER HOUSES |
| The Brotherhood only has a few public order houses,
which are called Grian (GREE-ahn). However, they have many secret or
semi-secret meeting places, sanctuaries, and private havens hidden behind
fronts, which are all called Killeen (KYLE-leen) regardless of their
size or use. |
| LEADERSHIP |
| The Brotherhood is a meritocracy, with each Master,
called a Marasgal (mar-OZ-goal) generally operating autonomously save
for adhering to the current set of bylaws and any special directives put
into effect based upon irregular (meaning when needed) meetings that have at
least twentyone Marasgal in attendance (which is the minimum number required
to reach quorum), which are called Comracc (KHAM-rack). |
| Each Marasgal has a single vote in business that comes
before a Comracc, but politics are very much in place, with maneuvering for
support, long term sects, temporary alliances, and leveraging of surprise
proxies before and during a Comracc to ensure a vote goes one way or another
being not only common, but expected. |
| STAHRYC RANKS |
| Stahryca pride themselves on being "practical realists"
and thus eschew elaborate formal ranks and roles. They recognize only four
ranks, one of which is largely ornamental. |
| 1 |
Apprentice
Noanagh
(nu-AHN-og) |
Newly accepted to the Order, an
Apprentice is put under the direct supervision of a Master; typically
the same Master that they either approached or who approached them to
join the Brotherhood in the first place. An Apprentice has anywhere from
0 to around 15 points spent on Spell Skills and knows anywhere
from 0 to around 5 different Spell Skills depending on where they are at
on their training. |
|
Most Apprentices are between the ages of 12 and 20. |
| 2 |
Journeyman
Eabee
(eh-AH-bee) |
A Journeyman has somewhere between 16 and around 30 points spent on
Spell Skills and knows between 6 and 11 different Spell Skills depending
on where they are at in their progression. Journeymen are typically
given tasks directly by a regional Comracc, which they are typically
expected to carry out within a period of time, but often are given broad
latitude in how they go about it. |
|
Most Journeymen are between the ages of 16 and 30. |
| 3 |
Master
Marasgal
(mar-OZ-goal)
|
A Master has
at least 40 points spent on
Spell Skills and knows at least 12 different Spell Skills. Masters are
basically autonomous, and do
whatever they think best to advance themselves and the Brotherhood, save from occasional special tasks
asked of them (or which they volunteer for) by a Comracc. |
|
Most Masters are at least 28 years old, and most are in their 30's and
40's. |
| 4 |
Paragon
Feniagh
(feh-NY-og) |
A Paragon is a Master that has proven themselves to be exceptionally
advanced at magic, or who have done something that greatly advanced the
Brotherhood in some meaningful way. No special responsibilities or
privileges come from this rank directly, though such a personage likely
would have supporters and / or admirers and thus have great political
clout. This is essentially an honorary rank intended to reflect notable
respect and prestige. |
|
| STAHRYC ROLES |
| The Brotherhood is very flexible and eschews rigidity
and structure, and thus while there are some common roles that a Stahryca
might fill from time time, the Brotherhood does not go so far to formalize
them with official titles and appointments. |
| STAHRYC SYMBOLOGY |
| The Brotherhood has some symbology that they use, more
because some kind of visual representations or symbols are expected in the
somewhat baroque Nordmanner lands than for any real desire to have one.
However, as the organization prefers to avoid the limelight for much of its
concerns, they only use such symbols when it serves their purposes, and
never when it does not. They are also not above manipulating and using
symbols not of their own and taking advantage of any misconceptions that
might arise there from. |
| OFFICIAL CREST |
| The official Crest of the Brotherhood is a
sable (black) cartouche (oval) bearing a shining four-pointed star Argent (silver)
oriented saltire (with the rays aligned diagonally, similar to an X). |
| NOTE: In Heraldry left and right (sinister
and dexter) are from the perspective of the sigil, which is to say they are
reversed in respect to the viewer. Left is right and right is left. |
| An extraordinarily simple blazon; the star in the
darkness represents the beacon light of esoteric knowledge that guides the
seeker through dark mysteries,. |
| The few Grian display this symbol openly, but
discreetly, and it also adorns some communal property of the Brotherhood.
Stylized versions of it are sometimes used as surreptitious sigils or marks
by members as signage to one another. It also adorns the back of the
Brotherhood's signature amulets. |
| RANK AND ROLE MARKS |
| The Brotherhood has only one symbol commonly recognized
or that is given any significance; namely each member has a small oval
amulet, made of silver, which has the symbol of the Brotherhood on the back,
and on the front a sigil marking ones Rank. These amulets are typically worn
under the clothes (or not at all), but are worn openly at all Comracc, and
are often used to gain entrance (along with a few code phrases) to a
Brotherhood order house in the case that a Stahryc isn't recognized by
sight. |
| BENEFITS OF MEMBERSHIP |
| Membership in the Brotherhood has some privileges.
Brothers primarily benefit by sharing esoteric knowledge with other members.
They also benefit from the efforts of the society on their behalf should
they fall on hard times or get themselves into a jam, particularly if they
do so while on Stahryc business. They can also call on the order for aid if
needed, though of course they may be called on in turn as well. However the
amount of support forthcoming is determined greatly by an individual's
relationship and stature within the Brotherhood. |
| For the most part, these benefits can be represented by
taking the Contact Perk and defining the Brotherhood as a Group Contact with
Useful Skills and Resources, with which the Brother has a Very Good
Relationship. A Stahryc that does not have such a Contact might occasionally
gain some boon from the Brotherhood based solely upon their membership rank
perk (and some good role-playing), but a Stahryc with such a Contact has
sufficient clout and influence that they can sometimes gain support simply
by demanding it. Stahryc that can get even greater support, or more reliable
support, or both should simply upgrade the Contact to have Very or Extremely
Useful Skills and Resources, and / or raise the reliability of the roll to
11- or higher. |
| Contact: Brotherhood of Stahryc (Contact has useful
Skills or resources, Very Good relationship with Contact), Organization
Contact (x3) (12 Active Points) 8- |
| Real Cost: 12 Points |
| OBLIGATIONS OF MEMBERSHIP |
| Members are expected to at the very least not work
against the Brotherhood, to aid their fellow members in need, and to
occasionally work on behalf of the Brotherhood at the direction of a
Marasgal (in the case of Journeymen and Apprentice) or a Comracc (in the
case of Masters). A Stahryc's obligations to their guild is represented by
taking a Social Limitation Disadvantage. |
| Social Limitation: Guild Duties (Occasionally, Major) |
| Disadvantage Value: -10 Points |
| FORMER STAHRYC |
| Being a very lose and "practical" organization, though a
Stahryc could definitely get themselves into poor graces by failing to aid
their fellows or refusing the directives of a Comracc without good cause, or
severely failing to honor the bylaws and edicts, it is actually pretty hard
to get kicked out of the society entirely. Particularly once the rank of
Master is reached. |
| However, it does happen from time to time that a Brother
screws up very badly, or irritates enough others, or just flat out quits, in
which case they are stricken from the Brotherhood. Such ex-Stahryc are
called Jiooldit (jee-OOL-deet), and their names and descriptions are
circulated (eventually) throughout the Brotherhood so that they wont find
welcome by traveling to an area they are not known of directly and using
their knowledge of the inner workings of the society to abuse their
resources. If possible a Jiooldit's amulet is recovered from them. |