Guild:VioletOrder
| White | Ivory | Green |
| Blue | Ashen | Red |
| Gold | Ebony | Violet |
| Violet Order of the Skull
|
| Tenets: Anarchy. Ambition. Freedom. |
| Restrictions: Wizards and Sorcerers only. |
Base of Operations:
|
Archmage:
|
Great Magi:
|
Senior Magi:
|
Notable Member Magi:
|
Advanced Mage Specializations (AMS):
Aeromancer
- Lilliana Be'letane (Teacher Rank)
Transmutant
- Karrek Asen (3rd Rank)
History of the Violet Order of the Skull:
The Violet Order of the old Fold of Nine and the present-day Violet Order of the Skull are loosely linked. During Andrinor's rise to power, the remnants of The Fold of Eight were divided on how to react. The White Order led by Archmage Chert Lanassen, believed that Andrinor should not hold control over the Vortex of Mortal Magic, while the Archmagi of the Ebony and Gold Orders, on the other hand, joined forces to form the Black Order with the goal of seizing the control of the Vortex of Mortal Magic for themselves. The Gray Order under Archmage Apara desired that neither of these two factions should achieve their aims and thus did their utmost to oppose both. Seeing the danger of being involved in these violent machinations, the rest of the Orders of the Fold went into hiding to distance themselves to avoid incurring the wrath of this new god once he inevitably reached his apotheosis. The old Violet Order was one such group, retreating into the Underdark and relinquishing their remaining influence on the surface to avoid the wrath of Andrinor when he learned of the other orders' plans.
Having no deific support and no strong leadership, the mages who fled into the Underdark soon broke away and formed numerous smaller groups and factions and spread throughout the caves and tunnels below the surface of Negaria. Eventually, a powerful mage, named Wolf, began to unite the Violet Order once again, mostly by hunting down the leaders of the small bands and wresting control from their cold, dead hands, repeating the process until he obtained the required level of submission. Once united by Wolf, by that point known only as “The Master” to all who wished to survive their encounter with him, the Violet Order's influence began to spread throughout the Underdark more quickly, reaching as far as the city of Ka-Kimon.
Eventually, after years of continuous expansion below the surface of Negaria, the Violet Order of The Skull’s influence reached the surface once again. However, for most of the membership which lived beneath the ground, surface affairs held little interest. Thus, when the Violet Order emerged from its long exile to take its place as the ninth and final Order of The Trust, few of the existing Violet mages traveled up from the Underdark to attend the gatherings. Instead, the surface contingent of the Order was formed by the mages who chose to leave the Ebony Order for the Violet while The Trust was in its final reorganization into modern form. These mages cooperated with each other and with The Master to bring the philosophies and methods of the Violet Order to life on the surface, and in the process became co-founders of the modern Violet Order of the Skull.
Since the formation of the modern Violet Order of the Skull, the organization’s influence has spread throughout Avlis, reaching from the southern tip of M'Chek up to the city of Malekia. The Violet Order's membership and culture remained split between the two main factions for some time: the surface mages and the Underdark mages. The division between members of the surface and those of the Underdark was only held in check by a single leadership structure under The Master, glued together only by his power and brutality. However, the pressures to split this structure into two fully-realized units had continually plagued the organization. The Master had appointed two Archmages; Archmage Vandrammes of the Underdark, and Archmage Karrek Asen of the Overlight; and then stepped away from the public life for a time for unknown reasons. In his absence, the cohesion of the order slowly unravelled, and and factions loyal to ambitious magi eventually came to blows. The resulting conflict was swiftly ended when the Master returned and unified the order under his sole rule once more, defeating the rebels with such violence that he has gone largely unchallenged ever since.
The philosophy of the Violet Order of The Skull is simplistic: advance in the arcane arts as far and as quickly as possible by any means necessary. Mages in this order are expected to shirk limits, ignore or violate rules of society, and step over anyone who gets in the way of achieving power and expertise in their art. It is not justifiable, however, to describe every member of the organization as a suicidal sociopath bent on quick self-annihilation. On the contrary, the term “any means necessary’ is important for implying all methods that are necessary for self-preservation, not the opposite. In situations where violence and reprehensible behavior are self-destructive or imminently risky to a vital operation, a mage of this order is expected to have the competence to know the environment and details of the case. Denying limits and exerting power are the organization’s expression of freedom in the use of magic, but with freedom comes responsibility for self-preservation and safety, including safety in numbers.
Affairs of the Violet Order of The Skull resemble a feudal system of lords and vassals, tied together through brutal gang tactics and mafia-style hits. The Archmages sits at the top of the pyramid and commands obedience, respect, and loyalty from all below him. Within a mage’s area of control, there are no rules on how to run things. Transgressing limits, violating boundaries, and ignoring rules are all fair play, especially with regards to improving the member’s expertise within the arcane arts. The ends always justify the means. The limits of action run up against whomever is next highest up in the chain. Interference with the next level of dominance upward always incurs punishment, and sometimes death. Voicing opinions on any matter is a thin line between working together to increase the organization’s cooperation and running afoul of the dominance structure. Incompetence and disobedience are rarely treated with lenience.
Recent Lore/History of the Violet Order of the Skull:
Since the formation of the modern Violet Order of the Skull, the organization’s influence has spread throughout Avlis, reaching from the southern tip of M'Chek up to the city of Malekia. The Violet Order's membership and culture remained split between the two main factions for some time: the surface mages and the Underdark mages. The division between members of the surface and those of the Underdark was only held in check by a single leadership structure under The Master, glued together only by his power and brutality. However, the pressures to split this structure into two fully-realized units had continually plagued the organization. The Master had appointed two Archmages; Archmage Vandrammes of the Underdark, and Archmage Karrek Asen of the Overlight; and then stepped away from the public life for a time for unknown reasons. In his absence, the cohesion of the order slowly unraveled, and factions loyal to ambitious magi eventually came to blows. The resulting conflict was swiftly ended when the Master returned and unified the order under his sole rule once more, defeating the rebels with such violence that he has gone largely unchallenged ever since.
Though not common knowledge on the surface of Negaria, it is largely known that the Greatmage of Arms, Dameon Nepirtas, holds significant influence with the Violet faction in the Dark City of Verloghokbol. It is speculated that this is why there is not a Senior Mage position, despite the Violet's strong presence within the city.
See Also
| The Violet Order of the Skull |