Scholars of Soremburg

**Scholars of Soremburg**, also known as the **Mages of Soremburg** were the pinnacle of researchers of Norland. They were an organization that sought the truth of the world, no matter the cost. As a result, most of them have detached themselves from the mundane in pursuit of knowledge that would further Norland's heights.

The Scholars of Soremburg were notorious for their objective views of the world. After years spent in the organisation, they had no grasp of the difference between impartiality and cold blood.

Most people only knew about the Scholars from the Mystic’s Set that Soremburg himself had designed. It was famed for its many abilities; each one wasn’t particularly powerful on its own, but they synergised to achieve unexpected strength. Although it was specifically more suited to the style of the Scholars themselves, it had been a mage’s dream rune set before Richard released Mana Armament.

## Overview

To most mages, the Scholars of Soremburg were scary monsters with the knowledge of ancient spells and an affinity for stealthy and underhanded means that made them fatal. Castle Soremburg was known as a hallowed ground for mages, controlling the famed Mystic’s Set that was the pinnacle of all mage rune sets. Richard was a saint runemaster himself, but he still hadn’t publicly displayed anything at that level; even a grand mage like Fayr had to be cautious when dealing with the millennia-old behemoth.

### **Fame & Notoriety**

Although not as powerful as the Sacred Tree Empire, this was a far-reaching organisation that boasted nearly as much influence on Norland. The Mages of Solomon always flaunted their neutral stance in politics, choosing to focus on exploring the secrets of the world as the pursuit of a lifetime, but one would be mistaken in thinking they had no connection to the secular world. Many powerful figures in all three human empires came from this school.

Even in the world of runecrafting the Mages of Solomon had great clout. They possessed the blueprint to the Mystic’s Set, and although it wasn’t as powerful as Heaven’s Armour this set could still be crafted to this day. They churned out one set every decade or so, compared to the seven total Heaven’s Armour sets that the Sacred Tree Empire just recycled.

## Members

* Founder: Soremburg (Soul destroyed by Richard) [9;144]
* High Scholar Soremburg - famous legend of Norland.
* High Scholar Rhodey
* Soulwalker Jinfarah
* Raymond Joseph

## Plot

A storm was currently brewing within Soremburg Castle, all available members of their high council currently gathered for a meeting. However, unlike most instances where all of the members showed up, three seats were currently empty.
Unsure of the circumstances, some of the participants turned to each other as they saw the empty seats and started whispering amongst themselves. Seeing this happen, the acting lord of the castle coughed to garner attention, “Respected Scholars, you can see that we have faced heavy losses recently. Two of our former companions have departed, and it is uncertain whether Soulwalker Jinfarah was successful. However, his resonance crystal is still intact, so I believe this is good news.”
The acting lord waved his hand to show an image of a dark hall, with several large crystals placed in a ring at the centre. The image was focused around one crystal whose name plate read Jinfarah, but it was currently buzzing so fast that it was almost a blur. A wave of formless energy suddenly crashed into the crystal’s surface, immediately cracking it apart and shattering it loudly. Each of the fragments showed an image of the broodmother. Jinfarah’s name plate dropped to the ground from the explosion, turning around before falling bottom-up. However, a falling fragment crashed into it and flipped it back up.
The meeting hall went deathly silent, but the acting lord of the castle eventually spoke up, “It appears I have to recall that statement. The High Scholar has failed.”
High Scholar Rhodey answered, “It awakened its truename when it was level 10, and even saw through our traps. This situation is unprecedented, and there is no means to predict its next actions.”
“Two of our members have died at its hands, we might need to deal with it seriously.” “How?” a bestial figure voiced dissent, “I believe we should look back at every step of our operation and erase all traces. If it truly grows up and leaves its plane, leaving threads of destiny connected to it will lead to disaster. Does anyone here believe they have the power to match up against a matriarch?”
The members started to discuss this with some clear discomfort, but the lord coughed once more and interrupted them, “There might not be a reason to worry. The reapers are already within Faelor, and the broodmother cannot leave yet. Once the plane is destroyed, even a surviving seed would only lie dormant in the broken earth while awaiting its next chance to awaken.”
A withered old man spoke up, “It will be of great benefit to search for this seedling once that occurs.”
As these words rang out, even Rhodey’s breathing grew louder. This was the seed of a terrifying broodmother that had already proved itself, controlling it was akin to controlling Faelor. The Scholars knew just how powerful a fully grown broodmother was; with one, they could take over all of Norland in less than a century and bring their united power to explore the mysteries of the world! This was the closest they had ever been to achieving their goal!

A wave of hands rose in response to the lord’s words, with more than two-thirds in favour of the decision. After some hesitation, even Rhodey voted in favour. While he didn’t agree himself, the castle lord could not change their minds. He sighed softly, “Greed is the root of destruction.”

Of course, his own hand had gone up and down repeatedly as he struggled to make a decision.

Once the decision was made, one of the members switched topics, “Empress Apeiron has asked Hasting to begin his annihilation of the Land of Dusk. However, Richard is still fighting the reapers; is it wise of us to exhaust ourselves?”

“I see no issue. This is the best time to prove our prowess to the Empress. She and Julian are in control of the laws and chaos, and will be key personnel in the future. Hasting has been prepared for a long time as well.” The meeting eventually landed on its last topic, the bounty Richard had placed on all Scholars. Rhodey stood up and read out a number of statistics, “We have lost fifteen advanced Scholars very recently, including one member of our council. There are about 90 intermediates as well, and a few hundred lesser ones and 400 imposters. Our surface strength is almost entirely depleted.”

“Do not forget, humans are capable of all sorts of foolishness in the face of greed.”

“It seems like we have to introspect. Our disguises weren’t as brilliant as we thought.”

Eventually, a member who was so skinny that he resembled a bag of bones asked with bloodlust in his eyes, “Who accepted these rewards outside of the Millennial Empire?”

“All ten of the top assassin organisations on the plane,” Rhodey said calmly.

Castle Soremburg destroyed by Richard [9;146]

## Trivia

* Mages of Soremburg carry the responsibility to discover the truths of the world. It is the very purpose of our existence.
* Previously called the Mages of Solomon.
* Their epic being communicates with Daxdians and other races for treasures or information. “The Land of Dusk is a problem for the empires to deal with, none of our business. Sometimes, crafting a perfect world requires that we remove some rotten leaves and branches. It doesn’t matter whether you’re the ones who do it or us.”

## References

1. ↑ Book 8, Chapter 34
2. ↑ Book 6, Chapter 44
3. ↑ Book 7, Chapter 136
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Book 9, Chapter 50
5. ↑ Book 7, Chapter 93
6. ↑ Book 8, Chapter 81