Cerberus Assembly

The **Cerberus Assembly** was established nearly three hundred years ago, when strife and competition between warring mage lords threatened to unravel the social order of the Dwendalian Empire. The house leaders of this conflict nearly destroyed one another in what was called the Eve of Crimson Midnight, an arcane battle within the capital of Rexxentrum that level two wards of the city, killing hundreds of civilians. At the peak of the violence, a parlay was called, and the mage lords decided to put aside their differences and avoid mutually assured destruction, instead joining as a unified conclave. When brought before the king for judgment of their crimes, they offered an accord to instead officially instate the conclave and submit entirely to the king's rule. Taking the name the Cerberus Assembly, a reference to a powerful, historical union of mages during the Age of Arcanum, the mages took the empire to new heights of power and expansion.

In the centuries since, the Cerberus Assembly has subtly ingrained itself within most facets of the empire's government, becoming a force of political and military power that many say could rival the king himself. This reality is not lost on the royal council, and tensions often simmer between the assembly and the Crown. The mages of the assembly are known for their extravagant lifestyles and intimidating history of political and economic control, and much of the populace mistrusts them, though no one dares to cross them or the king. There are eight ruling positions within the assembly, and the families of each member are appointed as lesser members without responsibility, called "annexes." Mages of the assembly wander throughout the empire with little fear of argument or resistance.

Members are elevated into one of the eight major offices on the death of a member that leaves an office vacant, or when a standing member abdicates their position. The remaining members then recommend replacements and vote on the mage to fill the newly open office.

## Goals

The assembly plays the long game, working to subtly increase its power across the empire and beyond. Popular decisions are often publicly presented as the will of the assembly, while conflicted issues are tailored to seem purely the "will of the Crown," driving a wedge between the two bodies. The assembly seeks to write history to favor its members as the architects of modern law and culture, with the eventual goal of subverting the power of the king, turning him into yet another puppet of the assembly's goals. Assembly mages believe that only they have the knowledge and talents to truly guide the empire into greatness.

Aside from political matters, the assembly is focused on locating and excavating powerful relics and magic lost to the Age of Arcanum. It's members believe that their original namesake was the apex of society across all history, and they seek to reclaim their place as paragons of mortal rule. Thus, all salvaged texts and artifacts of power from that era are to be recovered at all costs.

The curious discovery of the power behind the Kryn Dynasty has recently drawn much of the assembly's attention. The mysterious, primal force known as dunamis could change the world's understanding of magic itself – and could even be the key to placing the assembly above all other rules and nations. In pursuit of this goal, agents of the assembly stole two *Luxon beacons* from the Kryn Dynasty, though they subsequently lost one to a band of adventurers called the Mighty Nein. The assembly as dedicated immense effort to studying and exploiting this new form of magic, knowing full well that stealing the beacons is what caused the war in the first place.

## Relationships

The assembly has worked directly with the king and his chamber for so long that the two factions have become deeply intertwined, frustrating both of them. Though they rely heavily on each other, every smile and agreement barely conceals an undercurrent of venomous loathing. Some members of the assembly feel that it is far too soon to overtly challenge the Crown, while others believe it would be foolish to miss the opportunity the war is creating.

The assembly has established itself as the more forward-thinking face of the empire to the outside world, with Lord Athesias Uludan going out of his way to upstage the Crown at every diplomatic opportunity, all "in the name of the king." Most foreign officials happily deal with the assembly instead of the Crown, especially those of the empire's closest trade partner, the Clovis Concord. The assembly ensures that such meetings are recounted to the king with embellished tales of their diplomatic success.

The acquisition of a *Luxon beacon* and the hunger among assembly mages to unlock its power have drawn the animosity of the Kryn Dynasty, triggering their attacks on the empire.

## Figures of Interest

The mysterious minds of the Cerberus Assembly often quarrel over goals and methods, but ultimately these eight mages are united by their heritage and a shared thirst for knowledge.

### Master Trent Ikithon, Archmage of Civic Influence

*Chaotic evil, male human*

Trent is respected as the acclaimed Propagandist of the empire and the third oldest member of the assembly. Once an instructor at the Soltryce Academy, he only returns every few years to collect young students for his experiments in the mental conditioning that he calls "awakening." Many of these students go mad and are locked away, but those who endure become zealot for the assembly and join the Volstrucker, an elite group of arcane thugs commonly known as Scourgers, who perform the assembly's dirtiest work under Trent's direction.

### Martinet Ludinus Da'leth, Archmage of Domestic Protections

*Lawful evil, male elf*

Ludinus is the oldest and only original member of the assembly, as well as the master of warfare and conflict. Charged with overhauling the military structure of the Dwendalian Empire, Ludinus directed the construction of the garrisons on the Xhorhasian border and often oversees their maintenance. He was one of the mages who survived the destruction of Molasemyr and fled to Bysaes Tyl, but he saw the opportunity to achieve greatness within the empire and left his culture behind to continue his arcane pursuits. Wise, if emotionless, he bears a deep hatred for the Kryn Dynasty and spares no effort gathering information on their weaknesses and secrets. Ludinus spends most of his time developing arcane weapons of war and shoring up the military might of the empire, while subtly challenging the leadership of Crown Marshal Damurag.

### Baroness Jenna Iresor, Archmage of Industry

*Neutral doppelganger*

One of hte younger members of the assembly, Jenna is known for her business acumen and her extravagant lifestyle. By hiding her nature a a doppel ganger and using memory-altering magics at a young age to fabricate a false past, Jenna constructed her human persona from the ground up, leveraging her powers of deception to essentially write herself into history as a Clovis Concord expatriate. She helps oversee central guild business in Rexxentrum under Guildmaster Kai Arness, and helps Exchequer Aethia Drooze organize the collection of tithes through starostas across the empire.

### Master Doolan Tversky, Archmage of Dysology

*Chaotic neutral, female gnome*

The second-oldest member of the assembly, Doolan is in charge of the study and understanding of abnormal creatures and deviants of arcane creation that might threaten the empire's way of life. She is an absent-minded yet brilliant gnome who is obsessed with all beasts, aberrations, and creatures of legend. Doolan imports creatures from around the world to study, disassemble, and use in her attempts to revolutionize magical practices. She resents the Library of the Cobalt Soul, as her reputation has caused them to bar her from their facilities. She wishes to catalog the unstudied horrors of Xhorhas and has covertly obtained the services of the Myriad to retrieve new specimens.

### Lord Athesias Uludan, Archmage of Diplomatic Union

*Neutral good, male human*

Athesias's charm and bombastic personality serve him well as a diplomat. His duty is to foster a positive relationship with people of power both within and beyond the borders of the empire. He was originally one of the most effective instructors at the Soltryce Academy, but his penchant for spectacle and his rampant narcissism made him a difficult ally to trust with state secrets. When the office of Diplomatic Union opened, he was quickly and quietly reassigned. Athesias finds great pleasure in ruining or usurping the plans of his counterpart in the Crown's employ, Emissary Lord Zeddan Graf.

### Lady Vess de Rogna, Archmage of Antiquity

*Neutral evil, female half-elf*

A public recluse for most of her life, Vess is both a brilliant mage and dedicated historian. She assumed this post after replacing her criminal predecessor, Lady Delilah Briarwood. As an instructor at the Soltryce Academy for over two decades, Vess has studied and unraveled a number of historical mysteries and pre-Calamity riddles – and hoarded some of the spoils for herself. Always eager to pursue forgotten lore and artifacts of eons past, Vess has been known to quietly vanish to Xhorhas for weeks at a time, returning with fewer guards and more uncovered secrets.

### Headmaster Zivan Margolin, Archmage of Conscription

*Lawful neutral, male human*

Zivan Margolin inherited the position of headmaster from his father, the late Jorma Margolin. Zivan has been the headmaster of the Soltryce Academy in Rexxentrum for nearly twenty years. Calm, patient, and quietly imposing. Zivan walks the halls of the Academy with a keen eye for talent. He is in charge of the curriculum and also watches for any latent powers that may be worth grooming as future allies of the assembly, dangers to be monitored, or prospective minds for Ikithon to conscribe into the Volstrucker. Zivan has rarely had the opportunity to demonstrate his full power, for he is typically busied with keeping the peace between the feuding members of the assembly. Those who have witnessed his true might, however, now know that his words are backed by some of the most powerful magics within the Cerberus Academy.

### Headmaster Oremid Hass, Archmage of Cultivation

*Lawful neutral, male earth genasi*

The current headmaster of the Hall of Erudition in Zadash, Oremid is tasked with watching and grooming the next generation of mages and arcane specialists outside Rexxentrum. While he himself is a gentle soul who adors animals, he puts on the facade of a strict man with no sense of humor, which is further enhanced by the elemental influence of his earth genasi blood. He teaches students that failure is not an option, and that emotion is a barrier to one's true ability. Equally feared, respected, and privately loathed by the students (and some instructors), Oremid personally dismisses those who break under the school's curriculum and heaps joyous praise on those who endure their training.