Tor Armakan

Country
 Region
 Government
 Leader
 Established
 Founder
 Population
 Language

A major city in the Aurian Empire. Capital of the Sapphire Wizards' Guild.

## History

416BE: Claimed as the founding year. This date is worked into the stonework on the floating Ark-Tower. Some claim Arkadius originally placed it there knowing the Empire would come in the future. Others claim this date was added later to correspond to the dates recorded in the city's annals. If the records are correct this is the date or close to when Arkadius Secondsight chose this area as his seat of power from which to wage his claim against the elven inhabitants of the area.

400BE: By this date the Arkadians under their leader Arkadius Secondsight have succeeded in driving the elves from the local area and have created a human city state around Tor Armakan. The elves have mostly withdrawn into Quintox or Oakland as it is now called. The state governed from Tor Armakan is called Armakania.

371BE: The death of Arkadius and the start of a disputed era where his apprentices and adherents fought for the right to take his place.

371-364: The Clash of the Cabals. Technically this is three different conflicts running from 371-370 one self contained in 368 and one running from 366-364PE. The final conflict ends with the rise of the Archmages' Council.

55BE: Auria is a rising neighbouring city state. It is financially and organisationally superior to most of its cousins. It creates alliances with Tor Armakan.

7-4BE: The First Commerce Wars – After the invasion of Kanlan resulting in Tor Kalash joining the Aurian Empire, the archmages realise that they needed to align themselves with Auria due to its burgeoning population, powerful military and sheer trade pressure. The Aurian leader Jomark approaches the archmages directly promising them independent research opportunities and huge grants opening up their future prospects remarkably. As Armakania lacks a real military and warlike Torash is nearby this puts a lot more pressure on the city to join with the powerful and growing Auria. The developed colleges are also struggling for the finances to complete their more outlandish experiments so the archmages push Tor Armakan into the Aurian trade alliance called the Aurian Monetary Union as a vassal state, which preempted the announcement of the Aurian Empire.

4BE: Vale Celer joins the Aurian Monetary Union when they adopt the Cellan as their common currency instead of the Mark. Tor Armakan disapprove of the move but have to join as well. This is the first clear indication that Auria intends to lead and not be led in their arrangement. This is also the beginning of the rivalry between the mages of Tor Armakan and the clerics of Tor Celer.

0BE: Aurian Empire announced by Jomark. Tor Armakan is officially made centre of learning, research and magic in the new empire.

2-22PE: Unification Wars:Tor Armakan and Tor Kalash are established as the second cities of the Empire.

2-3PE: Tor Armakan helps put pressure on the remaining members of the Aurian Monetary Union who did not originally opt into the Empire at its founding. Some of their involvement is still not fully understood and the records have been altered.

4PE: Tor Armakan provides wizards and engineers to Auria's Tor Kalash trained armies. With these, the new empire conquers states in the eastern Protectorates gaining land for farming and building. Wizards are particularly useful in the taking of Leyroch as a powerful wizard, the Viperlord Enerest, lived there and resisted the occupation.

6PE: The War of Thorns begins with the 'Bold Offensive'. The war is partially provoked by Tor Armakan as the archmages feared Torash growth and military power. Several wizards are used in the ensuing battles and many die.

12-16PE: The Northern Campaign, Tor Armakan sends wizards and engineers to assist the armies in taking Wrennost and the Oakreach Conglomerate.

20-22PE The Mountain Campaign to take the dwarvern state of High Grange requires intense magical support. The archmage Infernal Blade agrees to leave Tor Armakan and personally support an army in the field. He is the first archmage to agree to do so. This becomes important as he establishes that wizards of a certain level have to be beyond regular military officer's control. When he is told to level the town of Cullstone he simply refuses. Unfortunately for the officer in charge he was then threatened. His reply, "If you think I can destroy that town with a wave of my hand, what do you think I could do to your army?"

Jomark personally negotiated the incident and set down rules that wizards above the rank of Sarrif (the title now used to show a Tor Armakan qualified wizard) could not be ordered to do anything by his generals as they knew best how to use their magic. At the same time, he got the wizards to agree that they would not use magic in the field without informing the generals and seeking their agreement as they had to respect the generals' expertise in their own field. This agreement is called the Cullstone Policy. It is seen by some historians as the true starting point for the Kalash/Armakan rivalry.

34PE: End of the War of Thorns results in the war wizards, called at that time 'Red Wizards', coming home to Tor Armakan. The wars have changed the focus of the colleges at Tor Armakan and focused them much more on the pursuit of power for purposes rather than simply curiosity and knowledge.

43-48PE: The Second Commerce Wars affect Tor Armakan less than those previously. The use of minor spell casters in the military is established. All apprentices must serve for a season in the military and all Sarrifs can be called upon once in each five year cycle.

44PE: The assault on the elven fastness of Weatherdark is resisted not only by fully trained elven rangers, but also by druids (The Shrouded) and Itali the Pantherlord Eternal Roar, the Lionlord Titansmane and the Equinelord Tallwalker. For the first time large numbers of wizards and clerics are mobilised with the legions.

46-48PE: The Rak Danning Campaign. This benefits Tor Armakan a lot of the trade and materials available from within the Empire increase dramatically with the addition of Rak Danning.

50PE: The failed Forked Offensive into Alkan and Saracan. The Sarrifs did not want to take part in wars so far from their base. minimal magical support was used and as the wars were of questionable legality and their likelihood of success was low the archmages deliberately held back Sarrif support.

64PE: Kolaran creates a formal trade alliance with Auria. Like with Rak Danning this expands the materials, money and number/variety of students entering Tor Armakan. It also produces extensive new markets for Tor Armakan's exports of magical goods, individuals and services.

121-123PE: Border war with Torash, Tor Armakan was involved with this and has been accused in hindsight of manipulating the Emperor Jonah I.

137PE: Emperor Solemnus creates the position of Imperial Vizier. It seems this was created in part to give a civilian counselor equal or even superior weight to military and magical equivalents. However if this was the case, it backfired horribly as the clerics of Celer and the mages of Tor Armakan vie for the title the moment it is created. The vast majority of all Imperial Viziers are either Sarrifs or Cellen priests.

147-159PE: The reign of Cartazian, sometimes called the Blue Emperor, however this title is unofficial as in Tor Armakan it is considered disparaging as it implies he favoured the Sarrifs. His reign is a golden season for Tor Armakan. Huge amounts of money and prestige flow into the city. There is a population boom and a vast increase in popularity, power and wealth.

147PE: Cartazian selects one of the Archmages, Whitefire as his Imperial Vizier.

155PE: After a lot of preparation Cartazian and Whitefire formalise the Sarrifs into a single guild: the Sapphire Wizards' Guild. Having created the guild they also create a leader for the guild called the Saffier. This individual has official political and military rank as well as being the leader of the only recognised wizards' guild in Auria. From this date all wizards on Aurian soil must register with the guild and if they want to be a part of any group of wizards such as colleges, research teams, the military units or guilds they have to be members of the guild. Whitefire is the first Saffier.

255PE: Whitefire the Saffier finally dies. This provokes a succession struggle between various archmages to take his place. Eventually three rise to prominence. One takes the role of Saffier, another the position of Imperial Vizier and the third, Crimsonsky, assigns himself to the military permanently. This sets some important precedents in Tor Armakan some of the most important being that if Archmages take other roles such as Saffier and Imperial Vizier they typically no longer represent a position on the archmages council of eight. Crimsonsky also established that an archmage could choose to withdraw from active teaching and power struggles within the guild if he/she was strong enough.

260-263PE: The Split Walls Secession War. Rak Danning and Wrennost go into revolt and attempt to secede from the Empire. Due to internal loyalists, Rak Danning returns to peaceful imperial control within the year, but Wrennost takes several years to bring to heel. In the end, after the Vizier persuades the Emperor he must treat the secessionists as invading enemy states, the army move to crush Wrennost. Tremorfist and Crimsonsky are instrumental in doing so as they bring down Wrennost's walls with an awesome display of arcane might. This enhances the role of Tor Armakan as a military force encroaching on Kalash's area of power and heightens tentions there. However the Sarrifs' reputation in the army is significantly improved. The Wrennost survivors hate the Sarrifs and this event begins a long standing anti-magic sentiment in that province.

325-329PE: Emperor Garath attempts to take the great woodland of Quintox. There are many successes and some battles involve large amounts of Tor Armakan trained wizards specifically the Battle of Immortal Blood where Prince Garth his elite rangers and a band of Sarrifs scored a great victory over the elves. The campaign is named for the victory. However when Auria pressed further north into what the renamed Oakland the elves proved more challenging yet and targeted their most valuable assets. Rather than fight another pitched battle they cut the supply lines and killed off their ranking officers and in particular their Sarrifs. Tor Armakan immediately made requisitioning of trainees more difficult and the campaign had to be abandoned.

345-347PE: The failed invasion of Alkan. A very unpopular war with Tor Armakan. Garath re-acted badly to the pressure the guild used to attempt to limit Sarrif involvement in military campaigns. He forced them to assign greater numbers than in the past to his forward units and unfortunately the war was a disaster. The Alkar did not fight pitched battles at all and their horses gave them unique advantages on the plains where the Aurians had no siege-works or fortresses to use. Emperor Garath died whilst visiting Tor Armakan in 347PE mysteriously and some believe that the guild was part of the Emperor's death, but such a fact has never been proven.

493-512PE: Reign of Aluap the Organiser.

502PE: The Ro'Tier is officially ended and replaced with the Imperial Senate and the Audit Corporation. An interesting point (one that demonstrates what a powerful leader Aluap was) is that the Emperor used the reorganisation to create rules that banned Sarrifs from becoming Senators or being employed as part of the Audit Corporation, though he allowed them to be appointed as Viziers and elected as governors. He also imposed similar restraints on the church of Celer possibly to balance Tor Celer and Tor Armakan against each other.

505-507PE: Wargak Invasion is turned back by Aurian Forces. The Sapphire Wizards' Guild distinguishes itself and in combination with the legions and the first full battle mobilisation of the church helps turn the tide. It is a golden moment for the Empire under a powerful but wise leader. As a reward Aluap organises the planning of the Blue Crystal Palace as a fitting guild house for the guild. (He also organises the creation of the Cellastine Cathedral in Tor Celer to balance it).

512-530PE: Reign of Peter I covers several successful wars. Tor Armakan grows greatly and all focus is on the building of the palace.

515PE: The organisation of the legions into the modern Protectorans. Official numbers are given for Sarrifs with each legion. This is determined at usually 1 a cohort. This brought Sarrifs into the military command structure in a way that had not been previously formalised. Each Captain could now expect a single Sarrif in his command, though he would be told to treat the Sarrif as a counselor not a trooper. Still, the regulation implied that the wizards would be taking military orders. Certainly Blademarks, commanding entire legions of a thousand with a Cabal of ten Sarrifs under their command started to get used to ordering wizards along with the rest of their men. Usually, this causes tensions unless the military commander is savvy enough to use the ranking wizard to deliver his commands. This forever changes the way Tor Armakan is viewed and makes the military a common sight in Tor Armakan.

570PE: The wizard known as the Silent Sleeper realises that the intersection of star arcs at the site of Tor Armakan and the inlaid runes of the previous elven settlement beneath the current construction make way for the building of the Spectral Prison.

584PE: The Spectral Prison was completed and at the final moment it trapped seven workers. These included several dwarvern rune smiths which caused local dwarves great anger against the Guild. There were claims that the Silent Sleeper planned for the accident.

600PE: The Blue Crystal Palace is completed. It is a moment of crowning awesomeness for Tor Armakan. The Palace forms the centre of the guild and is a place where only those who are members of, employed by or invited visitors of the guild may come.

650PE: The Protectoran Mutiny never happens in Tor Armakan. The creation of the Knight Stalkers (officially) on the other hand is unsettling for the wizards even in their centre of power.

662PE: Peter II publishes his life's memories and though this act sponsors the three Great Libraries, one of which is the Azure Library at Tor Armakan. The entire building is redecorated and with the infusion of money and new staff the contents are significantly added to, reorganised and enhanced.

753-761PE: During the Conclave Dispute a group from within the eight archmages that make up the Conclave attempt to remove the current Saffier. This is resisted and internally the guild has a cold civil war. This runs on for years with multiple factions vying for supremacy. In the end, it is outside intervention that ends the strife as the wizards' rivals the Senate, the military and the church start to take over the running of the country. The Sarrifs themselves turn on their own leadership and two old archmages come 'out of retirement'. The Conclave is disbanded and a new one called. There are eight different men who claim the title of Saffier during this period. Three of them simultaneously.

763-781PE: Reign of Renis the Pious. With the guild weak from the Conclave Dispute these years see the rise of the Church of Celer. The Imperial Vizier 'chosen' by Renis is a powerful Cleric of Knowledge one of the Theonists of Tor Celer. The church puts a lot of pressure on and uses the weak emperor to allow them to form the Vormach, an independent state not far from Tor Armakan. The Sapphire City opposes this move, but finds itself hamstrung by the very integration which had made it so powerful in the past. The church has its own military independent of the Protectorans and Tor Armakan could boast no such force. Most important of all though, the Church was unified and Tor Armakan had become a very dangerous place where wizards knifed each other in the dark since the Conclave Dispute.

1187PE: Under the reign of Carlson the Waymaker the Oakland Trail is planned and commissioned. It is the first road of the new Imperial Road Network. This road links the vital central cities of Tor Honarik, Tor Kalash and Tor Armakan with Oakland, Yewdon and the Vormach.

1486-1491PE: Tor Armakan supports the War of Vengeance. The Sarrifs still hate the Torans.

1512-1514PE: First Dragon Army Invasion is turned back in great part due to the combination of the Protectorans, the Church of Celer and the Sapphire Wizards' Guild.

1643-1677PE: New roads are built enhancing the Empire's trade links and specifically bringing into Tor Armakan goods from all over the world that previously had been unavailable. The wealth of the Empire soars again.

1761-1779PE: Tor Armakan empties to funnel enough wizards to win battles against the Quntoxian elves. The War of Ears becomes a black mark on the guild as they weary of the bounty hunting and killing long before the Green Protectoran do.

1898PE: Second Dragon Army Invasion

## Geography

Tor Armakan is located on a hill (Tor) to the north of the Gold Lake. The city has long out grown its original boundaries and now sprawls in layers down to the plains surrounding the original city.

## Economy

Tor Armakan is a place of study, experimentation, learning and fear. Lots of money is made in the market in all things magical. Both the providing of basics for the mages and the extremely profitable returns from the sale of enchanted objects.

## Demographics

Every officially practising wizard in Auria is all but forced into the guild as it is the only source of magical instruction permitted in Auria. The members of the guild, the Sarrifs as they are known, reside and work within Tor Armakan.

Race-wise, as one might be expected in the heart of the Empire, the city is predominantly human. However due to the prevalence of the Sapphire Wizards' Guild and centres of learning many elves and casters of other races can be found within its walls too.

### Religion

Wizards rule the city and Tor Armakan is also notably low on the wizards' rivals the Church of Celer. There are few temples and only one of Celer in this huge city. The people here are notably secular.

## Politics and Government

Though Tor Armakan has a governor, it is ridiculous to imagine anyone truly rules it other than the Saffier himself. The current Saffier, though he has quarters in Tor Armakan at the Blue Crystal Palace, lives in Tor Honarik at the Imperial palace as Imperial Vizier, the closest advisor to the Emperor himself.

## Military

Though the city is in the Red Protectoran's domain, the number of soldiers present in the city is surprisingly light. The wizards prefer to rely on their own guardians. There is never more than one legion present in Tor Armakan and typically this is 'the favoured 21st'.

## Culture

Also known as the City of Sapphires. It is dominated by the Blue Crystal Palace. Headquarters of the Sapphire Wizards’ Guild. Tor Armakan must be beheld to be believed. Blue is its colour and the motif of the stylised Sapphire topped staff is everywhere to be seen.

## People of Note

* Arkadius Secondsight
* Saffier