Order Arcane

**The Order Arcane** is a sanctioned wizard guild, collegium, and universitas based in the city of Arnoch with some official authority in the royal court of Cardolan.

## Structure

The Council of Masters is the governing body of the Order Arcane. Collectively they are responsible for the recruitment and instruction of pupils, the operation of the school, the management of the Order's resources, and in the Order's dual-capacity as Advisors to the Court of Arnoch hold various civic duties. The 8 Masters of the Order Arcane are:

1. Master Chancellor: head of the Order Arcane and its Council of Masters. Traditionally this post is given to the most venerable Master and is considered the highest honor of the Order. The Master Chancellor serves for life or until he or she chooses to resign. The Chancellor is appointed by vote of the other Masters when the position is available. In the event of a tie, the two nominees must duel. The terms of the duel are set by the nominees and witnessed only by the other Masters. The Chancellor presides over all matters of the Order Arcane. For internal matters the Chancellor receives his or her vote normally and may also override and ties. For external matters that relate to the OA, the Chancellor answers to no one else, although historically speaking most Chancellors have always acted in a manner consistent with majority opinion of the other Masters. The current Master Chancellor is Zhaetar the Everwise.
2. Master Collegian: overseer of the day-to-day operations of the OA with a focus on the college, admissions, and administration. The Master Collegian's responsibilities have increased greatly in recent years with the rise in the amount of students, scholars, and magical adepts. The Master Collegian is considered second only to the Master Chancellor and may vote as the Acting Master Chancellor whenever the Chancellor is absent. .......... The current Master Collegian is Lady Zasha.
3. Master Librarian: overseer of the Order Arcane's arcane and mundane libraries, antiquities, rarities, oddments, and curios, which are contained within the Golden Gardens. The Master Librarian is also the head of the OA's Department of Acquisitions, a semi-autonomous guild of arcanists, adventurers, rogues, and other mercenaries with a loose association to the the OA. It is the Master Librarian's responsibility to seek out new tomes, objects, and other records valuable for scholarly knowledge both arcane and mundane with a distinct focus on magical lore as it pertains to the improvement of the arts practiced by the OA. The Master Librarian's work enhances the work of all members of the Order Arcane and he or she often works side by side with the Master of the Spellpool. The current Master Librarian is Cellendelleron.
4. Master of the Spellpool: curator and protector the Order Arcane's unique creation, the Spellpool, which allows certain initiates to its mysteries more flexibility in their daily spellcasting. Since the Spellpool relies on magical energy, most of this Master's work is dedicated to the retrieval and harnessing of various magical energies. However, the Master also regulates its use by qualified scholars, collegians, and arcanists as he/she deems fit. Many of this Master's pupils apply to become "Spellpool Mages" in order to gain access to the Spellpool. The Spellpool department is a comparatively small one, so in outward appearance the position seems one of little power. That perception could not be further from the truth. The Spellpool is a wondrous and powerful thing and its Master therefore controls vast amounts of power. The current Master of the Spellpool is Ochrana Spellkeeper.
5. Master Diviner: seer and prognosticator of the Order Arcane. The Master Diviner's duties often remain a mystery to most of the order, even also at times to the other Masters. However it is apparent that the position serves the Order by reading the future's potential outcomes and perhaps more importantly offering sage guidance on how to act (or not act) on many matters. The current Master Diviner is Bellindu Kh'Tal.
6. Master Warder: shield-warden and co-head of security for the Order Arcane. Originally the Master Warder was only responsible for the creation, maintenance, and removal of magical wards for the Order Arcane. In the modern incarnation of the OA and its close relation to the Kingdom of Cardolan (both centered in Arnoch), the Master's responsibilities have been expanded to include an advisory role on the security of Arnoch's physical gates, a duty which the Warder shares with the Master Warder. These dual responsibilities are now referred to as the Wards Arcane and Wards Mundane. Given the similarities in their positions, the Warder and the Porter have frequent business with each other. The current Master Warder is Fellaxen.
7. Master Porter: gatekeeper and co-head of security for the Order Arcane. Originally the Master Porter was only responsible for the creation, maintenance, and removal of magical portals and gates for the Order Arcane. In the modern incarnation of the OA and its close relation to the Kingdom of Cardolan (both centered in Arnoch), the Master's responsibilities have been expanded to include an advisory role on the security of Arnoch's physical gates, a duty which the Porter shares with the Master Warder. These dual responsibilities are now referred to as the Gates Arcane and Gates Mundane. Given the similarities in their positions, the Porter and Warder have frequent business with each other. The current Master Porter is Toffletwiss Poppysock.
8. Master Treasurer: coinmaster and vaultkeeper for the Order Arcane. The Master Treasurer oversees the Order Arcane's finances, manages its income and investments, and is responsible for the security of its wealth. As such it is presumed that the Treasurer maintains a special, hidden vault for the Order Arcane. The existence of such a vault seems to be a logical necessity for such an organization, but no one outside the OA has been able to gather any such information about it (and lived to tell the tale). The office of the Master Treasurer is often helmed by those who thrive in solitude, perhaps because of the nature of the work and its tedious number crunching. Regardless when the Treasurer does work with other Masters it is typically the Master Collegian or the Master Chancellor. The current Master Treasurer is Bachinald the Black.

### Hierarchy

The Master Chancellor holds supreme authority of the Order's external matters and the other Masters are bound by powerful magic to obey the Chancellor. Thus the office of Master Chancellor is highly coveted and respected, but not granted easily or without great consideration. The process to become Chancellor remains a mystery to all but the Masters and historically the office is held for life, though there has been one incident when a Master Chancellor was removed from the position. However, the removal of Master Chancellor Rennertt in [date TBD] is considered forbidden knowledge.

When it comes to the Order's internal matters major decisions are brought to a vote. All Masters have one vote except in the case of a tie when the Master Chancellor's vote counts as two. Masters can choose to abstain and occasionally votes are held with absent members, although this is discouraged and the Masters have devised means to vote by way of magical correspondence en absentia.