The Mockingbird Lord Alliance

## Foreword

History records that for centuries the only Bastion of the Weave belonged to the Academy of Bold Companions who were the oldest and most influential Bards and Minstrels that wandered the lands. Among them were the legendary Mockingbird Lords whose titles were handed down to the most worthy. They were the greatest most extravagent of the Troubadors and many flocked from miles around to listen to their tales and see them perform. What they hid from the world was the true purpose of their illustrious titles born of Glamour and the Songs of Legend handed down from the Skagriagaard. In the year 2000 the Academy was attacked by the Talons of the Mockingbird itself, believed to be an ancient Gillieabad and all but a handful of the Mockingbirds were slain and the objects of their office stolen.

It seemed like the Academy would collapse and the secrets of the Weave would be forgotten but the weavers returned to their damaged guildhouse and rebuilt and the way continued for 14 years until the rise of a small number of folk within the ranks. Lead by the redoubtable Katarina NiGaothain whose associates grew in number to include such folk as Dirk Lionsgold and Honest John among many others they uncovered the truth about the titles and powers of the Mockingbirds. At the heart of the Shadow War they battled the forces of Ministers masquerading as the Gillieabad and recovered some of the missing accoutrements of the Lords and returned them to Fleet. Here they formed, with the Blessing of the King, the House of the Last Word which was to replace the shattered Academy and build learning of the Weave anew. This because King Dazak North recognised not only the power that it had against the enemies of his people but to rebuild the world around them.

When they returned to the land and the stasis effect dropped many who had been trapped behind the curtain of magic struggled to adjust to life after almost 4 years of imprisonment. When the House of the Last Word came to claim the Academy with orders from the King Jergen Frings, the remaining and defacto head of the Academy, refused them. Over the next few months the Academy seniors in Hersha Fraje and Everon Koliard seemed amenable although Gerarld Street had vanished. Eventually the Weavers arranged a meeting for all intending to force Jergens hand and reclaim all the missing power of the Mockingbird Lords. Instead Jergen exhibited unusual behaviour and swore violence unless the bards knelt to him and they refused. So in bloody act of weave strangeness on a late afternoon towards the end of Summer in 2018 the council of bards were executed and Frings took the form of a Magpie and excaped. He has not been seen since.

Both the Academy and the House remain in flux: The House lack the experience of guild maintenance and buildings but the Academies hierarchy had been destroyed. Weavers are still trained but they hold tradition and knowledge with the ways that belong to the Mockingbirds. The House hold the keys to that lost wisdom but the door to it is hidden somewhere in the Academy and perhaps with the departed Jergen Frings or the missing Gerarld Street. Whilst the guilds are in flux the King ensures the training of the bards and encourages them to unify their guilds and restore the power of the weave before the Ministers return and the story of the world is consumed by them.

Whilst the House have yet to affirm their words or their carry their sacred artefacts to the herat of Maryat the Academy and its history is long enshrined and thier traditions and teachings work well.

## The Academy of the Bold Companions

### Ethos and History

When the light of the comet graced the heavens it heralded a time of change in the Royal Basin when the powers of the new magics would rise up and become the power in the world; replacing the strength of the Skagriagaard and the artificery of the Zoranethi. In this time of great upheaval much of the lore and knowledge of the world threatened to vanish from the annals of history; wisdom, guidance, words and stories of civilisation long gone back to the mud. The written word was not the power that it is now, much was an oral tradition of old stories, told and retold to inspire, to teach and to guide. Against all odds, however, that knowledge remained and has been reshaped and remoulded to create what we call the weave and it is through this weave that we use the weight of history to effect the world in which we live.

There is a legend, an old legend, some say from before the time of the Skagriagaard that there were once fifteen spirits and that these spirits carried the stories of the tribes that were to come. They were wise, it is said, beyond the measure of the other Gillieabad and that the Ghurahl were envious of them. They flowed through the passage of the world, dancing and revelling in the open freedom of the early moments and deepening their knowledge of the mysteries of this world and the worlds to come and the worlds that were past. The storytellers smith their words and tell us that into this garden their came a Hunter who carried deplorable weapons. A great spear wrought of the blackest materials the earth could bare and a net whispered together by the voices of the hated reverence. The Hunter had been sent to ensnare the fifteen spirits and bring them to the mortal realm there that they may be bound to one body, one presence and one purpose.

##### From the Hunter on the Wind - Brendan Dasmamacas - 824

*The hunter came on darkened wings with streaks of silver down its feathered back, when its talons flexed, as it came from the sky, the snow white of its underbelly could be seen. Black remiges with grey bands  and a black tail tip with a narrow white band caught the eye but only for a handful of seconds before the dark beak and eyes consumed the soul.*

Through the realm of spirits where the Gillieabad sing they were pursued by the relentless Hunter, long into the sun and fast into the dark. They used the tricks they had learned, the cunning they remembered and the art that was yet to come but they could not escape and, for the first time, they were threatened. In their darkest moment there were only fragments of breath between them and their last. It was then that the fifteen heard their own voices calling to them and promising them safety. At first they thought it a trick of the Hunter but the words spoke of comfort and made sounds of nurture and care such that the Fifteen felt compelled to approach. The spirits, jealous as they may be, had come to the aid of the oldest walkers sending the Spirit of Mockingbird to guide them to safety. The price was heavy but the Fifteen paid it: Here the legend becomes thin but all agree that the Fifteen became mortal and that with them they carried the power of the stories, the Mockingbird and everything past, future and present.

The folklore of our guild tells us that our council is made up of those that carry the titles of the first Mockingbird Lords and that behind each one of these titles is a legend that guides us through our life and journey. The Highest Lord is the Lord Meistersinger, the first of whom, Eryas,  laid down our laws and rules, the Meistersinger is our Lord or Lady and through them flows the lifeblood of the guild. The tablature of the Mockingbirds was sung by Eryas as she took her mortal host and speaks of how we must live our lives and the lore which leads us through the world. Much of this knowledge is taught to initiates as they begin their career but some is held back until a member of the Academy has proven their responsibilities and abilities to the Mockingbird council. These are the values and the words of the spirits and powers that sang their song before the tribes and the spirits, their sagacity ineffable and their legacy eternal.

Below the Lore Meistersinger the fourteen sit, each with their own duties and responsibilities, each with their own knowledge and their own powers.  All that they are sprang from the same source as Erya's, this ancient power and it has been passed down from Lord to Lord over the centuries. It is the duty of each to keep certain tales and stories and to monitor the Weave and ensure that which the story represents is kept in flow and power. Their legacy is one of involvement only in story and in legend, skipping through the wanderings of guildsmen, observing, bearing witness and adding the details of their deeds to the tapestry of the world and remembering that tale and how it came to be. When they speak it is with the voice of all those that have gone before them and carries the weight of each body that has carried the title or perhaps housed the spirit of the Lord that has existed since those early days.

##### From the Walking Silence - By Alifacerenalon Kor Verikan Tzay - 1352

*In the stillness of the night*

*She wept the tears of fallen Lords*

*To keep the darkness all abright*

*Within the stories broken Chords*

*Forever in that tale it must*

*Remain imprisoned in fear, alone*

*For in the teller we must trust*

*The creature it will na'er atone*

When the first Mocking Bird Lords came together it is said that they built a great hall in places of darkness. Those stories are lost to legend, stories of six chairs in the hollow of the world. From this place they began to spread their word; at first to a handful, mainly Melkarr and Fae but then, as time went by their knowledge spread. It is said that those first tales and stories began the path that would lead to the power of the Weave, that those first songs bound creatures of darkness and evil into themselves. From here all subsequent weaves draw their strength, allowing the Mocking Bird Lords to spin the web of tales throughout the ages to give the Academy the power that it has now. The stories each hold elements of truth, real living, breathing elements; sometimes heroes who are willing to sacrifice themselves to keep an area of land safe in story or sometimes villains that cannot be allowed to roam free. The Academy calls on each of its members to continue this tradition and use the examples of the past, through story, to battle the enemy.

A Bold Companion is one of a company, an academy, of individuals with similar interests and goals; they have received the same training and come from a firmly seen background. Humans, Eaölfs, Kuldisar or Skaylebourne, all are welcomed, accepted and venerated in their own right. We do not believe in rank or title although we do gain and measure our own respected weight of influence. Whilst we do not interfere in political matters many of our number serve and assist certain nobles of the land that fall within the remit of our ethos: We tolerate many faiths and orders but we work to oppose warfare and the horrors that come with conquest; slavery and wanton destruction. To stand against those that would build Empires by battle and the blood and deaths of others or through the use of unfettered and mindless use of magical arts.

Amongst our other duties we also work towards the meticulous preservation of histories, crafts and knowledge that will lead to the unity that comes with the willing sharing of universal knowledge through friendship. The arts of fallen races and civilisations are to be preserved and their records bought for archiving that they are remembered. Alongside these duties we must stand and work against those who inspire insidious evil and pass word of these foes as we travel the lands: Those who would plunder and wilfully destroy the resting places of the dead and repositories of knowledge and raise the shadowed Lands to raise their own thrones. We guard the smallfolk against such threats where we can, keeping alive their stories and tales as much of those of the Kings and Heroes.

In many ways a role that we play is to keep the duchies, the kingdoms and the protectorates small, keen with trade and to notice the problems of their peoples. Any leader that grows too strong and seeks to take knowledge and power from another is a threat. What is lost when the great kingdom that will be created falls, as it will, is more precious than that which will remain. There is no good and evil, not truly no shining ones and men of purest evil. Not outside of the tales that we spread in taverns and at festivals. We have been given the freedom to act as we wish in freedom and strength by the Gods and by the Tao and we have every right to do so. It is our way to walk always together, taking joy in each other’s company.

Sadly in the year 2000 post pantheonic wars the Hall of Enlightenment was infiltrated during a meeting of the 15 Mockingbird Lords, our version of a ruling table. These meetings took place under extreme secrecy and signify a coming together of the true power of the Academy; ancient power collected from a hundred ages and kept safe, used against those enemies of the peoples that cannot be stopped by any normal means. The whole table was assassinated by forces still unknown to this day and many of those powers stolen. To this day we seek them, the objects and those responsible for the deaths of our elders.

### Code of the Bold Companion

* Protect as best you can the companions you adventure with for they will be a part of your tale as you as theirs.
* Know the whole of the tale you tell, nothing is worse than being caught out by only knowing one side of it
* Direct involvement with political or social intrigue are not for you to become involved in.
* To dabble and to have influence to preserve the ways is all that is permitted.
* Record that which you have learnt, prepare it and teach it.

#### Words of the Academy

*A heart can have no meaning without a way to express its joy.*

### What is Weave?

This question is a very, very old one and it has been asked by Common Folk, Monarchs, Bards and Drunks since the Skagriagaard sang songs and found themselves stronger. Some people think that it is a gift from the Gillieabad whilst others say that the Fae shared their glamour with people so that the Fae were not needed anymore. Others believe that the Weave is from another place, something that crawled out of the Void at the end of the first War of Blood. One of the most famous scholars of the writings of the Weave is Vernon Housh who served the Academy through the late 1700's at least according to legend. His writings are only found in the journal of Orbeck Midnight, a trainee bard and his writings or records seen nowhere else.

#### From the notebook of Orbeck Midnight

*Hello Loved Ones! Here we go learning about the Weave. Well I say learning. I mean, I don't realy know. I'm just guessing or perhaps I'm telling a story or perhaps I'm weaving, making it real. That's for you to worry about I suppose!*

*Weave is the story, a gift given to us by the Fae, effectively a pattern or power that comes across the many Duchies of the World. As a part of the being it taps into our emotion and Sympathetic feelings.The weave is the potential of untold stories from many different places, it’s power could be described as incredible, tapping into the story of someone like Dieron the Blessed if he had never actually had the chance to exist. Each person’s story can be strengthened or weakened and is a very powerful force in the world.*

*Direct Weave, let us call it that, is what a huge thrust of the story has been about other Vaklams and the Duchies as the people moving toward some kind of end game in what will be the last world. In all of these concepts the theft of story and the like has been a keen thing that the villains on every stage, real or imagined, have been about. When a Weaver reaches out into the Weave they reach out to moments of intense emotional power through history and evoke the ethos/empathy of that moment releasing a little of that power back into the world.*

*This gives power to the legends of those days – These people in turn live on legend and grow in power. This seems to me pretty similar to how the idea of glamour works but with better rules, I mean assuming there are rules. It FEELS like there are rules. This means that the figures who are being spoken of and remembered grow in power in the Weave (same as Fae in the glamour but without the focus on the living individual and instead the power on the figure from the past (yes with regards to Fae this is why Daemons get power from having any kind of power including people thinking they are brilliant))).*

*These figures themselves do not gain power, as in Dazak North is probably alive so he doesn’t get strength if people tell stories about him nor does he gain belief if he is dead unless people physically pray to him. The echoes of his tale stretch back to the moments that he was powerful in and come back to the Weaver through the many strands of the great tale or weave or malarky if we don't want to sound grandiose. The Weave is the last form of magic that has needed to be nailed down, its power has been a song that was orchestrated from the dawn of those first celebrations of life around the camp fires of the Earth Tribes of the Gillieabad. That is its credence.*

*The earliest days of the stories have told that the Earth Tribes told the many tales this reflects the ideology that there are ancient tales and powers that have been about since forever or perhaps even longer that give power to the world. The idea of Baserak coming from the power of those old tales is something that I have been putting forward in various lectures, most likley but this latter also gives us a good blending for the magic as most other forms has a cross over point with the rest of the worlds forms of eldritch arts and they all have their enemies right?*

*So who are the enemy here? The answer is the Strange but you haven't heard of The Strange yet. They are beings that exist as nothing – half formed memories of one of the other Duchies that were never chosen or never formed until the involvement of, well, something else. Basically, in a nutshell, everything that could have been for them existed very briefly during the Delving Time. This has left a myriad of cracks and fissures in our world, mainly because Guilds folk put everything back together and there were some bits left over, you know how it is? They now exist in pockets of semi life which gives them agenda and politic that I will need to define at some point soon, before I forget again.*

*When the Weaver calls on the weave the Strange hear them through the cracks and struggle to exist, struggle to feed on the story of some power that they themselves could have once been. They feed on the weave like vampires drawing off the weavers energy but allowing the effect that they are invoking to take place.This makes the Weaver like a doorway which means that story that comes from those dead places come into the world from that Weaver, probably when they have managed to accumulate enough strange. In this scenario the Weaver becomes a Strange Gate and begins to erode the Weave of the world around them.*

*This doesn't seem important anymore let's talk about the Tartan Warlords Sis, that'll be important at some point. Probably more than once!*

Here the notes end.

### The Role of the Weaver

The Academy teaches many forms of Weavers and users of tale, each one with their own specific role. They have great power but the loss of the knowledge of the Weave means that this power is infelxible and learning effectively completed in rote. Both the Academy and the House of the Last Word promise new teachings but how long that will take and where it will lead us is unknown.

**Meistersingers** - The Deep Delvers, the conduits of song and story who are the rarest among the Weavers, their training is long and difficult. They are taught to blend their stories with the great tapestry of of the tales of the land. When they close their eyes, it is said, they stand there with the greatest folk who have ever lived and live in the moment of their highest success channeling that moment to the here and now. They are conduits of the greatest strength of the past and our best link to the lessons of the past. Through them we can travel the weave, protect the history of story and prepare the world for the strange that comes to threaten us.

**Bards** - The people, literally of, the people. Bards travel the land, seeking the people who influence what is happening around us. Sometimes those people are Guildsfolk, Nobles, Priests and Sourcerers who slaughter enemies and bring hope to us all. Sometimes, though, they are Peasants, Drunkards, Children and Villains who resuce a husband or kill a thief. Each one alters the Weave of the world in which we live in a positive way and give strength and balance to that story. Bards seek them out and retell those stories in inns, taverns, theatres and show houses around the land.  They pace these people together in those tales, creating new stories as wondersmiths and fabulists knowing that the Meistersingers of the future stand with them drawing on the strength of that moment.

**Skalds** - Skalds are specifically trained to be warriors; It's a dangerous world to be storytellers for a start but the Weave itself also needs protecting. Skalds, when they are chosen (because they ARE chosen) have their tales woven into a Battle legend from which they can draw their power. They train, most usually, to follow the path of the Blade Singer but sometimes travel elsewhere. They do not exclusively travel with other Weavers and will move to defend those that see with the potential to be harnessed by Bards. Sometimes a foolish fiend will burst into the house of a helpless farmer to discover them protected by a Skald, that farmer will of course become an enlisted soldier and she will save the life of the King. Skalds are truly invaluable.

Along with everything else mentioned the Academy has various responsibilities that all members of the Order must adhere to. Loosely translated they are as follows:

* Keeping alive any language that has fallen into decline, including colloquialisms and words that have unusual or obscure meanings. Too many texts from long ago are misinterpreted through ignorance.

* Understanding of any new tale or story and what secrets, heroes or creatures may be hidden within its Weave.

* Preventing the rise of power to tyrants and despots.

## The Path of the Mockingbird Lords

Little is known of the Mockingbird Lords any more save what the followers of Katarina NiGaothain discovered during the Shadow War. However the Weavers of the Acadamy each swore themselves to a path of the Lords, chosing to follow them and draw from the strength of their power. What is known of their teachings, the last person to hold the position and what was discovered by the House of the Last Word is recorded here specifically regarding the information that a person called Avery Path disocvered at the time of the assasination.

### Lord Meistersinger

**Last Held by:**Gerald Street (Granite Heart Kuldisar, Meistersinger): Prior to the assassination by the Mocking Bird Lords he held the title of Lord Kobzar, or at least someone of the same name and race held the title. He was described by Avery as a “very serious and dour old man” when he was the Lord Kobzar yet those who know him now say that he is filled with diligence and enthusiasm but is unhappy holding the rank of the Lord Meistersinger

**At the time of the Assination the role was held by:** Marsten Told, Human Meistersinger - An old man, almost blinded by age, with a voice more melodic than any that have been heard before. He was indeterminably old and equally as wise, in his early days he is said to have been a great warrior of the battered shield but his story is one that he generally kept to himself and though his deeds with the guild are great the tale of his life is a mystery. Marsten was dying at the time Avery Path fled. It is  believed that while he holds the name of Lord Meistersinger he does not hold the powers of it which are:

* *Keeper of the Erald Scrolls*

* *Speaker of the 5 words*

* *Master of the vitae of the third*

* *Bearer of the white*

### Lord Bard

**Last Held by:** Hersha Fraje (Tzi Tzain, Bard): They have called her the last hope, they have called her salvation and they have called her the end of the end of dreams. Born in 1900 Fraje is a young and extremely passionate woman. She is embraces all sides of her emotional personality but she embodies the ethos of the academy itself with great ferocity. For many years she was always willing to take on the tasks, missions and undertakings that seemed to be lost causes where other members of the guild could find no reason to risk their lives. Her ferocity in the face of those that would cause harm to those unable to defend themselves was inspirational and many agents of the universal enemies of the Academy found themselves incarcerated by her efforts. In 2001 she was given the role of Lord Bard by her peers and has served to the best of her ability. However in 2007 when her homeland Helgath fell to Orbolom the Daemon Lord she took on a darker edge that has cause fear in many and earned her that title: The end of dreams.

**At the time of the assassination the role was held by:**Alicia Goldstones, Human Bard: Only forty one years of age when the attack took place Alicia was born in the guild and stayed with it from the moment of her birth until the moments of her presumed death. She was an attractive lass with strawberry blonde hair and a sultry smile. To disguise her name and position she often went by the pseudonym Opaque.

Following are the associated words and powers of the Lord Bard

* *Circled by the sleeping knives*

* *Mistress of the long beating heart*

* *Walker of the 15 mirrors*

* *Keeper of the Then that is Now*

### Lord Skald

**Last Held by:** Jurgen Frings (Kalishinka, Skald): Jurgen was born in Haven in 1966 and is the only member of the Mockingbird Lords that has received any training in such matters. He was apprentice to the Lady of Tales Alicia Goldstones and was being groomed to replace her. Jurgen is a battle hardened veteran, originally trained as a bard he, according to legend, was minutes late for the night of dark shadows and was the first to find the mutilated bodies of the Lords weeping over the form of Alicia whom he so adored. After that he became driven to take the fight to the enemy, constantly seeking those that had perpetrated such atrocities. His appointment came as no surprise and he has tried to lead the guild in the direction of discovery who the unknown assailants of that night truly where. He perceives that the guild are in more danger now than they had been at any previous time, that those responsible will return for what they left behind, especially when they realise that the Academy holds truths without which what was taken is less than useless...

**At the time of the assassination the role was held by:** Aliminster Tolwick - Sidhe Galmour Smith: An import from the lands of Eidelos Aliminster is the assumed name of this brooding Fae whose true name was never known or face was never seen, only the white clowns mask of this wise sage who held the histories and records of the Guild in the stories of his extensive glamour.

Following are the associated words and powers of the Lord Skald

* *Master of the midnight bay hounds*

* *Holder of the Legends of Garnov*

* *Keeper of the Wolay techniques*

### Lord Skop

**At the time of the assassination the role was held by:** Addercoil – Fey -  Trapped and assassinated? in the Halls of Elightenment. Passed the objects of power to Avery Path who fled with them along a Trod. Upon the trod he was assailed by a daemon which had made a pact with his great grandparents. The Wrentrith Owl assisted him to flee to a place of safety hidden within the Unseen Court. Here he was trapped for 14 years, the daemon absorbed and tortured the owl to try to posess the objects of power and the power of the Lord Skop. Defeated by adventurers who succeeded in recombining the owl and fled the “Town of Path” with the items and the owl. This collapsed the town and ?destroyed the daemon. Avery was placed in stasis from which he was awakened 3 days prior to us leaving to investigate the town

The powers of the Lord Skop were passed to Avery Path by the physical handing on of the items after the many long years of training that Avery had received. Avery does not believe that he has the full power to be one of the Mocking Bird Lords but will maintain the power for now to the best of his ability.

* *Whimsy of the Unseen Court*

* *Opener of the Three King Trod*

* *Thinker of the Wrentrith Owl*

### Lord Minstrel

**At the time of the assassination the role was held by:** Samuel Prince - Zumatakan Merchant - Samuel Prince is a born and bred member of the East end of Haven, speaking with the heavy twang of those that live there. When he recites however he is eloquent and well disposed, he is a handsome although slightly scarred man in his mid five hundreds who in his time has run with the Steam Gang and the Ginger Hill Mob.

* *Holder of the broken key*

* *Master of ten bold wishes*

* *Watcher through Green tinted Windows*

* *Blind witness*

### Lord Rhapsody

**At the time of the assassination the role was held by:**Melanie Green - Human? Bard? - Melanie had only been elected to the council for two Months, this was her first meeting and no-one knew her true name only that Arthur Cayhill had stood as her main.

* *Bearer of the sleek black mask*

* *Soldier of the Riptorn Hope*

* *Saucer of the unfurled sail under twin moons*

### Lord Poet

**At the time of the assassination the role was held by:** Iyre - Kalishanka - Skald - Iyre came to be the poet of the group because she is said to have made the art of death like a sonnet. The killer, the ender, the finisher, her dark killers eyes said everything at meetings that her mouth did not. How she was killed at that meeting is unthinkable. She was rumoured to have links with the Hunters guilds and their safehouses.

The path to the items Iyre has hidden are present in the Hall of Enlightenment. Avery Path knew that she had returned to the hall. The spirit of the path told us that she was taken by the Merlin and that when she returned she was changed. She hunted for them. She followed the Lord Author, Battle Standard, as he fled and the spirit of her path told us that she had killed him.

* *Arm of the divine well holdings*

* *Keeper of the sands of Harnows fate*

* *Dweller within the Three Gold Circle of Azanis College*

### Lord Fili

**At the time of the assassination the role was held by:**Arvel Kane - Terrefian Priest- Arvel was a Human Priest and a well known face, he spent much of his time moving between his parishes exchanging wealth for stories and keeping the lifeblood of the people moving and save. The last was seen of him three bolts protruded from his chest.

* *Wanderer in the Solvent Wastes*

* *Protector of the ways of Delve*

* *Singer of the last hymn of Tosrvedt*

### Lord Brehon

**At the time of the assassination the role was held by:**Tori Saykorio - Lairdan Gan Bard - Tori was almost 900 years old and had been a part of the guild for about five hundred of those years. She was rare among her kind having jet black hair and the heavy spark of emotion in her Lairdan Gan eyes. Tori was definitely dying when Avery Path fled

* *Captain of the forgotten guard*

* *Holder of the locks of Imran*

* *Seeker of the 19th coin*

### Lord Troubador

**At the time of the assassination the role was held by:**Dory Trameuos - Iron Blood Kuldisar - Dory was one of the stalwarts of the meetings, he was a regular among the locals of hundreds of alehouses and eateries across the Royal Basin and whilst his weathered face was easily recognisable so were the tales that he told. According to rumour he had a network of folk paid for information and knowledge that was shared across the Lords.

* *Shrouded in the Dracoveldt*

* *Forger of the paths of Tae*

* *Keeper of the rod of the twilight end time*

### Lord Jester

**At the time of the assassination the role was held by:**Arthur Cayhill - Human Bard -The wanderer of the courts Arthur was a tenuous member of the council as it was suspected that he was taking backhanders from various nobles to keep matters away from the table. Regardless of the truthes of the rumours he had served long and faithfully for over 45 years and had a quick wit and a wise mind. Arthur was definitely dying when Avery Path fled

* *Participant in the soulless game*

* *Owner of the lost art of Foranor*

* *Walker of the velvet night*

### Lord Author

**At the time of the assassination the role was held by:** Battle Standard - Goblin Artificer The artificer to the table was a surly and inappropriate Lord full of sincere hatred for nobility and the ruling classes. It was known that he was on the run from the Copper Citadel and that he had spurned his Sidhe overlords. Battle Standard hid his identity behind his golden mask but his affiliation with the Wyrmlings and other Basanic Fae was well known as was his prominence with the Red Spiral (A Fae Society).

* *Bearer of the mark of the third king*

* *The last light before darkness falls*

* *The falling from the Brome of Harn*

### Lord Wordsmith

**At the time of the assassination the role was held by:**Everon Koliard - An Orc Bard who had only been with the council for a year, it is pretty well known that she had been a member of the Oath called Stella Macklewent. She excelled there and her voice was synonymous with her performances. A major point here is that she could be heard singing whilst Avery was fleeing. She was eventually discovered and rescued her. She was incredibly dehydrated and malnourished. She has had returned what remained of the “skin of seven beasts” and the “thief of copper shadows” to her and remains with Dazak North on the Fleet.

* *The skin of seven beasts*

* *The wandering minds of the Veeda Karvoda*

* *The thief of copper shadows*

### Lord Kobzar

**Last to hold the position and at the time of the Assassination:** Gerald Street was a Granite Heart Kuldisar, a Meistersinger who hailed from the City of Gamtha and was a great and charismatic leader. He was very old when Avery was young and a more serious and dour man there could not have been.

* *Principal of the forth law*

* *Angel of the dance*

* *Segacity of the opal ring*

### Lord Shaper

**At the time of the assassination the role was held by:** Oliver McAlven Roy: Oliver was a human wanderer who had been on the books for longer than most could remember. It was assumed that he was an Undead who was keeping things on the quiet. This would not be against the will of the Mockingbird Lords. Oliver was friendly, fast to help and cleverer than most, he was basically the second in command of the table and also the most supportive.

* *The shield of the sometimes king*

* *Harper of the forbidden valleys*

* *Holder of the keys of the vaults of Kerendor*

### The Markers of Great Story

As with most other aspects of the Weave in todays world much of the magic works from rote and tradition. The same is told with the Markers of the Great Story: Each one is from one of the old tales although which one is from which tale is largely unknown. They grant some gift with the Weave and all Weavers make effort to know them and they are used before any tale is told, either produced from a premade source or created at the time of needing. Most believe that it is a protection against the Strange but NO self thinking Weaver would attempt to call on their power without them.

Burgeoning Refuge

Burial for the Fallen

Distant Messages

Guide to the dry safe places

Sight of the Long Walker

The Unseen Path

### Uniform and Academy Colours

Members of the Academy are expected to wear the emblem of the Academy, a blue background with two red parallel lines through it.

### Guild Buildings

The Academy operate five main guild buildings across the Royal Basin but also sponsor and effectively use a number of other more spectacular edifices in major cities and townships. The major locations are as follows:

#### The Haven Guild House

The most recent and spectacular guild location exists above seven main taverns in seperate parts of the capital of the Royal Basin. The Taverns are: The Soul of the Restless Soldier, The Winter Respite, The Happy Doctor, Arable Green, Tallows in the Red, The Northern Sunrise and The Silent Sorrow. When Haven was first built each of these Taverns were prepared by the Academy with one great room in each, potentially the size of the tavern itself, that was heavily enchanted by the weave. They are linked through one great, unheard story that allows them to exist in a pocket dimension one next to the other. This creates a hidden and powerful space bigger than most conventional Guild Houses that may only be reached by those that are familiar with and able to travel using bardic sigils. Training, meeting, sleeping and music halls can all be found inside the Haven Guild house, marvel of current artifice that it is.

#### The Shriekspire Sentinal

Originally founded in 1542 The Shriekspire Sentinal was a struggling newspaper that wrote wildly innacurate stories, mainly about the state of the Clergy. It was originally owned by Senior Hysarn Ardveld Willowsins; a wealthy but somewhat bigoted individual. The buildings were huge, cavernous and, when the paper was shut down by the Clergy in 1553, ideal for the purposes of the Academy. They snapped it up and it reopened in 1555 as a factual reporting system for Shriekspire and the surrounding area but was soon found throughout the Royal Basin due to the wanderings of the Guild Members. It is used by the Academy for a wide array of purposes to this day and it is said that the Sentinal contains coded messages for guild folk that is constantly changed and upgraded.

#### The Eternal Reign in Koren

During the early part of the Pantheonic Wars several Academy members were forced to take refuge in the ruins of old buildings in Koren. The City had, as it does now, suffered a number of devastating wars and much of it was destroyed. The exact function of the buildings currently called the Eternal Reign is still unknown but when the guildsmen entered it seemed to draw on their life energies and repair itself. There were no deaths and the Academy took this as a sign, moving into the subteranean shrine at the earliest oppurtunity. The Reign is full of strange and unusual chambers that include a room that whispers garbled secrets of the past and an area that turns words into colours.

#### Harkers Hall of Feats

One of the earliest Guild Buildings that predates the majority of Basanic structures this Feasting Hall was purpose built by early members of the Guild. It is said that the City of Rendrith was built around Harkers Hall, attracted by the good food and fine stories, although the truth of that may never be known. Long ago it was a wattle and daub structure, then it was uprgaded to wood and expanded upon and so the process continued over the long years. Now it is a place for the guild to rest, to learn to pass on stories and recipes and to each other and for the folk of the Royal Basin to enjoy splendid food and to hear ancient tales that they might pass them on and keep the magic alive.

#### The Oracle off Rendrith

It is believed by scholars of the Guild that Harkers Hall was built to keep an eye on the small spit of land just off the Coast of Rendrith called the Oracle. Oracle island is about forty hectares in size and houses a medium guildhouse with all the relevant training facilities and libraries. The facility was built around "The Oracle" which, best description, are the bones of a humanoid that would stand some fourteen feet tall with odd carvings in the bones of arms and legs. Every few years the bones will answer the questions of an observer in a prophetic way.
Other than these main five there are taverns, great arenas for festivals and games and other such edifice.