Archmagi

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*In Spellmonger, Minalan recounts his knowledge of the Archmagi of old. Much of this narrative falls squarely in the realm of myth retold from Min's training at Inarion.*

"The First Archmage, legend has it, united the various tribal magi of Perwyn under his banner at the city of Nomaowi.  While he was consolidating political power he also established in writing the basic principals of Magic, convened the first Privy Council of Magi, and founded the first Imperial Academy of Magic.  He also fought a successful war against his competitors using his cabal of magi liberally against them.   Eventually, through war and negotiation, he dominated the other non-talented factions on the island, and handed his successor a tidy, unified and well-run little kingdom."

Mancour, Terry. Spellmonger: Book One Of The Spellmonger Series (p. 52). Kindle Edition.

The Tree Folk "had contact with the coastal colonies that later grew up to become the Greater Magocracy and then the Five Duchies, and the First Archmage was said to have been shipwrecked there in his youth.  Some stories say he stole the first Nine Witchstones, others say that they were given to him.  Either way, the First Archmage of Perwyn, Cordan I, reigned and ruled with those most potent of artifacts in his hand. Later he placed all nine in the Emerald Staff of the Archmagi, and that just made him and his successors more powerful. The Staff could do all sorts of wondrous things, such as raising or quelling storms (useful for controlling the sea lanes) and laying waste to enemies with bolts of Blackfire (handy for quelling the occasional rebellion or coup attempt).  It was said to have had a voice of its own and was free in offering wise advice to the reigning Archmage – in some cases, the legends and histories hint that the Staff itself played an active role in the scheming politics of Perwyn."

Mancour, Terry. Spellmonger: Book One Of The Spellmonger Series (pp. 53-54). Kindle Edition.

"For four short years Kephan the Damned, the thirty-second Archmage of Perwyn, basked in the glory of his greatest magical achievement, growing the island’s limited arable land by almost a third.  Unfortunately, something went wrong and eventually nearly the whole island plunged back into the depths, leaving only a tiny archipelago of mountaintops to mark the site of the great civilization.  After the Inundation the Spire of Perwyn, an ancient gray tower that had been built on the highest point of the island, was the only remaining sign that a civilization ever existed there."

Mancour, Terry. Spellmonger: Book One Of The Spellmonger Series (p. 54). Kindle Edition.

When the survivors regrouped on the mainland, the Staff had been recovered, and the first Archmage of the Later (or Greater, depending upon your view of history) Magocracy began the long slow process of unifying the coastal colonies and rebuilding them into a shadow of Perwyn’s lost glory.

Mancour, Terry. Spellmonger: Book One Of The Spellmonger Series (pp. 54-55). Kindle Edition.

The Palace of the Archmagi was built in Reymes using irionite.

Mancour, Terry. Spellmonger: Book One Of The Spellmonger Series (p. 55). Kindle Edition.

Factions allied against other factions while entire villages were destroyed in the orgy of bloodshed.  Great magical weapons of devious and deadly design were used to wipe out whole districts.  It was a dark time in history, broken only once the sitting Archmage, an impotent snot of a magelord named Sinfineer, quit sitting on his hands and began using the Staff the way it was supposed to be used.  He finally put together enough of a coalition to defeat his opponents, then brought his allies to heel.  He made all irionite the property of the Imperial House and had it collected from friend and foe alike.  In an act of great charity (according to the official historians) or of great desperation (according to his critics) he had the bulk of it taken to sea and dropped ceremoniously into the depths where Perwyn once lay.  That made him enormously popular with the common people, who were tired of magical death descending upon them without notice, and extremely unpopular with the nobility, who were almost powerless beside the strength of the Staff.  But it did bring peace and centralized authority to the land.

Mancour, Terry. Spellmonger: Book One Of The Spellmonger Series (pp. 55-56). Kindle Edition.

**Glossary**