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The Foundation and Recent History of the Conclave

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The Foundation and Recent History of the Conclave Empty The Foundation and Recent History of the Conclave

Post by Admin Tue Jun 01, 2010 3:26 am

The full moon showered the sea with its light, creating an ocean of silver. Out of the sea rose a grand citadel, placed upon a plateau, a ring of cliffs protecting its base from the water. Created after the sinking of Tilbury, the highest peak near the center of the world, Mount Kraeliq, was the sole island left from the central mainland.

Mages had found the island after they were sent to the far reaches of the world in order to find a base of operations for their newly created order. The island of the Conclave was found. They tore the peak from its base and expanded the plateau with their magic. They flattened the land, and seeds of grass, grain, flax, and fruit bearing trees were sown into the soil. The mountain was rich in gems, rare minerals, marble and obsidian. The Earth mages used these to create the grand Minaret near the center of the island, a tower of marble wrapped in a spiral of obsidian. The water mages brought waves up and over the cliff walls, tending to the fledgling plants. The fire mages fueled the furnaces, refining the rich minerals and forming the jewel of Kraeliq, Crys. Several mages that worked with the furnaces delved into alchemy, combining gems and stones with their magic. They built the Conclave city with their unnatural inventions.

The rest of the Conclave’s agents arrived on the island, including the most popular and most skilled, a lightning mage by the name of Raun, appointing himself the title of Grandmaster of the Conclave. While there was some dissent among his actions, most knew that the Conclave needed a definite leader, while those who may continue to protest instead stilled their tongues in fear of Raun’s anger. Under his reign, the Conclave flourished. Walls of marble were erected around the perimeter of the cliff-isle. The turrets that now reflect the full moon’s gaze were positioned strategically and symbolically. Minarets, much shorter than the Grand Spiral Minaret, were either placed on or near the outer wall or on another wall that formed a perfect circle with their headquarters in the middle. More rings were added, and each ring served a different purpose to their society: Agriculture, Residential, Commercial, Industrial, Research and Knowledge Repositories… From the very beginning, the entire Conclave city was planned out.

Once the permanent defenses were established, ports were dug into the bottom of the cliff and then expanded out into the water, enabling trade on a larger and more convenient scale. As an established power, they began to forge a policy of neutrality with the kingdoms of the mainland, offering their services for payment or more favorable trade. In many cases, though, the Conclave found mages of the various nations, and asked for their transport to the Conclave instead. Almost every Kingdom agreed to these new terms, as they could bring far more power to bear with the might of the Conclave than with a handful of mages.

Whether overjoyed or worried for their lives, the mages were shipped across the sea to the island. They were made to either join the Conclave or join explicit ‘guest’ chambers, where their rights on the island were restricted. Those who joined were quickly taught the Conclave’s view on magic and their justification for its strict control. Those who decided on the guest chambers were subjected to increasing levels of brainwashing. The most resistant mages began to behave violently in protest. These situations brought new methods of the Conclave to deal with resistors to their cause. The seeds of the Inquisition were sown from the very early days, headed by Raun himself. Early members of the Inquisition, before it earned its name, practiced methods of torture, various types of brainwashing, and research in anti-magic.

As kingdom after kingdom signed the Conclave’s contracts, more and more recruits and research subjects flooded the island, ensuring the entire development of the Conclave. The seeds of the Inquisition grew and the organization was soon lovingly named as such by Raun. The mainland kingdoms and newly founded nations grew reliant as the Conclave became their sole source of magic. When the local mages ran out, wealth and artifacts began to flood the coffers of the Conclave.

When the Conclave could not send combat-trained mages to aid the war of a nation, as in cases where both sides bought the Conclave’s services, they sent domestically-trained mages to the capitals to enhance the quality of life or the yield of agriculture or industry. When the capitals were too dangerous to have agents present, magically enchanted weapons or items were sent, ones that would lose their enchantments in a year’s time in order to ensure no magical artifacts would be strewn about the mainland.

As the resources of the Conclave waned as demand increased, prices for their services increased, even in areas of peace. A generation had passed, and nearly all internal sources of magic were displaced back to the Conclave. Guilds began to form in order to properly negotiate with bodies of government, their terms being that they were not controlled nor would be sent off to the Conclave in return for magical services that were far better priced than the Conclave’s.

Raun had established the Master’s Circle, a council of sorts that would govern the Conclave, before his passing. A new Grandmaster was named in secret from the members of the Circle. News of the Guilds on the mainland reached the Conclave, who saw their business start to decline. The new Grandmaster decided to utilize the Inquisition and see what the organization could do for them. The Inquisition was sent to the mainland to negotiate with Guild-‘infested’ nations. The price of the Conclave’s services in areas that were allowed to have embassies to the Conclave built and the Inquisition to be realized as a magical policing force would be reduced considerably, permanently, barring natural inflections to price based on competition.

So began the growth of the Inquisition’s domain, and the control the Conclave sought began to become realized. Guilds that made themselves public were confronted by militarily, anti-magically trained mages and soldiers who asked for their surrender only once before erasing them and claiming their resources as their own. The Inquisition grew to become a powerful organization quickly, and when most of the guilds were rooted out, a large portion returned to the mainland to form various bureaucracies. The most elite of the mages found in the Conclave joined the Inquisition in their desire for power, eventually gaining prominence in the Master’s Circle.

However, the threat of guilds was not defeated. Mages went into hiding, and some Kingdoms decided that they would not sacrifice the safety and well-being of their people. As the Inquisition’s power loomed over, all but the most distant or unreachable or otherwise distasteful of places became a free mage’s enemy. Power has shifted slightly towards hidden guilds in the time that has passed, the Inquisition becoming more of a symbol rather than an active force. Occasional raids are made by the Inquisition, and their threat is ever-present, but the organization is becoming more bureaucratic than militant in recent decades.
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