The Dweomersecte

The Dweomersecte
A Report
Prepared by Fr. Saales of the Prefecture of Peakshadow
For His Holiness Ensal, Patriarch of the Church of Westrun and All Erenth


The Dweomersecte is the name of the largest confederation of wizards in Erenth. Composed of magisters from each of the Four Lands, the Dweomersecte is led by the Archmage -- one of their order who is chosen to serve for life at a secret conclave held in the remote redoubt called the Citadel that the magister wizards maintain.

All evidence shows that the Dweomersecte began with Arepos the Great -- the first of the accomplished human wizards. Arepos had been a student of arcane mysteries, and once having made a name for himself, sought to be united in some sort of common cause with the ancient wizards (Llorfiril) of the Elves in order to further his knowledge. These ancient wizards rejected his overtures of friendship because he was not of their race. So instead he was forced to look for members from among his human peers. Though, at first,there were precious few of those of note.

The early years of the Dweomersecte only boasted a handful of wizards, but from that modest membership, has come all of the so-called magisters in all of the Four Lands.

The Dweomersecte does not act in concert, exactly. But they do certify when a wizard has reached the level of magister, they also recognize the official colleges and record their colors. Whatever political goals they have seem to be limited to their own pursuits and their own judgements.

Most importantly the Dweomersecte selects an Archmage from among its number who serves until forcibly deposed or else deceased. He is supposed to be the final arbiter between the Magisters themselves, as well as between the Dweomersecte and the various Monarchs. This confederacy works because it is apparently in the best interests of all involved to avoid open warfare of the sort that plagued the early and middle 7th Age.

I will send more when I receive it.

Your loyal servant,

The Fifth Letter of Scot of Tols

To all the Curates and Druids of my former acquaintance

From Anavares, formerly known to you as Scot of Tols

A final letter, which may find itself to you eventually

My dear sirs, my suspicions are at long last vindicated! For many years I have striven to add knowledge and value to our pathetic little order, but you rebuffed me and howled continuously for my fruitless return.

I am thankful to myself for my persistence. I renounce my membership in your Circle. Now I seek the freedom to learn on my own. I will be encumbered by you and your impotent passivity no longer. Consider this letter and its information my parting gift to you.

Besides your most august personages and myself, the existence of the order of wizards is generally known only to each Magister and his Prime Pupil. Nevertheless, I assure you that it is not some secretive cabal as you have assumed. Rather, it merely exists to set standards for each of the Colleges and for the greater practice of Magic throughout the world.

The members of this order call themselves the Dweomersecte. It is neither hierarchical or bureaucratic in nature. Rather, they elect the Archmage from among their number and his term of office is for life. An Archmages term can be “revoked” by a unanimous vote of the order, so those that are not revoked have the tacit approval of the magisters everywhere. Now not every one of the members of the Dweomersecte are found to be fit for the Archmage's chair. The wizard who becomes Archmage, but does not prove himself may be debased most dreadfully.

The Dweomersecte usually meets once per year for their Conclave, though it is rare to see more than an handful in attendance. It is even rarer to see the same ones more than one year in a row. At the Conclave, peace is made, discoveries are shared and each Magister’s Prime Pupil (chosen eventual successor) is recognized by the rest of the order.

You have much to learn about governance and advancement. Take heed, if you have the minds to. For the Dweomersecte does not conduct itself in secret hand-wringing as the Order of the Continuous does. Rather, we set about making the most of ourselves and sharing with great collegiality the power we have uncovered.

Oh yes, I have met the terrible Archmage. His visage is at once horrifying and beautiful to behold. In my sojourn here I have come to see how much wisdom he dispenses and how much intellect he possesses. I see how superior he is in every way to our pathetic Grand Hierophant and all of his banal priests attending. If his Most Omnipotent Cerebral Grandiloquence will have me, I mean to enroll myself under his supreme teaching and gain the power which should have been mine all along. Long Live Vecna, Archmage Forever!

Farewell.

The Fourth Letter of Scot of Tols

To the Lords Continous and all Hierophants Attending

From your loyal brother the Anavares, called Scot of Tols

a fourth report of my investigation and born by a furred ally for your deepest consideration.

The previous missives I sent detailed my discoveries regarding the Solomonari and the self-styled Magisters of Erenth. In this one I will detail their secret fortress. For I journeyed with one far to the West side of Westrun and across the Goblin Kingdoms to the very Citadel itself.

The Citadel is a massive ziggurat set on a peninsula in the middle of the Goblin Kingdoms. It is guarded from attack by the zealous and superstitious hordes who believe (aided by illusions and other magic) that it is an ancient temple dedicated to the worship of any one of a thousand of their loathsome deities. People caught in the area are usually considered to be slaves or food and do not get far from the peninsula before that becomes a horrific reality.

The Citadel is built of red bricks made from the sand in the area and the seaweed which grows in the marshes around the peninsula. The goblins refer to these red bricks as the Blood Bricks and assume that blood and viscera are the unholy mortar which keeps the building together. This, and the fact that no goblin has ever made it past the Citadel's portico and returned to tell the tale, means that the goblin hordes have given up any hope of entering the Blood Temple. Instead, they bring gifts and tribute to its occupants and make sacrifices upon its stairs.

The custom that is mostly observed among the hordes is that no battles can be enjoined within a day’s walk of the Bloodstone Temple. It has even become a pilgrimage site of sorts, with newly crowned goblin kings making offerings for their continued rule and for elongated lives.

Meanwhile, inside the Citadel, a wizard known as the Archmage is protected by storehouse of magical items and a powerful group of sentries known as the Rainbow Guard. They are magic resistant warriors who neither age, nor grow weary. The Archmage devotes his life to magical studies and also rules over his fellow Magisters as the lord of all Erenth’s wizards. His decisions are supreme and binding and can only be overridden by a Vacating Proclamation. This Proclamation must be issued by the assembled Magisters of Erenth (or their designees) which are the heads of the Colleges of Erenth.

I continue to learn. More reports will follow.