Conclave order
The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct her to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently.
Lebannon of Haros WaterOverview
The orders are political bodies with clear philosophies about how magic should be used. They are made up of like-minded individuals and exist to bring together mages who share a common vision for how magic should be used in the Empire. There is no requirement for a magician to join an order, and many magicians involve themselves in the discussions of multiple orders.
Any individual present who is not a member of an order can still take part in Conclave business. They can still raise items to the agenda, suggest gambits to an archmage, speak before the Conclave (if they have the support of a grandmaster), and complete the resourcing of gambits as individual members of the Conclave.
Each order also controls their own Conclave vault. The vault contains mana crystals and materials that are distributed by the Conclave to the order for their use. As they are the property of the order, they can only legally accessed through a gambit. The grandmaster of the order announces the decisions of their order when dealing with the contents of the vault, but any member can call for a vote to over-rule a grandmaster with whom they disagree on the allocation of materials.
Joining an Order
Any Imperial magician may join any order. To become a member requires the use of a simple magic ritual. Several civil servants associated with the Conclave have mastered this ritual and can perform it on an Imperial citizen at no additional cost beyond the crystal mana required. The ritual places an invisible mark on the target which can be revealed with detect magic and several other rituals.
During character creation, a character with the magician skill can join an order without needing to expend any crystal mana. A character who chooses not to take this option will need to join an order in play at the usual cost.
Changing Order
A magician can change order by replacing their Arcane Mark with the Arcane Mark of their new order. As a new member of an order, the magician counts for precedence at any subsequent Conclave meetings they attend and may speak against their grandmaster's statement for resourcing a gambit.
However, a magician who changes order cannot vote in the election for a new grandmaster, if they were a member of another order when that order voted for a grandmaster in the last year. In effect you cannot participate in the election for a new grandmaster if you were previously eligible to vote when a grandmaster was elected at any of the previous three summits. Attempting to influence the election of a grandmaster without due authority is electoral fraud and can carry harsh penalties.
Powers of membership in an order
Electing a Grandmaster
A member of an order can vote to determine who the grandmaster of the order will be. The grandmaster must be a member of the order to be eligible to stand.
Participation in Gambits
A member of an order can request and participate in a vote to over-rule the decision of their grandmaster when resourcing a gambit.
Establishing Precedence
During a Conclave session, the number of members of an order present determines precedence. The precedence of an order determines when they speak, what share of the Conclave resources they receive and the order in which they announce their response to a gambit. The first step in each conclave session is establishing precedence which means counting the members of each order present.
Only members of the order, who bear the order's Arcane Mark, count for precedence. Attempting to deceive the count is considered electoral fraud.
Precedence is also used to determine the distribution of resources into the vault belonging to that order.
Right of Challenge
Claiming to be in an order one is not a member of is considered electoral fraud. Any member of an order may request that another member prove their membership in the presence of a magistrate; in this case the onus is always on the challenger to provide the magic needed to examine the target's Arcane Mark.
Existing orders
In the modern era, the following Orders are legally recognised as part of the Conclave:
- The Celestial Arch: The Celestial Arch maintain that the skill and knowledge required to master magic mean that magicians are naturally better leaders and statesmen. They champion the cause of magicians and magic in choosing the Empire's course.
- The Golden Pyramid: The manifesto of the Golden Pyramid centres on the role of magic in generating wealth across the Empire. This Order also champions the causes of artisans, and the right of all magicians not to be treated as servants or slaves.
- The Rod and Shield: The most martial of the orders, the manifesto of the Rod and Shield centres on the role of magic in defending the Empire and expanding its borders. The Rod and Shield is a popular order with battlemages and healers.
- The Sevenfold Path: The Sevenfold Path manifesto centres on the belief that magic serves the Empire best when it is used virtuously, and that the virtuous should not fear magic. It often serves as a bridge between the Conclave and the Imperial Synod.
- The Shuttered Lantern: The Shuttered Lantern focuses on the protection of the Empire and the accumulation of knowledge about allies and enemies alike. They are known to favour scrying, espionage and other subtle uses of magic.
- The Unfettered Mind: The Unfettered Mind believe that the study and use of magic are ends in their own right. They work to expand the Empire's arcane knowledge and power, and oppose measures to curtail or constrain Imperial magic.
Creation and Dissolution of an Order
New orders can be created, and existing orders dissolved, by a constitutional vote of the Senate. A newly created order requires a clear statement as to its purpose and attitudes to magic, and a symbol, similar to those possessed by existing orders, that is used with the Arcane Mark ritual. When an order is dissolved, the contents of its vault are redistributed among the remaining orders.