The Protectorate is a politically unaffiliated group founded on the history of magic in Atheles. They believe that magic can be used for good or evil. They exist to protect those that would use it for good and to protect the innocent from those that would use it for evil. Its members are trained in combat using many different fighting styles, but more prominently in defense.
The Protectorate is led by a High Chancellor that is voted upon after the death of the previous High Chancellor. There are three Chancellors that serve as the High Chancellor’s advisors. From there the Protectorate consists of many lower ranks of knights and the lowest of which is a servant. Servants are mainly young children which the Protectorate takes off the streets. As the child gets older they squire for one of the knights in its chapter until they are of age to be trained for combat.
The Protectorate serves as hidden monitors of the mages in their communities. They know when mages arrive in their cities and they know when they leave. They assign knights to assess new arrivals and once assessed, assign further. Peaceful or “good” mages are assigned a knight to protect them from their surroundings as long as they maintain their alignment. Dangerous or “evil” mages are assigned watchers to keep an eye and monitor their actions further. The watchers are instructed to not make their presence known unless absolutely necessary.
When magic left Atheles, the senior leadership disbanded the order with their purpose no more. At least that is what everyone thought. The Chancellors spread out and hid copies of their manifests and orders. As time passed the leadership aged and new guardians were selected for their secrets. Once the signs of magic’s return showed, the guardians broke the seals on their charge and the Protectorate was given life again.
Every 10 years a new set of recruits are trained, selected in the same way as before. Their mission is much of the same. This time they actively seek out groups of magic wielders to “guide” them on the approved uses of magic.
In early 5705 the headquarters of the Protectorate, the Grand Hall was destroyed by a terrorist magical attack. Half of the building was destroyed and the ruling council were all killed. The ranking officer alive, Heilman Ricter, lead those surviving to battle and kill the terrorists they found. All signs pointed to the attack originating from Eredar, the Tower of Mages. Ricter was quickly elected to High Chancellor, and he set about planning for retribution against Eredar.
Grand Hall
The Grand Hall once served as the main headquarters of the Protectorate until it was destroyed in 5705. It was located between Dorn and Kowal, a wild area which did not fall under rule of any kingdom or city state.
From Roe (Fiction):
Roe thinks back to what he can remember before speaking.
“The inside is cold and lacks color. It’s not very inviting. I imagine that was part of our training, no distractions. We had our living quarters where each initiate had their own bed. Very little open space. No peronal belongings other than the clothes we wore. There was a classroom where we were schooled. I imagine the things most people with that luxury would learn. Reading, Writing, Arithmatic,
History. Simple layout about 30 desks, again very plain. There was a small library that housed tomes of
history books and other information we rarely referenced. Perhaps the Elders had greater use of this than us. There were private dwellers for our Elders. We were not allowed in the wing of which they lived.
The Armory was a grand collection of weapons and armor. All styles of weapons and armor from different regions. I remember there were over 10 different styles of long swords alone. This is where the real
equipment was, we did not train with these until we were much older. Outside, but still within the walls of our keep, were a training yard, a forge and stables. The stables housed what you would expect, horses. Other
horse related items were there as well. The stable was fairly large, enough for at least half of our number to have one to our selves. The Forge was a forge and did forge things. We were taught to repair and maintain our own
equipment there once we earned it. The training yard is where we spent most of our time growing up. About a dozen training dummies and plenty of room for at least 25 pairs of initiates to spar.”
Roe trails off. “I need to get some sleep
