Chapter V · Organizations

Faith and Law

The Covenant keeps order through faith, the Council of Arcanum through knowledge, and Gilirak through his Peacekeepers. All of them are certain they're the ones holding the world together.

Celestial Covenant

The holy order that worships all the gods, oversees the practice of flux and tries to bring law and order to the world. It is governed by a select few who use the hope it offers to keep the masses in check. It is the only organization that rivals the Sovereigni, and they learned the hard way to work with it, and sometimes for it. Belief is a powerful force, and the Covenant controls it tightly. It discourages aetheric manipulation, grudgingly accepts engineered equipment such as aetheric firearms, and calls fleshgrafting heresy (see The Covenant and the Aether). Its priests and healers are votaries. See Religion and Deities.

Requirements: Human, and devotion to the Covenant's gods. Votaries and wardens are members automatically.
Associate: Shelter and a meal at any Covenant temple.
Member: Spellcasting services at temples at half price.
Trusted: Covenant writs that open doors in Usmon and Caerdydd, and atonement without charge.
Duties: Tithe a tenth of your income, obey the Covenant's Restraint, avoid aetheric manipulation, and report heresy, fleshgrafting included.

Wardens of the Celestial Covenant

A red-haired woman in a cap with a cross, gilded winged pauldrons and a white blouse, holding an ornate brass rifle before a brick church. — A Warden inquisitor.

The Covenant's enforcers and holy knights. Wardens root out heretics who make claims against flux, hunt ashen and fleshgrafters, and keep the Covenant's peace, with aetheric firearms the Covenant once would have condemned. They are especially strong in Caerdydd, where they work hand in hand with Gilirak's Peacekeepers. See the warden class.

Requirements: Warden levels and the Covenant oath. Others may serve as Warden auxiliaries.
Associate: Authority to detain suspected heretics in Covenant lands.
Member: Covenant arms, armor and firearms at cost.
Trusted: Command of a Warden patrol, and the authority to try heretics.
Duties: Hunt heretics and abominations, and obey your superiors. Wardens don't resign; they're excommunicated.

Custodians of the Living Light

The spiritual protectors and caretakers of Usmon, working directly under the Wardens. Custodians protect and heal, and they teach that aggression is not their way. They run the great monastery at Peltragow and answer to a council of elders there.

Requirements: Membership in the Covenant, Heal 4 ranks, and a vow of service.
Associate: Lodging at Custodian houses, and use of their infirmaries.
Member: Healing services at no charge for you and your companions.
Trusted: Access to the Peltragow monastery's library, and a +2 bonus on Diplomacy in Usmon.
Duties: Heal anyone who asks, never strike first, and protect Usmon's faithful.

Arcanum Order

An ancient order of aetheric practitioners. Some of its members formed the Council of Arcanum to help rule Usmon. The Order keeps the largest collection of aetheric artifacts in Eldriloch in its vault at Peltragow, and claims every artifact it can find. In Usmon, only Order members may practice aetheric manipulation legally.

Requirements: Aetherian levels (or the ability to cast 2nd-level arcane spells), and a sponsor in the Order.
Associate: A license to practice aetheric manipulation in Usmon.
Member: Access to the Order's libraries: copy patterns into your pattern book at half cost.
Trusted: Supervised study of artifacts from the Peltragow vault.
Duties: Surrender artifacts you find to the Order, and report unlicensed practitioners.

High Tribunal of Blades

The highest order of Justicars, the knights of Usmon, based at Runswick. The Tribunal trains warriors in an elegant style of fighting with a blade in each hand, and its smiths fit their armor. Only the best of the best are knighted as justicars. The rest stay to serve in Usmon's militia or leave to become mercenaries. Other nations pay to send their best soldiers to train here, and those who are knighted return home to train their armies.

Requirements: Complete the Tribunal's training at Runswick. Knighthood (the justicar prestige class) is a further honor few earn.
Associate: Room and board at any Justicar barracks in Usmon.
Member: Masterwork armor fitted by Tribunal smiths at cost.
Trusted: Command of Justicars in the field.
Duties: Defend Usmon and its councils. Foreign knights owe their nation first, and the Tribunal a favor whenever it asks.

Peacekeepers

The personal army of Regnant Sovereigni Gilirak of Staerhiel: military police with a history of brutality, armed with stun sticks that have a nasty bite. They keep cities like Caerdydd under lockdown, and they work with the Wardens and with souldriven enforcers. A Peacekeeper adventurer is usually a defector, or deep undercover.

Requirements: Service in Staerhiel, and Gilirak's loyalty oath.
Associate: A stun stick (as a sap that deals 1d6 nonlethal plus 1d4 electricity) and a uniform.
Member: Legal authority to arrest in Staerhiel, and +4 on Intimidate checks against Staerhielian citizens.
Trusted: Command of a Peacekeeper squad, souldriven included.
Duties: Obey Gilirak's officers. Deserters are hunted.