Celestial Arch

Motto

Knowledge and power in union.

Symbol

A symbol that has been associated with this Order in the past has been a dark blue archway surmounting a six-pointed star

The Manifesto

The Order of the Celestial Arch holds the following to be true:

• Both politics and magic are the art of the judicious application of power
• Magicians, by nature of their knowledge, discipline, perception and power are prepared for leadership
• Negotiation with Eternals and diplomacy with Foreign Powers are comparable skills, and of comparable importance to the Empire

The Order of the Celestial Arch therefore exists to:

• Ensure that major political decisions receive the benefit and insight of Conclave mages
• Encourage those in positions of leadership and authority to hone their skill through study of magic
• Ensure unity of purpose between the Conclave and the Senate

Mage armour by Evenlode Studios

Membership of the Order

The Celestial Arch often works closely with Senators seeking a voice in the Conclave, and prepared to return the favour in the Imperial Senate. They lobby constantly for more magicians to take up political life, and make no secret of the fact that many of them support magicial training as a prerequisite of candidacy for the Senate. The order often tries to recruit magicians who are also Senators, or at the very least to maintain good relations with them.

They tend to make an effort to maintain good relations between the Empire and friendly Eternals, while being quick to identify Eternals who are enemies of the Empire and proscribe interaction with them. As with the Sevenfold Path they have a no-nonsense approach to magicians who fall back on curses and other actions likely to damage the standing of magicians as a whole in the Empire - a surprising number of threshers who are also magicians belong to this order.

The grandmasters of the Celestial Arch try to wield magic and politics with equal aplomb. This order tends to attract a number of Urizen magi, which can often give them easy access to crystal mana.

As magicians interested in political, as well as magical, power the Celestial Arch often see the advantage of strategies that will garner political favours, either within the Conclave or with other Imperial bodies. While their main interest usually lies with the Senate, they see the value of encouraging the military council, synod or bourse to feel indebted to the Conclave - which means they may find themselves ready allies in the Rod and Shield, Sevenfold Path or Golden Pyramid as a consequence.

Conclave vault

Each summit, the Conclave vault of the Celestial Arch garners the following resources;

• A pro-rata share of the Font based on the precedence of the orders at the previous summit.
• A portion of ilium based on their position among the orders as determined by precedence.
• 2 ingots of tempest jade, 3 measures of iridescent gloaming, and 2 measures of dragonbone from existing bequests.