Shuttered Lantern
Motto
All knowledge is power.
Symbol
The Order has been known to use the symbol of a black lantern, or the rune Diras picked out in grey on a darker or lighter grey background, or both together.
The Manifesto
The Order of the Shuttered Lantern holds the following to be true:
- Magic is capable of both protecting, and exposing, secrets and knowledge.
- Acquiring the knowledge and secrets of the Empire's enemies strengthens us.
- Guarding and shielding the secrets of the Empire protects us.
The Order of the Shuttered Lantern therefore exists to:
- Utilise magic in the detection and monitoring of threats, whether subtle or obvious, internal or external
- Support the acquisition of the secrets and knowledge of hostile forces in all ways, from scrying to espionage
- Stave off blind fear, and allay the concerns of citizens, by addressing threats and hazards with discretion
Membership of the Order
Although the Shuttered Lantern's manifesto lays out a vision of the order as acting discreetly so as not to cause undue concern to the citizens of the Empire, this inclination toward secrecy has occasionally been a two-edged sword. There are many rumours that the order has been engaged in shadowy warfare with sinister cults, cabals and secret societies. The order as a whole dismiss such notions as fanciful storytelling, pointing out that resourcing strategically applied scrying of hostile powers forms the core of their work and is far less glamorous.
Despite this, it is an open secret that the Shuttered Lantern employ curses against those they consider to be a threat to the Empire, whether Imperial citizen, barbarian or foreigner. Often the grandmaster throws an unexpectedly large amount of mana against a declaration of sorcery occasioned by an unpopular curse; the orders assume that this means that someone has placed a curse on the instructions of the order - although the order is also known to subvert this expectation by occasionally opposing declarations of sorcery against entirely unrelated magicians in the hope of concealing their own true agendas.
They are also known to engage in espionage using mundane means as well as magical ones, and sometimes this means that they refuse to acknowledge how they have come by their information. They consider it good sense to keep an eye not only on known enemies, but also on friends and allies - especially those who are close enough to harm the Empire. As the first grandmaster, the Navarr vate Damien Cloaked-in-Green famously said "It is in our interests to keep our friends close, our enemies closer still, and those friends who may become our enemies closest."
The order has a reputation for being paranoid, even among themselves - most take it as a matter of practicality that the order is infiltrated by counter-spies and double-agents, and consequently prefer to work only with those they personally trust. These agents use the order as a way to maintain influence in the Conclave; to gain the magical resources they need to scry and uncover the plots of the enemies of the Empire; and to keep an eye on their fellow magicians.
The order is very popular with Suaq, Navarr and Highborn magicians, and after the Sevenfold Path and Golden Pyramid has the most magician-priests (in this case, priests of Vigilance). The grandmaster of the order most often presents gambits revolving around either scrying or concealment rituals, or for specific esoteric effects that will apparently aid one of their members in protecting the Empire. They are often so cagey about the reason they want the resources that their gambit goes unfilled, meaning that they are also an order with a past record of presenting gambits for the other orders in return for 'under the table' support.
They occasionally find themselves strange allies of the Unfettered Mind because both orders oppose needless regulation on Imperial magicians - although it must be said that the Shuttered Lantern are more interested in opposing unnecessary control of their magical behaviour, rather than the general magical behaviour of all wizards.