Knowest Order
Founded in the South eastern region now occupied by the nations of Shiqs and Rou, in the now lost city of Shiq 229 years ago. The Knowest Order of Sages, Scribes and Philosophers determined that the greatest good and value was knowledge and promotes research and general education across all the nations of the isles. The home of the order and it's great library is in Niquei, however like the Advernturer's guild there are offices in most cities. The Order's offices provide education, asking only donations or service in exchange. The Order also sends traveling sages as tutors to educate in small or remote places and to collect information and measurements. The weekly letters and cyclic journals produced by the Order's chapters in different cities are varied and express the rivalry between the Order branches in the different nations and cities.
Structure
The High Sage is the executive leader and head of the Council of Five Masters. The Masters oversee the departments of Theory ( including philosophy, mathematics, & natural law, physics & Magic), Technica ( how things work- mechanics, biology, botany, medicine ) , Practica ( useful application- music, art, alchemy, athletics, occult) and esoterica (History, theology, cultural studies, astronomy). Within Departments are Researchers, Practicals, Archivists, and Assistants. Assistants typically teach within the Order while Tutors are wandering educators and researchers or archivists who collect information. Knowests are sought as educators and advisors for nobles and wealthy merchants. They also may seek positions at universities. Archivists and scribes produce the journals and publications of the Order and collect and store it's information in Chapter libraries. Practicals produce prototypes of machines, formulae, plans, alchemical compounds or magical devices or spells. These are available for purchase.
Culture
Overall the Order and it's offices share the thirst for more knowledge and discovery, research and application; they are intensely competitive in terms of wanting to be first or to provide innovative discovery, theory or application. They are also in competition with universities and some independents. The Order publishes letters and articles debating science, magic, theology and history as well as cultural material. They tend to take Ozymandia superiority for granted and discount less technical societies. The letters and journals are available by subscription or by visiting a chapter offices. Though the Great Library and Vaults at Niquel are considered the most complete, chapters may possess unique records and documents or research that has not been copied and forwarded to other Chapters or the Great Library.
Public Agenda
The Order says that with tools comes hope. The basic tools are knowledge from which all good follows.
Assets
The Order is widespread with chapters in most cities of most nations. It sells or licenses formulae, scrolls, plans and prototypes as well as fees from subscribers to the various chapter letters and journals. Further. it collects donations and fees for educating where they can and many bequests in wills and estates. As such the Order has significant wealth as a whole, as well as arcane and technical devices.
History
The Order started as a school and library under the great philosopher "plate licker" Ilino of the Hedonist school. Ilino's pleasure was learning and sharing knowledge, gathering everything he could and amassing a hoard of documents and lore. It might have amounted to little more but for his colleague the Zarmuran half-demon Bosk who dutifully rounded up students and scribes, and began promoting the school and research and created the spell of Appraisal that is now widely used. Thus the Order has researched, discovered and explored - creating blackpowder in it's alchemical research ( with several well known disasters along the way, such as the explosion that leveled the original Great Library over a century ago, that set things back years or decades), leading to canon, blunderbuss and eventually muskets.
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