The Proper Ordering of the Esoteric League

The Proper Ordering of the Esoteric League, by Magus Arik-den-ili of Mekon, distributed in early 849 to members of the Esoteric League.     At the lowest are the Apprentices, to whom we teach the ways of magic, and discipline to keep from chaos.   Above these are the Initiates, true members of the League, trusted but watched.   Higher still are the Adepts, who teach the Apprentices, and study the worlds' secrets.   Highest are the Magi, who guard the towers and watch for danger within and without.   Among the Magi is the High Magus, most esteemed, but no ruler.     This has been the ordering of the Esoteric League for more than five centuries, since the Council of Akrai. The League is a free association of members, not a tyrannical organisation of taskmasters. The new High Magus Baker - to whose election I alone dissented - would do well to remember this. Self-regulation has been our way for our entire history, and has never seriously failed us; I maintain that the Event of 840 was an outlier, and not the fault of the old High Magus.   We should neither forget the driving motivation behind the League's formation: the threat of Mundane aggression. We have all experienced the envy and jealousy of the Mundanes, and how quickly such things can turn into hostility! It is not prudent then to distance ourselves further and increase their suspicions. The new restrictions on the production and sale of magic items, while perhaps limiting somewhat the magical capabilities of the Mundanes (for good and ill), will hamper one of our few sources of goodwill, and increase the chance that the old pogroms could return.   At the same time, the creation of the new rank of "Agents" (and a new rank it is, even if not in name), is an affront to both the structure of the League, and its intended mission. When I, and most others, joined the League, it was for mutual security and benefit, not to act as a policing force for the whole of Ura! Baker and his Agents are seeking to usurp a role that belongs rightly to the legitimate political authorities. Here in Mekon, the priesthood is perfectly capable of rooting out and eliminating preternatural threats, and the Teghneists have their inquisitors and paladins. Perhaps the Agents are filling a void in the Ciprosian and the New World, but in doing so are preventing new organisations from arising, and weakening the long-term ability of the Mundanes to protect themselves.   And so with these things in mind I wonder: Does Magus Baker seek to become not just a tyrant over the League, but over the Mundanes? Perhaps all of Ura? His role in the founding of New Yotium (on a landmass that bears his own name!) adds further credence to this notion. As do his relationships with other powerful figures: King Jaq of Oshagm and Exarch Fulsweith, for instance. I thereby urge all members of the Esoteric League to resist (peacefully, unless we are driven much further) any and all attempts by the High Magus to consolidate power or alter the proper ordering of our ancient and venerable Esoteric League