The Alliance

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	The Alliance
Alias(es)	Magic Alliance
Affiliation	Constituent mage schools, societies, the Alliance Council, and Battle Mage Corps
Occupation/Role	Continental mage organization, territorial administrator, magical research network, and military power
Status	Active
First Appearance	71

Background / History

The Alliance was founded in part so mage schools could pool resources and resist powerful external enemies. It distributes advancement resources to mages considered talented or contributory, rather than leaving advancement entirely to personal effort. 126

Its member schools retain substantial independence and influence. The Alliance is fundamentally an alliance of schools rather than an organization directly formed by all mages, making institutional reform difficult. 479

The Northern Lands Society was assigned a remote northern exclave after rival schools interfered with its territorial placement. The Alliance absorbed the land but did not expand into the surrounding territories, despite local lords either seeking admission or preparing to resist it. 127

The Alliance formerly purged certain runic techniques through an audit of enchantment practices; its School of Enchantment was reportedly disbanded during that process. 273

Organization and Governance

Schools and societies

Mage schools are the Alliance's principal institutional blocs. They preserve specialized knowledge, train mages, compete for resources, and can influence Alliance decisions. 479

• The Northern Lands Society accepts mages from all schools and operates under the Alliance umbrella, though its distance and political isolation limit its support. 127 204
• The Astrology School conducts prophecy operations and participated in the Ancient Domain investigation. 368
• The Alchemy School operates Number Nine Floating City and oversees major secret projects. 493
• The Law School is represented in high-level negotiations and shares control of Number Nine Floating City with the Alchemy School. 378 439
• Other documented schools include the Forge, Elemental, Transmutation, Necromancy, Sword Chant, Construct, and Enchantment Schools. 71 126 273

Alliance Council

The Alliance Council is composed of high-ranking mages. Eligibility requires being a Fourth-Rank mage or holding an exceptionally prestigious award; award-based entrants must also be at least Third Rank. 370

Council members may independently mobilize an entire Battle Mage Corps, manage assets worth up to five million gold coins, and grant special experimental rights. 370

Internal factional conflict can delay decisions and obstruct unified responses. The Council's possible dissolution is treated as a threat equivalent to the Alliance's disintegration. 263 369 370

Administration and law

The Alliance assigns administrators to its cities; nearly all are official-rank strong persons. 134

Its laws protect mages deemed capable of producing valuable results. Targeting a genius mage can trigger severe punishment, including collective punishment of the offender's family. 421

Territory and Expansion

The Alliance expands selectively, prioritizing territories with rare strategic resources rather than population alone.

Territory / Region	Alliance interest or outcome
Grey Soil Province	Incorporated over nearly a century because its grey soil can strengthen Undead. 325
Highland Province	Valued for extensive White Mountain Copper reserves. 325
Northern Territory	Contains the Alliance-linked Northern Lands Society exclave. 127
Antir Region	Initially considered unattractive because it lacked rare resources, but Fran sought political support to occupy it for a Territory Resonance experiment. 325

Occupation requires flying the Alliance flag, preventing major organizations from opposing the occupation, and securing the compliance of key towns. 435

Military Power

Battle Mage Corps

The Battle Mage Corps are the Alliance's armed forces. They were created to oppose powerful external factions and offer a high-risk, high-resource path for mages seeking advancement. 126

Battle Mages receive specialized combat training, optimized or instant-cast spell variants, coordinated group spells, and a comprehensive supply system. Standard equipment includes spell rings, resistant armor, and combat staves. 204

• Assessment requirement — Entry normally requires passing an Alliance assessment. 204
• Specialized spells — Some spells are restricted to the corps; Forced Fusion is an Alchemy School-oriented example. 204
• Combined casting — Corps can use cluster casting and coordinated spells to raise a single spell's destructive power. 204
• Operational reach — A single deployed corps is regarded as capable of overturning the balance of power in Snow Bear Territory. 222

Northern Lands Society Battle Mage Corps

The Northern Lands Society maintains an atypical Battle Mage Corps. Because other corps would not station in the north, Iris established it herself under the Battle Mage Corps name. 204

Feature	Northern Lands Society Corps	Standard Alliance Corps
Recruitment	Mostly part-time personnel recruited locally. 204	Specialized full-time combat personnel. 204
Service	Members may maintain other work. 204	Fixed service term; outside work is restricted. 204
Equipment	Produced by the Northern Lands Society; inferior due to limited support. 204	Alliance-supplied spell rings, armor, staves, and training. 204
Spell access	Holds First- and Second-Rank Battle Mage spells. 204	Uses Corps-exclusive enhanced and coordinated spells. 204

Floating Cities

Floating Cities are mobile Alliance strongholds and symbols of its power. They supplement mage towers in external defense and can be deployed against hostile factions. 186 369

The Alliance possesses more than thirty Floating Cities, though not all have a Tier 4 mage stationed aboard. Major schools commonly possess their own cities. 369

• Number Nine Floating City — Divided between the Alchemy and Law Schools. 439
• Military use — The Alliance considered sending two Floating Cities into the ocean against the Church of the Goddess of Ocean Currents. 437
• Sky Dragon operation — Number Nine began preparations to attack the Cult of the Sky Dragon's Floating Isles without Council approval. 493 530

Major Operations

Snow Bear Territory intervention

When Fran was threatened in Snow Bear City, the Northern Lands Society's Battle Mage Corps arrived in flying vehicles. Its flying unit cast the Tier 2 spell Blizzard, freezing and shattering targets around the castle before ending the spell to conserve resources. 252 253

The display compelled Bishop Gillian of the Church of the Goddess of Ocean Currents to withdraw rather than compete with the Alliance. 255

Ancient Domain occupation

The Alliance sought a god-held realm later identified in its records as the Ancient Domain, then known to its inhabitants as the Three-God Domain. It required the Lord of Radiance's side to claim ownership after defeating the gods' forces. 315 366

After Una became the realm's lord, the Alliance applied formally for entry and sent Astrology School mages to conduct prophecies. 368

The resulting prophecies warned of continent-wide conflict, the fall of an Alliance Floating City, and the potential dissolution of the Alliance Council. 369

In response, Charles directed Tristan to negotiate an Abyss Contract restricting entry to and exit from the Ancient Domain for ten years, backed by payment, protection clauses, and a domain-destruction protocol. 370

Relations

• Northern Lands Society — An Alliance-linked society operating a remote exclave and its own under-equipped Battle Mage Corps. 127 204
• Church of the Goddess of Ocean Currents — Commercial and maritime rival; both sides maintain restraint despite recurring localized friction. 220
• Lord of Radiance and Her sect — Allied through negotiated protection, exchange terms, and military-support arrangements. 315 379
• Cult of the Sky Dragon — Target of Number Nine Floating City's planned operation. 493
• Local lords — Many seek Alliance incorporation, often hoping to exchange territorial burdens for compensation or security. 218

Reputation

The Alliance is regarded as one of the continent's top powers. Smaller factions believe it could crush organizations such as the Church of the Goddess of Ocean Currents and White Dragon Port, but usually reserves its strength for conflicts with other major powers. 222

Its military reputation is reinforced by Battle Mage Corps, Floating Cities, magical devices, and the ability to prepare large-scale operations with extreme speed. 366

Accounts of the Alliance's treatment of non-humans are contradictory. It is described as human-dominated and historically associated with a proposed bloodline-screening and extermination policy that was never implemented; later records state that it did not develop special hatred toward elves after the Calamity of the Blood Elves and instead treated other races with equality. 233 368