Mage Alliance

Biodata

History

Founding and early growth

The Mage Alliance originated from scholar organizations in the central Fourth Continent. Archaeologists associated with the precursor of the Origin Hourglass faction unearthed and interpreted ancient knowledge, mastering the laws of Secret Speech and gaining independence from noble-controlled Castle power. Similar scholarly groups later united to establish the original Alliance. 495

Its member factions shared compatible methods of study, inheritance, and arcane development, allowing their theories and secret arts to be exchanged and refined rapidly. By 1156 of the Ninth Era, the Mage Alliance, Woodland Alliance, and Harp Flower Union had become the Fourth Continent’s major power blocs. 495

Internal conflicts and reform

The Alliance has previously suffered serious internal division. During the Battle of Peak Seizure approximately six centuries earlier, a civil war ended with nearly 500 high-order mages executed and thousands of formal mages imprisoned; afterwards, schools and academies became more formally separated, and unrestricted technological exchange was curtailed. 386

In the decade before Sylutia’s arrival, the Alliance undertook large-scale reforms: it opened schools in cities, offered interest-free loans to impoverished students in exchange for post-graduation service, expanded resource extraction, and continued developing steam-engine technology. 176

The historical Star-Gazing School helped broaden magical knowledge but also destabilized the Alliance through theories about humanity’s origins and dangerous experimentation. Its attempts to draw powerful Alien Star beings into the world eventually provoked the Hours. The school declined and was erased from history, although its ruins and research survived; a later Star-Gazer School cautiously resumed related investigations. 470 696 698

The Mithril Clock’s subsequent rise transformed the Alliance into a more efficient, standardized institution. Its rules reduced friction between schools, clarified competition, and limited the ability of powerful factions to exploit ordinary mages and creators indefinitely. 359 391

Western expansion

After two years of war, the Alliance pacified the Western Mountains through slaughter, surrender, and direct assimilation of local forces. It subsequently began developing both the surface region and its World of Shadows resources. 495

To administer the newly controlled territory, it established the Western City Alliance—also called the Western City Union—which uses personnel transferred from the Alliance’s interior and well-equipped human guards to govern major mountain cities. 507

The conquest and subsequent development relieved some of the Alliance’s internal pressure. Together with the Season of Sinking Fog and repeated emergencies, this temporarily weakened radical support for further expansion, without resolving the underlying conflicts. 699

Cooperation during the Season of Sinking Fog

A severe cold snap delayed spring and intensified food shortages throughout the Fourth Continent. The Alliance’s earlier suspension of a costly food agreement with the Golden Sheaf Horn became a strategic setback when grain prices subsequently tripled. 624 625

The conflict between the Mide Duchy and Aesius Kingdom became a test of the two great alliances’ methods through the fighting between Black Finger witches and Mist Spirit School mages. After initially struggling, the mages adapted their spells and acquired specialized equipment through the wider Alliance system. Their eventual victory increased Alliance confidence but also demonstrated the likely cost of overcoming the Woodland Alliance’s many unfamiliar traditions. 625 627 628

Negotiations at the Silver Bell Festival produced a broader exchange agreement: the Woodland Alliance would supply food and Gardeners, while the Mage Alliance would provide materials, machinery, and mages for instruction and maintenance. A Named One authorized Hedra’s participation after negotiations over her inclusion repeatedly stalled. Her departure was delayed until she completed her Fifth Order advancement. 628 640

Sylutia then led several thousand mages south, most of them Second or Third Order, with approximately a dozen Fifth Order members. The mission began implementing mechanical agriculture and practical instruction, although inadequate roads, transport systems, and educated labor limited its immediate effectiveness. 645 650

Flesh Plague and Blood Clan diplomacy

The Flesh Plague broke out in 2161, infecting approximately 160 million people and killing about 50 million across the Fourth Continent. These are continent-wide figures, not losses attributed solely to the Mage Alliance. The Alliance nevertheless suffered immense population loss, abandoned cities, and disruption to research and production. 679

A Woodland Alliance Pharmacist developed the Blood Copper Potion, which counteracted the plague by binding its virus to metallic particles, although the treatment carried serious long-term health risks. Blood Crystals became essential to large-scale production, leading the Alliance to seek cooperation with the Sea Cliff Bloodkin despite their former hostility. 679

Sage Hialani led negotiations with Queen Katera. The first meeting failed after Katera demanded an Eighth Order Fire Seed in addition to expensive resource payments and Sylutia’s help researching the Bloodline Curse. Hialani refused to trade such a strategic asset, while Camilla intervened as a mediator. 675 677

A later agreement established Blood Crystal trade and peace. By March 2162, improved medicines, protective equipment, isolation zones, and emergency administration had brought the Flesh Plague under control. A third white trade fleet reached the Blood Clan’s harbor in May, demonstrating that the commercial relationship continued beyond the initial emergency shipment. 679

Restoration of the Silver Radiance Church

After Sylutia and Amelia recovered extensive knowledge of Melancholy’s life and the original Silver Radiance Church through a shared dream, Amelia reported the inheritance to the Three Named Ones. They approved making both its history and secret arts public, allowing sages and masters to study the material and printing workshops to distribute plague-fighting knowledge throughout the Alliance. 685 686

Volunteers began adopting the Church’s white robes and Laurel Sacred Emblems while providing relief in afflicted regions. The Alliance Council approved a proposal to select Radiant Moon specialists from its factions and establish a new Silver Radiance Church as an official Alliance member. Personnel selection remained unresolved, and the organizational proposal had not yet been publicly announced. 686

The disclosure also revealed the suppression of Melancholy’s legacy and the history surrounding the Radiant Moon Hour. The Alliance deliberately used this publication to test whether the Phantom Black Rabbit would intervene. 686

Investigation of Blanur’s underground palace

The abandoned City of Star-Gazing deteriorated under food shortages and factional warfare. Limited Alliance rations failed to stabilize its remaining schools, and Dusty Gale’s victory over Roaring Star Beasts left the surviving faction too weakened to remain in the city. 653

Later investigations connected Roaring Star Beasts and a previously destroyed Northern Snowfield stronghold to a loose forbidden-research network descended from the Twin Snake Cult. Oren Hert provisionally called this network the Multi-Headed Worm. Its experiments involved bloodline alteration, mutation, and monsters associated with the city’s plague disaster. 693

Sylutia and Camilla found an old Alliance survey explaining that Blanur’s underground palaces had been sealed with earth-and-stone cement after a war. Suspecting that the network had occupied surviving or excavated sections, Sylutia reported directly to Abelid, who ordered an inspection force prepared. 694

In October 2162, Sylutia commanded approximately 1,200 mages in an operation against the underground complex. Three War Rhino-class machines supported the assault, and several schools cooperated to locate the base, drill a shaft, and breach it with a Crystal-Splitting Cannon. The Inquisition Hall led the initial attack; Sylutia and elite Mithril Clock mages decisively defeated the principal defenders. 696 697

The operation did not capture every suspect. An elusive black Wizard remained unaccounted for, and Vincent’s team failed to catch a fugitive researcher in the underground tunnels. Examination of the recovered records revealed the Blood Salamander Palace Star-Drawing array and its seven core secret arts. 697 698

Organization and Governance

• The Mage Alliance is a coalition rather than a single school. Its founding philosophy produced unified standards for rune formats, secret-technique grades, and academy divisions. 176
• It centers much of its cultivation system on the Castle, Secret Speech, and Gold Steam Aspect Powers. 176
• The Alliance Council oversees major decisions and uses rotating regional appointments to prevent a single school from permanently monopolizing many districts. 585
• The nominal highest leaders of the three foremost schools are called the Three Crowns, but academy deans frequently act in their place and represent their schools’ practical political will. 585
• Mage towers function as local command centers: they relay official orders, communicate with the World of Shadows, compile regional statistics, maintain control, and provide barriers or fire support in wartime. 578
• Regions may be controlled by one school or jointly administered by several schools. The Alliance Council avoids appointing members of the same school as tower-guarding mages for consecutive terms in many districts. 585
• The Council District is the political center and houses the headquarters of numerous official institutions. Its urban infrastructure includes buildings dozens of stories high, Steam Locomotives, and frequent airship traffic. 665
• The three highest authorities are Abelid, Valahunt, and Sodras. Their private meeting hall occupies a floating island above the Alliance’s central towers; its concealment helps them evade the Hours’ gaze. 617 618
• The Alliance’s system connects academies to subordinate workshops, which employ lower-order mages and other personnel to fulfill research, production, and commercial orders. Ordinary academies can possess kingdom-level strength, while the three foremost academies are compared to empires. 339
• The Alliance has pursued the gradual conversion of loosely governed countries into directly administered districts. In the Colin Duchy, enforcement involved killing the First Knight and forty-two palace knights before compelling the Grand Duke’s submission. 612
• Compared with the Woodland Alliance’s divided feudal authority, the Mage Alliance can exercise much more direct control over personnel and finances and mobilize resources across its territory. 657

Succession and leadership development

The Three Named Ones selected Sylutia as their successor earlier than originally planned because of the approaching Season of Sinking Fog. They began transmitting their most profound arts and preparing her for responsibilities extending beyond a single school or district. 618 629

Sodras emphasized that future authority over the Alliance would require allies and followers capable of making its many institutions function under a common direction. Her succession initially remained confidential because public disclosure would attract outside attention and create political complications. 618 628

By the Blanur investigation, her recognized status allowed her to report directly to the highest authorities and obtain support from multiple institutions. Abelid entrusted her with command of the inspection force, while Sages Fields and Akxio provided command advice and a one-use Gold-Turning Spell orb. 694 696

Major Factions

Other schools and institutions

• Tower of the Silver Bird — Developed the Arcane Astronomical Clock, a core advancement technique taught to selected talented students. 176
• Puppet School — Based at Rorick Academy and associated with puppet, golem, and manipulation arts. 359 384 437
• Bionics School — Based at Erimo Academy, with a Chimera emblem; Knox was previously associated with it. It ranked twenty-first in the academy evaluation Sylutia consulted. 359
• Mist Spirit School — Demonstrated the Alliance’s ability to adapt spells and draw specialized support from other schools during the conflict with Black Finger. 626 628
• Appraisal School, Four Salts School, and Fire Spirit School — Provided scouting lenses, enhancement potions, and elite firearm devices used by Mist Spirit mages. 628
• Sky-Peering School and Ice Death School — Assisted underground surveying and assessment during the Blanur operation. 697
• Inquisition Hall — Pursues Dark Mages and forbidden experimentation; led the initial assault on the Blanur underground base. 503 697
• Inspection Department — Participates in investigations and security work. Blake, an experienced Origin Hourglass member associated with the department, was assigned to track the elusive black Wizard near Blanur. 645 697
• Proposed Silver Radiance Church — Council-approved organization intended to preserve and apply the recovered Church inheritance; its personnel and public establishment remained pending. 686

Education and Knowledge System

• The Alliance operates a mature academy system that collects, verifies, revises, and distributes secret arts and archives across its schools. Useful improvement proposals are rewarded and incorporated into shared records. 494
• Academy students are trained as future independent specialists rather than simply protected pupils; the minimum graduation requirement is generally Third Order. 359
• Academy cultivation carries mandatory obligations. Even wealthy students must complete assigned work, which sustains the schools’ long-term operations. 353
• The Alliance recruits nearly 200,000 new students annually. Its system can add nearly 10,000 Third Order professionals per year and maintain a force estimated at more than 350,000 Third Order Transcendents. 361
• The Central Grand Library project began over five centuries ago to collect, compile, verify, and repair books and records from across the continent. Its archives support both education and technical research. 367
• The Alliance’s systematic training model is contrasted with the Woodland Alliance’s decentralized approach: it identifies talent, standardizes training, and mobilizes resources on a far larger scale. 361 425
• The academy evaluation consulted by Sylutia listed thirty-five academies belonging to different factions. Thetis, Glass, and Terize were identified as the three central pillars. 359
• The estimate of 350,000 Third Order professionals is conservative; Sylutia’s analysis suggested that technological and cultivation improvements could permit a peak near 500,000. These are projections of institutional capacity rather than a confirmed census. 361
• Learning across major school boundaries is restricted. Winning the triennial Academy Tournament and receiving Alliance Council recognition provides a route to study the secret arts of two major schools simultaneously. 386
• The academies’ accumulated experience makes advancement safer than independent experimentation, providing verified rituals and methods that solitary mages and small organizations may lack. 579 640
• Formal academy students generally enter the World of Shadows only after reaching Third Order, whereas unsupported rogue mages may undertake dangerous exploration at Second Order to obtain advancement resources. 534 538
• During the renewed plague crisis, printing workshops became a major means of distributing the Silver Radiance Church’s practical medical and purification knowledge. 686

Spell development and advancement methods

Mage spells emphasize flexibility, reproducible models, and improvement over successive generations. Their raw power may be lower than specialized wizard or witch spells, but adjustments to structure and application allow them to exploit weaknesses and respond to varied situations. 319 384 406

Power Progression

The Alliance’s progression is institutional and technological rather than a single individual’s sequence of cultivation orders.

Aspect Power Doctrine

Composite paths and the Gold Steam Hour

• Secret Speech–Radiant Moon supports Origin Hourglass arts involving antiquity, historical reconstruction, mental influence, and time-related abilities. Its principles also underlie Command Spells. 616 632
• Secret Speech–Alien Star supports Mithril Clock arts involving Clockface Engraving and the summoning or direction of Astral Realm power. 616
• Radiant Moon–Gold Steam improves refinement by removing impurities and reducing waste, making it useful for alchemists producing pure intermediate materials, gemstones, and metals. 632
• The Three Named Ones believe that the Gold Steam Dao Path needs wider recognition and more Transcendents before it can produce an Hour. Territorial unification and the birth of a Gold Steam Hour would reinforce one another, but conquest carries substantial risks. 630 642
• Sylutia identifies a powerful energy source as a missing element in the Alliance’s larger plan. Blazing Sun would be suitable, but the Dragon of the Corona’s overwhelming strength makes obtaining his support unrealistic. 632
• Eighth Order Fire Seeds are among the Alliance’s most precious strategic assets. Hialani explicitly refused Queen Katera’s demand for one during plague-related negotiations. 677

Administration and Development

Western City Alliance

• The Western City Alliance was created by the Mage Alliance to manage the Western Mountains after the defeat of local powers. 507
• Its administration has brought guards, clock towers, stable trade, basic law enforcement, and a more reliable supply of salt, medicine, ironware, tools, and other necessities to mountain settlements. 507 512
• Its direct control remains limited mainly to large cities; smaller towns receive sparse monitoring, while distant tribal villages are largely self-governing. 507
• The Alliance’s economic goals in the region focus primarily on mineral deposits and World of Shadows resources; improved local stability is portrayed as a secondary result. 512
• Dragon Tooth Fortress, the largest city in the Western Mountains, hosts the City Alliance’s General President, Halsen. He actively encouraged visiting academy students to consider future employment in the region. 515
• Human administrators and guards replaced earlier ogre rulers in cities such as Grey Calamity Fortress. Many local Orcs accepted the new administration because it offered greater security and better living conditions. 507
• Stable commerce gradually drew initially hostile tribes toward Alliance-controlled cities, although costly airship transport, limited local production, and weak purchasing power constrained early development. 512

Resource Mobilization

• The Alliance uses large-scale machines to excavate mines, explore resource nodes in the World of Shadows, clear Twilight Beasts, and process materials gained from them. 361
• Its branches register resources and personnel across many fields, enabling rapid searches, consultation, and deployment when needed. 494
• Rapid internal consumption of resources is a strategic concern. Some observers believe external expansion will become difficult to avoid if available resources can no longer sustain the Alliance’s growth. 361
• The North Wind Defense Line protects northern regions made suitable for habitation and agriculture. Losing it would expose major grain-producing areas to storms and threaten the food supply of the Alliance’s enlarged population. 542
• The Alliance excels at metal refinement, construction, and machinery but is less capable than the Woodland Alliance in agriculture and animal husbandry. This imbalance contributes to its dependence on external food supplies. 542
• Joint operations can rapidly combine military machines, surveying schools, specialist mages, and enforcement institutions, as demonstrated by the direct breach of Blanur’s underground palace. 696 697

Industry and commercial influence

Large merchant associations and workshops commonly operate with the support of Alliance schools. Supernatural backing protects their operations, while their revenue helps sustain the wider system. 425 665

Whirling Starworks publicly appears to be a merger of workshops and merchant associations, but its constituent organizations and many senior personnel have extensive ties to the Mithril Clock. It produces agricultural machinery and ships and maintains production bases and support teams across multiple regions. Sylutia helped establish it and secured thirty percent of its shares for Mishir District. 665

Cross-alliance infrastructure and instruction

• The Woodland exchange includes metals, gemstones, mechanical constructs, scrolls, and spirit medicines. Maintenance requirements make supporting technicians and Gold Steam mages an important part of the agreement. 628
• The Mage Alliance required generous compensation and subsidies for personnel assigned to support Woodland machinery. 628
• Sylutia’s contingent taught local residents to operate agricultural equipment and compiled practical manuals, but the lack of roads and trained workers hindered transport and implementation. 650
• Information-transmission towers were built in the Woodland under the cooperation agreement, allowing rapid communication during subsequent plague emergencies. 683

Emergency relief and medical administration

• During the Flesh Plague, the Alliance combined mass medicine production with protective equipment, isolation zones, and emergency administration. 679
• Blood Clan trade supplied materials for the Blood Copper Potion, while Sylutia also investigated Demon Blood Vines as a possible alternative source of Blood Crystal-related materials. 677 679
• The recovered Silver Radiance Church inheritance supplied knowledge for purification, treatment, and organized plague prevention. Alliance sages, masters, printers, and volunteers participated in its dissemination. 686
• Cooperation with Woodland healers and alchemists extended relief into Blood Clan territory during the later Grey Mud Plague crisis. 686

Relations

• Woodland Alliance — Principal southern rival and strategic counterweight. The Woodland Alliance was formed partly to resist Mage Alliance pressure, but both sides also pursue exchanges, negotiations, and technical cooperation. Their later agreement established food-for-materials exchange, technical instruction, communications infrastructure, and cooperation against plagues and broader disasters. 149 628 650 683 686 692
• Harp Flower Union — Eastern power bloc that has negotiated with the Alliance and was previously expected to help connect the Woodland Association with northern Bloodkin interests against Alliance expansion. Its leaders also hesitated to supply grain because of transport costs and the danger of strengthening a potential enemy. 176 602 624
• Five Great Covenants — Southern covenant states that entered trade negotiations with the Alliance; disputes over food prices and supplies have strained these dealings. 624 625
• Western City Alliance — Administrative organization established by the Mage Alliance to consolidate and develop the Western Mountains. 507
• Thetis Academy — One of the Alliance’s higher academies, whose students receive preferential treatment in practical assignments and are considered valuable elite talent. It is the principal academy of the Mithril Clock faction. 359 515
• Sylutia Mezzalance / Hedra — A Woodland Alliance talent who studied within the Mage Alliance, became a prominent mage, and later led an exchange contingent to the Woodland Alliance as an instructor and coordinator. She is also the recognized successor and pupil of the Three Named Ones, a plague researcher, and commander of the Blanur inspection force. 327 628 645 677 694 696
• Sea Cliff Bloodkin / Blood Clan — Formerly hostile northern power that became a peace and trade partner during the Flesh Plague. Its nobles supply Blood Crystals in exchange for Alliance goods and accept responsibility for restraining Blood Clan criminals in Alliance territory. 677 679
• Camilla — Blood Clan princess whose familiarity with the Alliance allowed her to mediate negotiations with Queen Katera. Her royal status also secured safe passage for the visiting delegation. 675 677
• Silver Radiance Church — Ancient organization whose recovered inheritance was publicly disseminated by the Alliance. The Council approved establishing a new Church as an official Alliance organization, with membership selection still pending. 686
• Phantom Black Rabbit — Current Radiant Moon Hour whose potential reaction the Alliance sought to test by publicizing the suppressed history of Melancholy and the original Church. 685 686
• Multi-Headed Worm — Oren Hert’s provisional name for a loose forbidden-experiment network descended from the Twin Snake Cult. The Alliance mobilized a major inspection force against its suspected Blanur base. 693 694 697

Political Tensions and Criticism

• The Alliance’s Gold Steam debate concerns whether to pursue a cautious accumulation of Named Ones or follow more radical paths toward creating an Hour. 327
• A historical ideological split produced factions advocating star power, human wisdom, or world-shaping through human transformation; the conflict escalated into civil war before the Gold Steam faction changed its course. 470
• Its academy-centered system favors exceptional talent and elite academy graduates. Rogue mages without institutional backing often struggle to access resources, well-paid positions, or safe advancement paths. 534
• Orcs remain underrepresented in Alliance academies and face discrimination, with some Orc students and communities viewing the system as tied to past bloodline experimentation and exclusion. 622 623
• The Alliance’s expansion has created anxiety among surrounding organizations, which fear that their traditions and secret arts may be absorbed into Alliance libraries as little more than “foreign books.” 328
• Despite its strength, the Alliance’s upper ranks recognize that direct conquest of the Woodland Alliance could become a costly two-front war if the Harp Flower Union joins the opposition. 642
• Traditional kingdoms remain useful to high-ranking mages whose families benefit from aristocratic privileges. Growing numbers of tax-exempt mage-aristocrats threaten national finances, while workshop income only partly compensates for the structural problem. 425
• Orc laborers often receive lower wages, benefits, and social protections than humans. Resentment among later generations is identified as a potential source of instability should the Alliance weaken. 425
• Oren Hert distrusts official investigations into forbidden experiments, believing that Alliance officials and the Inquisition Hall may be politically constrained or deliberately incomplete in their inquiries. These are his suspicions, rather than confirmed proof that the Alliance leadership sponsors the experiments. 654
• Academic complexity itself limits access: the Alliance’s theoretical knowledge is difficult to transmit without extensive schooling, regardless of a learner’s practical talent. 383
• Its economic and cultivation model remains resource-intensive. Sylutia questions the sustainability of advancement dependent on scarce materials and a largely workshop-based economy. 632
• The Three Named Ones restrained aggressive sages because war was too unpredictable. Western development and later emergencies temporarily reduced expansionist pressure, but the deeper tensions remained unresolved. 642 699
• After examining the Star-Gazing records, Sylutia became uneasy about the Named Ones’ secrecy, military preparations, and choices of assignments. Their urgent preparations are apparent to her, but their full purpose remains unknown. 698 699

Story Role

• The Mage Alliance is first presented as the growing central-continent coalition whose expansion pressures the Woodland Alliance into reform and strategic preparation. 149 176
• It invites outstanding young people from outside powers to study its three major Aspect paths, creating a route for Sylutia to enter its academy system while gathering knowledge about its structure and goals. 327 334
• Through Sylutia’s studies, the Alliance is shown as highly organized, academically demanding, technologically advanced, and internally divided by school interests, ideology, and future plans for Gold Steam. 359 391 470
• Its conquest and development of the Western Mountains demonstrate both its ability to impose order and its tendency to prioritize strategic resources and infrastructure. 495 507 512
• Later negotiations with the Woodland Alliance turn Sylutia into a central exchange figure: the Alliance agrees to send her to provide instruction, coordinate supporting mages, and help maintain cooperation between the two powers. 628 645
• The Three Named Ones’ selection of Sylutia as their successor links her personal advancement to the Alliance’s future leadership and its attempt to create a Gold Steam Hour. 618 629 630
• The Woodland exchange exposes the difference between advanced designs and practical implementation: machinery requires transport infrastructure, skilled operators, maintenance, and education rather than simply delivery. 650
• The Council District and Whirling Starworks reveal the Alliance’s urban modernization and the indirect commercial influence exercised by its schools. 665
• The plague crises force the Alliance to cooperate with both the Woodland Alliance and Blood Clan, turning former rivals into partners in medicine, trade, and relief. 679 686 692
• Publication of the Silver Radiance Church inheritance joins humanitarian action with the Alliance’s investigation of the limits and intentions of the Radiant Moon Hour. 686
• The Blanur operation demonstrates the effectiveness of coordinated institutional power: specialized schools, enforcement teams, elite mages, and war machines rapidly defeat a threat that independent adventurers struggled to investigate. 694 696 697
• Recovered Star-Gazing knowledge introduces renewed questions about forbidden research, humanity’s relationship with the Hours, and the undisclosed preparations of the Alliance’s highest authorities. 698 699

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