"Lords of Magic"
Formed 325 AE
After the fall of the Lich Lord of The Confederation of Magica, that nation fell more and more into poverty and petty crime. Many lesser wizards attempted to seize power and this caused the rise of much anti-magic sentiment. As the distrust of magic users grew, a large organization of wizard hunters formed. They called themselves the Peace Guard. This organization was begun to prevent the corrupt and powerful wizards of The Com from hurting the common people, but its politics quickly took a more general view of disliking all wizards. Many lesser wizards began being hunted down, and accusations of witchcraft were becoming common occurrences. The hunting of spell casters became more and more violent, and before long any mage who was unnamed went into hiding. Priests were only barley tolerated, and they began to cloister themselves behind the walls of their churches. The Peace Guard continued to grow in power and size.
Kazim Diamondfist was perhaps the most well known wizard of the time, and his involvement in decapitating the power structure in The Com had afforded him some leniency from the Peace Guard, but more and more people were calling him down for being another evil warlock, and he knew it was only a matter of time before he was attacked. He and his comrades made a public scene of him being bought out of The Inn by the other two, and being forced to leave. He then left his comrades, both older than middle aged humans, as an elf Kazim was still very young, and neither of his comrades would be capable of a drawn out journey. Kazim traveled to the estate of his friend Eltonair, only to find it abandoned. He then journeyed to the operating base of Lanseril only to find that it had turned to a house of refugees. Eltonair was there, as were many other lesser wizards and mages. It was then that Kazim knew that the Peace Guard needed to be stopped, whatever it took. It was no longer just him, but his friends who were in danger.
But they needed help; the Peace Guard was too powerful and too large. Lanseril was a merchant, not a warrior, and Eltonair was never a combat mage, he was a scholar. The rest of the refugees lacked any real magical strength and most were very young. Brianna was there only truly powerful ally, but she was the ruler of a nation, and had her own troubles just keeping the Peace Guard out of her realm. It was obvious to Kazim that they needed help, and he could think of only one place where he might find it. And so Kazim left Lanseril’s retreat, and took a journey most elves only take when the have decided to travel on to Arvandar. Kazim was going to Elvendar.
The journey to Elvendar is long for the elves who choose to travel there. This is true even for powerful magic users, as Elvendar’s location is secret, and it is protected from travel magic, such as teleportation and the like. Even the great Kazim Diamondfist was forced to travel mundanely for much of the journey. All who seek Elvendar eventually come to Falindar, the gateway for acceptance to travel to the elven homeland. This was where Kazim found himself two weeks after leaving Lanseril’s home. He petitioned to speak to the Marshal, Arianna Liege. The meeting went well, and he was allowed to travel on. He also met Elf Friend Marcus Tribestan, who was sympathetic to Kazim’s need. It was then that Marcus chose to leave his post as High mage of Falindar, relinquishing the position to his most accomplished apprentice, and he left to accompany Kazim and lend his not insignificant battle experience and powerful magic, as well as centuries of experience to Kazim’s mission. The two traveled on to Elvendar and continued to petition for aid for northern Pallethas.
Though King Kelis was not unsympathetic to their need, he was unwilling to lend aid. Any large military force sent would lead to many problems politically for the elves, and spellweavers were too rare and were all needed for domestic affairs. So Elvendar was unable to give any any aid to the two spell casters. But the trip to Elvendar was not wasted. Overhearing the petition for aid was the King’s sister, Mystique De’Winter. She was not an official part of the government, so she was free to join Kazim and Marcus if she wanted to, and she did want to. With her she brought her own unique brand of powerful magic aswell as her two apprentices, the twins Eliath and Selene Cronbar. And so the five traveled back to Lanseril’s, and they began the dismemberment of the group known as the Peace Guard. Between Kazim’s political approach, Marcus’ passion and heat towards dealing with things, and Mystique’s cold hearted arrogance, they hit the Peace Guard from every angle, with every tactic. They worked together or separate, sometimes convincing portions of the Peace Guard what they were doing was wrong, other times wiping out entire armies of the Peace Guard with their formidable magic. Even dragons were seen to come to the aid of the wizards, mighty Silver Wyrms would help to destroy armies, or just intimidate. While weakening the hold of the Peace Guard on the land, the wizards also sought out and eliminated, one way or another, the leaders of that association. They destroyed blackguards, reasoned with paladins, assassinated corrupt officers… whatever was necessary. In the end, nothing could stand against them. They called themselves the “Keeper’s of the Weave” but the common population had a different name for them. Some spoke it in awe, some respect, some fear, others said it in hatred and others in love or even worship, but to the common people they were simply known as “The Lords of Magic”.
After eliminating the Peace Guard and mopping up the side affects it caused, the group decided that their talents may be needed elsewhere, for never before heard of was such a group of powerful magic users working together heard of. And so the main trio of Kazim, Marcus and Mystique continued to travel together, the apprentices of Mystique staying with Eltonair and Lanseril to help support them in whatever ways they could. The “Lords” (though they preferred to be known as the “Keepers”) continued to fight evil where they could, destroying mighty liches and evil undead lords, they defeated neogi mobs and illithid lairs. They even wiped out an entire drow civilization which was bent on conquest of the surface. Their greatest challenge though was the great Infyrana, one of the eldest of Great Wyrm Red Dragons. She was the keeper of Dragon Mount, and was as powerful a magic user as Dragonkind has ever produced. In the end, the “Lords” destroyed Infyrana and took over her lair, transforming the ancient dwarven stronghold most recently known as Dragon Mount into the legendary home of mighty magicians now known as Keeper’s Mount.
Lanseril, Eltonair and the twins moved to Keeper’s Mount, as well as many of the mages who had been refugees from the Peace Guard. Keeper’s mount became one of the most prestigious school of magic in Thalenian space, as well as the main base of the huge business known as Lanseril’s Crystal Emporium. It is still the home of the “Lords” and they have spent the last centuries teaching in their school, working on their own inventions and continuing to fight battles where they feel they are needed. Since their time against Infyrana, each has begun a second vocation, Marcus Tribestan has leaned more towards the spiritual side of magic, following, as always, his emotions. He his now one of the foremost in the clergy of Mystra, Goddess of the Weave. Kazim has been training with the bladesingers, though it is unknown how far he has advanced in their ranks. Mystique seems to have been following in her mother’s footsteps, though she has powerful magic to enhance her stealth abilities. For those who don’t know, Alara Starshine, Mystique’s mother, was once known as Nightshade. She was once a very accomplished rogue, and is still a major figure in Elvendar history.