Sisterhood of Excelion

The Sisterhood of Excelion is an all-female order of magic within the Kingdom of Athinor, formed in 409 NME. Together with Ascia Skylaine, Queen Exyss Auxi Excelion gathered numerous talents from across the Coalition of the East in order to start an organisation that would provide Athinor with magical presence, as well as further develop and monitor its use. It is run by the Council of Excelion, which is comprised of the five highest ranked Sorceresses of Excelion. There are three main divisions of the Sisterhood under the Council: the Order of Sorcery, the Order of Mana and the Academy of Magecraft.

Council of Excelion
The five highest ranked Sorceresses of Excelion comprise the Council of Excelion. They are members on the High Council of Athinor and responsible for the operations of the Sisterhood. Members on the Council must be rank A mages or higher. The Council of Excelion is unique from other chanceries in that it is the only one in which the sovereign does not directly oversee; the Council has complete executive control over its jurisdiction, although it is still subject to established policy and the laws of state.

All high level decisions regarding the three divisions of the Sisterhood are made by majority vote within the Council of Excelion; in the event of a tie, it is settled the highest ranked member, usually the First Sorceress of Excelion. Generally, the Council is only convened for important issues, with the administration of each division taking care of daily operations.

Each member of the Council of Excelion is given a noble rank in the Duchy of Uilandros. The First Sorceress of Excelion is made the Duchess of Uilandros, with the rest as the Marquises of the various marches and counties.

Order of Sorcery
The Order of Sorcery is a division of 33 mages sanctioned by the Sisterhood. Members of the order are given the title of Sorceress of Excelion. They are ranked within the division, based on overall power, threat and intellect. Sorceresses are the only mages in Athinor that are allowed free use of magic. All Sorceresses are required to be prepared to be summoned for service at any time, although some have long-term assignments and posts in other fields. Generally speaking, their tasks include readiness for service to the throne, control of rogue mages and the study and development of magic. None of these tasks is necessarily mandatory and the individual tasks of each Sorceress are determined by the Council of Excelion.

Sorceresses can be replaced, but the total number cannot exceed 33; this is designed to control the level of magical influence within Athinor. Only rank B+ or higher mages are eligible for placement in the Order of Sorcery; if there are not enough to satisfy this requirement, the gaps are simply left vacant until more talent appears.

See here for a list of the Sorceresses of Excelion.

Order of Mana
The Order of Mana is the lower class of mages within the Sisterhood of Excelion. Its members are called Sisters of Excelion. Although they are usually capable if not adept at using magecraft, they are not sanctioned to use magic except when given special executive orders by the Council. Ordinarily, their primary role is the academic study of magic, working under Sorceresses in various fields to research and experiment, as well as training to improve their own spell control and mana flow. They are also required to assist Sorceresses by supplying mana for rituals and spells when necessary. Sisters can be promoted to the Order of Sorcery if they demonstrate sufficient skill. The Order of Mana usually numbers in the hundreds.

Academy of Magecraft
Aside from the use and development of magic, the Sisterhood of Excelion is also responsible for finding and nurturing new talented mages for inclusion in their ranks. For this purpose, the Academy of Magecraft was opened, with Sorceresses scouting, training and supervising new apprentices on a large scale. These apprentices learn the basics of magical control and develop their mana pools whilst in the academy, before being graduated into the Order of Mana.