The Vycelant

The Vycelant is a formidable military organization that mainly consists of practitioners of magic. It's considered one of the most powerful factions of the Great Continent. The troops of Vycelant maintain a garrison at the fortress of Hellhammer which is located on the outskirts of the ruins of Treteia, east of the Deepsung Canyon.

Structure
The hierarchy of the Vycelant has six levels, which the Vycelant calls circles.

The first circle consists of various people working for the Vycelant. They are often not directly affiliated with the Vycelant, but rather people who report local happenings that might interest the Vycelant, and are available as hired force if required. These people are not necessarily warriors, and sometimes not even magi.

The second circle holds the rank-and-file members of the Vycelant. They are trained soldiers who wield magic and see themselves as the first actual circle of the Vycelant. Most of the Vycelant belongs in the second circle.

The third circle is the circle of the lower officers. These people lead the members of the second circle in the field and personally carry out complex tasks. They are sometimes called lieutenants.

The fourth circle is the circle of the higher officers. They seldom partake in dangerous missions, instead filling special and administrative positions.

The fifth circle and all circles from then on are considered nobility. They often call themselves lords and direct all lower circles as they wish. It's extremely difficult for members to reach the fifth circle unless they are of acknowledged and respect heritage, such as Chrassian.

The sixth circle is the final and most powerful circle. It's only known member is lord Issachar Soraea, commander of Hellhammer, although there are rumored to be others who help him lead the Vycelant.

Ideology
The Vycelant promotes magic and emphasizes practitioners' innate magical abilities over ability acquired through studying. They have great respect for old families with a history for magical talent and view an individual's command of magic as a measure of his human value. Great sorcerers are considered superior to common magicians while those incapable of using magic are seen as the inferior. Determining if a person is a greater sorcerer than another person is simple: if you defeat someone, you are better than they are. This can be shown either through direct show of strength or plotting and conniving. Unsavoriness goes a long way in proving oneself to the Vycelant; sense of morality is often considered a personality flaw rather than a virtue.

Chrassians are the main inspiration of the Vycelant due to the Chrassian Empire's reputation as powerful magi. The Vycelant is known to adore everything of Chrassian origin and blindly prefer Chrassian methods over modern ones.

The Vycelant is also distasteful towards religion, and while its members are not forbidden from worshipping a deity, very few religious people ever rise to the upper ranks of the Vycelant.

History
The Vycelant was founded in the aftermath of Asegan I's unification of the Zelthynese Empire during the first decades of Fifth Age. The fall of the the last barrow king left Chalice in a constant state of war. The founding of Zelthyn managed to pacify the south, but the north remained contested. Eventually a coalition of magi managed to force the various warlords and nobility to submittance, assuming the throne of north Chalice in the progress. This new government under the leadership of Hamaraz Tevian adopted the name Vycelant, the origin of which is unknown but suspected to be borrowed from Chrassian language.

This new northern nation had been forged with violence and many, especially the nobility, played along only grudgingly. The Vycelant's policies didn't make things any better, as they violently stopped anyone suspected of opposing them. Even some magi saw the Vycelant as undesirable extremists. These rebel magi created ties to the nobility and in the 30th year of Fifth Age, led a successful coup to take over the throne. Although the rebel magi - known as the Council - managed to expel the Vycelant from Chalice, Hamaraz managed to escape with his closest followers.

The Council outlawed the Vycelant in north Chalice and after a decade of hiding, Hamaraz reappeared in the Great Continent. He travelled the westerner nations, urging all magi to join the Vycelant in Hellhammer and signing an agreement with the Order of the Quill to sell the relics the Vycelant would harvest from the ruins of Treteia.

The Vycelant's operations are still centered on Hellhammer and their numbers increased to hundreds, if not thousands.

Relations
Because of the Vycelant's unegalitarian ideology, they are largely considered racist and untrustworthy in the long run, especially by those who shun magi.

The Vycelant has warm and close relations to the Order of the Quill, with which it has had mutually operated for more than fifty years. These relations have cost them the friendship of Naelum, which has banned the Order of the Quill from conducting business there.

Although the Collegial Endeavour and the Vycelant both attract magi, they do not consider each other rivals. The Collegial Endeavour is focused on advancing the theory of magic and studying magic as a science, while the Vycelant is a militaristic organization that expects its members to be able to face dangerous situations rather than skim books. The two factions maintain neutral to friendly relations and it's said that some of the Dust Magi know the upper ranks of Vycelant well and occasionally cooperate with them.