Allarian Organizations

The strict political weave of Allaria makes room for a number of independent groups, sects and factions whose activities, while not directly involved with ruling the kingdom, have a deep effect in Allarian daily life, either openly or from the shadows, be it with or against the Crown.

The Cult of the Elder Moon
A dangerous sect of fanatics that seeks to return the Null to the world, the Cult of the Elder Moon is banned by the crown, but they remain hidden and active in every Allarian City. Their leaders are a cabal of wizards that used to follow the mad Null Queen during the last Null War, and now wish to finish what she started. Mostly they practice dark rituals, Null summonings and sacrifices in their catacombs and safehouses, but their overarching agenda is to bring about a Third Coming of the Null, and they will take any means that they think will bring them nearer this goal.

The Eight Warden Lodges
The armed epitome of Allarian ideals of honor and duty, the Eight Warden Lodges are the most respected organization in the Kingdom. Evolved from early Allai combat schools, the Lodges came to represent the Eight Virtues espoused in the Eliadu, and every Allarian official, qirin rider and fai hunter is required to join one of them. The Lodges maintain a friendly competition among themselves, intended as inspiration to improve themselves constantly. Those that show excellence and unusual dedication to the ideals of their respective order, rise to the ranks of commanders, or even True Wardens.

Genys
Members of the Lodge of Genys are the classic paladins of heroic legend - valiant heroes out to defend the weak. Their dogma espouses both courage to face a threat, and patience to defeat it.

Wardens of Genys see themselves as the protectors of peace and justice in the Realm. Their colors are silver and gold, and their Lodge’s symbolic animal is the lion.

Holiss
The Lodge of Holiss is where the nobles of the Kingdom traditionally study before occupying their positions in the government. Every Dragon King - except for the current queen - was trained in the Holiss school. Although the qirin is the symbol of the Paradian Lodge, the best qirin riders of the Realm come from the Holid.

Holiss wardens are fiery and inspiring, charging into battle with abandon and ready to die at all times. They are taught that the self doesn’t matter and that a life given for the life of others is a good life. The Holiss uniform is red and gold, and their symbol is the hydra.

Kandan
The Kandan is the only warden Lodge without a headquarters. Its members are proudly homeless, living wherever the people will welcome them, or making camp in the wilderness. The tenets of their Lodge are to understand the world and nature, and to fight threats from outside to protect the inside.

Kandan wardens must learn temperance to resist the harsh life on the road,

and bravery to face danger every day. Unsurprisingly, the best fai hunters of the Kingdom are Kandan alumni. Their uniform is green, and their animal is the fox.

Kundi
The Wardens of Kundi, also known as the ‘poor wardens’, are the most ascetic of the Eight Lodges. Their sanctums are nearly bare, and they use the very minimum to feed and house themselves. The only material possession the kundi value is their weapon - everything else is luxury.

The values of the Kundi Lodge are self-control and charity. They are taught to give everything they have to everyone else, and always maintain calm in the face of conflict. The Kundi uniform is drab brown, and their animal is the turtle.

Paidian
The Paidian is the most respected of the Eight Lodges, and the one most apprentices aspire to belong to, although well-taught wardens know that no Lodge is above the others.

The Paidian Lodge represents the virtues of truth and faith, of being on the right path. Its wardens are known for being loud and unequivocal in their thoughts, and for never wavering from their beliefs. Their uniform is golden and white, and their symbol is the qirin itself.

Pondu
The wardens of pondu are the most agreeable of all the orders, treating everyone - humans, nobles, commoners, elves, allai - as their equals. Their order believes in respect as a tool for happiness.

Pondu wardens bow their heads to their enemies and apologize for killing even their enemies. Their uniform is blue and gold, and their symbolic animal is the dog.

Wandi
The Wardens of Wandi are taught loyalty and dedication above all virtues. A Wandi trainee must meditate constantly and always try to understand the meaning of things, obeying orders while pondering on their purpose. Everything happens for a reason, and the role of a warden is not to question the happening, but to understand the reason.

Wandi wardens are always helpful and solicitous, as giving aid to others is the greatest path to learning. Their uniform is gold and purple, and their symbol animal is the phoenix.

Zheneon
The fearsome Zheneon is the most warlike of the Eight Lodges, and its ranks include the strongest and deadliest soldiers of the Realm. However, the tenets of the order are not violence or battle, but integrity and humility. Their combat abilities are just a byproduct of spending almost no time in politics or diplomacy, and all in training and self-improvement.

Zheneon wardens are taught to take orders, not to give them, and yet many of the greatest generals of the Realm come from their ranks. Their colors are black and gold, and their animal is the tiger.

The Grand Guild of Allaria
The largest and best-known organization of Allaria is not a warden Lodge, a dreamshaper school, or even Allai. It’s the greatest manufacturing consortium in Valerna, run and maintained by Godao Golden Gnomes, not only in Allaria but all across the continent. It is the Allarian Grand Guild.

The Guild has charters and representatives in every Allarian city, and maintains embassies and business deals in every Realm - even Tyveria and Nahuac. There’s no corner of Valerna outside the Guild’s reach, and few trade routes that remain free of its influence. The Grand Guild will deal with pirates and smugglers in the same terms as it deals with kings and emperors, and it manages wholesale international exports of its machines and raw materials as easily as it reaches small corner shops in the lowliest slums or the most remote villages.

The Guild is run by the Grand Gathering - a group of inventors, all Godao, that have roughly equal stakes in Guild business. The Grand Gathering’s representative in the Allarian government is Great Golden Ettano Dap, whose tenure has benefitted both the Guild’s product line and the Kingdom’s economy - in that order of priority.

The Shrouded School
Both a highly exclusive cabal and a hidden magic academy, the Shrouded School admits only the greatest arcane minds of Allaria, and keeps its membership in the strictest confidence, save for the High Dreamshaper of the kingdom, who traditionally joins the cabal as part of their duties. Other than that, nobody knows which or how many people belong to the Shrouded School, but their number certainly includes the greatest wizards of Allaria.

Although its existence is public knowledge, it has never been officially confirmed, and the Shrouded School remains a secret association in name if not in practice.

While officially it remains apart from politics, the Shrouded School has a very active hand in the government of Allaria, and the influence of its arcane information network and its dreamshaper spies has been felt in the Realm’s foreign relations and inner policies for centuries.

The Jade Claws
One of the most hated organizations in Allaria, the Jade Claws are a vast criminal empire that stays off the great cities and limits its activities to rural areas. There, they extort peasants, burn villages, or co-opt wide swaths of land to produce illegal crops, stash smuggled cargo or establish assassin training centers.

The Jade Claws openly defy the government, and consider themselves a freedom force rather than a criminal band. Although their leadership is secret, they are most surely run by silver elves, with a tradition of hatred of the Allai and defiance of the law that dates back to the worst years of Ellari oppression. But even today, the Jade Claws remain bloodthirsty and relentless, and their methods so vicious and appalling that even the other gangs and Undercurrent members despise and oppose them at every turn.

The Merry Ward Society
The Merry Ward is the unofficial Allarian adventurers’ guild. While it has no members roster, fees or scheduled activities, it maintains an unwritten charter, mostly based on the Eliadu itself but interpreted to allow for thrill-seeking or mercenary work. The Merry Ward strives to be an honorable organization, even though it is mostly active in the Undercurrent - for that’s where adventure is, and where military service isn’t.

While the Merry Ward holds no meetings, all of its members have at least heard of each other. In fact, being a renowned adventurer seems to be the main requisite to belong to the Society. Other than that, the Merry Ward are only expected to follow a simple moral code: behave with honor, even if you live outside respectable society.

The Undercurrent Clans
To protect themselves from the law, but also to prevent open turf wars and rampant murder, the crime families of Allaria have formed a single organization - albeit a divided one, rife with inner conflict and backstabbing. This organization, known simply as the Undercurrent Clans, manages all organized crime of the Allarian underworld.

The Undercurrent Clans make sure that inter-family conflicts are resolved with honor, that civilians are not affected to a degree that harms the families’ business, and that the government does not interfere with the clans’ activities. The other purpose of this organization is to prevent a single crime family from becoming all-powerful in the Allarian underworld, as the Crimson Crow managed to do in Tyveria.

The Weepers
The Ellari Liberation Militia (ELM), nicknamed ‘The Weepers’ for their blood-curdling screams when entering combat and their signature willow arrows, have been a thorn on the Kingdom’s side since the times of Zai Qan. While the ELM has changed names, memberships and methods across the centuries, it remains the greatest focus of civil unrest in otherwise law-abiding Allaria.

Elf rebel groups first appeared after Zai Qan passed the Edict that curtailed all unsanctioned magical activity in the Kingdom, and sentenced the Ellari to submit to the Dreamless Treatment. These first rebels had little organization and less purpose, just wanting to strike back at the authorities in any way they could. Over the centuries, they have become almost a nation unto themselves - a nation in permanent resistance against Allai control, and permanently hidden in the Fai Woods.

It is rumored that at some point the Weepers struck a deal with the Dream Elves, and that both factions help each other remain hidden in the woods and lure Allai soldiers to their death - or worse.