Augur Order

Augur Order
Order
Origins	City of Regalia

The Augur Order is a more secular organization that flowed out of a pagan faith called the Gilded Order that once existed in Regalia, a prosperity faith, that eventually became a prosperity advancement Guild. The Guild concerns itself chiefly with the enrichment of the Regalian Empire, which can mean a variety of things, in terms of finance, technology, culture or even dominion over other countries or peoples. The Augur Order is generally very pro-war pro-expansion pro-trade and pro-imperialism, while having some unique interpretations of the terms "progress for the Empire", sometimes being accused of even sabotaging the efforts of Regalia's own internal state apparatus and extensions. This however, the Augur Guild Members, would say is a necessity, because Regalia's own organs often battle with its own self interest. The Augur Order Guild Members thus see themselves as some kind of pragmatic balancing chip that keeps things going in the right direction, and apply corrective action when parts of the Empire dive into distractions too much.

Design

Augur Guild membership is very limited, especially in comparison to the other Guild Orders. Firstly, Occult are not welcome in the Augur Order, even God Magic users, or those with just an Affinity. The Augur Order is only for the Mundane, and those who invest in Technology and/or Medicine (and the more intangible commerce). Secondly, the Augur Guild is a primarily Ailor-facing organization, that nonetheless lets in Elves (except Kathar), but distinctly not Sihndar, Yanar, Slizzar, Maraya, or Bralona. Their distaste of Maraya is peculiar, because Maraya generally possess high technological advantages. This is born from the fact that Maraya more often than not have stolen or withheld information from the Guild, and have as such been banned. Finally, Nobles may not be members of the Augur Guild (though Red Family Aristocrats may). Nobles are considered detrimental to the expansion of the Empire by the Guild which favors the meritocracy of commoners who worked their way up. Outside of these restrictions however, all other people and cultures are welcome, so long as they do not have Magical Powers (including Magic from Free Heritage Traits). The Guild primarily aims at economic and technological progress for the Regalian Empire. Expulsion can as such only come when the Guild knows/suspects a member withholding crucial advances or information, or if they are actively working against the interests of the Regalian Empire.

Recommended Jobs

Recommended Jobs is not strictly a required set of Jobs like it is for the Knight Orders, but just a general recommendation towards the players where best to apply this particular Guild Membership in Roleplay.

• This section is meant to have encouraged jobs, but the writer lost inspiration, and so for now, it is empty.

Mechanics

Guild Mechanics facilitate certain interactions that might not normally possible for people outside of Guild membership who do not have the Guild's resources. Guild Mechanics are always Mundane and do not make a Character Occult, and are contingent on being a Guild Member. Some Guilds have special rules which are required for the Mechanic. This means that membership is not contingent on these requirements, but that unlocking the Mechanic is, so that these strict guidelines don't needlessly block membership, but still gate-keep the actual Mechanic behind conforming to a Character design.

Augur Order Mechanics

• Augur Order Members have bought out the upper echelons of other Guild Orders. This means mechanics that can Target people (either as Stat buffs or functions) don't work on Augur Guild Members.
• Augur Order Members can force an injunction on Knight Orders from persecuting/attacking (outside of raids) a specific person, but this injunction only counts for 72 hours, and can only be used once per Target per 2 months.
• Augur Order Members have free reign access to otherwise Noble Only Events, including Assemblies, where they may sit and speak from the Noble/Aristocracy benches, even if they are not registered.
• Augur Order Members, when present for the buying/trading of Divinium and Artifactsparks, can arrange the trade so that the resource is Duplicated, meaning the original group keeps theirs, and the other group gets a new one, too. This does not work on Regenerating Divinium/Artifactsparks. This mechanic cannot be used on Augur Guild Members that are less than 1 Month Old, and attempted use of this on inactive or throwaway characters will be declined. This mechanic has a 1 Month Cooldown.
  • Keep in mind that transfers of this kind must be adequately reported to Staff in a Ticket so the spreadsheets reflect these resources moving around, otherwise it will not be canon and cannot be spent.
  • Augur Order Members cannot transfer an Artifactspark between Artifacts.

History

The Augur Order is one of the more recent Guilds to come into existence in Aloria and owes its creation to two central figures. The first was a woman named Shierra Vatellan, a member of one of the City of Regalia’s oldest families. Dating back to before the Cataclysm, the Vatellans were merchants, focused on what little passed for finances in the Regalian Kingdom. Partly made up of Half-Elves, they survived the turn of power to the Regalian Empire due to their good relations with the Narim and their immediate dedication to the Empire’s goals. However, whispers long rumored about the family connected them to The Gilded Order, and while the family was among the first to convert to Unionism formally, these rumors persisted though they eventually became so often repeated, it was deemed base, uninteresting slander. Shierra came into the world decades after this early period, and while her family was initially closely associated with the reign of Emperor Henri II, his death saw her path in life change considerably. She was educated, as much of a wit as her younger brothers, and with the rise of Henri III and his close confidant Arch Chancellor Nicholas Kade, she worked to rededicate the family to the active expansion of the Regalian Empire. As one family, the results were initially minimal, but their long standing in the capital and years of trade connections saw them expand their base of power. Shierra ultimately married very well, uplifting her family to become a power player bankrolling city improvements and sponsoring trade and exploration missions abroad.

The Guild emerged from this foundation, as it was Shierra’s eldest son, Thomas, who truly transformed his family’s fortunes into something more than a private powerbase. Trained as a diplomat, but with a zealous nationalism also instilled in him from youthful visits abroad to some of the Regalian Empire’s first overseas conquests, Thomas Vatellan chose to form a society of like-minded young members of the Empire from the common classes. While some lower members of the nobility were part of this first class of the Augurs (tertiary sons and daughters), the next selection process did not accept any nobles. Thomas was convinced that their political squabbling was a weakness for the Empire after a family feud between an Augur noble member and other nobles was brought into the Augur Guild’s meeting house causing a great deal of property damage. The Augur Order was further shaped under other descendants of the Vatellan family, but as the years wore on, their sole ownership of the group ended as the organization instead transitioned into more of a council made up of notable members as of 199 AC. This group, first formed in this year, were the ones to start excluding the Occult, though why is uncertain. Some claim that the organization had been infiltrated by members of the Hoterie Guild, or some Mage circle intent on using Augur connections to manipulate events to their liking and this was discovered. Others believe that for all their pro-Imperial stances, the group had secret neo-pagan systems of belief, rejecting even Unionist-based Magic out of some adherence to a dead faith. Whatever the reason, it became their policy, and it remains to this day.

As the decades wore on, the Augur Order would watch with equal delight, and then depression at the ascension of the Empire achieved under its warrior leaders from 207 to 211 AC, and then the chaos that reigned afterward. They were sycophants in the Morgan era of Regalian politics when their brand of mercantile influence and expansion of the Empire was in vogue, but the Order suffered its greatest turn during the Regalian Pessimism. While not wiped out, the Augurs saw their finances hit badly, and the Empire’s overall weakness meant that the group’s activities became less bellicose and grand. They deplored the Regalian Senate as the shining example of noble self-interest, and many began to convert to Regal Culture as the years wore on. When the Pessimism ended, the Augurs came roaring out and were active underneath new leadership, their ranks spared the harm many nobles suffered at the hands of Slizzar and Allar assassins in this era due to their lack of titleage. Since 300 AC, the Augurs have had their fingers in many pies and many plots across the Empire and beyond its borders. While few of their number have originated the many hair-brained schemes of recent nobility, some of them have financially supported these efforts, though they keep out of plots involving clashes between noble families given their aforementioned disdain for that group’s role in affairs of state. Their interest remains the Regalian Empire’s expansion, and as some Regalian noble schemes have involved truly audacious efforts on that front, that is the only reason they support them. Most Augur are keenly aware that Regalia is struggling again though, and are devoting themselves to try and avoid a second Pessimism, which for some of their older members, is a truly terrifying prospect.