Scholars

The Scholars are an organization meant to support Sorellian mages. Originally founded by Ava and Evan Avinus in the wake of the collapse of the Arcane University, the Scholars were intended to find a safe home for mages unwilling or unable to give up their arcane pursuits. The Scholars only became a formalized group when they were already several hundred strong, four years after the disaster. They are open to any who have magical aptitude, or their family members/dependents, although they remain relatively underground for fear of retribution from officials.

The Labyrinth
The Scholars were not initially associated with the Labyrinth at all. They made use of its tunnels and dungeons as roads and places to rest, and Ava in particular took note of its connection to magical sources, but over the years the Scholars were stable enough they could hope for a home on the surface, not in a cave. After Evan drew the Ruin card, however, all that changed, and hope turned to desperation. Evan and Ava broke into the Vestige and altered the Labyrinth so it could, among other things, be guided by mages and shaped into something that suited them.

Since then, the Scholars have called the Labyrinth their home. Scholar HQ is founded near a particularly thick tangle of Labyrinth tunnels, and various bases and waystations have been set up in the tunnels. The Scholars have, at this point, used the Labyrinth as their main mode of transportation for almost a decade. It allows them to move large numbers of people unnoticed by guards or suspicious villagers, and quickly at that.

The effects of the Labyrinth on the rest of the continent, however, have caused a divide within the Scholars. Evan is willing to damn the consequences in pursuit of a home for mages, once and for all--Ava refuses to ignore the risk to the population at large. With Ava ousted first by Valentina and then her brother, those who believe as she do have either gone quiet or defected altogether. Evan's most devoted followers within the Scholars are older mages, those who survived the initial fall of the University and experienced first hand the violence that followed. These mages are powerful in their own right, and together they are a force to be reckoned with.

Organization
The party learned some information on the overall organization of the Scholars from Edor. There are around 5000 Scholars total spread across the continent. They are led by the Queen, the General, and the Dean; there is one state-level leader per city state, a total of 7; there are around 60 relatively evenly distributed county leaders; there are around 350 unit-level leaders, with each unit ranging between 5 and 30 Scholars; and around 4300 scattered Scholars, around 300 of which live in the HQ proper. Scholar presence is lighter in Ysas and Staad and heavier in Hanton and Cole.

Although the Scholars are roughly organized into units, counties, and states, they are not an inherently militaristic group. In recent months, more Scholars have been drafted into combat units, but most of the group works on study, building, exploration, teaching, and overall becoming self sufficient.


 * Leadership
 * Evan Avinus, aka the Dean. Founder and current leader of the Scholars, a dangerously powerful mage and strong proponent of Labyrinth expansion.
 * Ava Avinus, aka the General. Founder and former leader of the Scholars, Ava was banished from the group headquarters and imprisoned for rejecting further use of the Labyrinth. She still commands loyalty, especially among the younger cohort, and all but the more ruthless or desperate Scholars hesitate to write her off completely.
 * Valentina Laurent, aka the Queen. Valentina took a leadership position after Evan drew Ruin, leveraging her supply of resources and social capital to "assist" in decisionmaking within the Scholars.
 * Ranking Members
 * Berinon Writingham. Lieutenant in charge of Headquarters operations. A human male in his 50s, with curled brown hair and blue eyes. He has rough pink skin, stands around six feet tall, and is heavy.
 * Kamien Eleneth. Lieutenant in charge of Staad operations. She is described as a very short female aasimar with red skin, long red hair and red eyes. The party learned her name and description from Edor.
 * There are five other state-level leaders, but the party does not know any specifics about them.
 * Known Members
 * Peter, Dethan, and Bradon. A group of young Scholars the party encountered beneath Vambrace. They were convinced to defect and join Ava, although the party gave them a false location.
 * Edor. Formerly part of the Order of the Seal, Edor joined the Scholars after being assigned to them on reconnaissance. He continues to feed information to the Order when possible at great risk to himself.
 * Thui Pai. A young tiefling initiate the party met during their infiltration of HQ.
 * Hilore. A high elf in charge of the Scholar HQ library.
 * Gith, Duli, and Ashglade. A group of intermediate Scholars in charge of maintaining HQ agriculture.