The '''Knights Arcana''' (KA) are an elite group of [[Eternals]], largely made up of members of that civilization's warrior and [[Positions in Eternal Society|Tau]] castes. The KA is considered an honorary organization, that is, once a member is admitted, he has no real duties other than to be present at the [[#The Gathering|Gathering]], and to respond if called upon by the [[#Membership|Grandmaster]] or the [[Mishnu|Alpha]]. As a result, members of the Knights Arcana, while including some of the most powerful warriors in Eternal society; are rarely used to their fullest potential. __TOC__ == History == Founded after the First Void War catalogued by the Eternals, the Knights Arcana are one of the oldest institutions in Eternal society. The Eternals, though some of the most powerful beings in the Multiverse hand-picked by the Creator; were nevertheless unprepared and poorly trained and equipped to deal with the Void, and losses were heavy. The KA was to be an organization or guild meant to give these warriors the ability to hone their skills in combat against one another, and for magicians and warriors to train each other. The Knights Arcana were to answer first to their Grandmaster, then to the Alpha, and were not beholden to any of the other members of the High Council. This decision was vigorously opposed by a number of the High Council members at the time, but it was not rescinded. The KA, then, had a unique purpose-- to dispose of traitors and [[Vagrants]] within the High Council itself. It was exercised on a few rare occasions in Eternal history, but only to capture Epsilons or minor functionaries. Mishnu, the current Alpha, has never summoned the Knights Arcana; the two times she thought to do so, to capture [[Cronimus]] and later to apprehend [[Miracle]], [[Fabian]] dissuaded her. The organization has played a relatively small direct role in the history of the Multiverse, but its usefulness-- allowing the soldiers of the Eternals to constantly test themselves and prepare to fight [[the Void]] or their other enemies-- cannot be overstated. Currently, as of the Sixth Void War launched by [[King Vire Agraumar|Vire]], the Knights Arcana is undermanned, and the current Grandmaster is considering increasing the number of members allowed, as the loss in population currently caps the order at one thousand members. == The Gathering == The only occasion in which every member of the Knights Arcana is required to attend, a '''Gathering''' takes place every ten cycles, held in the vast guildhall of the Knights Arcana headquarters. During this ceremony, the oldest non-ranked member of the organization is thanked and dismissed, though allowed to return and attempt to re-enter the order if he wishes; and one other hopeful is admitted. Which Eternals are chosen is a decision made by all the ranked members, following the results of a short tournament of sorts in which the candidates are matched up against each other. Testing always begins the cycle before a Gathering, with the exact nature of the challenges-- such as an elimination-based tournament, or a series of group matches against ranked members, and so on-- stated at the beginning. They end several days before that Gathering, so that new members have a chance to recover if needed. The Knights Arcana were meant to number one for every thousand Eternals, rounded to the nearest thousand; this number was to be adjusted every ten Gatherings (thus, every 100 cycles). There were always more Eternals who wished to join than were allowed to, and this move was intentional; the logic of the original founders was to have the Eternal hopefuls train in the time in between Gatherings by themselves, so that the entire society would be prepared to fight, though for different reasons. The best warriors, then, are those that are chosen during the Gathering; those who fail often redouble their efforts to try again. As the KA was meant for warriors and magicians to combine their skills, special attention is paid to those who attempt to master both before and during a Gathering. Pure magic-users are admitted fairly often, however, as many spells can artificially infuse a caster with physical power; but warriors unable to use magic are far less common; only a few dozen, at most, at any one time. The most famous member of the Knights Arcana unskilled with magic is [[Amondi Carwen]], Muse of Battle. Skilled magicians are likewise becoming more rare in the organization as more and more warriors begin to use both spiritual energy as well as magic, a combination that can make one far more effective than a typical sorcerer. They instead tend to focus their training at the Academy. Rumor has it that [[Yuo]] is planning to form an elite organization herself to offer an alternative to the Knights Arcana, but she denies it. == Membership == The leaders of the Knights Arcana are called the "Tenth Circle," and consist of those with "rank," either within the organization itself, or as part of the High Council. There are seven members of the 10th Circle, not including other High Council members besides the Regent, if any; the positions are as follows: '''Grandmaster''' (Lorence Senares): A Dark One, a humanoid skilled with supernatural abilities toward stealth, with fiendish blood; Senares is an intimidating figure, despite his slight build. He uses a double nagimaki-- a curved katana-like blade with an exceptionally long handle-- capable of splitting apart as his weapons, and tempers his attacks with spells that boost his speed, offer tremendous strength, and make him unseen, even to those capable of piercing illusions. Senares has been the Grandmaster for some twelve million years, and in that time has also mastered the power of using "Incarnum"-- the Essence of creatures, living or dead, lingering throughout the Multiverse-- to craft weapons that have an unsurpassed ability to bond with a specific wielder's Essence. He makes few of these weapons, and only to those within the KA that have caught his attention. Amondi's sword, Malice, is a creation he is particularly fond of. He also makes the new axelike "Coda Clefs" used by more modern Vicers. '''Regent''' ([[Fabian]] the Beta): The highest-ranked member of the High Council who is also a member of the Knights Arcana is said to be the Regent. He, rather than the Grandmaster, has the controlling vote in decisions taken against the High Council, though it only matters in the case of a tie. '''Knight-Captain''' (Romath Taikano): This position reflects the member of the Knights Arcana with specialization in warfare and tactics; in terms of power, the Knight-Captain is second only to the Grandmaster. Romath is a half-Nephilim, a giant nearly twice the size of a human. Romath boosts his tremendous strength with both magic and ki power, and wields a "fullblade," a twenty-foot-long "violet platinum" (an alloy of platinum and adamantine) greatsword. This sword was made by the previous Grandmaster, and can conduct magical energy to fire blasts of power at nearly limitless range. '''Arch Knight''': The member of the Knights Arcana who is thought to have the greatest proficiency in swordplay and physical combat, and thus is the member chosen to supervise combat training in the organization. The 10th Circle has never unanimously chosen an Arch Knight; the closest was Amondi Carwen (the current Archmage opposed her), who resigned upon being chosen as the Muse of Battle. '''Archmage''' (Viati Halgaien): The member of the Knights Arcana said to be the most powerful magic-user, and thus the member chosen to lead the organization's members in learning the arcane arts. Viati is a demigoddess, who looks in all ways as an exotically attractive blue-skinned human; the only survivor of a Core universe consumed by the Void; and has been an Eternal for nearly forty million years. Viati joined the KA after the order suffered many losses in the Third Void War, but was not chosen as Archmage until recently, as her specializations-- divination and conjuration-- were not seen as useful to the organization. She got a great deal of recognition when she developed the "Creation" subschool of conjuration, which used calling magic to shape Creation energy, thus bypassing most Antimagic spells entirely. She also makes bonded weapons, though her speciality is with armor; and in the latter area she is more skilled than Senares. She is a friend of [[Lenna Leamonde]], also an accomplished sorceress; and has been encouraging her friend to join the organization, thus far without success. '''Magister''': The member of the Knights Arcana assigned to record their histories and teach its members philosophy and abstract magical arts. [[Yuo]], though not a member, has spoken as Magister on multiple occasions, especially when Etheric magic was only just being considered as a source of magical energy. The Magister must be able to bond items and symbiotes-- not necessarily weapons or armor-- to members' Essence effectively. '''High Inquisitor''': The member of the Knights Arcana directed to examine both members of the order, as well as the High Council, for signs of treachery, heresy against the teachings of the Creator, and so on. The Inquisitor is always an expert in divination magic, as well as capable in combat. Due to the obvious influence of this position, a High Inquisitor can only be selected after a unanimous vote by the 10th Circle. The Inquisitor is directly subservient to the Alpha and the Epsilon of Investigations, who provides a check to his power. The Inquisitor has limited legal authority; his primary advantage is that information he extracts magically is not subject to the normal due process of law. Unlike the other ranked members in the 10th Circle, an Inquisitor may be replaced before he resigns or dies, if he is deemed to be abusing his position or is simply not performing as he should. The only other ranked members of the Knights Arcana who are not part of the 10th Circle are Amondi Carwen, due to her position as Muse of Battle, and [[Aneyce Jana]], Epsilon of Education to Mishnu. The unranked members of the Knights Arcana are arranged by length of service to the organization in "circles" of one-tenth the Order's total number (or, now, one hundred members each), from the Least Circle (0) to the Ninth. Jokes about these increasing positions corresponding the Circles of Hell are not uncommon. The top ten members of the 9th Circle are bestowed with bonded weapons made by Senares, Viati, or the Magister; they are allowed to keep them when they leave the order. Many disputes erupt among newer members of the order, especially between the "new" members of the warrior caste, who tend to use ki and other forms of spiritual energy; and the "traditionalists," frequently older members who use only physical power and magic. These arguments are rarely violent, though they do lead to frequent sparring matches between proponents of both sides... a fact that the leaders of the order approve of. Following Miracle's recent attack on Eternal City, the spirit-using newcomers tend to think of themselves as following Miracle's style, while their rivals prefer to emulate Fabian, Romath, or other figures. Indirectly (or not), such posturing tends to discourage female recruits; they are volunteering to test in fewer numbers every Gathering. The Knights Arcana have strong ties to "mysteries," powerful extraplanar creatures and lesser gods. (It is rumored that Senares, and indeed every Grandmaster, have actually been Infernal spies, but no evidence corroborates this theory.) Most Eternals respect them and many warriors and magicians wish to possess the prestige the organization offers, as well as access to their vast-- and secret-- libraries and stores of knowledge, rumored to exceed even that of the Academy of Magic. Due to their strict loyalty only to the Alpha, and the secrets held by their leaders; many view them with distrust as well as envy. It is unknown what impact the order will have on the future of the Multiverse.