Order of the Salamander
Founded in Lymm in 357 TR by Belisaris Nemastodes
The Order of the Salamander is strongly tied to the worship of Agrik and the Order has strong political connections with the church. While members of the order are technically not clerics they are frequently accorded similar status by members of the Agrikan church and can frequently be found attending high level Agrikan functions. The titles used by the Order of the Salamander are "Warlock" for those of Adept or Magus status and simply "Student" for apprentices or journeymen. The only known school maintained by the order is in Lymm, though individual Warlocks frequently maintain students.
Most members of the order are recruited from the Azeryani nobility though there have been a few exceptions. Most bring with them substantial wealth, some of which is given to the order, and over time the order has become quite wealthy. This wealth is the basis for its political clout within the Azeryani Empire, and it is also used to support Warlocks working outside the empire.
Members of the order are typically fiercely loyal above and beyond their loyalties to empire and family. The order maintains its own political agenda and the Warlocks work constantly to forward this; whenever a Warlock is encountered it can be assumed that he is working on official business. The intent of many of the order's activities are not clear to outsiders and of course no explanations are forthcoming. It is known that Warlocks are currently active in politics both inside and outside the empire but beyond that little of their activities are public. Despite their goals not being obvious it is rare for a Warlock to work incognito, preferring instead to use the order's reputation as a tool. Throughout their history Warlocks have distinguished themselves in battle, using their magic to good effect. More than one Azeryani general has earned his place in the military from his background as a Warlock.
The Order of the Salamander specializes in magic using fire and carefully avoids using other elements. Many of their spells are intended to be used on the open battlefield or in siege warfare. Their use of fire elementals, salamanders, in particular makes them fearsome. All members of the order are tattooed with a flame on the right forearm when they are accepted as apprentices. On achieving journeyman status the left forearm is similarly tattooed. Adepts add an image of a salamander to their chests. Further tattooing is common giving Warlocks an outlandish appearance which adds to their mystique.
Current numbers are not easily estimated as the order is widespread and secretive. 50 Adepts and Magi is a good guess as to the number of senior members with roughly twice that many journeymen and apprentices.
Presence Sorcery Rules
Members of the Order of the Salamander are assumed to have specialized in Fire Magic.
- Vows required:
- Shun Water, Shun Earth, Vow of the Order , Tithe.
- Other Vows Often taken:
- Sacrifice Animal, Sacrifice Human, Celibacy
- Spells
- Animate/Evoke/Produce/Resist/Sense [fire]; Dominate [Salamander], Summon [Salamander], Boost [Salamander]
- Lore Mastery
- Mineral Lore provides 2 Presence
The Order of the Salamander are Fire Specialists, ie they receive the standard
bonus for casting fire spells (those listed above) and the standard penalties
for spells outside the specialty. Only fire can be used in the listed spells.
For instance, Resist Fire would be a specialist spell, but Resist Damage would
not be. All aspects of a given element are within this specialty. For instance,
both Evoke Fire and Evoke Light are within a fire warlock's specialty.
July 16, 2001
This page was last updated on
January 23, 2002
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