The Rising Moons of Taladas

D&D 3e (3.0/3.5) Rules

by Jonesy

Description

During the Third Age and the reign of the last Kingpriests, the Ansalonian Wizards' Conclave began exploring the faraway continent of Taladas. Discovering the primitive state of training in the arcane arts there, the Conclave decided that an organization similar to the Wizards of High Sorcery was needed for everyone's safety. Otherwise, Taladas (and after that Ansalon) might be overrun by poorly skilled and undisciplined mages.

The Conclave, now beginning to have political difficulties with the Kingpriests on the Ansalonian front, decided that quickly establishing an infrastructure for a Taladan Wizards' Conclave was more important than a physical infrastructure akin to their Towers of High Sorcery. The wizards purchased several manors and estates, on which training of several promising Taladan mages began.

When the last Kingpriest had been on the throne for nearly a decade, the Taladan Wizards' Council had been born. The Council was initially governed by former Conclave members, but because of some unexplained reason the Conclave members fell to a wasting sickness and eventually died. The Conclave, which was by now struggling on Ansalon, had no resources to spare and the Council, now a completely Taladan organization, was left to lead itself.

The new leaders of the Council decided to entirely reform the Taladan system. The Council was renamed the Rising Moons, which was divided into the three Moons (the White Moon, Red Moon and Black Moon). The existing training centers based on the various manors and estates were divided between the three Moons. The Rising Moons' leadership itself was based in Southern Hosk in one of the largest estates. Then, as the operation was getting into full swing, the Cataclysm struck.

Now, rewind to the moment right before the original Council leaders, the members of the Ansalonian Conclave, died. The Council, scattered across the new continent, had three wizards in charge of the operation. Each of the wizards had been sent with an assistant, dubbed a Hand. Because of the vastness of the wizards' task of establishing a continent-wide training academy, the Hands (powerful wizards in their own right) were given extensive control over the Council's bureaucrary. This was when Fistandantilus made a proposition to the three leaders.

No one really knows what Fistandantilus was trying to accomplish, or whether he succeeded, but the end result was three dead Council leaders and the dissappearance of their Hands. No one, that is, except the Hands themselves. The Hands, still in charge of the Council's old bureaucratic network, manipulated events from behind the scenes. They formed the Horizon, a secret organization with the three as its leaders (now calling themselves the Views).

The Horizon and its secret network of wizards (the old information retrieval network of the Council, now called the Web) survived the Cataclysm better than any other organization on Taladas, and quickly established an iron grip on the struggling Rising Moons, which soon found itself a puppet organization of the Horizon.

During the early Fifth Age, the Rising Moons adopted a policy of accepting sorcerers into their ranks as well.

Horizon/Rising Moons Organization Chart

The Horizon

Consists of the three "true" leaders of the Taladan wizards (called the White, Red, and Black View).
Has the power to veto or override any decision made by the Moons' leaders.
Decides the Moons' leaders.
Each Horizon leader has one Hand, a person who publicly appears to have been chosen by one of the Moons' leaders as their right hand, but who really monitors each Moons' leader and his actions and decisions, and reports to his View.
Only the three leaders of the Rising Moons know of the existence of the Horizon. Even the Ansalonian Wizards of High Sorcery have no knowledge of them (but some members of the Conclave have been getting suspicious and are trying to infiltrate the Shards).
The Horizon leaves the training and formal control of the wizards on Taladas to the Rising Moons, while working on their own secret agendas.
There is a rumor among the current Rising Moons' leaders that Fistandantilus was once the Black View.

The Hands

The three assistants of the Horizon (called the White, Red and Black Hand).
Decide the Shards.
Publicly are the assistants of the three Moons' leaders.
The Hands replace the Horizon members who selected them once those members resign or die. Traditionally, White Views never retire (as they become old they merely allow more and more control to the White Hand, so most of the time there are in a way two White Views), Red Views resign after their 75th birthday (unless reasons of health force them out sooner), and Black Views end up dead when they cross the desires of their Black Hand.
Each Hand has a slew of operatives known as the White, Red and Black Webs.

The Webs

The White, Red and Black Webs are agents of their respective Hands.
A Web member is called a Strand.
Publicly the Webs are the policing force of the three Rising Moons' leaders.
Accepts all kinds of magic-users into their ranks.

The Rising Moons

Divided into the three Moons.
Rising Moon leaders rarely, if ever, meet Horizon members (and even then the identities of the Views are hidden). The orders they receive normally arrive through the Hands.
The organization that the Wizards of High Sorcery recognize as the controllers of the Taladas wizards.
The public leadership of the Taladas wizards.
The three leaders of the Moons can veto any decision made by other members of the Moons.
The twelve non-leader members, the Shards, mostly spend their time taking care of the bureaucracy of the Rising Moons.
The Shards view themselves as mere administrators and advisors to the Moons leaders, and mostly have no suspicions as to whether the Moons' leaders have any actual power (and on mundane everyday matters the Moons' leaders really are the deciders, as the Views or their Hands would never waste time on trivialities).

The White Moon

Consists of five wizards who publicly represent the leadership of the white Taladan wizards.
One of the five is the formal leader of the Taladas white robes known as The Justice (who is really only a puppet of the White View and his Hand).
The other four are known as White Shards.

The Red Moon

Consists of five wizards who publicly represent the leadership of the red Taladan wizards.
One of the five is the formal leader of the Taladas red robes known as The Balance (who is really only a puppet of the Red View and his Hand).
The other four are known as Red Shards.

The Black Moon

Consists of five wizards who publicly represent the leadership of the black Taladan wizards.
One of the five is the formal leader of the Taladas black robes known as The Control (who is really only a puppet of the Black View and his Hand).
The other four are known as Black Shards.

The Master Wizards

Any wizard who is no longer an apprentice (or doesn't belong to one of the organizations above) is called a Master Wizard.
Many Master Wizards own magic schools.
If a Master Wizard takes a Wizard Apprentice, he has to report it to the Rising Moons (and has to get their approval).
The Master Wizard is your everyday regular Taladan wizard type. The 'normal' people outside the wizardly circles rarely see any ranks used (and apart from the apprentice-wizard axiom wouldn't even know them), and the Rising Moons members are just viewed as senior wizards. Master Wizards working for organizations or Taladan governments use their organizatorial (non-Rising Moons) rank in public.

Wizard Apprentices

Mages being taught by a Master Wizard or studying in a magic school.

Hopefuls

Mages seeking to become a wizard apprentice.

Renegades

Either self-taught mages, or wizards who have been taught by a Master Wizard without the knowledge or approval of the Rising Moons.
While the Rising Moons consider WoHS members on Taladas to be renegades, the WoHS are mostly left alone, as long as the members stay out of the way of Rising Moons business (the Webs are attempting to monitor all WoHS activity on Krynn and are in the process of infiltrating the Conclave).

Fan Ratings

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