New clan!

[Gypsy]

Isn;t this giving mages too much power? they are supposed to be the bane of society. Second only to elves and rinthis.

That isn't really how the society of Allanak works.

Actually in the Allanak magickers are treated very poorly, they are considered socially to be below even slaves. Allanak may support them by offering the gemmed a faction of the city to exist in but the hate is still there, the bitterness, the fear, all of that.

I am going to agree with jmordetsky.

[spawnloser]

I dunno, Gypsy.  Even magickers are people, whereas slaves are basically considered objects.  Objects have no social standing of their own.

[Larrath]

A gemmer in Allanak has, officially the same legal standing as a regular commoner.

This is the trade-off; a magicker that comes to the Allanaki Templarate and requests a gem is granted the few basic rights of an ordinary citizen, most notably the right to live and the right to work.

I think this clan is an absolutely excellent idea.  Woo!

[Maybe42or54]

I just have a problem in that it is a Council of Mages. Sounds too organized and advanced. Anyone else share my feeling?

[Morfeus]

+ wouldn't they just all start plotting to remove their gems?

I don't know anything about the clan but what is in docs... but I don't see any reason why would they. There is written they serve the Templarate and so on, no? I would think that they wear their gems with pride.

Oh, and I love the idea. I am looking forward to learn more about it IG.

[bardbard#4]

I just have a problem in that it is a Council of Mages. Sounds too organized and advanced. Anyone else share my feeling?

I just think the name is corny.  No offense to the staff.

[mansa]

It's a corny name, almost as bad as The Thief's Union.  NOW that's a horrible name.


And, I'm glad this is actually going on.  Magickers in Allanak always had some sort of hierchary in the Temples.  I'm glad that this actually became coded, as it is now something that can be reached and grasped for the everyday player, rather than just the players 'in the know'.

Because Armageddon is full of things that can make or break your influence, as long as you are 'in the know'.  I'm glad this is now reachable for the players.  Yay.

[Marauder Moe]

Yeah, I don't think this is something new, just something new to PCs.  I, for one, think this is going to be awesome.

[WarriorPoet]

This is, in my opinion, the best thing to happen to the mud in quite some time.

If you've ever played a gemmed, you probably know it can be one of the most painfully boring roles ever. Few opportunities for employment, rarely anything popping within the Temples themselves. I believe it was stated that something like 9/10 gemmed suicide or retire. That sucks and this little council can only help us.

OOC speculation about the powers and motives of the Council means little to nothing, especially since no one except the Immortals involved know anything about it. Let it ride awhile before condemning it.

-WP

[Quirk]

Isn;t this giving mages too much power? they are supposed to be the bane of society. Second only to elves and rinthis.

That isn't really how the society of Allanak works.

Actually in the Allanak magickers are treated very poorly, they are considered socially to be below even slaves. Allanak may support them by offering the gemmed a faction of the city to exist in but the hate is still there, the bitterness, the fear, all of that.

I am going to agree with jmordetsky.

If you take a look at this table here, you'll note that slaves of the templarate are actually more highly ranked socially than commoners are. So, while technically you're correct, they're no worse off than the other commoners.
http://www.armageddon.org/general/ranktable.html

Socially, mages are considered roughly equivalent to a trigger-happy gun nut packing an Uzi. People are very nice and very polite to their faces, but they don't get invited to many dinner parties.

[jmordetsky]

Isn;t this giving mages too much power? they are supposed to be the bane of society. Second only to elves and rinthis.

That isn't really how the society of Allanak works.

Actually in the Allanak magickers are treated very poorly, they are considered socially to be below even slaves. Allanak may support them by offering the gemmed a faction of the city to exist in but the hate is still there, the bitterness, the fear, all of that.

I am going to agree with jmordetsky.

If you take a look at this table here, you'll note that slaves of the templarate are actually more highly ranked socially than commoners are. So, while technically you're correct, they're no worse off than the other commoners.
http://www.armageddon.org/general/ranktable.html

Socially, mages are considered roughly equivalent to a trigger-happy gun nut packing an Uzi. People are very nice and very polite to their faces, but they don't get invited to many dinner parties.

I agree with you here. I guess my comment at this point is that I don't like it. And by it I mean affording social status to mages. I never liked that mages in house oash enjoyed such high social status, seems wrong to me. I've always considered mages like x-men mutants, people just have a blind fearful hatred of them. Templarate and Nobility included, at least on the surface. I always felt that if templars and nobles were viewed has giving out mage hugs the populace would go beserk. I never like to see mages treated the way high ranked wyverns are. They should be persecuted at every turn.

I mean, most characters I play feel that mages are so cursed that to go near them would curse you, and somehow you would become afflicted by their witchery.

I've always viewed mages as untouchable.

THAT SAID - I've been thinking about this council and I don't think it's a bad idea. First off as I'm sure it's been stated, it gives gemmed pc's a clan option aside from oash, and the less gemmed in a noble house the better (gah, i hate gemmed noble servants).

However, I think it's the name that getting to me. It sounds regal and important, and rings of bearded white mages with pointed hats sitting around discussing the finer points of magic in their arcane university. (oh yes, I did just say that).

If this organization is gritty enough it could work. I mean, it's needs to avoid being what I described above. Even beggars and pickpockets can have a king who wields some hidden influence over politics, it just the style that concerns me.

Maybe if we called something like the Inner Sanctum of Temples or The Circle of Elements or something that rang more mysterious or scary.

The name just rings harry potter to me.

[jmordetsky]

Mansa and WP sum it up for me.

But change the name to something more armish, scary, mysterious and cool.

I'll post back with some other suggestions.

[Twilight]

Without anything to go on at all, I'd think it would be more like a mercenary organization for magickers than anything else.  But we'll all have to just wait and see!

[facehugger]

I just have a problem in that it is a Council of Mages. Sounds too organized and advanced. Anyone else share my feeling?

Agreed. I cannot imagine how the powers that be in Nak would possibly allow such a thing.

[Marauder Moe]

I just have a problem in that it is a Council of Mages. Sounds too organized and advanced. Anyone else share my feeling?

Agreed. I cannot imagine how the powers that be in Nak would possibly allow such a thing.

On the other hand, would they really care if the Council never really advertises themselves to the public?  Just because it's an official clan doesn't mean that suddenly every Grebber Amos has heard of them.  Hell, maybe not even every Gemmer Malik has heard of them either.

[mansa]

I just have a problem in that it is a Council of Mages. Sounds too organized and advanced. Anyone else share my feeling?

Agreed. I cannot imagine how the powers that be in Nak would possibly allow such a thing.

See, the thing is that something like this ALREADY EXISTED in game, but only the people in the know KNEW about it...

So now, it is offical and everyday joes can know about it.

[rufus]

One of these in Tuluk would be a perfect honey pot.

[FiveDisgruntledMonkeysWit]

I don't think this gives mages too much "power" at all. Sure, the name sounds official, but the way it's described, it sounds like nothing more than a magickal version of the T'zai Byn.
Of course, I say "nothing more" from an IC perspective. From an OOC perspective, this is a breath of fresh air for those poor, neglected magickers.

[Agent_137]

i'm with the monkeys.

I'm not seeing how this is any more than an attempt by the templarate to get the mages more organized for their own use.

It's not as if the meetings of this group will be secret.

And if they are, well, the mages could put together secret meetings anyway.

So this doesn't really give them all that much more power ICly, hell, it'll end up putting them in harms way far more often. Which is good from all perspectives.

[amish overlord]

Isn;t this giving mages too much power? they are supposed to be the bane of society. Second only to elves and rinthis.

That isn't really how the society of Allanak works.

Actually in the Allanak magickers are treated very poorly, they are considered socially to be below even slaves. Allanak may support them by offering the gemmed a faction of the city to exist in but the hate is still there, the bitterness, the fear, all of that.

I am going to agree with jmordetsky.

I would not say they are treated less than slaves. I would say a unique position. Not slave nor commoner. They can be employed by two organizations in allanak, oash and the templarate(though technicall just getting the gem amkes "employed" by the templars) Remember screwing with a gemmed who has powerful friends, minus the fact they can suck out your soul and such themselves, can be a bad idea. So treating them like a slave might get bad things to happen. Treating them like your least favorite uncle and giving them dirtylooks is perfectly acceptable, assuming not frighten they will fly through your window to eat your life essence for doing so.

Amish Overlord  

[Cale_Knight]

Gemmers are slaves, essentially. They're slaves of the templarate.

Now, being a slave doesn't automatically put you on the lowest rung of 'nakki society. The social chart is wonky in plenty of respects and that's one of them.

A slave's place in the social strata depends entirely on his owner. Some noble houses have slaves in positions of far more power than most commoners will ever dream of.

Same goes for gemmers. An "unafilliated" 'rinthi gemmer might be looked down on as dirt, but an Advisor in house Oash is going to wield plenty of clout.

All of this is colored by the general distrust of magick, of course, but that's a lot different than saying every single magicker is lower than dirt.

[jstorrie]

The legal position of gemmed mages is very different from that of slaves. I'd strongly recommend against conflating the two.

[Gawynn]

I like this idea, if only because it gives me some idea of what I could consider as a magicker.

I've always avoided the role because I've never played one, even though I've wanted to, but I didn't want to spend the whole time either on the run, bored, and/or unsure of what to do as a loner, at least until I had some idea of what I was doing. Once I have some general idea, then I'd feel more comfortable that way. Since they're a karma class, I didn't want to look like a complete doofus. This -sounds- like a good opportunity to me. If any of that makes sense.

[Seneschal]

Change the name to The Circle. Sounds cooler to me.
But in overall, I think this is a great idea. Like someone said, there must have been some kind of organization for gemmed mages before, now it's just been brought to players' attention.

[FightClub]

You all just fail to read the fine print in there.  Mudsex, that's what the Council is all about, no politics, no plotting to remove gems, just plain hard mudsexing in a controlled environment where the imms have a 24/7 snoop filter on.