Oric War Mages

"To those who follow the proper path, we shall be as invisible as any ghost. Trust that we have your best interests at heart. Trust that we will act only when we must. Trust that we will always look after the needs of our great family, and that we need your aid as much as you need ours.”

Security

The Oric War Mages is a national, non-military organization charged with the safety and security of the whole of Oria. The War Mages acts as a secret police force in Oria. Loosely connected and in constant communication of batkos and the berendey, Oric War Mages are the only military in Oria that has been operating in the shadows since The Mantle War. It should be known that the War Mages serve the people and not the berendey or batkos. 

The Oric War Mages have jurisdiction over punishing those it determines guilty of transgression, and their justice is swift and merciless. There is no court of law. Any Oric citizen could be an agent of the War Mages and, thanks to that, Oria has the perceived lowest crime rate on Beast World. However, the War Mages act only if something threatens society and they use all the arcane and magic within their disposal to eliminate the threats. They are fond of using spells and maintain numerous observers skilled in encoding secret messages across the continent pulled from the population of Oria.

A War Mage

Across Beast World, the prevailing opinion on what a War Mage is is that they are arcane soldiers trained and developed to be effective on their own. Once, a criminal coined them, a perfect union of meat and mind. The War Mage is the staple of the many settlements of Oria. Look around a crowd walking in a busy place in one of the settlements and you might come across one unknowingly. They are shrouded in secret as a tool of a War Mage is its anonymity. 

Some are recruited at adulthood (when a War Mage recognizes talent), whereas others are born into the work. What's unbelievable is that every War Mage knows little about the overall structure of the organization, and one agent might unwittingly report on the suspicious activities of another. It’s up to the high-seated members to sift through all the data to create a clear picture. If a criminal identifies and eliminates an agent of the Oric War Mages, another agent or team in the same area might be called into play.

Tools

The order’s power comes from numerous sources. One is the sheer number of informants at the organization’s disposal. The Queensguard of Allemance estimates that as many as one in three Oric citizens serve as ears of the War Mages. 

The weapons in the order’s arsenal speak to the oric roots of the organization. Oria is known for their love of craftsmanship and their advancements in the arcane, survivorship, and hunting. Over the centuries, the Oric War Mages has developed various offensive & defensive spells and even modified the formulas of known ones. These spells have since traveled throughout the criminal underground toward the universities of the arcane in Arneria. Agents have been developed physically too. Agents have been trained to be self-sufficient in resource-scarce situations. As such, an Oric War Mage is the perfect soldier that wields both the arcane and its body.

Despite the impressive force that is an Oric War Mage, the order’s most formidable weapon might be its reputation. The myth of the order’s omnipotence is greater than the reality, but few people take the chance. Imagine a group of criminals plotting a theft when they hear a ghostly warning: “Abandon this course of action before it is too late.” It could be a spectral assassin waiting to strike; the innkeeper, ready to poison their next round of drinks; or simply an observer, stirring up doubts and fears. Who’s willing to take the risk? Contrary to popular belief, the War Mages aren’t obsessed with killing all wrongdoers. If a crime can be averted by frightening away the would-be culprits, so much the better.