Magical Factions (Dominaria Supplement)
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The Red Tower of Andor[edit]
Astride the famed cliffs of Andor sits the campus of the Red Tower. The Red Tower was formed as a result of the Desolation Accords following the Flood Wars, as the guardian of the Southern Coast and the Bay of Sarnia. Its power has waxed and waned since then, and for 200 years during the Third Age the Tower lay an occasionally abandoned ruin, but at the dawn of the Fourth Age the Red Tower is a powerful actor on the southern stage. When Jared the Ætherborn came to power on the Lion Throne, he revitalized the tired Guild and it has flourished under his son to the present day. In 80 FA wizards and their warders from the Red Tower serve all across the West, helping the armies of the Alliance and Coalition root out the last of the Warlords and their forces. The Red Tower also has wizards spread across the Sea of Swords, making an effort to rewrite the gazetteers and almanacs on the area and seriously explore the Najiki Archipelago.
The Desolation Accords formed a network of mages guilds out of the ruins of those that had gone before. After the Flood Wars, the remaining wizards of Dominaria organized into guilds by region, and the Red Tower became one of the Shields of the South. Over the centuries thereafter, the Red Tower assumed many of the roles of the White tower of Whitebridge that had gone before it then faded into a quiet yet powerful obscurity as the world stabilized and governments returned to form. The Red Tower ammased a prodigious library and artifactorium and played host to a sucession of powerful Dragon Rider cults until the formation of the White Swords, when the tower became the southern base for the new organization. This was the zenith of their power: at least half a dozen dragons rested in the hold on any given day, the 14 ships of the Red Fleet known across the Sea of Swords, and the colleges and libraries were expanded to their present sprawl. The Red Tower took a hit during the First Campaign of the Wandering One, but really went into freefall during the Second Campaign - especially after the Battle of Dragonfall. The original Red Tower's last Archmage, and their last cadre of graduated mages, died late in that war at the Battle of Actarun.
The Tower was manned, and the schools sputtered along, for a decade or so after the war; they were artificially kept afloat by the Tower's name and by money from friendly governments. Eventually however, the Torre delli Occulus in Syracuse took over the Red Tower's range and what students remained either left or travelled to Syracuse. This began the roughly 300 year period where the Red Tower Guild ceased to exist. For the first 100 years, the tower changed hands several times: early on it served as an Arcadian outpost, but then they abandoned it and a large bandit faction moved in. The bandit faction grew in strength and the Principality of Andoria briefely flourished as a trade and pirate state ruled from the Tower. The Principality failed during its first sucession and then the tower lay abandoned again. Glacan of Athon took the tower next, and used it as a base of operations for his large mercenary army. They would be the last tenants of the tower, abandoning it after 60 years.
For another 100 years or so, the tower and its campus endured. Plants overgrew much of it and vagrants and bandits moved in and out. The Tower would reform itself during the Third Campaign of the Wandering One, as several Archmages looked to distance themselves from the Mages Council's growing power in the Centrality. The Red Tower and it's campus were cleared and then laboriously rebuilt. The Dragonhold was briefely reopened, but Lamyra Sunscale and her two hatchlings died fighting with the Arcadian army during the Third Campaign. The ship's quays were cleared of the old and rotten ships and the new guild commissioned several merchantmen to supply them and to be their eyes, ears, and means of conveyance. The Red Tower was a modest guild of around 70 wizards and apprentices when the Purge happened. The guild survived but did not recover fully until Jared the Ætherborn came to power and spent considerable money and knowledge revitalizing the Guild.
The Red Tower's Campus comprises three main parts: the tower and surrounding buildings, the dragonhold, and the ship quays in the limestone caves at sea level. The Tower itself is a tall spike of red granite, shining in the sunrise and glimmering in the sunset. Along with the five smaller surrounding towers, it is one of the most beautiful sites along the southern coast. The campus, which now sports a tall white ring wall, comprises several colleges, a library, an artifactorium, and expansive dormitories still not close to fully utilized. The dragonhold lies in disrepair, but has been cleared and cleaned for use by Vargash the storm and his rider, Johnlammen the Bard. The two, along with Sean Stormborn, frequent the tower and maintian a close relationship with the Guild. The ships quays see steady traffic - mostly ships from the Torre delli Occulus in Syracuse or the Guilds of Beldron, although a half dozen of the Guild's trade ships ply the southern seas.
Today the Guild is a growing force in the South and one of several guilds wizards refer to as the Salerian Sect for their close ties to the floating city. The Guild has roughly 150 wizards and apprentices, although most of the graduated wizards are afield across Dominaria in the wake of the Dragon's War. A 2,000 man Red Guard patrolls the walls and provides warders for the mages of the Guild.
Area of Influence: The Southern Coast from old Sarnia to Delphi, and north to Ak'kritaar
Base of Operations: The Red Tower and surrounding campus
Leadership Style: Grand Archmage and council of archmages by school
Patron Deity: None
Symbol: ????
Note: Although many believe that the guild is the the "Crown Cadre" of Andor, they actually have no formal connection to the Lion Throne. Archmage Reginald the Wise serves as advisor to the crown, but only as a courtesy.
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