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The Fraternity of the Aether is a university dedicated to the study of a mystical force called aether. Its residents, called Aetherwrights, possess the secret of advanced aether technology. Sailing the skies in the Isle-Ship Emina, they have declared independence from all governments and formed a technocratic enclave where knowledge is power.
A Forbidden Secret Society
Founded at the Royal University of Las Colinas in 425 AC, the Fraternity began as a secret club for scholars interested in the occult and paranormal. Chief among subjects that interested them was aether, a mysterious form of power in the heavens above the Thirteen Lands. Aetheric phenomena like auroras and windstorms were believed by mainstream thinkers to be forms of divine judgment. However, the Fraternity believed that aether was like gravity and electromagnetism, a natural force that could be understood and harnessed.
At the time, aetherworking was considered dangerous witchcraft by the Church and the members of the Fraternity were in jeopardy if anyone found out. Thus they created an elaborate system of information compartmentalization and obfuscation. Their research materials were heavily encrypted using occult terms and nonsense symbols. Only initiates who rose in rank by proving themselves could learn the secret codes used by the inner circle and understand the true purpose of the club.
Over time, the Fraternity members realized that aether technology had immense potential and could potentially change the world forever. They clashed with each other over how their research should be used: For personal gain? In service of the King? Released to the masses? These divides culminated in the bloody White Night of 486 AC, an internal feud gone terribly wrong, in which almost the entire leadership of the Fraternity was killed and the existence of the Fraternity was exposed to the outside world.
Fleeing persecution, the remaining Aetherwrights escaped to the tiny Isle of Emina, which they severed from the Thirteen Lands and converted into a flying platform out of the Empire’s reach — the Isle-Ship Emina. The modern Fraternity is effectively an independent institution which has cut ties with the Royal University, the Domenican Empire, and indeed the entirety of the Thirteen Lands. The current Grand Master, Soraya di Viconi, believes that the art of aetherworking must be kept secret from outsiders so that it will never be abused for power or become part of another tragedy.
The Isle-Ship Emina
Emina is a small but not inconsiderable landmass that has been lifted two kilometers into the air with giant aether turbines. It is the most advanced technological marvel in the Thirteen Lands, and it is also a completely ridiculous bodge that has no right to work as well as it does.
Glowing pipes pump mysterious gases from brick furnaces into bronze engines, which drive labyrinthine assemblies of gears, belts, screws, and scaffolding. Where possible, glass panes or wood panels have been bolted on top to keep things from getting caught in the machinery. Elsewhere, the guts of Emina spill into its living quarters, offering a glimpse into the workings of an incomprehensibly massive machine.
Because of the tight limitations of a relatively small crew living in the sky, every aspect of life on the Isle-Ship is automated. Millet is grown indoors with incandescent lamps, then ground in giant threshers and dissolved in vats to make porridge. Clockwork arms scoop clouds out of the sky and spin them into cotton to make blankets and water filters. Even commodities like iron and salt can be produced through chemical processes, if one is privy to the secret knowledge of the Fraternity.
Life on Emina has not quite had all the kinks worked out yet. Sometimes the water pipes burst. Sometimes insects get stuck in the clockwork. Sometimes one gets sick of eating the same soup every day and misses the taste of real Almorian beef. But as far as the Fraternity is concerned, there is no problem that a new invention or a new application of aether cannot solve… eventually.
The Pyramid of Truth
The Fraternity adheres to a strict hierarchy that grew out of its secret-society beginnings. On principle, it is a meritocratic system in which each individual rises to their appropriate station. In practice, it can be a nepotistic caste system that elevates the privileged in-group at the expense of everyone else.
Newcomers to the Fraternity are the lowest of the low. Treated like dirt by other Aetherwrights, they are forced to sweep the chimneys, oil the gears, and scrub the floors. The lucky few who display loyalty and talent become Neophytes, Initiates, Journeymen, Seekers, Locutors, and so on, in an ever-expanding list of colorfully named ranks. Each promotion grants more privileges, more respect, and — most crucially — another clue towards the closely guarded secret of aetherworking.
The inner circle, consisting of the Grand Master and the twelve Arch-Magisters, are the only Aetherwrights who possess complete knowledge of the field of aether science. These rarefied few are the only members of the Fraternity with direct access to Emina’s aether infrastructure. Rumor has it that they possess actual magical powers that allow them to read minds, call down thunderstorms, or even speak with the dead.
Although the Aetherwrights have officially cut ties with the Reliquary Church, most Aetherwrights are followers of the saints and hold their own private rites. It is the Church, not the teachings, which most Aetherwrights have a problem with: they see the Imperial institution as a corrupt and blinkered sinkhole of bureaucracy, more concerned with orthodoxy and witch hunting than accepting unique expressions of faith.
Aetherstones
During certain weather patterns, crystals made out of aether, called aetherstones, form naturally in the clouds. Normally, they dissolve when the weather changes as part of a natural cycle. However, for the last thirty or so years, Emina has harvested aetherstones from the Thirteen Lands’ airspace for power, lighting, heating, and research. With each passing year, the demand for aether increases and Emina’s harvesting operations expand in scale.
Ever since the large-scale harvesting of aetherstones began, the climate of the Thirteen Lands has been shifting, and some have accused the Aetherwrights of disrupting nature’s balance. According to the Fraternity of the Aether, such claims are unfounded and the climate change is well within the normal variance of the Endless Ocean… but they refuse to release their detailed observation data to outsiders, so no one can verify their conclusion except the Aetherwrights themselves.
Pathfinders of the Aetherwrights
The discovery of the New World is the most exciting thing the Aetherwrights have ever witnessed. Not only is this fabulous realm an untapped new font of scientific knowledge — it is also an untapped new source of high-quality aetherstones! The Arch-Magisters have already begun preparing the Isle-Ship Emina to relocate to the New World. Unfortunately Emina’s engines have a fairly limited top speed, so until it reaches its destination sometime in the next century, the Fraternity is making do with numerous expeditions of smaller airships and watercraft.
Aetherwrights expeditions are privately funded and vary widely. Pathfinders affiliated with them may be full members captaining ships of their own design, or they may be mercenary Pathfinders who have been hired to chart wind currents and gather aetherstones on the Aetherwrights’ behalf. Regardless of their origins, they are considered prestigious pioneers and provided with all kinds of gadgets that may or may not help in their journey: telescoping lenses, pneumatic air pistols, aether-powered cooking pots, tiny motivational clockwork birds…
Symbols of the Aetherwrights
- The Squared Circle: An old-fashioned occult symbol which is now better known as a symbol of the Fraternity of the Aether. It consists of a diamond inscribed in a circle, inscribed in a triangle, inscribed in another circle.
- Cryptoscript: A unique writing system developed by the original Fraternity as a secret code for their research materials and communications. It is based on obscure mathematical and astronomical symbols, and there are many variants with different levels of encryption. The more advanced variants are only known to higher-ranking members.