The Words of Intrigue

The Words of Intrigue are a group of wordcasters operating in Sarona City, who only know each other by their alternate personas. Each member of the Words of Intrigue is designated a rank based on their abilities:

• Consonant (1st level spells, 512 members)
• Vowel (2nd level spells, 256 members)
• Adjective (3rd level spells, 128 members)
• Noun (4th level spells, 64 members)
• Statement (5th level spells, 32 members)
• Question (6th level spells, 16 members)
• Paragraph (7th level spells, 8 members)
• Page (8th level spells, 4 members)
• Chapter (9th level spells, 2 members)
• Story (Epic spells, 1 member)

The purpose of the Words of Intrigue is to regulate the power of individuals, and prevent the widespread use of magic. There may only be a limited number of members of each rank at any one time, although there may be less of a higher rank to accommodate more of a lower rank at a one for one ratio. When a member is deemed worthy to advance in rank, and there are no available places in the next higher rank, the member must defeat the weakest member of the next higher rank. In the event that this defeat does not result in the death of one of the two, the loser is exiled from Sarona City.
Due to the competitive nature of the organisation, most, if not all members keep their identities secret, and only appear at meetings with illusions or proxies.
Wordcasters that are found in Sarona City who are not a part of the Words of Intrigue are forced to join their ranks or suffer the wrath of the entire organisation. In the event that there are no places open in the organisation at the time, the outsider is ranked and forced to engage into a conflict with an appropriately ranked member to determine his or her worthiness.
The purpose of the Words of Intrigue is partially to act as a self policed magical society and also to control the level of magical power in Sarona, keeping magic only for the elite, and those who are deemed “worthy”.
The Words of Intrigue were destroyed from the inside by Marybelle and an unnamed wordcaster during Marybelle's advancement conflict to Chapter, when the two agreed that their ultimate goals were aligned, and together fought the leader at the time, killing him and disseminating the organization, opening magic to the layman, a prospect that people had begun to embrace since Sarona City's reawakening during the Tarrasque invasion of AE1393.

Other such organizations exist, to a lesser degree, in the various cities throughout Concordia, where magic is still highly detested and used only in the shadows.