“Power is a principle. We study its behavior.”
The Arcanists form Athkatla’s collective of magical practitioners: scholars, theorists, and enchanters who regulate and develop the arcane arts within the city. They are one of the Five Factions of Coin, existing somewhere between civic institution and private order. Though their laboratories rise above the city, their minds dwell in older, stranger realms.
The Arcanists license spellcasters, oversee the magical trade, and prevent arcane catastrophe. They manage the Registry of Practice, cataloging every certified mage and approved spell. Nearly all of Athkatla’s enchantments—wards, glyphs, lights, and scrolls—pass through their scrutiny.
Beyond regulation, they pursue research across the eight schools of magic, where rivalry between disciplines is as fierce as it is productive.
The order is ruled by a Council of Eight Archmages, each representing a school of magic. The structure is meant to ensure balance; in practice, it guarantees delay. Policy is slow, arguments eternal, and leadership often ceremonial. Still, their authority holds—no major magical act occurs within Athkatla without their consent or observation.
The Arcanists keep their distance from politics but cannot escape it.
In Athkatla, magic is currency—and the Arcanists are its mint.