[FR] The Divine Society for the Protection of the Weave

[Psychotic Jim]

Hello. This is a new, evil secret society fot Forgotten Realms . Any comments or suggestions you would have on fleshing it out or for adventure ideas would be much appreciated.

The Illumined Society for the Protection of the Weave
Headquaters: None
Members: Unknown
Hierarchy: Cell-based cults and secret-societies
Leader: Tindullus Almir
Religion: A LE dogmatic Mystra-worshipping cult
Alignment: LE, LN
Secrecy: High
Symbol: None

The Divine Society for the Protection of the Weave is an odd secret society that worships Mystra above all other gods as the incarnate of the Weave that allows all people to use the gifts of magic. Unlike the mainstream church of Mystra, the Society's loyalty and belief in the superiority of Mystra is fanatical and downright hostile to most other religions and a great number of worshippers of Mystra herself as well. The Society believes that magic is a sacred gift that must be practiced within carefully defined limits or else it is corrupted. Magic should only be practiced by those Mystra specifically chooses to use the Weave, specifically sorcerers and clerics of Mystra. All others are dangerous threats to the order of the Weave and must be brought under control. Wizards specifically are held to be heretics; the Society sees them as perverse thieves of the force of the Weave, a force wizards should have never in their arcane studies played with. The Society wages a secret war against all wizards, Mystra-worshipping or not, but only using the safest and easiest to hide tactics. The Society, in its delusion, sees the famous Chosen of Mystra as abominable pretenders and pawns of an unknown power, probably Shar.
The Society, for all its high-and-mighty goals and pretenses, right now is little more than a group of loosely-allied cults and secret societies whose main power lies in its stealth and obscurity. For now, it must skulk in the shadows for none of its members near the magical or social power of Elminster or the 7 Sisters. For now, the Illumined Society for the Protection of the Weave hopes to gradually gather power and strike out at the opponents of mainstream Mystra religion- such as that of Shar- and to play them against the worshippers of Azuth, a god who they believe is just waiting to stab Mystra in the back and assume her portfolio.

History
The Church of Mystra has gone through much turmoil through the years as Mystra has gone through multiple incarnations. Tindullas Almir was a minor clergyman of Mystra who would have remained nameless had he not one day had a vision of the Weave being ripped apart and replaced by Shadow. The people who would strip Mystra of her power: the current Chosen of Mystra, with backing from Azuth. During the same day, he manifested sorcerer abilities and became a new man. Determined to save Mystra and preserve the Weave at all cost, Tindullus brought together a handful clergy and laity disenchanted with the direction the mainstream church was going. Since then, several more such cults have similarly been inspired and have allied themselves together. Tindullus somehow has survived to this day as the head of the society

Hierarchy
The Society is a cell-based organization loosely composing of indvidual small cults, each ruling over a certain area. Although the top structure is loose, each indvidual cell is hierarchically organized in a manner similar to the main church but in a stricter, harsher way. Each cult leader pledges alliegance to Tindullas and keeps in close contact with him, similar to how an king might might delegate his empire to individual governors. Rank and position must be earned, and placement in the society is based on merit, which surprisingly goes against the normal Society ideal of power being divinely-given. Tindullus, however, is an exception- he is never questioned in his ability to rule the organization. Tidullus oversees matters involving the general organization and makes decisions when individual cells come into conflict.

 

[Psychotic Jim]

Motivations and Goals
The Illumined Society for the Protection of the Weave desires, above all, to eliminate all perceived threats to the Weave. The Society regularly attacks and antagonizes worshippers of Shar whenever it can. Capturing and sometimes destroying spellbooks and hindering any wizard groups it can is also high on the priority list. For right now, it must maintain a low-profile though, until the time the Society has the power to convince the people of Faerun "the truth". To this end, its operations in practice is mostly information gathering on subjects of interest, such as the goings on of magical occurrence as well as the actions of the Chosen of Mystra and the church of Azuth, as well the secret consolidation of magical power and secret social connections. The Society knows right now it is weak and divided and so avoids open confrontations at all costs, preferring to pit the enemies of Mystra against each other.

Allies
The Society has no open, formal allies, though it has many unwiting allies. Individuals cells often operate covertly in the lawful evil and lawful neutral sects of the church. Many non-member clergy of Mystra ignore the Society's actions for fear that the discovery of a terrorist faction within the Church and the rucus such a discovery would cause would result in only more harm than good. The Society sees all sorcerers as potential allies and recruits. The Society also tries to stay out of the way of the mainstream church until the time comes when the Society has worked its way into the reigns of power within.

Enemies
Ideologically, all wizards, including Azuth and his worshippers, and the Chosen of Mystra are number one on the list of treasonous heretics. Practically, however, the Illumined Society can do little to such hated foes but spy on them and occasionally be an annoying irritant. The Society may have had a role in the distancing of the churches of Mystra and Azuth, however.
In addition to the Society’s hated factions within the church of Mystra, the Society feels nothing but spite for the traditional enemies of Mystra: Cyric, Bane, and, especially Shar. Shar is perhaps the greatest threat to the Weave in their eyes. Somehow, perhaps unconsciously, the Society possesses an irrational hatred for the Church of Shar going beyond that, maybe because it is a mirror of the Society itself- hidden, manipulative, and cruel.

 

[Derulbaskul]

A couple of thoughts:

1. I thought followers of Mystra had to be NG, CG or LG due to her NG alignment?
2. I think that this organisation would actually work best as a front for Shar simply because the organisation's goals are 100% counter to Mystra's goals and values.

Sorry, my input is that the society, as presented, doesn't make a lot of sense in the context of the existing Realms canon but I think it has potential as a front for Shar. I hope that doesn't come across as rude (it is not intended to be) but it is an honest response.

Cheers
D