The Societies of Britannia
The wise, the brave, and the skillful folk of Britannia are often members of various societies, guilds, and orders that proliferate across the land.
The Great Societies
The King formed several organisations to assist his rule, and to continue on after its end. These ‘Great Societies’ were often principally comprised of one or more pre-existing groups who were united in common purpose. The Great Societies continue to be extremely influential today, although not all of them have remained in the original forms. The following is a brief consideration of each of the original Great Societies, and a few examples of some of the more interesting or widely known of their sub-divisions.
The Society of Justice: the Druids
The Druids of the Society of Justice were formed from older groups of lorists and natural magicians to provide a source of expertise and constant discourse on matters of justice. The King also charged the Druids with working to maintain sustainable society in Britannia. In pursuit of these aims, the Druids act as advisers, jurors, arbitrators, and provosts throughout Britannia. Many magistrates in the cities are Druids, or pay attention to the advice of Druidic advisors. Other Druids wander the roads and paths of Britannia, providing advice to smaller communities. In addition to these legal, and semi-legal, tasks the Druids also help to determine the Just Price that Britannians use to value goods and services. The Druids wield significant influence, but rarely exercise it directly; their councils frequently meet in the society’s high halls in Yew to discuss and determine proper policy and to maintain the code of conduct.
The Society of Honour: the Paladins
The Society of Honour names its members Paladins, and considers them to be the protectors of Britannian ideals. The Paladins are, by comparison to the Druids, more active and Paladins are often engaged in the suppression of notorious pirates, tyrannical nobles, or criminal guild-members. As well as this, the Paladins also deal with less public, but no less important, matters like making sure isolated communities have trained militias to protect themselves from the depredations of bandits or opportunistic goblins and orcs. Finally, the Paladin act as protectors of precious or dangerous things, the vaults and chambers under their hall in Trinsic hold many wondrous treasures and no few awful ones. The Paladins do not closely regulate the activities of their members; although they do have a strong code of conduct most of the members understand that this stringent code is the source of much of their own ability to perform the deeds that they do, therefore it is a rare Paladin that breaks it.
The Society of Sacrifice: the Artificers
From their halls in the city of Minoc the Artificers of the Society of Sacrifice are concerned with the continued development of technological innovations. Whether such advances depend on simple mechanics, or the blend of magical techniques with those of industry, matters not to the Artificers as they seek to find new ways of improving the prosperity and quality-of-life of Britannians. The Artificers stoically toil in their laboratories and workshops, and rarely gain the public acclaim of their counterparts in the other Great Societies, leading some to claim that this is why the King gave them their name. Despite the lack of personal fame though, the Artificers have brought many advances to Britannia, the most ostentatious of which are the Forgeborn, living and thinking machine-men, and the wondrous skyships, great vessels held aloft and propelled by powerful elemental essences. Whether it is by building new forms of transport that soar above pirates and bandits, or providing a village with a waterwheel to power their mill, the Artificers go about their business across Britannia and quietly make it a finer place.
The Spiritual Orders: the Monastics
The Monastics were originally the keepers of the traditions of virtuous action in Britannia. They travelled the land, taught the young, maintained histories, and aided with powers gained from their inner focus and contemplation of virtue. The Society of Spirituality fell into schism though, with some of its sub-societies believing that others had acted without sufficient restraint or humility. The Society of Spirituality could not overcome this great dispute and so broke apart into many different orders. Many of the new orders continued to travel and teach, and to build hostels, schools, and shrines; others felt that such ostentation was ultimately counter-productive and retreated away from such things to contemplate in silence and poverty and to teach only by example.