Council of Threadbearers

The Council of Threadbearers are the ruling class of Rutram. Mythical spellcasters of their own right, each of them serves as the Dean of their own magical Academy; they lord over the nation's five main cities. The Council meets at the Capital- Lithenna, the City of Veins, with its plentiful waterways in place of roads and oxidized copper roofs, the oldest of which were built from molten Yuan-ti statues. Lithenna is home to the Academy of Transient Matter, whose focus lies on Transmutation and Dunamancy.

Though the Council has evolved across the ages- some Deans stepping down, others mysteriously vanishing- their legacy is grounded in the deeds of the Founding Five, whose rivalries, philosophies, and discoveries still echo in spellbooks and classrooms across the continent. Here are the founding members, their main accomplishments, and the Academies they founded:

✦ Belmira Tannagor, the Adamantine Fist.

• Human, she/her.
• Main Accomplishments:
  » Practically created the school of Magi, spellcasters that thread the line between Eldritch Knights and Paladins.
  » Led the Defense of Elerion Bridge, holding a city of over 20 thousand against a siege of Yuan-ti for a month without rest, using a version of the spell that is now taught as Tannagor's Transformation.
• Founder of the Academy of Bound Steel.
• Academy Focus: Bladesinging and War, as well as Eldritch Knights, Magi, and a solid Evocation curriculum.

✦ Irrigal Vey, the Whispering Archon.

• Halfling, they/them.
• Main Accomplishments:
  » Credited with Authoring the Binding Code, a magical and psychically-reactive document that regulates the use of enchantment in Rutram's politics and education. It is said the document resists being lied to.
  » Allegedly tamed a feral Black Dragon through enchantment alone. Whether that is the case, it now stands guard at her Academy as a gatekeeper.
• Founder of the Academy of Warded Persuasion
• Focus: Abjuration and Enchantment, as well as Bards.

✦ Saelun Howllithe, the Formless Sage.

• Dwarf, he/him.
• Main Accomplishments:
  » Credited with inventing temporal anchors, the base for items such as Chests of Preserving and a refined version of the secret behind much of Dwarven architecture.
  » Built the Event Lattice, an artifact responsible for automatically reversing erosion and sudden damage to the walkways of Lithenna.
• Founder of the Academy of Transient Matter.
• Focus: Dunamancy (Chronurgy and Graviturgy) and Transmutation.

✦ Elora Thranis, the Veiled Star.

• Goblin, she/her.
• Main Accomplishments:
  » Orchestrated the Ouroboros Incident, a powerful illusion that tricked Yuan-ti and Triton armies into fighting each other for a full year, believing themselves to be enemies.
  » Created the Simulacrum spell, revealed after multiple sightings of her across several battlefields at once. It is said she had used the spell for years before that in order to skip important war meetings.
• Founder of the Academy of Unseen Arts
• Focus: Illusion and Divination, also known for Arcane Tricksters and Bards.

✦ Keothi Diram, the Shardbinder.

• Earth Genasi, he/him.
• Main Accomplishments:
  » Credited with the creation of a new breed of golems for use in the war. The technology behind them is said to have been lost, but others claim it was stolen and refined by the first creators of Warforged.
  » Credited with the creation of what would become the basis for most Summon X spells.
• Founder of the Academy of Planar Bonds
• Focus: Necromancy and Conjuration, as well as an Evocation curriculum on par with the Bound Steel's.