The Amaranth

"Bellum et Aeternitatem - War and Eternity"

Nazutakkaaik Dao Rummattagar Elu Pettikaar Dizhrati Pelshragikk was an occult organization formed during the Second Age. Its original name being in Freneskaen, the order's name was later short-formed and translated into the The Amaranthine Order and, even later, they simply became known as The Amaranth.

History
Second Age

Third Age

Fourth Age

Fifth Age

Sixth Age

Common abilities and strengths
Following the magically binding and near ritualistic branding and blooding of new members, neophytes (novices) will find themselves to be exponentially more skilled at weaving spells of darker or shadowy nature. All of the Amaranth have a strong affinity for magic, more particularly in the darker breeds of it. Those that are descendants of one of the Amaranth but have not been subjected to the magical binding are exempt from this.

It has been falsely believed that rune-less magic is a trait shared by those under the Amaranth banner. The reason why so many of the Amaranth perform rune-less magic is simply because most of them are either Mahjarrat or have been trained by them to use their environment and energy to be able to form spells. As an incredibly difficult skill to pick up, few of the members of 'inferior races' such as Humans and Elves master it. Those that discover and learn it for themselves all on their own are fewer still.

Organization
The Amaranth are ruled by a power structure that seems to be paternal or matriarchical on the surface but in reality happens to be oligarchical. The system is based on power, merit and wit, none of those things happening to be interchangeable - a powerful Amaranth that has served well but happens to be witless and a poor schemer will never become a part of the higher echelons that govern the organization.

The Matriarch/Patriach or Archon is typically the only person that is aware of the magical amplifiae located inside of the fortress and the only one that knows how to properly utilize it.

Dreadshard Fortress/Markejjik
Once located in the Wilderness, Dreadshard Fortress (or as it is known to its Dream members; Markejjik) is a large fortress that is used as the Amaranth's main base of operations and headquarters. It got its name from the magical amplifiae by the same name (Dreadshard) located somewhere within the winding passageways of the castle, though most are not aware of that.

Some of the old texts claim that Markejjik suddenly disappeared following the betrayal of the Empty Lord Zaros and was relocated by some of its more inhabitants and became a floating castle in the sky. This theory stems from the fact that there is a crater where the fortress and its grounds used to be located.

The castle's defenses are powered by the Dreadshard and are numerous in number. Impervious to curses and hexes, the wards mirror them and try to bounce them back on their casters. Attempting to use elemental spells to damage the fortress result in the wards dispelling them. Those wards in particular were put into use after a number of accidents involving magic backfiring and causing property damage. The defenses also prevent the castle from being scryed - attempting to do so will result in the person being shown an empty, floating island. It is also spelled with the Eternal Forgetting spell devised by the Mahjarrat Anyanka.

It features most notably large number of dormitories, libraries and common rooms that used to be used for incredibly important meetings. There are many museum-like rooms in which artifacts (magical and otherwise) have been put on display for study and can even be borrowed. Over the centuries, the long-lived members of the Amaranth have gathered up an impressive amount of miscellaneous, old bits of information that would be of a great interest to scholars and historians. Suits of armor, hung tabards, surcoats bearing coats of arms and battle-standards decorate the museum rooms.

Outside of the castle, there is a large courtyard. A part of it has been allocated exclusively for spars and test runs; anything that occurs within the wards of that area is unhapped once someone leaves. Should one sustain wounds while inside that area, one would quickly realize that they haven't actually sustained any wards - anything that happens within that area seems to be the product of a powerful illusion so that things can be tested within that area without any risks.

A number of monstrous gargoyles and other creatures are located along the ramparts. Rumor would have it that some of them even come to life.

All along the walls of the castle are animated murals featuring a number of monsters and animals. When non-Amaranth touch the murals, they always try to bite and claw at their hand. When Amaranth do so, the creatures react positively, nuzzling, pawing and trying to coax their old friends into playing with them along the walls of the fortress. In the wing where younger students are all but restricted to, the monsters have been replaced with different animals, some of which that exist on Gielinor and others that are totally alien or even imagined. As animals that aren't cattle or someone's familiar are rare on the floating island, the mural animals often serve as the comfort and company for young ones.

The mural creatures seem to have minds and habits of their own, some of them only waking in the afternoon and happening to be lazy, others being very active and prone to trying to distract people that are trying to study. Lost visitors can ask them for help in finding something or someone if what/who they're looking for happens to be in the castle. If a young student dies in training, their favorite animal friends go into mourning. Similarly, if one of the Amaranth or usual visitors is killed or passes away, their mural friends will endure long grieving periods, become withdrawn and sometimes seek the comfort of people or one of the other creatures.

Artifacts
The dreadshard is a magical artifact under the form of a rod that amplifies one's magical power and potential. The amplifiae is an artifact that stores power, amplifies it and redistributes it according to a certain set of parameters. Powered by life energies, it siphons a certain amount of energy from an Amaranth's kill or one made in the Amaranth's proximity and stores it away for later (a more prolific kill on a stronger race means more energy).

Those that have contributed the most to the power stored within the amplifiae will have exponentially more energy (and thus, power) at their disposal than someone that does not. This ensures that veteran members must keep killing to maintain their very relient power-source. However, as the power contained within the artifact grows over time up to a certain point, which means that they can slow their pace but not stop completely.

The energy stored within the amplifiae does not diminish if it is not used and a certain percentage of it is always kept in reserve to power the defenses and magical wards and enchantments of Markejjik.

Alignment
Neutral Evil.

Concerned only for themselves and for their own advancement. As a group largely composed of self-serving machiavellian characters that seldom shed tears for the untimely death of those that stand in their way, the members fall under the Neutral Evil category. Seldom compelled to honor their word, the Amaranth are prone to do whatever it is that they believe they can eventually get away with.

Trivia

 * Nazutakkaaik is Etk Dag (a fictional language in the Acts of Caine series) for "Skinwalker".