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The Ordo Magna (aka The Great Order or simply The Order).

by James Ruhland

By ancient tradition the Great Order has a tiered, cell-like structure related to ranks.

At the lowest rung of the Great Order are the "Lieutenants," all at least third level.

The next highest rank is the "Captain," who must be at least 6th level (though not all 6th level "Lieutenants" are promoted to "Captain".) Each Captain supervises 6 "Lieutenants".

Above the rank of "Captain" is the "Lord," who must be at least 9th level. each "Lord" supervises 6 "Captains," and has 6 "Lieutenants" as his personal "goon squad," all of which are at least 5th level and who may be next in line for promotion to "Captain" within the "Lord's" "dominion".

Above the "Lord" is the "Great Lord," who must be at least 15th level but is often 20th or higher. Each "Great Lord" supervises 6 "Lords" and has as his personal goon squad 6 "Captains" and their collection of "Lieutenants".

Above the "Great Lords" is the "Omnicratic Master," the leader of the Order. This man is reputed to be 36th level as either a Magic-User, Cleric, or Avenger (and perhaps a combination of all three). Rumours that he is a lich of great power cannot be confirmed. Except for the "Great Lords" and the Omnicratic Master's own personal aides, no one even in the Order has seen him (except in disguise perhaps).

There is 1 Omnicratic Master, in charge of 7 Great Lords, a total of 49 Great Lords, 313 Captains, and 2,191 Lieutenants. In the past, at the height of the Ordo Magna, each Lieutenant supervised a group of Soldiers which formed the bottom rank of the Order, a total of over 15,000 such Soldiers. Now each Lieutenant is responsible for a network of informers, sympathisers, pawns, and the like, persons who exist outside the structure of the Great Order itself but which forms the its pool of potential recruits.

Note: The Great Order doesn't operate solely within Thyatis. Strong indications are that one or more Norwoldian Nobles are members of the Order, and that the six Thyatian "political refugees" that sought asylum in Karameikos in 1013 are secretly there to pursue the goals of the Order. Order cells can be found in almost any land that has contact with Thyatis, and the activities of the Great Order are often what spawn the image of Thyatians as treacherous schemers, though even the existence of the Great Order itself has never been conclusively proven (thus, IMO, the Great Order defeats its own goals. . .)