Gold Order

In the Empire of Man, the Golden Order comprises those Magisters who study and embraced the Yellow Wind of Magic, Chamon. Chamon, Yellow magic, is attracted to metals in both ore and refined forms. The heavier the element or metal, in its natural state or otherwise, the more Chamon is drawn to it.

It has been suggested this attraction accounts for the almost magical effect gold has on even the most intelligent races, inspiring greed, violence, and sometimes war. Of all people and races, the Dwarfs seem most affected by gold, and some Magisters of the Golden Order have wondered whether the Dwarfs have some unknown affinity with Chamon. Dwarfs do, after all, pursue many of the same goals and interests as the Magisters of the Golden Order. The issue remains unsolved and perhaps always will.

Overview
The Magisters of the Golden Order are renowned practitioners of Magic, Runecraft, and Alchemy. Like most definitions in the Articles of Imperial Magic, “Alchemical Thaumaturgy” is a somewhat limited description of what Magisters of the Golden Order study and practice. It is true their studies and interests are mainly in the manipulation of chemicals, but they are also metallurgists and herbalists without peer.

Fool's Gold & True Transmutation
Some question the potential abuse the ability to create gold, even temporarily, opens to the Golden Order. But for a Magister Alchemist to do such a thing would break several of the Articles of Magic and would doubtlessly, if actually used to purchase goods, lead to public outcry when it eventually transmuted back into its original form. This dishonest act would defame the good Orders of the Colleges of Magic, a serious crime indeed.

Any Gold Magisters found guilty of abusing their skills by swindling retailers with gold that will change back into lead after a few days, are punished publicly. Although they are unlikely to be exiled or Pacified for such a crime, they will be flogged in a place and at a time where the public can view the punishment. Such things are incredibly rare, with only the occasional Apprentice, and even rarer Journeyman Wizard, trying to con people with fake gold.

Having said all this, Apprentices to the Golden Order are taught that discovering a means of and for True Transmutation is one of the prime goals of the Golden Order—whether it’s lead to gold, nickel to iron, or copper to platinum. The Order also pursues the knowledge of how to smith the exceptionally hard metal gromril (the near-unbreakable metal mined and manufactured by the Dwarfs) and create the semi-magical alloy ithilmar, (the super-light metal that is as harder than the finest Human steel and is able to hold enchantments longer than almost any other metal). This research is one of the Golden Order’s most closely guarded secrets, and the masters will go to almost any lengths to ensure that it is kept from the public, especially the Dwarfs and the Elves.

So in addition to being magic users of extraordinary skill, the Magisters of Chamon are also students of the sciences, seeking to explore the natural order of the universe, the unnatural orders of magic, and their effects upon one another. The Magisters of Chamon seek to find traces of the Aethyr they believe reside in all physical things and unlock its specific potential.

Alchemical Research
Magisters of Chamon are regarded as the finest and most accomplished alchemists in the Old World. They work closely with the Empire’s engineers and gunnery schools, seeking to create more efficient forms of black powder and stronger, lighter iron alloys for the casting of the Empire’s great cannons. They are also among the most capable manufacturers of magical weapons in the Old World, with the exception of the Dwarfs whose skills at weaponsmithing, magical or otherwise, eclipse even the greatest achievements of Humans.

The Alchemy practised by the Golden Order is a blend of magic and chemistry, though the College’s Magister Alchemists regard it as a single field of study. Though Alchemy’s greatest scholars spend much of their time searching for hidden secrets of the nature of existence, in everyday terms their Alchemy is mostly used for creating potions with specific magical properties—for metallurgical research and experimentation and for creating chemical reagents and explosives. Most spells used by the Golden Order’s Magister Alchemists dismantle compounds, super-heat and super-cool elements, and create magical effects dictated and guided by blends of predictable and measurable alchemical compounds and their reactions.

Magister Alchemists tend to take a practical, scientific approach to their subject. Much of their work is not magical at all, but more concerned with chemistry. Although, the differences between magical ingredients and mundane ones are sometimes hazy. The Golden Order’s Magister Alchemists regard the Aethyr as the Prime Reagent; it reacts with everything and can cause change in absolutely everything. So they are interested in using the tiniest controlled amounts of magic in very specific ways to see if any predictable rules can be observed, such as whether a particular change will occur the same way and on the same substance if exactly the same amount of magic is used in exactly the same way.

This is not quite the same as weaving magic into a spell, which is a Magister imposing his will and desire upon magic to form it into something specific. In their research, the Magister Alchemists of the Golden Order do not seek to impose their will for a specific outcome onto a reaction between magic and some physical element because that defeats the purpose. They want to scientifically observe and record natural laws rather than create something from their own imaginations by using magic, something they regard as an art.

Because of the particular nature of their studies and because they are permitted and able to use magic to aid their investigations, the Magister Alchemists of the Golden Order have made advances in alchemical theory far beyond those of any other Human civilisation in the Old World. Whereas the mundane alchemists of the Empire still harbour such traditional views as the Four Elements of Existence (Earth, Air, Fire, and Water), the Gold Magisters have used their magic to discover deeper physical truths.

Over the last two centuries, the great Magister Alchemists of the Golden Order have deduced all physical existence is made up of far more elements than the four of folklore and traditional science. Senior Gold Magisters have discovered and recorded what they refer to as the “True Elements” of existence: the simplest substances that all matter and gas can be broken down into. Through their obsessive analysis and magical experiments, the Golden Order’s Magister Alchemists have identified about ninety naturally occurring elements. They have also created a further sixteen compounds that are mixtures of True Elements and various Aethyric elements they have either released from within the elements or have bound to them (though gromril, ithilmar, and True Transmutation are still out of their reach).

Obviously, only Lord Magisters of the highest rank and experience are aware of these magnificent alchemical discoveries. Most initiates to the Order, not to mention the majority of its Magister Alchemists, still entertain various superstitious notions as to the elements of existence and the possibilities of science. Only the very greatest of these students of Magic and Alchemy will ever learn otherwise.

Rumour has it some of these great secrets have been stolen from the Golden Order in the past, most visibly when a pamphlet was released over ninety years ago by members of the Guild of Physical Alchemists discussing and mocking the “fantasies and delusions” of the “mystics and Wizards” of the Golden Order. The few facts revealed in this pamphlet about the Golden Order’s studies were jumbled and poorly explained, but it was clear to the Lord Magisters of the Golden Order that these mundane alchemists had read or heard something of the Golden Order’s secret researches. Over the next few months, the people who wrote and printed the pamphlet met with terrible accidents in their laboratories: two gassed themselves with noxious fumes, one irreparably damaged his face and eyes in a minor explosion, and two more died in a fire that gutted only their laboratory and no others. Nothing was ever proven against the Golden Order, but afterwards, overt criticisms of their work dropped to a murmur.