Guardians of the Weave

The Guardians of the Weave was an informal, but well-known alliance of arcane spellcasters who banded together during the 14 century DR to defend the Weave from the malevolent wizards and warlocks of Faerûn along with the evil gods who attempted to damage or corrupt the source of magic on Toril. They were unified in their love and appreciation of the beauty of magic, and drew upon spellcasters of all shapes and sizes, from all walks of life.

""What purpose to destroy an enemy, if magic itself be the cost?""

- Aluvauna Thornym

Attitude
Above all, the Guardians believed in the power and beauty of the Weave, that it was more important than life itself.

They were of the shared opinion that the greatest threat to the Weave was the church of Shar, their revered goddess and the Shadow Weave itself. They believed the Mistress of the Night and her followers were scheming to challenge Mystra and completely devour the Weave.

Activities
The actions taken by the members of the alliance varied somewhat, depending on the individual. Some would stay in their home realm, while others would venture far and wide, but all remained vigilant for rumors or news that suggested the harming of the Weave, or the wielding of the Shadow Weave. They readily worked together as needed, as they saw the practice of the Art as a bond between brothers and sisters of Toril.

They were wise enough to realize they had to know their enemies if they truly wanted to defeat them. They studied the common practices of evil spellcasters, along with their casting techniques, and systematically recorded dead-magic zones and areas of wild magic. They regularly led expeditions into subterranean ruins and tombs in search of potentially destructive artifacts and relics in an effort to lock them away.

Members
All manner of mages from every corner of Faerûn joined the ranks of the Guardians. Aluvauna was quite progressive in her recruitment methods, as the Guardians sought to bring in more anodyne necromancers of Velsharoon and Thayan wizards who sought new magic for the sake of knowledge, rather than power. This open ideology gave them access to information and agents that were otherwise unavailable to most.

Due to their continuous operations, members typically never met many of their fellow Guardians. It cost 100 gp to join the Guardians of the Weave, with monthly dues of 25 gp a month.

Allies
First and foremost among the allies of the Guardians were the clergies of Mystra and Azuth. They had an amiable relationship with the good-aligned magic domain deities of the Seldarine and the Lords of the Golden Hills. The churches of Torm and Kelemvor had strong respect for the group because of their efforts to make Faerûn safe from wild magic and evil necromancers.

Their role as protectors of magic on Faerûn, along with their ties to Mystra's church, made it easy for the Guardians to form strong ties with the Lords' Alliance of the North and the altruists within the Harpers and Moonstars and the reformed peacekeepers in the Covenant. Many serving within the Guardians also joined the militaristic Knights of the Weave, who were viewed by the order as their champions, and fellow protectors of the Weave.

Foes
The enemies of the Guardians were numerous, and overarching across the face of Faerûn. The power-hungry Zhentarim, magic-exploiting Red Wizards, and perverse followers of the Cult of the Dragon were among some of their more established adversaries. Of course, there were many smaller cabals and independent evil mages whose operations the Guardians sought out and shut down.

First and foremost, their foes were the Shadovar wizards of returned Netheril, whose existence and adepts were infused with the corruption of Shar and Shadow Weave. While the Guardians had orders to apprehend any solitary wizards who were known to wield the Shadow Weave, the agents of Netheril rarely, if ever, openly struck out against their number.

Locations
The spiritual home of the Guardians was a small shrine located outside the city of Silverymoon in the nation of Luruar. They maintained outposts in many cities of Faerûn, which were typically established within the homes of the group's lieutenants. These cities included:

History
The organization was founded in 1372 DR by Aluvauna Thornym of Waterdeep, and concerned agents of Mystra. After she encountered a Zhentarim mage who was wielding magic sourced from the Shadow Weave, she gathered some of her friends, voiced her concerns about this new threat and agreed they must form a group dedicated to the protection of raw magic. She pulled some strings, and gained an official sanction from the church of Mystra, and swiftly garnered the support of churches of allied and good-aligned faiths.

Eventually they had rallied representatives from the churches of Azuth, Deneir, Isis, Savras, Selûne, who hailed from as far away as Halruaa. Elven and gnome spellcasters who worshiped their respective deities of arcane magic. Aluvauna took command of the group and designated them lieutenants of the organization, to serve in their home cities assisted by a Guardian.

The Guardians expanded rapidly and were fairly well-known to the public, but experienced some growing pains. It was a vast network of allies from a variety of cultures, who spoke a multitude of languages and had an only recently established hierarchy. While they operated in relative stability, there were worries about spies having infiltrated their ranks.

The group had their largest meeting in 1373 DR, during which thirty members were in attendance. The other allies of the network were out on missions throughout Faerûn.