The Magaambya

Founded by Old-Mage Jatembe and his Ten Magic Warriors during the Age of Anguish, the Magaambya academy has been a beacon of learning and order for over 8,000 years. The academy lies in Nantambu in the western Mwangi Expanse, near the Buunta Flow southwest of Lake Ocota, and the contemporary Magaambya furthers Jatembe’s legacy far beyond Mwangi communities. Recent developments have drawn members primarily into Avistan, but they attain and spread knowledge, further diplomatic relations, and promote safety throughout Golarion.

The Magaambya teaches an inclusive approach that touches all of its endeavors. This is most evident in Nantambu, where education spills from the colorful, mosaicked terraces of the academy’s towers and into the streets. The academy houses an impressive collection of documents and its fair share of high-ceilinged lecture halls, but Magaambyans hold that the most important knowledge is learned within a community. Students are often found discussing the finer points of magic while maintaining Nantambu’s canals or helping a farmer pick crops. They learn diplomacy through negotiations that have bound Nantambu to other Mwangi communities for millennia. To a Magaambyan, the world is a classroom, and while they much prefer a pragmatic path that betters one’s community, they know multiple paths lead to the attainment of knowledge.

The same holds true for magic, where the Magaambya’s tradition of inclusivity becomes true syncretism. Old-Mage Jatembe saw the convergence of all magic, regardless of the traditions they were based in. This confluence between the different mystic essences became the keystone of halcyon magic, the Magaambyan blending of the primal and the arcane. The Magaambyans built on their founder’s work to further magical techniques, and as such have always been at the forefront of magical theory and application.

However, putting this Magaambyan philosophy into practice has its challenges. Combining different essences of magic takes great effort and long study, as does equitable diplomacy. The Magaambya’s students value building a consensus and finding compromise, and Magaambyans are careful to give every participant in a negotiation a voice. They also ensure their acquisition of cultural knowledge neither erases nor erodes the culture from which it is drawn. Conscientious work is time consuming and difficult, but millennia of Magaambyan prominence speak to its value.

The Magaambya focuses learning into five specialized faculties, known as branches. While most Magaambyan endeavors are collaborative affairs with at least one member from each branch, members of individual branches tend to have similar areas of expertise.

Members of the academically focused Cascade Bearers are dedicated to the advancement of magical theory. Their philosophical approach to magic reaches into other magical traditions but still has a practical bent.

Although outsiders classify the Emerald Boughs as spies, Magaambyans adamantly oppose this categorization. Instead, they view the intelligence-gathering branch as a bulwark against crisis. Members live within communities to learn cultural practices and identify the potential needs of residents. They don’t generally seek to influence local events to the Magaambya’s benefit; rather, they genuinely wish to improve the communities in which they are embedded.

Rain-Scribes explore new territory and make sure it remains accessible for future travelers. They chart and manage wilderness areas, establish and maintain infrastructure, and guide travelers. They are also keenly aware of balance, both natural and societal.

Tempest-Sun Mages defend the Magaambya’s holdings, members, and allies. More wardens than warriors, Tempest-Sun Mages end conflict using spell and speech.

Members of the Uzunjati, the oldest branch the Magaambya, are maintainers of peace and the guardians of thousands of storytelling traditions. Their name is an ancient Mwangi word for a story or collection of knowledge. Uzunjati weave captivating tales, drawing out lessons they apply to their diplomacy.

Magaambyans’ focus on knowledge and safety drew them to Avistan, where recent events have had potentially global effects. In the Gravelands, the fire-blackened city of Vellumis now houses a significant Magaambyan presence. Magaambyans join the Knights of Lastwall in defensive actions to safeguard patrols, as well as research forays into the Gravelands. The Thassilonians’ reemergence brings both ancient knowledge and new nations to Varisia. The Magaambya is uncertain of Sorshen’s purported benevolence and has sent an Emerald Bough–led complement to the Eurythnian port of Brinewall. These adepts keep a cautious finger on the pulse of Thassilonian acclimation to contemporary Avistan. Cascade Bearers and Rain-Scribes lead efforts in the Sarkoris Scar, where they help disperse demons and investigate material effects of the enormous extraplanar forces released by the Worldwound’s closing.

Engaging stories, magical acumen, and altruism hold an attraction for potential members, and the prestige of the school draws in many prospective students, especially from the Mwangi Expanse. The Magaambya also appeals to those preferring a self-directed, less regimented education. A would-be student often notices a Magaambyan’s distinctive brooch—the Magaambya’s insignia, often with animal motifs, and sometimes colored to denote branch affiliation—and inquires about membership. Such individuals need only gain the respect of a Magaambyan for a potential sponsorship and admittance. Once admitted, members freely share the Magaambya’s resources with one another, such as magical tomes, cultural records, and documents they have safeguarded since the dawn of post-Earthfall human civilization.

Within the Magaambya

The Magaambya accepts anyone who can prove their good intentions and has earned the trust of a Magaambyan. While not overly hierarchical, the Magaambya divides membership into ranks based on proven knowledge and aptitude: initiate, attendant, conversant, lore-speaker, and learned one. Magaambyan advancement bears little resemblance to Taldan or other Avistani academic careers. Lectures in the traditional sense are infrequent, and students instead learn through a kind of apprenticeship with a variety of higher-ranking members. The first such apprenticeship is the Perquisite, a period of public service. Students traditionally complete the Perquisite in the academy itself in Nantambu, but as the Magaambya expands, its members can be found completing their Perquisites in myriad places. Regardless of location, learning how to meet a community’s needs is the first and most important lesson.

Initiates are those in the process of fulfilling the Perquisite. The Magaambya believes that diverse backgrounds mean a stronger community, so anyone can apply for initiation. Magaambyans actively interested in recruiting new students also traverse the Mwangi Expanse, seeking out those with an interest in magic and bringing them to the city of Nantambu—in many nearby villages, sending children to the Magaambya for study is an entrenched tradition. Hopefuls petition an existing Magaambyan sponsor, and if an applicant seems a good fit, a conversant then conducts a more complete interview, ideally with testimony from an applicant’s colleagues or family. A successful interview can lead to acceptance, which includes a token of the conversant’s approval so that it’s known who granted the initiate membership. Initiates engage in manual labor, academic assistance, or other day-to-day tasks typical in their host communities (even high-ranking members will participate in these tasks on occasion, knowing that this work keeps them grounded). In exchange, the initiates are permitted to attend organized lectures, access the Magaambya’s libraries, and receive advice. This practice fosters community and enables the incidental learning that comes from cooperation.

Attendants are initiates who have fulfilled the Perquisite and proven their worth to their peers, who refer them to a higher-ranking Magaambyan for advancement. The Perquisite traditionally lasts five seasons, though Magaambyans outside Nantambu have begun expediting the process based on the capabilities of the initiate, among other factors. Attendants’ responsibilities involve organizing work efforts, aiding in logistics of field studies, and arranging classes. For the latter, attendants are expected to recognize an educational need and arrange for its fulfillment; regularly scheduled classes are uncommon. Attendants may accompany field studies or receive mentorship from higher-ranking members. Attendants are also traditionally the first rank to begin study of syncretic halcyon techniques. Finally, to direct their future development, attendants establish an affiliation with one of the five branches.

Conversants have accumulated enough practical, cultural, and academic knowledge to be a self-directed boon to the Magaambya. Magical talent is not required to achieve this rank—the Magaambya takes a broad view of education and capability—but many of its members have magical aptitude. Conversants direct special projects and arrange field operations, both furthering their own training and mentoring lower-ranked members. With their freedom to self-direct, conversants are the first rank to engage in the proud Magaambyan tradition of making prospective mentees track them down in the field—the journey, conversants say, is just as capable a teacher.

Lore-speakers demonstrate mastery of Magaambyan techniques. This includes magic—so far, only spellcasters have been granted the rank of lore-speaker. They are leaders in their communities whose magical acumen, practical skill, and broad knowledge mean they can capably address a variety of potential problems. They oversee Magaambyan efforts in a region or direct courses of study. Most work towards broad-reaching goals, such as brokering alliances, establishing transportation routes, or pursuing major magical theorems.

Learned ones are the heads of the five branches. They volunteer for their positions, but a prospective candidate is elevated to the position only with the other learned ones’ approval and that of a majority of Magaambyans. Learned ones are thoughtful and powerful individuals who recognize the importance of their positions.

Magaambyan Masks

Once a Magaambyan student reaches the rank of attendant, they are granted the right to wear a personal mask that is acknowledged by the teachers and other students at the academy. This mask is an abstract representation of the outward magic that the attendant chooses to focus on, the internal magic that is an intrinsic part of the attendant, and the attendant’s true spiritual face, symbolizing the blending of all four essences of magic. These masks almost always take the form of animals, as the true form of these concepts is both impossible to depict in the material world and too personal to share with others.

The mask begins as a mere construction of wood and paint, carved into the shape of an animal the attendant feels a powerful connection to; while some students choose more prestigious animals over those of personal importance, this often results in the mask’s magic becoming unruly and acting out in undesirable ways. The mask serves as a focus for the attendant’s magic by bridging the physical and spiritual realms, causing the mask to gain a life and mind of its own. As the attendant continues to grow, their spirit leaves more and more of an imprint on the mask, until the mask houses the attendant’s true magical self. Once this occurs, the bond between mask and attendant cannot be severed unless the mask is destroyed, freeing the attendant’s spiritual face to be released back into the attendant’s body. A side effect of this process is that the Magaambyan’s spiritual self, usually limited to appearing only in otherworldly dreams or visions, is granted far more power over the world—and over the Magaambyan themselves. Although the attendant can control the mask, the mask can also exert its influence over the attendant or even manifest as a familiar (see the Mask Familiar feat on page 101). This can sometimes seem jarring to those who witness it for the first time, as the odd personality contained within can seem like a completely different person than the attendant, but to the Magaambyans, the mask is simply another facet of the student.

Not every Magaambyan chooses to wear a mask; some prefer to contact their spiritual selves the old-fashioned way, while others feel uncomfortable allowing something so personal to be seen by others, even in an abstract form. Others, such as the Magaambya’s magic warriors, subsume their whole identity into the mask, disguising every other aspect of themselves.

Magaambyan Options

Magaambyans learn techniques to harness the power of the following options.

Halcyon Spells

Through hard study, Magaambyans can meld arcane and primal spellcasting. Halcyon spells are spells from the arcane or primal spell list. You don’t gain new halcyon spells via the normal means you typically use to gain spells; instead, you gain new halcyon spells and new spell levels of halcyon spells only through feats. Halcyon spells are prepared or cast just like other spells granted by your class; for example, a wizard who gained halcyon spells would add them to their spell list and their spellbook, while a sorcerer would add them to their spell list and their spell repertoire. If you have more than one arcane or primal spellcasting class, you add halcyon spells to all such classes.

Each time you cast a halcyon spell, decide whether it is an arcane or primal spell. You can’t heighten a halcyon spell beyond your maximum spell level of halcyon spell, even if you have higher-level spell slots, and you can’t select a halcyon spell as a signature spell.

Each time you gain a level and learn new spells, and each time you gain a halcyon feat, you can swap out one of your old halcyon spells for a different halcyon spell of the same level; this is in addition to any swapping from your class, such as via a sorcerer’s spell repertoire class feature. You can also swap out halcyon spells by retraining during downtime. If you have a spellbook, when you swap out a halcyon spell, you lose the spell from your spellbook entirely.

Magaambyan Magic Item

The following magic item is uncommon, but characters who are Magaambyans of at least attendant rank have access to it (see the sidebar on page 65). PCs who start a game as members of the Magaambya typically begin at attendant rank.

Mask Familiar Ability

The following ability is available only to mask familiars (page 101).

supernatural qualities to pass as a simple, unassuming mask. It doesn’t need to Impersonate to fool a passing glance, and it gains a +4 circumstance bonus to its Deception DC against an active observer Seeking or otherwise studying it.