The Magistus are the legendary spellcasters credited with stopping the Great Cataclysm roughly 150 years ago (see Timeline Note) — the surge of magical energy that corrupted and nearly destroyed everything in its path. They are among the most powerful mortal spellcasters ever recorded, and their history is tangled in contradiction.
The Legend
- Accounts disagree on their number: some histories say three, others four. The reconciling version (per Quintilius): four set out, but only three returned — the source of the confusion.
- After stopping the Cataclysm, the Magistus went their separate ways.
- The green fourth magic runs along the very line of the Cataclysm the Magistus supposedly stopped — a coincidence the S.A.T.O. and The Fallen find deeply suspicious. (Revealed in Session 12: the Cataclysm was a portal to another world, the green magic leaked in through it, and the Magistus sealed the rift. See below.)
Known Members
| Member | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Emperor Endymion | Alive; the only Magistus known to still live | Rules the Endymion Empire from the Citadel; currently marching an army to unify the continent; possibly the most powerful spellcaster in the world |
| Rellyona | Dead (confirmed Session 10) | Founded Pentamarone, the one city inside Empire borders not under the Empire’s control. Rumored to have known the Emperor personally and made a truce with him before she died — one explanation for why the Empire still leaves the city alone |
| (The other who returned) | Vanished shortly after returning | Whereabouts unknown |
| (The fourth) | Never returned from stopping the Cataclysm | — |
Session 10 — A Name and a Death (August 26, 2026)
The Fallen stumbled into Pentamarone and put a name to its founder for the first time: Rellyona, identified by Asha off the spine of The Biography of Rellyona in a market bookstall (which Asha bought, and has not yet read).
Genni of the WitchCrafters confirmed she is dead — “the town was founded by one of the Magistus. She’s no longer with us.” The party had been half-hoping the surviving Magistus lived here; that hope is closed. Emperor Endymion remains the only Magistus known to be alive.
A dockside sailor also passed along the rumor that Rellyona and the Emperor “go way back” and that the city’s independence rests on an old truce honored since her death — the friendliest of the three explanations in circulation (see Pentamarone). If true, the “falling-out” reading of the Magistus’s split may need revising: they may have parted on terms, not in anger.
Session 12 — They Sealed the Rift (September 23, 2026)
The truce, per Verre. Genni told Aren the version she has from Madame Verre: Rellyona and the Emperor went their separate ways after stopping the Great Cataclysm but kept a deep mutual respect, and the Emperor has never encroached on Pentamarone, to honor her legacy. This supports the “parted on terms” reading above.
The slip. At the fireworks festival, Leif asked Verre whether the Cataclysm’s rift, a portal to another world opened by mortals, was ever healed:
“Oh, yes, the Magistus did what they had to do to seal the rift.”
“Ooh. I don’t think I was supposed to say that.”
So the Magistus did not merely stop a surge of energy; they closed a door. What “did what they had to do” involved, and whether it relates to the member who never returned, is unknown. The portal material is kept within the party at Verre’s request.
Speculation (Aren’s, unconfirmed): Verre knows all this because she was a disciple of one of the Magistus, most likely Rellyona.
Why They Matter
The Magistus sit at the intersection of every current mystery: the Great Cataclysm, the green magic that now secretly powers civilization, the anomalous magic at Pentamarone, and the ambitions of the Endymion Empire. Because Emperor Endymion is untouchably powerful, no one dares ask questions about the Magistus openly.
Related
- Great Cataclysm — what they stopped, and whose rift they sealed
- The Fourth Magic — the otherworldly magic that leaked through the rift
- Madame Verre — let slip the sealing; possibly a disciple of Rellyona (speculation)
- Endymion Empire — ruled by Emperor Endymion, a Magistus
- Rellyona — the Magistus who founded Pentamarone; dead
- Pentamarone — founded by another Magistus, outside Empire control
First Appeared
Discussed in Session 7 (July 15, 2026) over dinner at the Lathen safehouse, when the party’s collective history recalled the Magistus while investigating the Pentamarone magic anomaly.