| Full Name: | The Athenaeum Of All Knowledge |
| Nicknames: | Stewards, Archivists, Curators |
| Brief Description: | The Athenaeum is a prestige 'host' organization presiding over a confederation of fraternities, monasteries, private libraries, and independent scholars. Each obsessed with obtaining and recording all knowledge within their paradigm. Each hosted member has can apply for access to the other members through the main host depending on their seniority and provided value. However, they may offer anyone access to the answers they desire - for a price. |
| Symbol: | The group's icon displays an ancient tome, open to the middle, which emits rays of light. |
| Patron Deity: | The Athenaeum, which spans cultures, Kingdoms, and races, claims no specific Go, Though its members naturally drift toward immortal patrons of lost lore. |
| Goals: | Some members of the Athenaeum trace their roots to various gods of knowledge, claiming they have been entrusted with the world's knowledge in anticipation of a time when the world loses its memory. Others consider themselves the defenders of dark history, protecting the citizenry from evil secrets that they were not meant to know. A few corrupt Curators use the knowledge they collect for their own nefarious ends. All athenaeum members have two tenets they hold sacred, however as much information as possible must be recorded and guarded by its members, and that knowledge does not come without sacrifice. |
| Organization: | Any member calling his prestige host an 'organization' with many chapters is spreading a misleading message. As the size of individual chapters varies considerably as do the relations between each group. Many in the Athenaeum may have little to no contact with groups in other areas. Particularly diplomatic members can forge interactions with other members on the basis of HAVING a shared organization. But such unions do not last long, as egos and differences in doctrine cause them to falter. Hosted groups tend to be tightly knit. |
| Membership & Initiation: | The few individuals who tend to drive the work of the Athenaeum are those who make knowledge their mystical pursuit. They are loremasters of the purest form, interested in knowledge for its own sake, beyond any reward to themselves. They come from a multitude of backgrounds. Most were (and may still be) harrassed for their ravenous hunger to 'know' ... accused (rightfully or not) of Arcanistry. Some are divine adepts pursuing answers their limited imperial dogma cannot (or would not) answer. Some are adventurers seeking an answer to life beyond a mindless wandering from one dangerous situation to another. A few, it is said, have stumbled upon things that should never be made public but the world needs still be protected against, and now dedicate their lives to keep that knowledge hidden from those that would use it for their own selfish ends. |
| Associated Groups: | Compass and Claw, Hidden Virtue, Gearborn, Godseekers, Lambient Flame, Al’asadriel, Aesenhome |
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