The Circle of Archmagi

The Circle of Archmagi is an exclusive organisation that consists of the most powerful archmages in Eora. They are devoted to advancing the cause of magic, and have a vested interest in protecting Eora as a whole.

The Circle isn't led by any single wizard, and there are no ranks in any regular sense. Meetings between all members of the Circle are rare, and only occur under extreme circumstances.

Depending on who you ask, it's either Eora's equivalent of the Avengers or a club for bumbling fools jumped up on magic. As Aloth points out, their involvement is typically the worst possible outcome, as per the Blackwash Falls incident, in which the the Circle succeeded in vanishing all the water to predictably catastrophic results, or the case of a small town, rich in silver, being bartered around by various nobles. The Circle sent Kalakoth with a spell that opened a sinkhole, destroying the town and the Archmages now own half the jewelry shops in Aedyr.

Current members

 * Arkemyr (meadow human): A solitary archmage living in Neketaka.
 * Citzal (unknown): Specializes in conjuration magic.
 * Kalakoth (unknown)
 * Llengrath (varies): Less a person than a concept, Llengrath transfers their memories between extremely powerful mages, achieving a different form of immortality.
 * Minoletta: The Lady of Missiles, specializing in evocation magic and all forms of offensive, projectile spells.
 * Ninagauth (human)
 * Ryngrim (unknown)
 * Tayn (meadow human): An eccentric Aedyran with a chaotic personality.

Past members

 * Fyonlecg (elf): A forgotten archmage and Weyc.
 * Maura of the Seven Hills (aumaua): A mistress of summoning magic, especially those involving tentacles.

Associated

 * Bekarna (ocean human): Joins their ranks with The Watcher's help in The Halls Obscured.
 * Concelhaut (lich): A ruthless magician obsessed with immortality. His transformation into a lich brought him close to his ultimate goal. He is the only archmage that is not a part of the Circle of Archmagi and is portrayed as being at odds with them.
 * Fassina: A former apprentice to Arkemyr with insight into various Circle matters.

Joining the Circle
The Watcher may ask to join the Circle but will be refused by Arkemyr. During their adventure in The Black Isles, either Llengrath or Tayn — if friends with the Watcher, will agree to sponsor their candidacy.

In order to join, the selected mage must first present his or her spell in front of the entire cadre to be judged. Once they have completed this, the wizard must then duel all archmages in a row. According to Llengrath, the Circle has not seen a successful candidate in nearly fifteen years. It is also possible to generously donate your way into archmage-hood, as in the case of Tayn.

Behind the scenes
"sceptenar asked:

Hi Josh. I've been wondering about the Circle of Archmages in Pillars of Eternity. What exactly is the goal or purpose of the circle? It seems to be composed of people who act at crossed purposes. I just don't see how the group would hold together if they have no common goal or purpose. Also a followup question if you have the time, how did the council come to be? And what would you say the alignments of the members would be in D&D terms?

jesawyer answered:

I will not directly answer your question. However, it is not at all uncommon for groups to form under one set of circumstances and subsequently remain together even after completely losing any/all traces of their collective goals or purposes for associating together.

less-than-hash:

I suspect that the “alignment” of the Circle tends towards Neutral over all; they police their own, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t excesses. (WM displays pretty clearly that Llengrath and Concelhaut are both shitty people. But Llengrath’s pretty ‘reasonable’ during Forgotten Sanctum.)

Side note, I’m not fond of D&D’s alignment system, finding it both reductive and limiting. (”Neutral” is not valuable as a description of an individual’s ethics or goals.)

At some point somewhere, I described the characters in Forgotten Sanctum as:

Llengrath: Team Long Term Stability

Tayn: Team Shake Shit Up and See What Happens

Arkemyr: Team Status Quo

Maura: Team Rightfully Royally Pissed

To which I’d add Fyonlecg: Team Screwed Over and Upset About It, But Probably For the Wrong Reasons"

- Josh Sawyer and Alex Scokel respond to a query regarding the Circle on Tumblr

Trivia

 * According to Fassina, Arkemyr hosts annual galas for the Circle, during which she spilt soup on Tayn.
 * Although Circle members—Kalakoth in particular—seem to be at odds with the Circle, it is at its core a cooperative endeavor.