The Order of the White Tower

What they are (OOC): Basically what we got here is a brotherhood of steel type organization, for those that played Fallout 1/2/3/New Vegas. They collect useful knowledge (including history, advances in science, magic, warfare, poetry, etc., etc., etc.) from everywhere, they don't share it with anyone. They're isolated and don't interact with any nation or group openly or otherwise. They have a strict code that they follow, and they are very devout in everything they do. They've been around for almost 1200 years, at this point they're mostly forgotten by the outside world, though they had to defend themselves many times in the past. Here is some more info for you, and I'll add more stuff in the future.

Location of the White Tower:

(The red dot inside the yellow circle, northernmost point of the High Reaches mountain range, Tevinter Imperium)




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History:

From the "History of The White Tower; 12th Edition; Vol. I" by Head-Scribe, Keeper Deventius Cyril the IIIrd. Dated 9:07 Dragon Age. Translated by Brother Genitivi.

Chapter I

At the northernmost point of the High Reaches, four days journey from the Tevinter city of Minrathous, stands a White Tower overlooking the treacherous waters of the Colean Sea. To truly desribe what the Tower is would consume entire lifetimes of labor, but to put it simply the Tower is a Sanctuary. It is a place there knowledge is preserved, all knowledge: history, alchemy, technology and even magic. The Tower and its Keepers do not discriminate, they collect and they defend. Today the Tower is protected as much by the fact that the outside world is oblivious to its existence, as by the strength and determination of its Keepers. However it was not always so, and I, Deventius Cyril the IIIrd, but a humble Keeper myself, one in the position of a Head Scribe, will put to paper the history of my home so that my knowledge can too remain preserved within these walls of white stone. My work will never be complete, as the history of the Tower is never ending, but I will relay what I have learned through decades of research the best that I can.

The story of the Tower begins in 897 TE (-298 Ancient), almost a century after the beginning of the first Blight. The first Grey Wardens conducted their joining in Weisshaupt seven years prior, but an entire century still remained until the Blight was finally ended. Those were dark times, human victories were few, and countless fell to the darkspawn horde. Many thought that the end of the world and second coming of the Maker were fast aproaching. It was in 897 TE (-298 Ancient) that the Magister Lords ordered a creation of a new order of Knights that would would travel the world and seek out ancient knowledge that could aid in the battle against the Darkspawn.

Lead by their brave Commander, Crovius Maxus the VIIth the Knight-Seekers scoured the land for ruins left by Elvhenan, the once powerful Elven Empire that was conquered by the Imperium many years prior. It was believed that the ancient magics of the elves could prove useful in combating the Blight, but unfortunately the Knights could not find anything of value. The ruins were robbed and plundered many centuries before the boot of a Knight-Seeker stepped on their grounds. The elves themselves have devolved, forgetting the knowledge of their ancestors, all attempts to make contact with the now nomadic elven tribes yielded no useful information.

For over a decade the courageous Knights have traveled all over Thedas. Finally Crovius Maxus the VIIth lost favor with the Magister Lords, who refused to fund any further expeditions believing that the entire endeavor was futile. Yet for Crovius Maxus the pursuit of his goal became an obsession that made his determination unbreakable. Selling his estate and using his own funds to purchase supplies, him and two hundred former Knight-Seekers who volunteered to follow their Commander into the great abyss itself, launched their final expedition. They were no longer looking for elven knowledge, but dwarven. The ground beneath the High Reaches mountain range was home to dozens of dwarven Thaigs, abandoned as the dwarven Empire fell to the darkspawn onslaught. The year was 911 TE (-284 Ancient) and Crovius Maxus and his men marched north.

That same year as the Knights aproached the entrance to the Deep Roads they encountered a large group of dwarves that have just broken out to the surface. There were warriors, but the group mostly consisted of women and children. Their leader, Paragon Burwak, had an audience with Commander Maxus, and told him of the horrors that his kin had to endure during their escape. For the last fifty years Burwak's Thaig held against the darkspawn while completely cut off from what remained of once mighty dwarven empire. They knew that no aid was ever going to come, yet they kept on fighting, until finally, just as it happened in all the hundreds of Thaigs before, their defenses gave in. The Paragon then rallied the remaining warriors, and had them break through the darkspawn lines, in an attempt to get the women and children to the surface. He succeeded, but at a great cost.

Commander Maxus then told the Paragon about his expedition, upon hearing which Burwak offered the Commander a deal. Seeking protection for his own people, the Paragon told the Commander that the treasure that Maxus seeks is in the Paragon's own mind. He agreed to share the knowledge, but only if the Commander could ensure that the fate of the dwarves lead by Burwak was secure.

The Commander did not know what to do at first, but then his scouts reported spotting ruins of a Tower at the northernmost point of the mountain range. They told him that the Tower's location and the natural barriers surrounding it made it an easily defendable position there the Knights could set up a permanent regional base, as they continued on their mission. Heeding the advice of his scouts and seeing an opportunity to fulfill his part of the bargain with the Paragon, the Commander lead the humans and the dwarves northward, until they reached the Tower. It was a magnificent sight, elevated one hundred and twenty meters on a pedestal of black rock, stood a white spire overlooking the sea. Only one path through a valley between two enormous peaks lead to it, it was a place there just a squad of men could defend against an enitre army.

The Knights and the dwarves spent the next several months rebuilding the ruins, until they made them habitable. The Paragon's wish for his people's safety was satisfied and he shared his knowledge with Commander Maxus as promised. Yet so wise was Burwak that he managed to convince the Commander to delay reporting to the Magister Lords indifinetly. He told him that knowledge if shared with those who would misuse it, held terrible power that would destroy the world faster than any Blight. He told him that it must be preserved by those wise enough and responsible enough to protect it from evil. The recorded accounts say that the Paragon then pointed his finger at the Tower and said “I had a dream my friend. In my dream this spire there, this White Tower, it was the last hope for all life, it was the light that still shined surrounded by darkness. It was a home of knowledge, and its protectors. Unbreakable, unchanging, able to weather any storm be it the Blight or the second coming of your Maker. This place must stand forever, and be protected, and knowledge must be stored within its walls. So join me, brother, and we shall see my dream become reality, and with our actions we will forge salvation for our people. Both dwarves and humans, all the building blocks of our civilizations saved for all eternity. No matter what happens outside these walls, we will be able to rebuild all that was lost.”

The Commander took five days to think on the Paragon's words. On the sixth day he called Burwak to his tent. They shook hands, and the Order of the White Tower was formally established in 912 TE (-283 Ancients). The humans and the dwarves, now the first Keepers, continued fortifying their home at the same time sending out parties to gather books and other sources of knowledge from all over Imperium. Several years later they attempted their first raid on the Darkspawn infested Deep Roads to reclaim dwarven knowledge from the lost Thaigs.

Many things happened in the centuries that followed. As more and more knowledge was stored within its halls the tower became a prize for those who wished power. Many times its defenders had to take up arms against invaders, and they have always been victorious. So quickly, and efficiently were all attackers dispatched that as the years rolled on, the Tower became a legend, and then a myth, and now a seldom told fable.

Two centuries went by after the Order was established and a tribe of elves seeking protection were allowed to join the ranks of the Keepers, in exchange for their knowledge. Much more recently, a few of the former followers of the Qun were allowed to make the Tower their home, adding what they know to the list of the Tower's secrets. I will expand on these and many other events in the latter chapters, but for now, the story of the Order's birth has been relayed.