Idran

World · The Crystal Tower

The Crystal Tower is a solitary spire located east of the capital Asteria, at the confluence of canals. Its entire outer wall is made of crystalline minerals with varying degrees of transparency, causing it to faintly shimmer in the sunlight during the day and its internal magical light to be visible from anywhere in the city at night.

It is the empire's sole magical engineering institution, holding the rights to artifact production and autonomous magical research. It forms the third pillar of power, the Iron Triangle, alongside the Imperial Court and the Senate. It lacks a political structure where seats are contested, and internal conflicts arise not over power, but over research.

Command Structure · Seven Divisions

It has a simple vertical structure: Archmage — Deputy Archmage — Division Head. Unlike the Senate, there are no factions or seats. Instead, each Division Head holds near-absolute authority within their respective division.

Rank System

Initial ranks are determined by mana capacity and skill. Eligibility for promotion review is granted only after accumulating experience and contributions, and ranks are officially certified only after passing an examination. Automatic promotion based solely on experience is not possible.

Internal Tower Structure

It is divided into the Subterranean, Lower, Middle, and Upper levels, with the varying transparency of the crystal walls directly reflecting the hierarchy.

Path to Entry

Recommendation from the Pantheon's Faculty of Magical Engineering is the most common path, but not the only one. There are public examinations that evaluate candidates solely on their mana levels and practical skills, regardless of their background. Rarely, a Division Head may directly recommend someone they observe demonstrating extraordinary abilities in the field. Individuals who enter through this path often become the subject of gossip within the tower regarding their origins.

Tower's Relationship with the Outside

Officially independent, a significant portion of artifact production contracts and research funding relies on imperial commissions. The Senate has almost no direct influence over the tower, but some ducal families maintain indirect ties by having their children enter the tower through the Pantheon.

There are suspicions among imperial intelligence organizations that the underground force Bane Route has collaborators within the tower. Rumors suggest that mana stones not passing through official distribution channels occasionally show minor discrepancies with the tower's material records. It is rumored that the Sealing & Forbidden Magic Management Division is investigating this matter, but it has never been officially confirmed.

Holds the power to appoint and dismiss all Division Heads and has exclusive access to the Archmage's private library (upper level). Succession is not through election but by the designation of the previous Archmage, the criteria for which only the Archmage knows. They exist outside the rank system, so no one can rank them.

Among past Archmages, there have been instances where they were appointed directly without prior experience as a Division Head. This has led to the saying within the tower: "Only the Archmage knows the qualifications needed to become the Archmage."

Even the Division Heads do not consider them peers. While Division Heads hold absolute authority within their own divisions, they do not question the Archmage's decisions when it comes to matters related to the upper-level archives.

The Imperial Court cannot easily pressure the Archmage, as the loss of the tower itself would be too great. Lee De Ran is the youngest Archmage in the empire's history to hold this position.