Warlocks of the Rising Phoenix
The Warlocks of the Rising Phoenix are elemental practitioners who swear oaths of blood and fire to strengthen themselves and protect Ashtan, the city which is their home, fortress, and sacred charge. The House was forged through the heat of war and remains a powerful military force, harnessing flame and stone to bring down destruction upon its foes. The often militant group of war mages and mystics pursues strength through discipline, triumph through tenacity and sheer overwhelming force. Every blade must be honed, they profess, and every art must be perfected. They hold loyalty and strength chief among virtues, for the fire that shines bright but soon burns to ash is worse than useless. Warlocks are descendants of the ancient Royal Battlemages of Ashtan, their knowledge and power cut short in the Fall of Seleucar. The last known battlemage pledged his lifesblood to protect Ashtan from destruction, and the Warlocks are heirs to those all-consuming oaths. They swear in blood to guard the slumbering volcanic caldera deep beneath the Bastion, lest the lanterns go out and the guardian phoenix awaken to make its funeral pyre in the slagged ruins of the burning city.