Merithos

I still have some odd ideas about when days and, yes.


In Merithos, the wolrd is written in the stars - every detail of it. With the proper care, and sufficient knowledge, there is no question about the state of the world in the present which cannot be answered.
Those who study the stars are called astrologers, and what might at first be a surprise is how little one sees such people. The uses of their functional omniscience should, after all, be obvious - the humblest merchant would wish to know what the grain harvest is like a thousand miles away, and the greatest king should like to know immediately what happens in the furthest reaches of his kingdom. And yet, there are no astrologers to be found in plain sight.
This was not always the case. Many generations ago, there were people who made use of them. Never many, but some. But the problem is, that the one thing a merchant wants more than to know his competitor’s secrets, is to be sure that they do not know his. Kings are even less willing to let their secrets be known. Astrologers, and those who employed them, had short lives.
And so, the astrologers banded together, and founded the Academy of the Night under its twelve Grand Magi (the number has varied since, though never for long). Although it is not a traditional academy - it has no buildings, or grounds. It has no physical location whatsoever, indeed. It is simply a name for an organisation of astrologers, working together, and passing their knowledge down from one generation to the next.
Where astrologers were often attacked, noone comes after the Academy, because those who do rarely find anything to speak of, and tend to find that their secrets from that moment forth do not remain secret.
And, of course, the Academy is rich beyond measure. Both from their own investments (which are considerable), and from the high price they charge those who seek them out for their services. And people who would never have employed an astrologer do seek them out. Because anyone who can afford those service and does not buy them, risks what might be done to them by someone who did.
Beyond the academy, there is unfortunately very little in Merithos which is constant enough to be worth speaking of. The Academy, as a result of the abilities of its members, reaches across seas and continents. And the temporal kingdoms of the world are small, brief things, constantly fighting for dominance. It is said that the Academy keeps them that way, using its wealth and knowledge to keep any one kingdom from becoming too dominant. Of course, the Academy is blamed for everything from plague to earthquakes, but this rumor seems plausible - a weak kingdom is a potential customer, whereas there is the risk that an empire might be able to threaten them.
As for astrologers who do not belong to the Academy, the Academy itself tends to see them as a threat to its control, and those who survive spend most of their lives on the run from its enforcers.