Concordance of Elements
- This article focuses on the Concordance of Elements extraplanar organization as a whole. For the Concordance's allied faction of agents in the Pathfinder Society, please see Concordance of Elements (faction).
The Concordance of Elements (or just the Concordance for short) is an extraplanar operation that seeks out elemental imbalances, planar breaches, and extraordinary natural phenomena to close breaches, re-establish natural order, and study the multiverse in all its splendour. To fail in this is to allow rampant growth to choke out all life, stand by as one plane's power snuffs out the life of another, or watch as the cosmos spins out of alignment. After meeting the Pathfinder Society in 4716 AR, the two organizations became allies.12
Structure
The Concordance's ruling council of scholars, the Cycle of Five (soon to be the Cycle of Seven), shapes the organization's broad goals and policies. The Seats of Air, Earth, Fire, and Water promote the interests of their respective elements, while the Seat of Balance negotiates their competing ideals and serves as a tiebreaker. Few people outside of the Concordance know the identities of the Cycle of Five:3
- in the Seat of Air: Strathos, a neutral4 anemos
- in the Seat of Earth: Xoliox, a lawful evil elder xorn oracle
- in the Seat of Fire: Dancing Inferno, a neutral evil elder fire elemental
- in the Seat of Water: Elranida, a chaotic neutral female faydhaan5 sheikha bard
- in the Seat of Balance: Zuelia, a neutral female jann sheikha terrakineticist
The Cycle of Five rarely acts personally; instead, each seat deputizes a liaison to enact its will.3 For example, the liaison to the Seat of Balance is the druid Ashasar, who also coordinates joint efforts between the Concordance and their allies in the Pathfinder Society.6 After the recent re-emergence of the Elemental Planes of Metal and Wood, the Cycle of Five is preparing to become Seven, and their fortress Pentaskelion is being renovated into Septaskelion.7
Pentaskelion, the Concordance's central hub, is on the Astral Plane, but Concordance members conduct operations out of any of its (currently) four branches, which are respectively located on the Elemental Planes of Air, Earth, Fire, and Water.3
Background
The Concordance is an ancient and diverse organization whose membership spans multiple planes, with a particular focus on the elemental planes. Its members take great interest in the interplay among the primal forces of air, earth, fire, and water. They believe that the stability of the multiverse ultimately depends upon these forces—and many others—remaining in balance.8
Each member has their own ideas about how to maintain this equilibrium. Some of them set upon a perilous quest for understanding in places where elemental forces are at their strongest, from howling blizzards to ferocious thunderstorms to active volcanoes. Others seek to refine the balance within, mastering magical forces or fighting styles that evoke multiple elements. Still others search for yawning planar rifts and other massive disturbances to study or seal away.8
As an organization, the Concordance believes that each individual member's personal journey of discovery is important. Its leaders, collectively known as the Cycle of Five, spend much of their time in meditation and reflection, leaving its agents free to act with relative autonomy. Agents who contribute more to the Concordance's collective knowledge and overarching goals gain deeper access to its ancient reservoirs of elemental knowledge and power.8
References
For additional as-yet unincorporated sources about this subject, see the Meta page.
- ↑ . Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild Guide, TBD. Paizo Inc., 2018
- ↑ John Compton. (December 13, 2017). Mid-Season Faction Updates, Paizo Blog.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 . “Concordance of Elements” in Disciple's Doctrine, 4. Paizo Inc., 2018
- ↑ The Pathfinder Second Edition Remaster Project eliminated game mechanics for alignment in favor of mechanics for edicts, anathema, holiness, unholiness, and sanctification. Broader concepts of alignment remain in the Pathfinder campaign setting. See Meta:Alignment.
- ↑ Paizo referred to faydhaans as marids until the publication of Rage of Elements. See Rage of Elements pg. 3 and Pathfinder Core Preview pg. 2.
- ↑ . “Chapter 2: Pathfinder Society Factions” in Pathfinder Society Guide, 56. Paizo Inc., 2020
- ↑ . “Introduction: Elementary Truths” in Rage of Elements, 6–7. Paizo Inc., 2023
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Linda Zayas-Palmer. (December 13, 2017). Introducing the Concordance Faction!, Paizo Blog.