Does anyone know where I can find more information on the Circle of 10,000? My group’s starting a new BE game in the Karsan League, and my Psychologist is going to be part of the Circle. I like what little info there is in the book, but unless I’m missing it, there isn’t a lot of information there.
Thanks in advance! 
Adam
Have you read Sheva’s War?
I have, though it was a few years back. Maybe I’ll have to go back and read it again. Heck, been meaning to read both books again anyway.
Alright. I read through Sheva’s War again. Which was a pleasure. Love that book.
Anyway, it didn’t really provide me any more information than I’d had previously.
I guess I’m wondering the following:
Is it a loose fraternity of Psychologists? Or is it a more structured deal with ranks and a hierarchy? I know it’s a warrior/psychologist group, but are they overtly militaristic?
How does it interact, as an organization, with individual planets and with the Karsan League in general?
You can get the LP via Novitiate or Inquisitor. If going the Inquisitor route, does this mean that the character (or maybe even the entire Circle of 10,000) are intrinsically tied up with Mundus Humanatis? Or is this association meant to represent some other sense of spiritualism/theocratic order?
Thanks again. What I know of the 10K so far make me very excited to play. But I love to sink my teeth into lore, and shake it back and forth until it wriggles and the little bits fall out.
Morning Adam,
I’ve been neck-deep in the Comoran Worlds for the last year, so my memory of what goes on down in the Karsan league isn’t as fresh as it could be. Off the top of my head:
-Psychologists in most of the Iron Empires are seen as too dangerous to be allowed to exist. The two exceptions are the Inquisition (a sort of secret society protected by the Mundus Humanitas), and the Karsan League. In the league, psychologists operate like a guild (the Circle). They provide Karsan society with all of the services a mind-reader might be expected to provide: military, intelligence, negotiations, protection against mind control, etc… PLUS they make up most of the nobility, and use their abilities to govern and the maintain the status quo. So, the Karsan league is essentially the opposite of the rest of the Empires: Psychologists are in control of society, not hunted by it. The other empires see the League as sorcerous at best, heretical demon-spawn at worst.
The inquisition, unlike the League, operates in all of the Empires, and uses psychologists like tools: poor twisted wretches, kept in cages, safeguarded with all sorts of awful mechanisms, drugs and operations, and only brought into the light of day if the end justifies it. They’re also seen as demon spawn, but since they’re under the control of the church, it’s okay. Kind of.
Hope that helps,
Chris
Wow! Thanks Chris. That was amazingly helpful, and really interesting. Thank you so much! I hope we see much more of the Iron Empires universe. It’s fantastic.
wait, so there are no badass inquisitors running around the Empires with psychology making the common folk shiver with their constantly glowing bright mark?
Well, the inquisition is composed of lots of badass non-psychologists who use their twisted, unholy, untrustworthy psychologist weapons in the cause of righteousness. And I don’t have trouble imagining a Darth Vaderesque psychologist who has “convinced” his untalented “masters” that he can be trusted to get the job done on his own. It’s a big universe.
-Chris
Hm. Well, we certainly didn’t get this right in the book!
It’s not you getting it wrong, Luke, it’s my imagination running off in a feverish delirium, ignoring the stuff you built in the game. The bottom line is this: just because the Mundus church has an inquisition that uses psychology doesn’t mean they like it. They (along with the rest of the non-Karsan society) fear psychology, and do their best to eradicate or control those who show talents that way. That said, psychology is seen within the Inquisitiorial branch as a vital tool for rooting out heresy.