Alchemists of the Eye

An order of alchemists based in Palanthas. The Alchemists of the Eye seek to hone their mastery of magic primarily through the rigorous and carefully controlled study of magical linguistics. They believe that the language of magic is the key to its power and that a sufficiently advanced linguist can command far greater power than a wizard reciting words by rote. Seth was exposed to the ideals of the order by his Lupine Wars comrade Edmund Malthus and was on the road to membership at the time of the Puncture. According to Edmund, the Eye accepts wizard applicants who demonstrate that they can create magical items and have never been members of the Alchemists of the Golden Dawn.

History
The Eye - named after the distinctive shape of Krynn's three moons during a threefold eclipse - was founded over a hundred years ago, when Solamnic power was still at high ebb. While Knights of Solamnia have little use for mages in the knighthood proper, they recognize the value of disciplined magical research, and hence the Order of the Eye came to embody the highest Solamnic values - honor, conservatism, and caution among them. The order's founder, Justice Vitrine, remains famous not so much for being a powerful wizard as for being a well-connected one; it was on his say-so that the luminaries of the Solamnic academies rallied to the Order's banner. Outside magical circles, Vitrine is remembered primarily for his successful tenure as advisor to the High Clerist.

Under Solamnic auspices, the Order of the Eye grew rapidly and spread far beyond Solamnia's borders. But with widespread recognition and acclaim came dissenting opinions. The Alchemists of the Golden Dawn formed thirty years ago, a splinter group from the Eye believing that magical learning should be broad-based and freeform rather than following the tightly circumscribed channels embraced by the Eye.

Mechanics
The Alchemists of the Eye were designed as a 3.5e prestige class. At tenth level, a member of this order could craft alchemical items and write spells for half the usual GP cost, knew all mortal languages, and was adept at the application of metamagic to memorized spells. Unfortunately, the Puncture rendered this mechanical model obsolete, and both alchemist prestige classes were replaced with a paragon path, the Alchemist of the Risen Sun.