School of the Lantern Court

The School of the Lantern Court is one of the distinctive wizard traditions of the Shōrin Dominion, most strongly associated with Seiryūjima and the magical-spiritual branch of the Azure Chrysanthemum Accord.

Lantern Court wizards are not defined by one school of magic.

They study whatever magic is necessary to understand and regulate the boundary between the visible world and the unseen one.

A Lantern Court wizard may use Divination to identify a spirit, Abjuration to contain it, Illusion to expose a false manifestation, Necromancy to question the dead, or Conjuration to establish a controlled path through which a supernatural presence may safely communicate.

Their central discipline is not a particular magical school.

It is discernment.

Before a hostile spirit is destroyed, the Lantern Court asks what it is.

Before a curse is broken, they determine what maintains it.

Before a ward is renewed, they ask why it failed.

Before an apparition is dismissed, they determine whether it is:

• a ghost;
• an ancestral presence;
• a yokai manifestation;
• an illusion;
• a summoned entity;
• a possession;
• a psychic echo;
• or something pretending to be one of these.

The Court’s wizards are therefore simultaneously scholars, investigators, exorcists, occult diplomats, wardens, and field researchers.

Origins in Aetheris

The Lantern Court exists as the magical and spiritual branch of the Azure Chrysanthemum Accord, one of the Seven Great Institutions that defend Seiryūjima. Its established responsibilities include arcane research, spirit mediation, divination, magical education, and wardcraft.

In wider Dominion records, the Court is described more specifically as an organization of:

• spirit scholars;
• wardens;
• ritual investigators;
• ward-scribes;
• omen readers;
• exorcists;
• and mystical advisors.

Its members investigate:

• shrine anomalies;
• cursed objects;
• spirit disturbances;
• yokai behavior;
• Ghost Reef phenomena;
• failed wards;
• possession;
• and dangerous magical residue.

Unlike purely contemplative magical traditions, the Lantern Court is deliberately practical.

Its scholars might be sent to:

• examine a haunted cove;
• inspect a broken shrine seal;
• determine whether a foreign artifact is spiritually contaminated;
• analyze a cursed Dragoncoil firearm;
• advise magistrates on a possession case;
• or negotiate with a supernatural entity whose rights are older than the Dominion itself.

The Court’s largest educational and research facilities occupy the Third Terrace of Azure Blossom Citadel. There stand the Celestial Archive, the Hall of Whispering Stars, Kaede’s Observatory, and the Shrine of the Azure Dragon.

Other holdings include the Temple of Whispering Waves, Starpool Observatory, and the secretive House of a Thousand Lanterns, an advanced magical retreat and sanctuary for powerful spirits.

Philosophy and Doctrine

Lantern Court philosophy begins with a distinction:

The supernatural is not synonymous with corruption.

That principle is essential in the Nihonkai Isle Chain.

The region contains:

• ancestral spirits;
• local kami;
• Kitsune traditions;
• Hengeyokai lineage spirits;
• sacred beasts;
• yokai;
• ghosts;
• cursed entities;
• and stranger presences.

The Dominion itself recognizes that mortal authority exists alongside shrine authority, ancestral taboo, negotiated spirit-right, and sacred geography.

A wizard who responds to every supernatural manifestation with destruction is therefore considered dangerously ignorant.

The Lantern Court teaches five core disciplines.

Illuminate

Before acting, determine what is actually present.

False conclusions are among the greatest dangers in spirit work.

Listen

Many supernatural disturbances possess causes.

Some can be resolved through:

• restitution;
• fulfilled obligation;
• restored burial rites;
• renewed compact;
• returned property;
• truthful confession;
• or recognition.

Define

A spirit is most dangerous when nobody understands the rules governing its manifestation.

Lantern Court magic therefore emphasizes:

• names;
• boundaries;
• thresholds;
• conditions;
• and terms.

Contain

Understanding does not require trust.

Some entities must be sealed, warded, isolated, or restrained.

Purify

Corruption must be separated from existence.

The goal is not to destroy what is strange.

It is to remove what has become dangerous.

The Central Tension

Lantern Court wizards frequently stand between four competing forces.

Shrine authorities may prioritize ancient custom.

State officials want immediate solutions.

Jade Fang hunters may argue that delay costs lives.

Intelligence services may prefer inconvenient supernatural truths remain secret.

The Court’s defining institutional problem is already summarized perfectly in Dominion records:

Powerful people often need to be reminded that the unseen world does not care about their schedule.

A Lantern Court wizard must therefore learn not only magic, but the courage to tell rulers that some problems cannot be solved by decree.

Visual Identity

Lantern Court wizards favor refined but practical robes combining scholarly, shrine, and field elements.

Common colors include:

• deep midnight blue;
• ink black;
• moonlit silver;
• ivory;
• pale jade;
• muted gold;
• and occasional crimson ward-thread.

Their clothing often includes:

• wide but secured sleeves;
• layered shrine-style collars;
• weatherproof traveling cloaks;
• scroll cases;
• ink kits;
• ward strips;
• jade beads;
• spirit bells;
• incense containers;
• divination mirrors;
• and compact lanterns.

The lantern is central to their visual identity.

A Lantern Court wizard’s personal lantern may serve as:

• spellcasting focus;
• divination instrument;
• ward-anchor;
• spirit beacon;
• ritual light;
• or containment vessel.

More experienced wizards frequently customize these lanterns with:

• moon motifs;
• engraved constellations;
• chrysanthemum marks;
• foxfire patterns;
• wave forms;
• dragon imagery;
• pearl inlay;
• and handwritten protective formulae.

When their magic manifests, it often appears as:

• pale blue flame;
• silver light;
• floating written seals;
• concentric ward circles;
• moonlit mist;
• translucent lanterns;
• or glowing calligraphy suspended briefly in the air.

Role in Aetheris

A Lantern Court wizard functions primarily as a:

Controller / Support / Supernatural Investigator

The subclass is particularly good at:

• detecting hidden supernatural threats;
• identifying creatures and magical effects;
• protecting allies;
• controlling spirits and extraplanar entities;
• warding areas;
• resisting possession and mental intrusion;
• exposing Invisible creatures;
• interrupting supernatural movement;
• and conducting magical investigations.

It deals less direct bonus damage than an aggressive wizard tradition.

Its greatest strength is making dangerous supernatural encounters understandable and manageable.

Subclass Integration

Shōrin Dominion

Lantern Court wizards enjoy unusual respect within the Dominion because spiritual affairs frequently lie outside ordinary administrative authority.

They may advise:

• magistrates;
• daimyo;
• military commanders;
• shrine officials;
• naval officers;
• and the Shōgunate itself.

Their authority is strongest when the question concerns:

• spirits;
• wards;
• curses;
• occult contamination;
• or supernatural law.

Azure Chrysanthemum Accord

The Court is one of the Accord’s Seven Great Institutions.

Its scholars routinely cooperate with every other branch.

Jade Fang Covenant

The Lantern Court’s closest and most contentious operational ally.

The Jade Fang asks:

How do we kill it?

The Lantern Court first asks:

Should we?

When destruction is necessary, the two work extremely well together.

Dragoncoil Armory

Lantern Court specialists assist Dragoncoil with:

• cursed-metal purification;
• magical stabilization;
• spirit-sensitive sights;
• warded ammunition;
• and supernatural weapon research.

Some Lantern Court scholars worry that Dragoncoil engineers are too willing to bind spiritual forces into weapons.

Dragoncoil engineers occasionally suggest that Lantern scholars are too willing to spend three months debating whether a weapon possesses feelings.

Both sides have occasionally been correct.

House of Silk Lanterns

The two institutions cooperate in:

• cultural preservation;
• ritual tradition;
• historical scholarship;
• diplomacy;
• and ceremonial practice.

Azure Fleet

Lantern Court-trained wardens maintain enchanted beacons, identify supernatural weather, and help naval officers distinguish normal fog from spirit-veiled hazards.

Rival Factions and Enemies

Lantern Court wizards frequently oppose:

• malignant yokai;
• hostile ghosts;
• possession cults;
• curse traffickers;
• occult smugglers;
• corrupted shrine orders;
• foreign spirit researchers;
• necromancers exploiting ancestral dead;
• supernatural parasites;
• and entities emerging from the Ghost Reef or Drowned Temple.

The Hollow Court represents a more complicated relationship.

It is not uniformly hostile, and some of its members may be negotiated with.

That uncertainty is exactly the kind of problem the Lantern Court exists to address.

School of the Lantern Court Features

Wizard Level	Feature
3rd	Lantern Court Savant, Lantern of Discernment
6th	Seal the Threshold
10th	Sevenfold Ward
14th	Court of a Thousand Lanterns

The levels follow the Wizard progression established by the current Aetheris Subclass Template.

Lantern Court Spells

Your studies give you unusual familiarity with certain spells.

When you reach the Wizard levels shown below, you always have the listed spells prepared. They count as Wizard spells for you and do not count against the number of Wizard spells you prepare.

Wizard Level	Spells
3rd	Detect Evil and Good, Protection from Evil and Good
5th	See Invisibility, Gentle Repose
7th	Magic Circle, Speak with Dead
9th	Arcane Eye, Banishment
11th	Dispel Evil and Good, Legend Lore

If a spell is already prepared through another feature, you may prepare another Wizard spell of the same level instead.

Lantern Court Spells

Your studies give you unusual familiarity with certain spells.

When you reach the Wizard levels shown below, you always have the listed spells prepared. They count as Wizard spells for you and do not count against the number of Wizard spells you prepare.

Wizard Level	Spells
3rd	Detect Evil and Good, Protection from Evil and Good
5th	See Invisibility, Gentle Repose
7th	Magic Circle, Speak with Dead
9th	Arcane Eye, Banishment
11th	Dispel Evil and Good, Legend Lore

If a spell is already prepared through another feature, you may prepare another Wizard spell of the same level instead.

Lantern Court Savant

You have undergone the Court’s foundational training in occult scholarship, ward writing, and spirit etiquette.

Action Type: Passive
Uses: At-will
Duration: Permanent
Scaling: None

You gain Expertise in the following:

• Arcana;
• Investigation;
• Insight;
• Religion.

You also gain proficiency with Calligrapher’s Supplies.

Occult Examiner

Whenever you make an Intelligence check to identify or analyze:

• a spirit;
• Fey creature;
• Undead creature;
• extraplanar entity;
• curse;
• ward;
• magical seal;
• possession;
• supernatural residue;
• or magical contamination,

you may add your Proficiency Bonus twice if you are proficient in the relevant skill.

Ritual Discipline

When you cast a Wizard spell as a Ritual, you may use your personal lantern, ward tablet, calligraphy kit, or similarly appropriate Lantern Court implement as the ritual focus.

In addition, copying a Divination or Abjuration spell into your spellbook requires only half the normal monetary cost.

Lantern of Discernment

You bind a portion of your magical perception into a ritual lantern.

Action Type: Bonus Action
Uses: Proficiency Bonus per Long Rest
Duration: 10 minutes
Scaling: Radius increases at 10th level

As a Bonus Action, you ignite your Lantern of Discernment.

The lantern may be:

• a physical lantern;
• a magical flame hovering beside you;
• a glowing paper lantern;
• or another culturally appropriate manifestation.

It sheds Bright Light in a 20-foot radius and Dim Light for another 20 feet.

You may reduce either radius to any size you choose.

For 10 minutes, while a creature or object is inside the Bright Light, you gain the following benefits.

Reveal the Unseen

Invisible creatures within the light appear to you as faint translucent outlines.

They remain Invisible to other creatures.

You do not automatically expose illusions, but you have Advantage on checks made to identify them.

Read the Residue

You immediately know whether a creature, object, or location inside the light is currently affected by:

• a curse;
• possession;
• magical transformation;
• or an ongoing spell of 1st level or higher.

You do not automatically learn the exact effect.

Name the Presence

As a Bonus Action on a later turn, choose one creature you can see within the lantern’s Bright Light.

Make an Intelligence (Arcana) check against:

DC 10 + the creature’s Proficiency Bonus

On a success, you learn:

• its creature type;
• whether it has Resistance or Immunity to Radiant, Necrotic, Psychic, or Force damage;
• and whether it can become Invisible, Ethereal, possess another creature, or teleport.

Once you successfully examine a creature this way, you cannot examine the same creature again until you finish a Long Rest.

You regain all uses of Lantern of Discernment after a Long Rest.

At 10th level, its Bright Light radius becomes 30 feet.

Seal the Threshold

"Every crossing has a moment when neither side fully owns the door."

You learn to inscribe instantaneous ward-seals that interfere with supernatural movement and hostile manifestation.

Action Type: Reaction
Uses: Proficiency Bonus per Long Rest
Duration: Until end of the triggering creature’s turn
Scaling: Additional option at 10th level

When a creature you can see within 60 feet does one of the following:

• teleports;
• becomes Ethereal;
• enters the current plane from another plane;
• attempts to possess another creature;
• becomes Invisible through magic;
• or is summoned into an unoccupied space,

you may use your Reaction to invoke a Threshold Seal.

The creature must make a Charisma saving throw against your Wizard spell save DC.

On a failed save, choose one appropriate effect.

Closed Gate

The triggering teleportation, planar movement, or Ethereal transition fails.

Any resource spent attempting it is still expended.

Unmasked Crossing

If the creature attempted to become Invisible, it does so normally, but you and creatures you choose within 30 feet can see it until the end of its next turn.

Rejected Vessel

If the creature attempted to possess another creature, the possession fails.

Bound Manifestation

If the creature was summoned or entered the plane, its Speed becomes 0 until the end of its current turn.

A creature that succeeds on its saving throw is unaffected.

You regain all expended uses after a Long Rest.

Sevenfold Ward

Your wardcraft has advanced enough that you can maintain a moving sanctuary around your allies.

Action Type: Bonus Action
Uses: Proficiency Bonus per Long Rest
Duration: 1 minute
Scaling: None

As a Bonus Action, you inscribe seven spectral ward-seals around yourself.

For 1 minute, you project a 20-foot aura.

The aura moves with you.

You and allies of your choice within the aura gain the following benefits.

Ward Against Intrusion

Affected creatures have Advantage on saving throws against:

• being Charmed;
• being Frightened;
• possession;
• and magical effects that would forcibly move them to another plane.

Purified Boundary

Fey, Fiends, and Undead have Disadvantage on Opportunity Attacks against affected creatures.

Lantern Shelter

Affected creatures cannot be Surprised by Invisible creatures while conscious.

Shatter the Malign Seal

Once during Sevenfold Ward, when an affected creature fails a saving throw against:

• a curse;
• Charm;
• Fear;
• possession;
• or magical transformation,

you may use your Reaction to allow that creature to reroll the saving throw.

It must use the new result.

After you use Shatter the Malign Seal, it cannot be used again during that activation of Sevenfold Ward.

You regain all uses of Sevenfold Ward after a Long Rest.

Greater Threshold Seal

Your Seal the Threshold feature also improves.

When a creature fails its saving throw against your Threshold Seal, you may additionally cause glowing script to cling to it until the end of your next turn.

While marked this way:

• it cannot become Invisible;
• and it cannot teleport or become Ethereal.

Court of a Thousand Lanterns

"One lantern reveals a spirit. A thousand remind it that it has entered a place where mortals are watching."

You manifest the supreme field rite of the Lantern Court.

Action Type: Action
Uses: Once per Long Rest
Duration: 1 minute
Scaling: Capstone

As an Action, you summon a spectral Court of a Thousand Lanterns centered on yourself.

Dozens—perhaps hundreds—of translucent lanterns appear throughout a 30-foot-radius sphere around you.

They drift through the air, float along the ground, and hang from invisible branches.

The sphere moves with you.

It lasts for 1 minute or until you become Incapacitated.

Within the Court, you gain the following benefits.

Perfect Illumination

You and creatures of your choice can see:

• Invisible creatures;
• creatures on the Ethereal Plane;
• and magical disguises or transformations as translucent overlays around the affected creature.

This does not automatically reveal a creature’s true identity.

No Uninvited Crossing

Hostile creatures cannot willingly:

• teleport into or out of the Court;
• become Ethereal;
• or possess a creature within the Court

unless they first succeed on a Charisma saving throw against your Wizard spell save DC.

A creature makes the saving throw each time it attempts one of these actions.

Courtly Judgment

When a Fey, Fiend, or Undead creature starts its turn inside the Court, you may choose to force it to make a Wisdom saving throw.

On a failed save, choose one:

Silenced Manifestation.
The creature cannot use innate teleportation or Invisibility until the beginning of its next turn.

Bound Spirit.
Its Speed is halved until the beginning of its next turn.

Revealed Intent.
Attack rolls against it have Advantage until the beginning of its next turn.

A creature can be subjected to Courtly Judgment only once per round.

Lantern Intercession

When a creature you can see within the Court takes damage from a spell or supernatural effect, you may use your Reaction to cause a lantern to interpose itself.

Reduce the damage by:

2d10 + your Intelligence modifier + your Wizard level.

The lantern shatters afterward.

You may use Lantern Intercession a number of times during the Court equal to your Intelligence modifier, minimum once.

Final Purification

Once during the duration, you may use an Action to target one creature within the Court.

Choose one condition or effect affecting it:

• Charmed;
• Frightened;
• Possessed;
• one curse;
• one magical disease;
• or one magical transformation imposed against its will.

Make an Intelligence (Arcana) check against the spell save DC of the effect.

If the effect has no spell save DC, the Game Master determines an appropriate DC based on its source.

On a success, the effect ends.

On a failure, the effect is suppressed until the Court of a Thousand Lanterns ends.

Once Final Purification is used, it cannot be used again during that activation.

After you summon the Court of a Thousand Lanterns, you cannot do so again until you finish a Long Rest.