Condescent
The Condescent is an organization of Arianiga consisting of sky people who choose to live for periods of time among the earth people, to learn more about their ways and to try to ferret out any secrets they may (perhaps unknowingly) harbor. Originally, "the Condescent" referred not to the organization, but to what they were doing; the Condescent was the term to describe the members' going down to live the life of the earth people, while the organization was the Brotherhood of the Earthbound. Over time, however, the term "Condescent" increasingly came to be applied to the organization itself, and finally, bowing to common usage, the former Brotherhood of the Earthbound officially adopted the name.
The name of the society has attracted some criticism among the more progressive elements among the sky people for implying that the earth people are inherently inferior to the sky people. While many, perhaps most, sky people do believe just that, the Condescent insists that in their case the name is intended to connote no such thing, that they are "condescending" in treating with the earth people only insofar as the earth people are less advanced technologically and magically and have a lower standard of living, but that they do not see this as reflecting upon the people themselves. Some critics see this rationalization as disingenuous—and, truthfully, on the part of many of the Condescent, it no doubt is, though there are surely some who really do believe in the equality they claim to.
Goals
The Condescent's stated purpose in insinuating themselves among the earth people is to learn from them, but there's some disagreemnent as to what exactly they are learning. The original rationale was that locked among the traditions of the earth people might be some clues about the ancient times before the sky people left, and of important treasures and lost knowledge that could thence possibly be divined. There have since developed some contrary movements among the Condescent, however, who pursue the same methods but toward different ends. Some care less about the past than they do about present secrets the earth people may know of living close to the land; a few extreme elements romanticize the earth people's lifestyle and study it in hopes of bringing all the sky people back to it. Others regard their experience with the earth people as little more than an exercise in anthropology, with no greater goal in mind. There are some among the Condescent whose motives are more malevolent, who seek to learn more about the earth people to determine how best to exploit them, and to lure them into slavery or rob them of whatever of value they might have. Certainly such an endeavor would be condemned by the organization's leadership, and those members who do pursue these goals keep them a secret.
Practices
The main activity the Condescent is known for is their going down from the shees and wolks of the sky nations to the earth nations to dwell among the earth people. They do so surreptitiously, posing as earth people from other lands rather than as the sky people they are. Naturally, this cover story requires them to know enough about the earth people to pull it off, so members of the Condescent generally are expected to learn all they can about the earth people from the organization's books and teachers before they start their infiltration. While members are generally expected to avoid calling attention to themselves or doing anything to mark them as more than an ordinary earth person, many can't resist showing off some of their magical skills or the powers of talismans they brought with them, to make themselves out to be particularly gifted or accomplished earth people, and to rise to positions of prominence among them. As long as they don't actually let those around them know that they came from the sky nations, these breaches of the Condescent's policy are generally tolerated, and some members of the Condescent have even utilized such tactics to seize the leadership over entire cities of the earth nations, though more often the roles they take are advisory rather than overtly hegemonic.
The length of time that a Condescent member spends among the earth people varies widely. Usually, each expedition averages a few years, after which the member returns to the sky nations, has a debriefing and relates anything of interest he discovered, and then spends some time enjoying the superior comforts and luxuries of the sky nations before perhaps going back down to a different group earth people for another foray. Some members, however, have difficulty bearing such a long stay away from their accustomed lifestyles, and stay among the earth people for only a few months at a time. Others, conversely, want to really delve deeply into their investigations, or find something in the earth people's lifestyle that appeals to them, and end up staying for many years or even decades. (So too those who stake out for themselves leadership roles among the earth people; a Condescent member who has made himself a cheftain may be loath to yield his power.) Members are by no means prohibited from making brief visits back to the sky nations during their expeditions, as long as they can do so in a way that doesn't excite the earth people's suspicions, and some, during long stays among the earth people, use some means of magical translocation to visit their homelands as often as one a week or more; others, however, are content to remain uninterrupted among the earth people until their current mission is complete.
Relations
Most of the sky people have no strong feelings about the Condescent, seeing them as little more than amusing eccentrics. They do have some allies, however, among the Golden Sieve, some of the members of which hope that the Condescent will indeed turn up some significant ancient knowledge, and support the organization accordingly. Paradon's Cart and the Peregrine Fellowship also have been known to forge alliances, if not with the Condescent as a whole, then with some of its individual members, rewarding these allies for supplying them with valuable trade goods from the earth nations.
On the other hand, the Condescent is not entirely without enemies. The Lodestar Company fears that by popularizing the idea that the earth nations might have something worthwhile to contribute aside from subjugable manpower, the Condescent may jeopardize the slaverunning that makes up the company's main business. The Company has been known to try to sabotage the Condescent's operations, and to put political pressure against the organization. Some nations that particularly rely on slave labor, such as Cast, Phothar, and Jinou, are also known to be hostile toward the Condescent for similar reasons.
The Winged Souls are in some ways a mirror image of the Condescent, and the relations between the two organizations can be complex. Often members of the two organizations find common cause, but just as often jealousy and mistrust may set them bitterly at odds.
Structure
The Condescent is led by a general board, currently comprising twenty-four members. Half of these board members are elected by the Condescent's membership; the "open board" then secretly appoints an equal number of board members, the "hidden board", whose identities are not publicized. (Nevertheless, the identities of most of the members of the hidden board are something of an open secret, the supposed concealment of their identities a mere formality.) The full board then elects a director who acts as the overall leader of the organization. The director serves until recalled by the board, this contingency acting as a check on the director's otherwise absolute power over the organization. The current director of the Condescent is a Drimonian woman named Iobi Adia Rucachi. Below the board, the Condescent is nominally organized into local chapters, but in practice the chapter leaders, or capitularies, have little power, and the local structure of the Condescent tends to be somewhat anarchic.
Joining the Condescent is a simple matter of presenting oneself to one of the organization's chapter houses and expressing interest. Prospective members are not, however, assigned to (or permitted to embark upon) any ventures to the earth nations until they have been with the organization for at least a year, during which time they are expected to complete a number of training and orientation courses offered at some of the chapter houses and other locations.