The Council of Seven
The Council of Seven is Alyria's ruling council of Lords and Ladies - not to be confused with the earlier Great Council that collapsed during the race wars, nor with the separate Council of the Arcane, which regulates magick. THE STORY OF ALYRIA places the modern Council's founding after Cassandra ended the Age of Silence on Verity Isle: Agrippa, Vendredi, Telleri, Vashir, Undya, and others rebuilt order from the great townes. The Story of Alyria - timeline at a glance table above summarises that arc from the primal era through Council forms.
Lord Agrippa of Rune is the best-known of the seven in both lore and live politics. Canon credits him with authorising the sealing of opened passages into the Great Alyrian Underground when horrors threatened the surface. In the current era he also tolerates elected mayors in Rune as an experiment in democracy - see Politics, staff, and community for election dates and player-log history.
The seven seats span four continents - Rune, Xaventry, and New Rigel on Sepharia; Tellerium and Templeton on Avros; Sigil on Auryn; and Maldra Keep on Beltane (not Pirate's Cove, which is a separate PK port). The Council townes table lists each ruler and towne.
Council Lords and Ladies remain central to day-to-day Alyrian life in-game: their castles anchor regional politics, and their questmasters are how most adventurers first deal with the Council. How to request quests, spend quest points, or find each vendor is covered in Quests & Questmasters - a gameplay guide, not part of this history article.
Politics, staff, and community
Rune mayor elections. Lord Agrippa experiments with democracy in Rune: player mayors are elected on Alyrian calendar days 12-15 of January, May, and September. Mayors wear the official top hat and may alter certain room qualities within council trust limits. Election history drawn from player logs: Rune Mayor Elections. Rules appear in-game and on the official history page.
Who runs the game. Materia Magica LLC has operated the live game since the 2013-2014 transition (CREDITS / Thanks & credits / materiamagica.com/credits). Contact: MATERIA MAGICA CONTACT INFORMATION / support@materiamagica.com. Development began in January 1996 per CREDITS. The real-world timeline and Backend infrastructure (2020-2025) sections cover the recent engine and staffing transition using only staff-issued or attributed sources.
Further reading
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| Ingenii - What's New, Nov 1999 (archive) | web.archive.org/.../ingenii.com/new/ |
| MobyGames - Moongate / MM credits & trivia | mobygames.com/game/57469/materia-magica/ |
| Welcome to Alyria | /guides/welcome/ |
| Main plane atlas | /world/atlas/ |
| Quests & questmasters | /guides/quests/ |
| THE STORY OF ALYRIA | /athenaeum/help/1159/ |
| Official MM world guide | materiamagica.com/game-guide/the-world |
| Official credits (Rust Consultant, LLC staff) | materiamagica.com/credits |
| Community wiki (archive) | muds.fandom.com/wiki/Materia_Magica |
| Ryan Addams memorial | weremember.com/ryan-addams |
| Marks | /marks/ |
| Athenaeum search | /athenaeum/ |