The Amr is the leader of the corcerer caste. Like his subordinates, he often walks middle path between the duties of the Calip and those of the Vizier. Traditionally, the Amr’s primary responsibility is to advise the Eldest on all matters relating to magic and the supernatural, including the affairs of and the threats presented by other Cainites. This somewhat vague definition means that he must not only deal with magical threats to haqim’s legacy but also with the realm of magical study in general. Additionally, the Amr is generally recognized as the most powerful sorcerer in the caste and thus the most powerful sorcerer in the world (though the latter distinction is more rhetorical than quantifiable).
Due to the prevalence of forms of magical communication amoung sorcerers, the Amr has a greater ability to issue commands directly to his caste than his counterparts do. In practice, he rarely exercises this power, as the sorcerers are only marginally less independent than the warriors or viziers. However, on those infrequent occasions when the Amr does give an order rather than a polite suggestion, wise sorcerers do not hesitate to obey.
After the Treaty of Tyre, on of the last acts of the then-Eldest was to place the Amr in charge of the clanwide effort to break the Tremere curse. For most of the past 500 years, this has occupied much of the Amr’s attention, though he and his assistants have still maintained the magical defenses of Alamut and played an intricate game of move and countermove against the Tremere and their infernal servants.
Traditionally, the Amr is re-selected every year on the night of the vernal equinox. Every sorcerer who is present at Alamut participates in the night-long ritual divination that reveals the identity of the sorcerer who is best suited to lead his brethren for the next cycle of the stars.
Since A.D. 120, the name al-Ashrad has been synonymous with the title of Amr. There has been no other for close to two millennia, and many Assamites cannot conceive of the greatest magician in the world being ousted from the position that he himself defined.
