Mage School: White Winds
Home: Mighal
Enrollment: ~10,000
Motto: "Magic Solves Everything"
The White Winds mage school is one of the most open of all the schools, taking in all comers, testing all applicants, and training any of those who have talent for any kind of magical aptitude to the best of their ability. Generalists almost to a fault, the White Winds school values practicality and efficiency over any sort of "style" or drama. When looking for a mage with the widest set of skills, none outrank a White Winds mage. But if depth and skill in a particular area are needed, White Winds magi will almost always come in second (or worse) to a mage of a specialty school.
White Winds magi are often found in mercenary companies (since a merc company never knows what they will be facing, it helps to have at least one or two generalists on hand), and frequently are the magical consult of choice for those who have less cash to spend or power to offer. As a result, White Winds magi are often considered the "lower tier" of the mage schools, at least among magi. White Winds magi don't mind this perspective, however, as it puts them closer in touch with the people, gives them better access to wider knowledge, and spreads their influence across the globe more evenly.
White Winds magi can usually be found in almost every city in Azgaarnoth, particularly those of more than a thousand citizens in size.
Membership
Any arcane-using creature is welcome at a White Winds school, as either student or instructor, and membership in the school usually requires only an application form, brief interview, and demonstration of arcane skill (at any level). If offered, membership in the school requires annual fees, and periodic participation in some aspect of the school: research, instruction, or artifice. Research is both the creation of new spells as well as deepening the understanding of the world; instruction is as it sounds, teaching subjects to students about some aspect of arcane (or even divine) magic; artifice is the construction of various magical items that are then sold from the school through many of the merchant guilds with which the White Winds has connections and contracts. (Most common magic items found in Azgaarnoth are of White Winds manufacture, in fact.)
White Winds was the first to develop the Arcanist arcane tradition, and theirs is one of the deepest spellpools in Azgaarnoth, reducing the DC for the Spellpool trait by 5. (It is also rumored that the White Winds spellpool holds a copy of every spell ever prepared in Azgaarnoth, but this the White Winds Adepts will neither confirm nor deny.)
Tendencies
Connections
White Winds Spells
These are actually quite common across Azgaarnoth, but require a White Winds mage to teach them. Despite their commonality, they ae not considered "core" spells, and if a player character wishes to learn one, it should be done as part of game activities.