Mage Schools

Natural talent and a quick mind are only the bare beginning of being able to wield the arcane arts. Achieving true mastery requires personal dedication, self-discipline, rigorous training, and access to libraries full of ancient grimoires and crumbling scrolls. In Azgaarnoth, where magic is regarded as too important—-or too dangerous--to be left in the hands of self-educated dabblers, it is taught and practiced by members of special guilds, societies, fraternal orders, and cabals, who jealously guard access to their powers and seek to control their use.

Such guilds arose for many reasons. Some exist to preserve arcane traditions and instruct new magicusers. Others organize the efforts of their members in the service of a worthy (or sometimes not so worthy) cause. A Mage School might operate openly (most do) or exist as a hidden society. Some guilds are large, formal hierarchies in which members are expected to obey the orders of their superiors, while others are small fellowships in which no one member is considered superior to his or her fellows. In all cases, part of their purpose is to pool their resources to more quickly advance in eldritch knowledge and might. Spell-dueling is an important tradition in such guilds, and members become experts in fighting other magic-users.

When guilds have hierarchies, adepts of greater seniority and status often have the authority to assign missions to lesser members and review their activities.

When members reach higher levels in their class, they may become a high-ranking master. Depending on the school and your campaign (and subject to the DM’s discretion), a member can usually speak for their order, with the implicit promise that the School will back the member to the greatest extent possible. These members are expected to be careful about taking stands or making promises that are difficult for their guild to support, but fellow members will generally trust each other to know when difficult tasks are necessary. Holding an office gives a member significant power to influence their order’s actions, but requires time and commitment. Many masters choose to avoid these responsibilities and prefer to busy themselves with their own affairs.

Game Notes

Whether you agree to take a position in your order’s leadership or remain free of such responsibilities is up to you and the DM.

Membership benefits

Mage Schools usually divide the world into members and non-members; members have access to all the resources and tools owned by the School (although not always for free), whereas non-members are simply servants or, worse, petitioners. Members are often of any spellcasting class; not only wizards and sorcerers, but warlocks, bards, clerics, druids, even the traditionally "martial" classes that have spellcasting abilities are often welcome. They may not be treated exactly equivalently within the school--this depends on the mission and values of the school--but typically if an individual can touch the Weave, they can find entry within a school.

Mage schools often serve as a "home" for wizards before they strike out to construct their own tower (or found a branch of the mage school in a new city), and as such, members of the school will typically have a dedicated space for them somewhere within the school's tower or grounds--this is a safe place in which to keep spellbooks, coin, treasure, and other items a member might not wish to have on their person as they go out into the world. Note that while a tower of the same mage school will try to accommodate a visiting magi of the same school, it will usually be a guest bed that doesn't necessarily have the same quality or storage capacity.

Some schools will offer services to members for free or a nominal charge, depending on the value of the service; such services might include, but are not limited to:

  • identifying an unknown magic item
  • assisting in the research of a spell (of a form favored by the school)
  • scholarly research
  • ritual casting
  • assisting in the enchantment of a magic item (of a form favored by the school)

Many mage schools understand that their narrow specialization limits their own capabilities, and will often "exchange" services at member rates to members of other schools if there is some reasonable expectation of reciprocity. This will often require some form of verification that the requestor is, in fact, a member in good standing with the other school. Some schools have a close bond to one another and may engage in this magical-exchange market more freely.

Such services may be offered to non-members, but at much higher rates (if at all).

Organizations

Typically, a school is built around a particular concept or magic concept, such as the White Winds's focus on general-purpose practicality, or the Fiery Fist's obsession with combat. Each school has its own entrance criteria, membership rosters, and frequently they maintain distinct spells, items, and training for their members.

Hundreds of mage schools, ranging in size from a dozen magi to thousands of masters, journeymagi, and apprentices, are present on Azgaarnoth. Currently the more widely-known include:

Many of these schools have explicit connections to other organizations, such as merchant guilds, mercenary companies, or the Draconic Orders. More frequently, a mage school will hire a mercenary company for a variety of tasks (including escort and guard duties), engage in trade with merchant guilds, and consult (or be consulted) with the Draconic Orders, particularly the Brass

Still other schools are known to exist or have existed in the past, such as the Infinite Cylinder, Pylon of the Void, Miasmal Minaret, Pillar of the Endless Stair, Stone of Eternity, Nonesuch Monument, Chthonic Pylon, Belfry of the Forgotten Fane, Rock of Sorrow, Cylinder of Silence, Celestial Monument, Spiral Tower, Spire of Crimson, Bronze Turret, Colossal Column, Elemental Obelisk, Gilded Rock, Monument of the Emerald Rune, Shimmering Spire, Finger of the Phoenix, Rock of Oblivion, Edifice of the Endless Dark, Eldritch Column, Immaculate Cylinder, Obelisk of the Worm, Tower of the Brazen Delve, Greenstone Cylinder, Enchanted Tower, Purple Column, Fey Stone, Dusk Tower, Astral Spire, Turret of Chaos, Twisted Stone, Illusory Monument, Siltstone Rock, Turret of Sorrow, Cylinder of the Mist, Edifice of Iniquity, Grinding Turret, Ebony Stone, Scarlet Obelisk, Lightless Stone, and still others. Some had no more than a dozen members and a tower for a time, others rose to hundreds of members, and then obliterated themselves in spectacular fashion. Their histories may be waiting to be (re)discovered, if only the brave and the foolhardy are willing to explore their ruins....

Most mage schools have a "home" (the location of the heads of their school), particular membership conditions, and certain tendencies, as described in each school's individual entry. The "enrollment" lists only the number of actual spellcasters, and does not include any sort of guards, support staff, or extended agent networks (if applicable).

Secret Schools

Some schools of magic do not seek to openly advertise their existence.

These schools are often actively hunted by secular authorities, and sometimes other mage schools will look to aid in the hunt.

"Wilders"

School-affiliated magi, however, will look down on "wilders" as "uncivilized" or "uneducated", and many "wilders" in turn look upon their school-affiliated brethren as "sellouts" or "kept magi". These "wilders" will often be of the Hedge Magi arcane tradition.

The Mystics of Zhi

Mystics are those who specialize in powers of the mind (psionics) rather than of the arcane or the divine. Although some of the skills taught by the mystics are found in the West (such as membership found in the MindMage school), Zhi's Council of Seers has made a much deeper and more extensive study of the psionic arts than anything found elsewhere. Mystics can certainly be found all over Azgaarnoth, and generally they are not part of any school (although some have joined the MindMage school out of curiosity). Mysticism in Zhi is a high calling, however, perhaps even higher than that of the arcane or the divine, and this has caused no small amount of friction between Western nations, where the mage schools often hold direct sway over political decisions, and the nations of Yithia, where usually that influence is reserved solely to the Mystics and Council of Seers.

Mage School Template

# Mage School: 
**Home**: [Mighal](../../Cities/Mighal.md)

**Enrollment**: ~250

**Motto**: ""

Description

## Membership

## Tendencies

## Connections

## Restricted Spells