Difference between revisions of "Mage Types"

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===Mageblade===
 
===Mageblade===
The Mageblade was a term coined by the [[Wizard Breakers]] and specifically refers to a fighter who combines both magic and swordsmanship in their attacks.
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The Mageblade was a term coined by the [[Wizard Breakers]] and specifically refers to a fighter who combines both magic and swordsmanship in their attacks
  
 
The term was later used to describe anyone who used both magic and a sword.
 
The term was later used to describe anyone who used both magic and a sword.

Revision as of 23:25, 3 August 2010

Numerous different terms are used to describe magic users, most of whom will be very offended if you use the wrong one.

Mage Wars Era naming conventions are always confusing, and it's jsut gotten worse since then. Attempts durring the second and third Ages to academize or socialize the practice of magic only added to the confusion. Typically, the Mage-Wars-Era conventions still stand.

Gender specific

Women cannot be wizards, wizard is a strictly masculine term. This does not speak to any gender differences in magic itself or the use and teaching there of. Mage is the gender-nuetral term for a magic-user, wizard is masculine, and sorceress is feminine.

It is believed this distinction evolved during the Mage Wars as a result of the Marcon Alliance, who firmly maintained, despite evidence to the contrary, that "women couldn't do magic". Though all other aspects of the Marcon have been erased, the distinction of wizard as a masculine term survives.

Wizard vs. Sorcerer

The wizard/sorceress distinction gets really confusing when one understands that a sorcerer(the masculine for sorceress) is not the same thing as a wizard. A sorceress might practice the exact same forms of magic as a wizard and be functionally identicle, but a sorcerer is an entirely different thing altogether.

A sorcerer is typically much more powerful alone than a wizard, usually as a result of great innate abilities. Sorcerers more typically work alone and are more likely to employ complex spells. They are also typically practitioners of ritual magic, though many wizards also use spells that could be fall into that catagory.

There is no direct term for a female sorcerer, she is still called a sorceress whether she is using wizard magic or sorcerer-style powers.


Mages by Ability level

Within the tower system, you get different ranks and levels according to power. Exactly how these ranks are handed out varies tremendously from tower to tower, and it was considered bad form to use the distinctions outside of the tower during the Mage Wars.

Afterwards, however, as historians began copying and translating the various records from the wars, it became common to refer to historical mages by their tower rank. Since Mage Towers vanished with the end of the war, no new mages gained such titles.

Arch Mage

The first level of distinction was the 'Arch' prefix, this could be applied either to a wizard(Arch Wizard) or a sorceress(Arch Sorceress). But because it was specifically a tower rank it was never applied to the sorcerer(there is no such thing as an Arch Sorcerer).

Magus

Magus was a gender-nuetral term and not applied as a prefix or suffix. A mage of that rank was simmply reffered to as a Magus be they he or she. Some towers also used the sub-rank Megus for a mage who was clearly more powerful than a Magus but not quite powerful enough to ascend to the next rank. Megus was not commonly used and is known only by written accounts from the Dynastic Period.

Though now regarded as a gender-nuetral title, most historians agree that it was actually a masculine term for which there is no feminine equivalant. Some historians argue that Megus was the feminine term, though records cannot confirm or deny this. Surviving tower records that list ranks do not go into detail about the genders of the holders, and no biographical information on a mage with the rank of Megus list whether or not the holder was male or femail.

The nature of magic in general and chain attack specifically tends to support the theory that there were no female Magus', though what few survivng accounts of the Tower of Ulara would tend to refute this.

Arch Magus

Also a gender-nuetral(or masculine only, depending on which interpretation of history you subscribe too), the Arch Magus is the lord of the tower, the highest ranking(most powerful) wizard in a given Mage Tower.

Other Terms:

Many other types of mages exist, though these do not correspond directly to any tower-ranks.

Mageblade

The Mageblade was a term coined by the Wizard Breakers and specifically refers to a fighter who combines both magic and swordsmanship in their attacks

The term was later used to describe anyone who used both magic and a sword.

Battleing Sorcerer

The Battleing Sorcerers were some of the most feared mages of the Mage Wars. These were not tower wizards, but mages who went into battle along with troops. Most often they fought with only magic, though many were known to be capable warriors in their own right.

None-mages

Witches and warlocks are not actual magic-users. Most are con-artists who use non-magical means to convince others of their power. Most practice some form of devil or demon worship in order to lend credit to their claims of supernatural powers.

Occasionally an actual mage will identify as a witch/warlock in order to hide their true capabilities, in areas where the population will fall for that sort of thing.

Typically, those who make claims of witchcraft are shunned and looked down upon by actual magic users, and the term itself is often met with hostility. In otherwords, call yourself a witch and someone will probably spit on you.