Mage Types

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.

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.