Magister

The Magister was a personal champion of Mystra, devoted to spreading the use of magic. It was a lonely office, whose holder was often besieged by challengers looking to take it for themselves.
==Duties==
The central task of the Magister was to spread the use and teaching of magic, encouraging its use, and promoting its availability and utility. Specific Magisters sometimes received different tasks, but the common thread was always spreading magic.
Though a number of magisters, from Shornthal Imynster up to Maldiglas Turntower devoted notable amounts of effort to influencing rulers, by , the Magister was strongly advised to steer clear of politics.
==Succession==
The most common manner of acquiring the title of the Magister was by slaying the previous holder with magic. Duels by 1370 could be simple spell duels, or they could be nonfatal, when Azuth sought to shield the Magister or the challenger from death. In those cases, Azuth converted all their spells into a force that would force a green flame provided by the deity of wizardry closer or further to the challengers; a challenger touched by the flame would lose the office. Azuth would heal both mages, and then spirit away the loser, with their wits broken but otherwise protected from all things, to some remote location for about a month. At the end of this time, they would regain their wits.
The Magister was not allowed to refuse a duel, but Azuth could judge that a duel could not be fair, to prevent a succession of challengers from wearing down the incumbent. In such cases, the god himself or some shadowstaves would cloak their location and perhaps teleport one or both parties to other locations.
Question duels were also an option; challengers could instead ask each other obscure magical trivia, and by quizzing each other, demonstrate their superiority in arcane knowledge. Azuth was the sole judge of such duels; clergy of Azuth and Savras were granted knowledge of the duel's questions and answers when it happened, but they did not receive knowledge of the challengers' identities.
By trial by combat was still a means of acquiring the office, but by , Mystra and Azuth had completely abandoned trial by combat as a method of succession.
Whenever a Magister died to something other than another mage (or if the other mage slew that Magister and died in the process, or if their combat was far too one-sided for whatever reason), Azuth selected another mage whom he believed would work to spread magic, and offered them the office; it could be refused without disfavor. Before the recorded Magisters, Mystra had made a number of offers herself.
Other Magisters had voluntarily sought release from the office, judging they were not suited to it. When Mystra judged this to be honest, the Magisters could be made into Chosen of Mystra instead, or thrust directly into Mystra's Choice. This path had been selected by both Alvaerele Tasundrym and Azuth. They still went through Mystra's Choice upon death.
Whenever a new Magister was named, every mage casting a spell at the moment felt a sudden, violent sensation; priesthood of Mystra, Azuth or Savras found a manifestation in their temples, where the symbol of the Magister appeared on all scrying surfaces, afterwards transforming into the mage sigil employed by the mage who had gained the office, for about ten minutes. Magisters who eschewed a sigil or whose sigil was too close to that of another mage instead got their name spelled out in Common.
==Relationships==
Though the office made them targets for endless waves of ambitious mages, leading to the severing of many relationships, the Magister could count on a few groups to behave in specific ways. The clergy of Azuth and Mystra were generally allies of the Magister, while the clergy of Savras was unfriendly to them; nonetheless, even those of Savras took care not to antagonize the Magister, and might even be counted on to render a small amount of aid. The clergy of Velsharoon was a constant enemy, and they had attempted to trap, rather than kill, the Magister simply to prove the might of Velsharoon.
Mystra ruled the Magister, though lightly, and seldom making pronouncements. Azuth, on the other hand, was known to advise the Magister, and appeared far more often than Mystra to them.
==Powers==
Mystra conferred a plethora of powers upon the Magister, which she changed on occassion, in response to specific events.
===Powers upon Succession===
By 1370 DR, immediately upon becoming the Magister, a mage would have their brow encircled by silver fire; this granted their weapons the ability to strike and harm just about any creature, though it did not really improve their attacks. Furthermore, they gained a short-term immunity to all magic, and protection equivalent to an ironguard spell. The ironguard spell faded after nine days; the immunity to all magic stopped protecting against one school every four to seven months, though never against enchantment. Mystra began granting strong immunities against magic starting in the Night of Fourteen Magisters, Eleasis 4 of the .
===Constant Powers===
By 1370 DR, Magisters were provided with magesight: a special insight into the Weave, allowing them to know when their own spellcasting was somehow impaired, when large magical discharges were nearby, or whenever anyone within cast a spell. They could also sense wild magic and dead magic areas, the boundaries of sorcerous wards, magical traps, and untriggered spells within .
By 1370 DR, the Magister could employ dimension door and water walk six times a day, they were always protected by feather fall and could levitate at will, without the need for spells, for instance, preventing them from falling into a chasm suddenly opening under their feet, as was the cause of death of the Magister Horgyl Tusselvarr in the . By concentrating, Magisters could activate true seeing at will. These abilities were not spells, and could be used at the same time as a spell.
The Magister Onsilur Maerdrathom was imprisoned inside a kiira at some point prior to the . By 1370 DR, the Magister was immune to the spells imprisonment and sink; the Magister was also undetectable by any divination spells, an ability that made some aspects of Athelzedar's rest redundant, developed by the Magister Imrul Athelzedar shortly before the .
By 1370 DR, the Magister was immune to all glyphs, runes, symbols, and other such wards based on enchanted inscriptions. They could also cross through any barriers generated by spells less powerful than a limited wish, without the need to break them. They were also immune, much like the Chosen, to nine spells of their choice, which had to be of different power.
Magisters Shornthal Imynster and were recorded to have battled constructs during their time in office; by 1370 DR, the Magister was always intangible to all magical constructs and automatons. 
The Magister Tyvbolt Arsurath was struck insane by studying a magical mirror at some point before the . After his fate, and that of a later Magister, Mystra had granted the Magister absolute immunity to all mind-affecting magic, all enchantment spells, and all psionics, by 1370 DR. This ability exceeded the defense which Mystra granted her chosen, extending even to artifacts and to the powers of other divinities. It could only be bypassed by the Magister's own doing; Magister Veldrin Daerivyn had been known to accidentally drive himself near-catatonic shortly before his death.
By 1370 DR, the Magister had a resistance to all magic that could nullify any spell just under half the time. At the Magister's option, the nullified spell could also be redirected back at the source or at a third party, or even turned into a surge of wild magic prior to redirection. No teleport spells or similar of theirs were subject to any chance of failure.
Finally, a Magister could hear their own name whenever it was spoken anywhere in Faerûn, as well as the title of the Magister, much like the Chosen of Mystra. They could turn this ability off, but it turned back on whenever they awoke, which allowed them to sleep from time to time.
===Spellcasting===
The spells of the Magister were also boosted in a number of ways. Those who would otherwise save themselves from the worst of the Magister's magic too narrowly were struck in full, due to the perfection granted to their magic. They also needed no material components to cast spells, only through development. They were able to cast any spell that took less than a full wizard's title to cast without moving a muscle.
They were also granted up to nine spells of varying power, that once per day, they could cast without having prepared before. The selection could be changed only yearly.
Magisters who specialized in a school of magic were able to change specialization with but three months of work. Most were not specialized in the first place, however. They also regained their spells within minutes of study, and were granted visions of any magic created by previous Magisters that resembled spells they were interested in developing. One specific spell, the mantle, which used to cause permanent degradation of the user's ability to protect themselves, had this requirement waived for the Magister.
===Greater Powers===
A Magister could grant a target they touched the ability to cast a given spell. At their option, it could be cast thrice an hour for a tenday (a total of roughly 720 uses) or instead once for each year of their lives per year, with one less every year until fully fading. A third option was to allow it to be used twice a night, so long as the Moon was full. The Magister was forbidden, however, from informing the frequency bestowed, and the ability cost them a permanent impairment in their vitality. Magister Immué Dathril was known to have imbued fly spells upon an entire Calishite dancing establishment during her tenure, at some point between the and the .
The apex of a Magister's powers, however, was the Magister's Ban, the ability to substitute, Toril-wide, the effects of one spell for those of another. This ability, however, could only be used to further magic: Mystra immediately ended a ban used lightly or for the Magister's own gain. Such prohibitions had lasted for a tenday, or perhaps a month, though some had been recorded to last for a year. Mages usually found out the hard way that a spell's effect had been substituted.
The Magister had other powers, but only those two were revealed immediately to a new Magister. For instance, they could be granted the metamagic powers of a Weavespinner, were they to inquire about them.
Magisters also had the ability to use the spells banned by Mystra after Karsus' Folly, but this thrust them into Mystra's Choice immediately and attracted the attention of both her and Azuth.
==History==
The office of the Magister was first occupied by Azuth during his mortal days; after his ascension to divinity, the office was given to a different mage, and held by a number of them over the years.
There was no record of the Magisters prior to Shornthal Imynster; however, at least one such Magister employed a spell forbidden by Mystra to slay a city's inhabitants in Halruaa after they decided not to heed his warnings as to the use of magic, which Mystra immediately reverted, creating a zone of wild magic. One later Magister took to the long task of restoring magic in the city to normal. By , the Magister's duties specifically excluded maintenance of the Weave, save when specifically instructed.
During the early 1370s DR, the clergy of Velsharoon had managed to trap at least one Magister and attempted to convert them into undead. Mystra personally broke the Magister out of confinement.Velsharoon ascended in 1369 DR; as the events referred to in Secrets of the Magister do not extend into 1372, this narrows down the time in which such an event could have happened.
Talatha Vaerovree was the last Magister recorded before the Spellplague of , when she was slain by Orbakh of Westgate. Sages have claimed that the Magister's head exploded at the time of the Spellplague: there may have been another Magisters after her, whose career may have been too short for a proper record, or only the appearance of Azuth could carry the the entitlement.
There was no Magister after the Spellplague, until the Second Sundering. In 1442 DR, Tannathra of Hardcastle was offered by Azuth to be Magister in the absence of Mystra. After Tannathra's retirement in 1490 DR, Mystra and Azuth appointed Valargrim Hond to be Magister, who died by battle in 1496 DR. Ramarthant Horaerays was the Magister of the turn of the century. The Magister's identity was not revealed as of the late 15th century DR.
==Rumors & Legends==
Though Mystra and Azuth were loath to give out any information on previous Magisters, it had been possible by 1370 to refute, amongst other things, that the Magister could command all dragons in Faerûn, that they could teleport at will, that their spells were boosted by a permanent connection to the Weave, and that they could eavesdrop into the minds of all mages at will.
==List of Known Magisters==
* Azuth
* Shornthal Imynster (136 DR – 148 DR)
* Flaerivus Grevauldyn (151 DR–154 DR)
* Malanthus Stormstaern (154 DR – 177 DR)
* Dorgon Heamilolothtar (177 DR – 241 DR) The magister that met a young Elminster Aumar.
* Azuth offered the position to Faerndel of Mourktar, who was the only mage to refuse the post.
* Nelorth Broamshoulder (241 DR – 242 DR)
* Weldrarn Orblin (early 242 DR)
* Tsanbrin Aulmeroevler (late 242 DR – 244 DR)
* Brymmyn Thorl (244 DR – 246 DR)
* Corthas Muhleer (one day in 246 DR)
* Galeerie Mulurkrath (246 DR – 249 DR) Galeerie was hit over the head with a dung shovel by a jealous husband.
* Talana Brakuularn (249 DR – 256 DR) The "Lady of Spells" from Shoonach organized the first Magefair.
* Eirl Rauthantannar (256 DR – 276 DR) He became Greentree Haven in the Wildlands of the Sword Coast North, frequented by Dove Falconhand.
* Ergrith Klavulgrun (276 DR – 278 DR)
* Adriyana Voudsarr (278 DR – 292 DR) The "Leaf in the Wind" became the artifact Adriyana's Garter.
* Nasana Melnuthquel (293 DR – 297 DR)
* Sabral Faryre (298 DR) Reigned for six days before being pinned to his throne with a harpoon.
* Malkith Undree (298 DR – 302 DR)
* Oldo Tappard (302 DR – 316 DR)
* Iolaeden Stonehallow (316 DR – 318 DR). She was still in the service of Mystra as of 1375 DR as an entity of unknown purpose or power.
* Loaradden Derviir (319 DR – 321 DR)
* Onsilur Maerdrathom (321 DR – 326 DR), the "Ruling Magister" of Tashalar. His soul was trapped in a kiira and went stark raving mad.
* Gelthin Hornreach (326 DR – 337 DR)
* Hortil Droone (337 DR – 345 DR) Became the Crown of the Undying Flame, a royal crown of Westgate.
* Phambra Chalyphar (six months in 345 DR). She continued to attend Magefairs as a stunningly beautiful Shadowstaff.
* Arghorst Talandor (345 DR – 404 DR) The first magister to be beloved by wizards since Dorgon, his good and trusting nature was his downfall.
* Anaslas Raldimmar (404 DR – 407 DR)
* Eleedra Nathchant (407 DR – 409 DR)
* Eldrus Wands (409 DR – 516 DR). Infamous Patriarch of the Waterdeep Wands Family.
* Thardon Ilvynner (516 DR – 522 DR)
* Morglord Iltriune (522 DR – 527 DR) Following his tenure, he was transformed into a gate somewhere in or around Waterdeep.
* Tsjancy Yildree (528 DR – 531 DR)
* Urboltar Highymhelver (531 DR – 537 DR)
* Tyvbolt Arsurath (537 DR – 544 DR)
* Annath Sunfall (544 DR – 576 DR) Transformed into a grell-like creature.
* Alvaerele Tasundrym (576 DR – 592 DR)
* Ozgor Hyelvel (592 DR – 601 DR)
* Velgorn Kataclath (601 DR – 607 DR). Became the Haunted Flagon.
* Velomar Dauntcastle (607 DR – 612 DR) Became a Shadowstaff that sometimes took mortal form to help young mages.
* Irithra Dawntanthra (612 DR – 641 DR)
* Dathchaunt Sandrach (641 DR – 657 DR) Dathchaunt continued to serve Mystra in another form.
* Jhesiyra Kestellharp (658 DR – 667 DR). An apprentice of Halaster Blackcloak.
* Nerren Prentiyuel (667 DR – 669 DR)
* Filverel Donnathlascen (669 DR – 694 DR)
* Larongar Veverell (694 DR – 699 DR). A gold elf nicknamed "Firehands" was the creator of several very powerful staves.
* Quaervaxthanus (699 DR – 705 DR). A beholder mage.
* Almer Galarthund (705 DR – 709 DR)
* Turnock Draether (709 DR – 762 DR)
* Veldrin Daerivyn (762 DR – 797 DR)
* Kurtal (797 DR – 886 DR)
* Sharglar Dulrathran (887 DR)
* Kalgrathur Daycloaks (887 DR – 889 DR)
* Jonsryn Daerathal (889 DR – 902 DR)
* Taline Telgara (902 DR – 946 DR) Ahghairon's inspiration. Wife of her accidental successor, Caldauvur.
* Caldauvur Maerglauthyn (946 DR – 949 DR) Born a weredragon, he became Magister by accidentally killing his beloved wife, Taline, in their wedding bed during the winter. He taught the Schooled since the spring after her death. He was the first Magister to formally train novices into standard wizards.
* Ildathchance Orlaer (949 DR – 952 DR)
* Baerzlus Anagathiir (952 DR). A Red Wizard fated for a short reign.
* Bilnur Faerglamer (952 DR – 977 DR)
* Malune Nalonkrivar (977 DR – 983 DR)
* Constulgrael (983 DR – 986 DR). A great wyrm black dragon of the Tunlands. 
* Meldryn Jalensifer (986 DR – 998 DR) Once possessed the Scepter of Mystra.
* Sarndaen Dalabar (998 DR – 1066 DR) Creator of the most extensively cataloged map of Faerûn's gates. After his death, Mystra and Azuth scattered his tile floor map across the continent. Some of the pieces were kept in temples and at the Herald's Holdfast.
* Immué Dathril (1066 DR – 1104 DR)
* Nelnfaen Sauntarae (1104 DR – 1126 DR). The only drow Magister, who hailed from Sshamath.
* Olohmber Starnardyn (1126 DR – 1153 DR)
* Horgyl Tusselvarr (1153 DR – 1204 DR) Creator of the fabled power gauntlets.
* Haelvar Ildagh (1204 DR – 1221 DR)
* Isilger Mountrant (1221 DR – 1274 DR) Once described as "more Bane's creature than Mystra's", he created blast globes for the Zhentarim. He was offered Mystra's Choice, but was ultimately slain by a dozen archmages.
* Thornar Fleetmoor (1274 DR – 1278 DR). The first master of metamagic.
* Uldinus Lawkland (1278 DR – 1280 DR) Once ran afoul of the Simbul, who wished to destroy him. First mention: a Chosen of Mystra is forbidden to purposefully destroy a Magister without Mystra's permission. Through this loophole, the Simbul trained a young mage in the best ways to rid her of Uldinus and thus the next Magister came about. The Simbul was severely reproved by Mystra for her actions.
* Ohland Grethgar (1280 DR – 1282 DR)
* Inhil Lauthdryn (1282 DR – 1294 DR)
* Aralagath Tarsil (1294 DR – 1306 DR)
* Orten Imdrar (1306 DR – 1317 DR) Died attacking Scsilda Starshield of High Emmerock.
* Qilder Yarven (1317 DR – 1318 DR, a month in each year)
* Maldiglas Turntower (1318 DR – 1322 DR). Creator of countless Refuges, the location of one has been revealed at every Magefair since his death. 
* Phelarnden Ghemelt (four months in 1322 DR)
* Maxiladanarr Torstren (1322 DR – 1328 DR)
* Imrul Athelzedar (1328 DR – 1354 DR) Became the shadowstaff protector of Noumea.
* Nouméa Drathchuld (1354 DR – 1370 DR) Given "Mystra's Choice", she became a Reborn whom many call "The Gentle Teacher".
* Talatha Vaerovree (1370 DR – 1385 DR) Killed by Manshoon.
* Helacorte Darimmon (1385 DR). Slain by mental damage from the Spellplague, the death of Mystra. There were no more Magisters for nearly 60 years.
* Tannathra of Hardcastle (1442 DR - 1490 DR). The first Magister after the Spellplague, offered by Azuth. Retired to serve Mystra in different ways.
* Valargrim Hond (1490 DR - 1496 DR) A hardened duelist and mercenary mage who perished in a fight with six Red Wizards, slew the last wizard's slayer posthumously.
* Ramarthant Horaerays (1496 DR - ??) An experienced for three decades adventurer who possessed a large cache of Netherese enchanted devices.
==Appendix==
===Background===
A Magister NPC or even PC class may have been intended for the 4-edition Forgotten Realms Player's Guide. As discussed here, artist Anne Stokes was commissioned to paint four illustrations for the FRPG, but only three were printed for paragon paths. The fourth is titled "Magister", possibly suggesting a Magister paragon path or epic destiny was intended.
===Notes===
===Gallery===
Magister - Anne Stokes.jpg|Unused "Magister" artwork by Anne Stokes.
===References===
FR:Magister
Category:Titles