Apprentice Wizard

*"My exam is coming up soon. If I can light the candle from ten paces without setting my hair on fire, I’m sure I’ll pass this time."*

## Basic

(Core) Humans born with magical talent are dangerous and feared individuals. Daemons and disaster gather about an untrained Wizard. To deal with this threat the Empire sends such people away to join one of the eight Orders of Wizardry. During their apprenticeship young Wizards learn how to practice magic safely, and contemplate which Order they will eventually join. Some apprentices will be bound to serve the Wizard who uncovered their talents, whilst others adventure to garner enough money to pay for their tutelage at the Colleges of Magic. Elves are naturally magical, and do not need to attend these Human institutions, learning from their own lore masters instead. See Chapter 7: Magic of the Core Rulebook for more details on the Orders of Magic.

### Secondary Profile

**Skills:** Academic Knowledge (Magic), Channelling, Magical Sense, Perception, Read/Write, Search, Speak Arcane Language (Magick), Speak Language (Classical)

Talents: Aethyric Attunement or Fast Hands, Petty Magic (Arcane), Savvy or Very Resilient

**Trappings:** Quarter Staff, Backpack, Printed Book

### **Career Entries**

Dilettante, Hedge Wizard, Scholar, Scribe, Student

#### **Note**

If you want to be able to cast spells right away, you should increase your Magic Characteristic with your free advance during character creation. Halflings and Dwarfs may not enter this career. Magic users are feared and sometimes hated. Think carefully before choosing this career.

## A Day in the Life

It isn’t easy mastering magic – of those few with even a hint of the gift, fewer still manage to tame it and control it before it consumes them (or just gets them burned by an angry mob). Apprenticeship is often gruelling, demeaning work, with the master handing out only the smallest nuggets of real knowledge in payment for hours of tedious labour. However, it’s the only even half-safe way to become a true wizard.

An apprentice’s day begins early. There are candles to light, potions to tend to, runes to scribe, and meals to prepare. Even if the master could chop wood or skin chickens by magic, he prefers to let the apprentice do it – both to keep him busy and to teach him not to call on magic for trivial acts. Power must be respected! Over the course of the day, the apprentice will help his master with his many tasks, sometimes accompanying him as he meets other wizards or offers counsel to nobles and merchants. At times, if the master is pleased, there will be formal training in the art of magic, some genuine wisdom that makes the tiring labour of the day seem almost worth it.

Some apprentices leave before their training is complete – their master perished in some disaster and they barely escaped, or there was just one beating too many. Such individuals, with only the barest grasp on their gifts, can parley their limited powers into enough coin to pay for further training, or just learn as they travel, which can be dangerous to both themselves and their companions.

## Affiliations

Apprentices have only the most limited status in guilds or academies, but wherever many wizards gather together, their apprentices will likewise gather. They form loose-knit gangs, part study circle, part drinking club, part collection of backstabbing betrayers. The path from apprentice to full wizard is not easy, and while it’s good to have the help of one’s fellows, they also represent competition.

Such gangs rarely last long, but they can provide good contacts or connections once Apprenticeship is past. A typical conversation among former apprentices can often go something like this:

“Remember how you and me and Darryl used to all drink together at the Butchered Sow? Whatever happened to old Darryl, anyway? Eaten by a deamon? Damn, that’s too bad. Anyway, I’ve got a favour to ask...”