Mages' Guild

The Mages’ Guild is a guild for all those who work with magic and its properties, from spellcasting, to enchantments, to studying the nature of souls and the Fae Realm. It is one of the three major guilds of House Marvin.

## Guild Hubs

The Mages’ Guild’s main hub is located in the Magic District of Monacoil, House Marvin, Duilintinn. The hub is an impressive building consisting of a low, central, circular “tower,“ with five thinner and taller towers for each field of magical study: enchantments, wards, combat magic, soul magic, and life magic. While the library in this building is open to the public, the resources in the five towers are exclusive to members. Both the building and the surrounding area has the most traditional architecture in Monacoil, and largely resembles how it looked back in the days of Feadhainn.
In addition, like all of Duilintinn’s officially recognized guilds, the Mages’ Guild has a hub representing itself on Guild Row in Cordoire’s Administrator’s District. Here, the guild can advocate for its members in the political sphere of Duilintinn’s national capital.

## Apprentices

> *See Also: Mage Ranks*
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Like most other guilds in Duilintinn, the Mages’ Guild connects students pursuing higher education with members who need additional help and/or wish to pass on their knowledge to the next generation.

The Mage’s Guild has popularized a standardized system of mage ranks that indicate one’s proficiency and control over their magic. A novice has unlocked their magic, but has had little training; an apprentice is undergoing training with a more experienced mage to find their focus and develop their skills; and a journeyman has a well-developed focus and an acceptable amount of control over their abilities.
In addition to one-on-one mentorships, apprentices also have the opportunity to study in groups with experts in the five towers dedicated to fields of magical study: Life Magic, Soul Magic, Enchantments, Wards, and Combat Magic. These towers are also available for research and additional pursuits of knowledge long after a mage has graduated from their apprenticeship.

## Fields of Magical Study

Not to be confused with magical focuses, these fields are studied and taught in the Mages’ Guild for the benefit of mages who wish to better understand or hone their skills in a particular discipline. Each field has a dedicated tower in the guild hub in Monacoil.

Compare it to music. Each musician has an instrument they play, just as mages have a magical focus. However, there are many styles of music for a musician to explore, specialize in, study, or completely ignore. In the same way, these fields of study seek to provide mages with new techniques, skills, or applications related to their existing focus. They are open to all mages, though certain advanced levels of these fields of study are only accessible to those who have demonstrated significant skill and/or interest in the basics.

### Life Magic

Magic that interacts with the living things of the natural world.

For mages who are able to communicate with animals, this field is extremely useful. Being able to speak with an animal isn’t very useful if you don’t understand its body language or manner of speaking. Of course, many mages simply get used to these quirks over time, but this field of study allows them to skip that phase of trial and error. In addition, this field also covers topics such as plant magic, healing spells, translation magic, and basically anything involving the physical aspects of life in the Mortal Realm.

### Soul Magic

Magic that delves into the concept of magical theory itself, seeking to understand and utilize the very nature of souls. Magical Records fall under this branch of studies.

The study of the elements, variations, effects, persistence, and identification of Magical Signatures also falls under this field of study. See the page Laws of Magic and go to the subheading Magical Signatures for more information.

Another common application of this field is the transference of one’s thoughts into speech and/or writing, most often used by people unable to speak and/or write. Of course, this only works with the thoughts of the caster; for the same reasons that mind control isn’t a thing, they cannot draw the words from another’s mind. Lord Jameson is the most well-known user of such magic.

Note that this is not the same as translation magic, which specifically is used with written or spoken words that have already been conveyed through the Mortal Realm, while Soul Magic deals specifically with the soul and its roots in magic from the Fae Realm.

### Enchantments

> *See More: Enchantments*
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An “enchantment” is considered to be a spell that uses the magic of the caster to temporarily imbue an item with energy that gives it an unnatural effect upon itself, others, or its surroundings. These spells can and will fade over time, and will also be worn down under duress.

Enchantments come with their own set of rules and considerations due to their temporary nature.

### Wards

A specific subtype of enchantment that is specifically intended to counter the effects of someone else’s magic. This includes spells that protect or hide the target from magical forces.

Spells that protect or hide the target from physical, non-magical forces would be not be considered wards, simply normal enchantments.

This branch of study also covers magic that neutralizes wards.

Due to the volatile nature of any magic that will come in contact with other magic, wards are considered some of the most complex forms of magic to master. As such, despite being a type of enchantment, an entire field of magical study is dedicated to their use.

### Combat Magic

Exactly what it sounds like. This field of study is not a specific type of magic, but a training regimen. Magical combat requires significant control and precision, at risk of catastrophic magical collisions. This field of study seeks to hone that control and make sure that the mage, no matter what their particular “style” of combat magic, can mitigate these risks.

For more on the precise risks and factors involved in Combat Magic, see Magical Collisions.

## Traditional Masks

In a tradition that originates back to the days of Feadhainn, mages who reach journeyman status are often bestowed with a mask, usually in the shape of an animal.

Historically, Feadhainn mages would spend a period of self-reflection after unlocking their magic to determine what aspect of their character feels the most important to them, dedicating themselves and their magic to these things. To culminate this process, the mage would then choose a creature that symbolized the values and intentions they discovered during their self-reflection. With a great ceremony, the choice would be announced, a mask would be made, and, upon receiving it, the mage would be considered fully mature in their magic, just like modern day journeyman mages.

Today, this tradition is observed with varying degrees of faithfulness. Most modern mages enjoy receiving a mask because of the milestone it represents, but don’t spend quite as much time or fanfare in the process. For these people, their masks are more of a traditional gift, rather than a consistent part of their wardrobe. However, there are some that still observe the tradition more faithfully and wear their mask on a regular basis. For these people, the Mages’ Guild offers resources to help mages choose a symbolic animal and conduct a masking ceremony.

As for acquiring a mask, there are a variety of resources at one’s disposal. There’s an entire industry around the creation of these traditional masks. Many craftsmen can custom make really gorgeous masks for the right price, while others produce simpler ones for those with smaller budgets. Some mages even choose to make their own or inherit a mask owned by a mentor or family member. It is, in part, the accessibility of such masks that has allowed the tradition to persist into the modern day, though observed to varying degrees of faithfulness.

## Inter-Guild Collaborations

The Mages' Guild works with the Inventors' Guild and House Schneeplestein's Lifeworker Institute to create incredible prosthesis.

In addition, the Mages' Guild sometimes will share information with the Lifeworker Institute on the subject of alchemy. Making potions that affect the human body (help or harm) would fall under the jurisdiction of the Lifeworker Institute, but potions and other alchemical concepts that involve some sort of magic (potions that have the same effect as an enchantment when drunk/otherwise used, for example) would fall under the enchantments field of the Mages' Guild. However, at the end of the day, they're both practicing the same art of alchemy, just for different ends, so the alchemy specialists of both guilds are often in contact with each other.

Additionally, some members of the Craftsmen’s Guild are specifically hired by the Mages’ Guild to create masks for their members. However, most who practice the art of mask making tend to do so independently, so this collaboration is not as common.

Finally, the experts in the Mages’ Guild studying the field of Soul Magic collaborate heavily with the Keepers of Memory regarding the topic of Magical Records and how to best utilize and preserve this magical form of record keeping.