The Tenants of Thaumaturgy
We the magical people of Belthuran do hereby commit to the powers that be within this realm and beyond that, we shall uphold and abide by the rules and practices of magic laid out here. The organization known as the Sentinels, a division of the guild of mages known as The Seekers under the oversight of the Archon Assembly of Eis'Lasan shall be the enforcers and force that punishes those who disregard these tenants.
In matters relating to magical crimes the Sentinels hold the authority of judges and are the only force that can hold a fair trial for the offending mage. A guard can detain a mage to await trial with a Seeker judge or request the aid of the Seekers in capturing a rogue mage in which case a Sentinel can be dispatched to aid the effort to capture the rogue mage. This does not mean a mage is above the local laws.
The casting of spells of the third circle and above within the confines of a city should be avoided unless they are of absolute need or are not of a harmful nature. It should never be underestimated the damage an errant fireball could cause within a civilian population nor the dangers of unleashing a rampant spell. Given the amount of effort it takes to conjure a spell you will be presumed to have intentionally cast a spell unless evidence can be given that a spell being cast was unintentional.
The school of Necromancy is not forbidden but shall for no reason Ever be used for the purpose of reanimation of the dead into new Undead beings (Animate dead spells not raise dead or resurrection style). The school may be studied to destroy existing undead, prevent their creation, or the destruction of threats. Anyone caught using such spells will be brought before an Archmage for their fate to be decided, if at all possible if it is not then summary judgment and execution is acceptable. The ruling is always either imprisonment or execution.
The summoning of greater beings of the outer planes is strictly monitored and should be carefully considered before attempting to bring in beings of alien nature to our plane. The summoning of unbound Outsiders is a serious offense. Elementals can be useful allies and are more reliable than either celestials or fiends but care should be taken in any case.
The use of Transmutation magic to pass off materials of one type as another for the purpose of fulfillment of debt, delivery, or services is illegal, excepting the ability to make a perfect transmutation that changes the material in a permanent fashion. The transmutation of gold and platinum for the purpose of monetary gain is likewise illegal.
The use of magic powers to influence the rulers of kingdoms, nobility, or powerful figures is forbidden, this includes divination, charms, geas, mind control, and any other effect that could coerce or force the ruler of one nation to go against their character or people. The damage that could be caused by a mage using magic to force a king to serve their ends instead of their kingdoms could be catastrophic.
Magical knowledge is to be preserved; the dangerous aspects of magic must be known to be prevented. The destruction of artifacts or magical knowledge is a serious offense that is brought to trial in the presence of the Archon Assembly. Magical items can be dangerous in the wrong hands, artifact level items can be dangerous even in the right hands so any important discoveries such as major magical items or artifacts should be reported immediately, this also goes for cursed items to see if they can have the curse removed or the item destroyed.
The mages of the Seekers will use divination magic to find as many sorcerers and other innate casters before their powers develop in a dangerous way. The magically inclined of the world are encouraged to bring any found innate casters to the local Seekers for their own and others' safety. Members of the Seekers are required to inform their superiors of any they encounter if they are unable to bring them in themselves.
Any persons charged with a crime against the Tenants of Thaumaturgy shall be provided with a capable advisor on magical matters. Members of the Draz Tyran will be able to have an advisor from their empire present during a trial as well.
Mages of The Mortal Empires must be registered with the Seekers to attain a sanction of continuance. These sanctions give permission for a mage to access materials above that of Apprentice tier and marks them as a mage. In the case of divine orders, it must be ordained by a priest of the order or an outsider in the service of the outside power. These must be applied for again to continue into Master tier and even Arch tier.
The mages who adhere to these Tenants do not need to heed the orders of monarchs or powers of governments. If requested and the request does not violate the tenants, then a mage can choose to accommodate but must face the consequences of their actions. This also extends to the mages having their own police force in the form of the Seekers and Sentinels who investigate crimes of a magical nature.
The Tenants of Thaumaturgy were created to give rules to continue self-oversight as opposed to being under the thrall and whim of leaders of the world who do not understand the powers they seek to command through mages. Not all mages are joined with the Seekers but even those who are not are held to the same rules among the mortal empires of Belthuran, at the least on Savorah. The Draz Tyran has its own rules of magic that are similar in nature to these but rely on much more self-regulation of the mages not having a dedicated police force to enforce the rules.
Justice
In matters relating to magical crimes the Sentinels hold the authority of judges and are the only force that can hold a fair trial for the offending mage. A guard can detain a mage to await trial with a Seeker judge or request the aid of the Seekers in capturing a rogue mage in which case a Sentinel can be dispatched to aid the effort to capture the rogue mage. This does not mean a mage is above the local laws.
Casting
The casting of spells of the third circle and above within the confines of a city should be avoided unless they are of absolute need or are not of a harmful nature. It should never be underestimated the damage an errant fireball could cause within a civilian population nor the dangers of unleashing a rampant spell. Given the amount of effort it takes to conjure a spell you will be presumed to have intentionally cast a spell unless evidence can be given that a spell being cast was unintentional.
Necromancy
The school of Necromancy is not forbidden but shall for no reason Ever be used for the purpose of reanimation of the dead into new Undead beings (Animate dead spells not raise dead or resurrection style). The school may be studied to destroy existing undead, prevent their creation, or the destruction of threats. Anyone caught using such spells will be brought before an Archmage for their fate to be decided, if at all possible if it is not then summary judgment and execution is acceptable. The ruling is always either imprisonment or execution.
Conjuration
The summoning of greater beings of the outer planes is strictly monitored and should be carefully considered before attempting to bring in beings of alien nature to our plane. The summoning of unbound Outsiders is a serious offense. Elementals can be useful allies and are more reliable than either celestials or fiends but care should be taken in any case.
Transmutation
The use of Transmutation magic to pass off materials of one type as another for the purpose of fulfillment of debt, delivery, or services is illegal, excepting the ability to make a perfect transmutation that changes the material in a permanent fashion. The transmutation of gold and platinum for the purpose of monetary gain is likewise illegal.
Influence
The use of magic powers to influence the rulers of kingdoms, nobility, or powerful figures is forbidden, this includes divination, charms, geas, mind control, and any other effect that could coerce or force the ruler of one nation to go against their character or people. The damage that could be caused by a mage using magic to force a king to serve their ends instead of their kingdoms could be catastrophic.
Committed to Knowledge
Magical knowledge is to be preserved; the dangerous aspects of magic must be known to be prevented. The destruction of artifacts or magical knowledge is a serious offense that is brought to trial in the presence of the Archon Assembly. Magical items can be dangerous in the wrong hands, artifact level items can be dangerous even in the right hands so any important discoveries such as major magical items or artifacts should be reported immediately, this also goes for cursed items to see if they can have the curse removed or the item destroyed.
Magically Inclined
The mages of the Seekers will use divination magic to find as many sorcerers and other innate casters before their powers develop in a dangerous way. The magically inclined of the world are encouraged to bring any found innate casters to the local Seekers for their own and others' safety. Members of the Seekers are required to inform their superiors of any they encounter if they are unable to bring them in themselves.
Representation
Any persons charged with a crime against the Tenants of Thaumaturgy shall be provided with a capable advisor on magical matters. Members of the Draz Tyran will be able to have an advisor from their empire present during a trial as well.
Sanction of Continuance
Mages of The Mortal Empires must be registered with the Seekers to attain a sanction of continuance. These sanctions give permission for a mage to access materials above that of Apprentice tier and marks them as a mage. In the case of divine orders, it must be ordained by a priest of the order or an outsider in the service of the outside power. These must be applied for again to continue into Master tier and even Arch tier.
Autonomy
The mages who adhere to these Tenants do not need to heed the orders of monarchs or powers of governments. If requested and the request does not violate the tenants, then a mage can choose to accommodate but must face the consequences of their actions. This also extends to the mages having their own police force in the form of the Seekers and Sentinels who investigate crimes of a magical nature.
Summary
Sanction of Continuance levels
- Apprentice: Requires no Sanction and culminates when the caster can achieve spells of the third circle (3rd level spells)
- Mage: Upon gaining their first Sanction of Continuance the caster is now a fully recognized mage in the world and has leave to continue their studies until they are able to achieve spells of the 6th circle.
- Archmage: Sanctions for this rank require approval from the Archon Assembly of Eis'Lasan and allows the study of spells of the seventh and eighth circle.
- Grandmaster: There are no sanctions to be gathered for this rank as there is no higher authority that governs the sanctions and how rare it is for a mage to reach this level of spell casting. Once a mage achieves the ability to cast ninth circle spells they are considered a Grandmaster.
Type
Metaphysical, Arcane
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