Aemark Academy Robes

They're damned expensive to replace but exquisite. Try not to muck them up.

Every student in an Aemark Kingdom Academy is issued a set of enchanted robes. Specially modified for comfort and fabricated from a combination of fine materials and magic, they represent the best of practical fashion in Aemark (though noble wizards often eschew their Academy clothing for ones matching their social and/or political rank). Students, and graduates, are rarely seen wearing anything else.

Physical Appearance

Academy Robes by Wombo ("Robes Fabric Thread
Black Gold")

The attire combines two large pieces: a jacket and a cloak. Worn together, other wizards can discern attunement, Academy, and class year at a glance as well as socioeconomic status. While the jacket is closed in official ceremonies, wearers usually leave it open to access to a substantial number of inner pockets. Many students choose to forgo their cloak during day-to-day activities as the enchantments support combat, camouflage and weatherproofing.

Material and Design

Wherever feasible, robes are constructed from a single material instead of stitched together from multiple components. The jacket is a synthetic blend made by creators mimicking the feel of silk on the inside, but adopting the strength, durability, and appearance of leather on the outer layer, all while maintaining a reasonable weight. Fortunately, the enchantments imbued into it provide mechanisms to control the breathability of the fabric.
The cloak consists of a thicker wool-synthetic mix where the same substance leveraged for the jacket is threaded into the weave. Creators cannot fully recreate the properties of wool at scale due to the complexity of organic mana structure. The wool's natural weather-resistance plus the synthetic and magically enchanted thread result in a lightweight and durable cloth.
Depending on the attunement of the wizard and their preferred casting style, portions of the jacket may be left open or modified. This allows the wearer to radiate energy from the mana vectors in the shoulders, arms, back, or legs to maximum effect. While most wizards cast all-but exclusively with their hands, the added benefit of injecting a spell with additional mana offsets exposure to the elements.

Colors and Hues

The jacket body is always black and, for commoners, the primary identifying characteristic of official Aemark wizards. Tassels are colored according to rank, ranging from bright white as a student to a deep black as a Grandmaster of the Academy. Even among practitioners, the variations of gray are difficult to distinguish and they instead either read the wizard's name or examine the clasp design (see below) to ascertain seniority.
The jacket hem, clasp, and buttons are color-matched according to the Academy the wizard attends. While there is no official hierarchy to the colors, the typical interpretation is that the Grand Arcane Academy's gold is most prestigious followed by the next three largest Academies. Among the top four, colors are:

• Grand Arcane Academy - Gold

• Tolhonin Academy - Bronze

• Talplotin Academy - Green

• Telancla Academy - Cobalt

The color of the cloak correlates with attunement, providing an obvious way to determine a wizard's specialty. The evocation disciplines have a single deep, rich coloration: crimson red for pyromancy, ocean blue for cryomancy, dark brown for geomancy, and forest green for aeromancy.
For Conjuration disciplines, the inside of the cloak is colored differently than the outside. A black outer color is associated with the creation / destruction antipode pair while the inner lining is either white (for creation) or black (for destruction). The transformation / transmutation antipodes have deep yellow outer coloring and black (for transformation) or white (for transmutation) on the inside.
Law discipline hues are also two-toned. They all adopt an almost-black violet on the outside while the inner portion is shaded yellow for binding, brighter purple for hex magic, or rich red for summoning.
In the exceptional instance of a dual-attuned wizard (and one proficient with both attunements), the cloak is dyed as a gradient, with the primary magic (that is, the one first learned) beginning at the top and transitioning to their second specialty's tone towards the bottom.

Clasp Design

The central form of the clasp is identical to military dress garb: the Aemark Eagle and Crown. The symbol is so common that it is inscribed on noble fashion pieces outside of military personnel and wizardry. What differentiates a standard soldier or officer from a wizard is the arrangement at the edge of the circle. For wizards, the highest rank has eight triangular protrusions, which denotes the class of Grandmaster of an Academy or Military Division while a single triangle refers to a student. As the wizard rises in status, they add triangles to the outer form of the clasp.

Tassel Design

Attached to the clasp, tassels are thrown over the shoulder and fall down to the midback. The tassels are white for students and the number corresponds to their Academy year (that is, they have four tassels in their fourth year). Once graduated, a braided light gray tassel replaces existing ones and changed as the wizard gains prestige, eventually reaching a pure black.

Name Marking

Every set of robes is emblazoned with the wizard's name on the right-hand breast, typically complementing the color of another part, though the individual may choose a different shade. To the annoyance of less advantaged or prestigious individuals, the full honorific name is mandatory. As such, an observer readily gathers the status of the wizard. This is of marginal importance in the magical community, which generally places little emphasis on their political, social, or economic position, but presents challenges in the wider Aemark Kingdom. For example, even highly skilled wizards establishing a business may be ignored by nobility due to their citizenship or wealth.

Magical Enchantments

'No wizard should go anywhere without proper attire.' The manufacture of Academy clothing is a broad operation leveraging every evocation discipline as well as creation and transmutation. As such, robes are prized among the magical community for their exceptional fabrication and enchantments. Although a significant contingent of wizard devotes themselves to providing them for incoming students, they struggle to meet demand. However, the benefits reaped in combat and Aemark's expansion offset the investment in advancing quality and consistency.

Protection

Most of the protective effects of Academy clothing reside in the cloak, but the best wizards cast their own spells to augment these enchantments. The base state provides hydrophobic pyromancy, a geomancy effect to reduce dirt and grime, and fire prevention cryomancy. These simultaneously trigger by imbuing a drop of mana into the top-right button on the jacket front (and last for a significant time).
The second or third buttons in the right column activate generalized enchantments. These prime the cloak and jacket, respectively, to receive a spell (and the fourth button 'unprimes' the robes). After activation, the wearer casts a cantrip multiplied in power by the material's enchantment. For example, an aeromancy spell for a gentle breeze is amplified into a gust of wind, which could knock a foe down or create a barrier against arrows. Similarly, a geomancy spell may raise a larger amount of earth from the ground into a wall of soil for temporary protection.
Importantly, these do not improve the control or quality of the spell. An unskilled wizard is as likely to burn themselves with a heightened pyromancy spell than to constructively exploit the enchantment to ignite a brush fire. Thus, most wizards hew to basic spells and cantrips, minimizing damage if something goes awry. Commonly employed magics include illusions to change the cloak's or jacket's color or to obscure the wizard from sight.

Comfort

In addition to high-quality material, three enchantments control temperature and moisture. First, a pyromancy spell is transmuted into the cloth providing warmth during inclement weather or when traversing colder climates. The heat also helps with drying the jacket through rains (though the fabric should prevent rain and snow from saturating the material). Second, a cryomancy spell imparts cooling. Despite this facet, most wizards prefer to open the jacket first to enhance evaporation and comfort before activating the enchantment. Lastly, an aeromancy spell enhances airflow across and through the weave.
The enchantments are activated by imbuing one of three buttons in the left column. The top-most is heat; the second, cooling; and third, airflow. The fourth ends the three enchantments and returns the jacket to its base state. When the clasp is attached through the collar, these same effects alter the cloak.

Manufacturer
  Aemark Kingdom

Owning Organization
  Aemark Kingdom

Weight
 3 to 5 lbs.

Dimensions
 4'6" to 5'0" in length

Base Price
 300 Marks (to replace)

by Magicleaf (Shutterstock)

Lost Your Robes?

Managed to break through the protective enchantments and tear your robes? Lost them on a weekend getaway? The Office of Magical Goods and Sundries can replace yours for a small fee.
300 Marks is not a 'small' fee for everyone.
Do. Not. Lose. Them.