Mage

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Term used to denote a Tier Eleven wielder, the most powerful type of wielder a mortal can be.
Mage power can occur in any of the base or higher strains of The Twelve Magics. Technically, one cannot be an arcane mage, for any wielder descended from either changemagic, lifemagic, or timemagic will unlock the potential to access these powers at a Tier Nine level of power or higher. There is no such thing as a valemagic mage, since the only beings who can wield valemagic are the gods themselves, and are considered Tier Twelve wielders. Thus "god" is the Tier Twelve classification term, the same way "mage" is used to classify Tier Eleven wielders.
Arguably dragons and dragon speakers both have access to valemagic, but not even the dragons can approach the magnitude of pure power a god innately wields.

Causes

Wielding ability is determined through one's genetics, and thus it is purely luck or coincidence if one is born with the immense power of a Tier Eleven wielder. However, it is true that certain mortal bloodlines have more desirable traits, or have a higher likelihood of carrying the genes that determine stronger magical ability. Thus, throughout the ages, certain mortals have made an effort to "breed" mages. While these eugenics experiments did on whole produce stronger wielders, there was no guarantee that two mages will produce mage offspring; thus, the already-questionable practice was by and large abandoned.

Cultural Reception

In past ages, the general wielding population feared mages for the immense power they wielded. It became common practice in many human cultures to brand mages -- they would gouge cuts across each cheekbone and smear the wounds with tar and evasdrin acid so the resulting scars would never heal. Thus, mages were marked plainly with jagged black scars upon their faces.
In modern, more civilized ages, this practice is considered barbaric. However, in some cultures, mages are strongly encouraged to mark themselves as a common courtesy. In still other cultures, it has become fashionable for mages to give themselves facial tattoos across their cheekbones -- an homage to what their ancient brethren once suffered.

Type

Magical

Cycle

Chronic, Congenital

Rarity

Extremely Rare