The Forum Arcanis

The Forum Arcanis represents the Wizard's Guild of Ralindor. They are primarily concerned with the education and regulation of magic in the Free City. In addition, they also train astronomers and other makers of star-charts. According to their statues, all spell-casting (for personal use or for sale) and the trade of all magic items must be done through the Forum, and they have the power to make arrests on violations of magical law, in an effort to crack down on black-market spell-casting services and magic item trading. They come off as an elitist and conservative bunch who hoard magic like a hungry dragon, but when certain sects of the population can shoot fire out of their fingertips, perhaps they're a necessary evil. Most people seem to think so; their supports argue that, without them, magic would be feared and hated, and there would be far more witch-hunts and spell-casters burned at the stake. Their detractors would reply that the Forum has perpetrated their own variety of witch-hunt in the name of consolidating power.

Structure

Like other Guilds, the Forum operates on the three-tiered "Apprentice, Journeyman, Master" system. The only real distinction is that, depending on their magical specialization, Forum wizards can be identified by the colors of their accouterments:

• Abjurers and conjurers wear white and black, respectively, as white represents the absence of color (or the absence of magic), and black is its opposite.

• Diviners wear blue, the color of clarity, and due to its association with water, a common component of divination spells.

• Enchantment, the manipulation of the mind, is associated with purple, as it is the opposite of transmutation, which is traditionally represented with yellow or ochre, due to its association of gold with alchemy.

• Evokers wear red; it conveys power and aggression, and is reminiscent of fire.

• The robes of illusionists are green, a color associated with change, as well as the Court of Fey, where illusion magic is at its most ubiquitous and powerful. Their robes tend to shimmer in the light, and some swear that they change slightly different shades of green as you look at them.

• Necromancy is still very taboo, and is only occasionally taught to students who show strong moral character and an aptitude for the subject. In order to blend in, they are clad in brown or tan robes.

Apprentices have no specific uniform, but upon achieving the rank of Journeyman Wizard, they wear robes of an appropriate color befitting their school of specialization. Master Wizards have silver trim on their robes.

Public Agenda

• The Forum seeks to maintain its monopoly on the education and proliferation of magic in the City. The spirit of their goal is to advocate for the safe and transparent use of magic among wizards.

• The letter of their goal looks like pressuring every spell-caster in the city to become a dues-paying member of the Forum. Technically, they can't force people to join, but they partner with the City Guard to ensure that non-members are arrested on charges Spell-Craft without Cause.

• They are also highly engaged in the trade of magic items; not only do they wish to keep them out of the hands of irresponsible adventurers, but they like to study the inner workings of artifacts. Individual members like to sell to one another to make a hefty profit.

• The Forum considers themselves rivals of the The Order of the Eye, who believe in less regulation on spell-casters. They hunt members of the Order down and subject them to trial and imprisonment.

Assets

• The "Forum" in Forum Arcanis refers to the Academy of Arcane Sciences, a sprawling university-campus in the Scholar's Quarter catering specifically to wizards. They employ the City's most powerful spell-casters and brightest scholars, and have libraries and workshops of unparalleled size.
  • Offices, dormitories, and libraries are located around and about the Scholar's Quarter, but classes are held at the Towers of Learning, some of the tallest spires in the city. Master Wizards can levitate, teleport, or turn into birds, but others must take the stairs, the prevailing logic being that this lets the students and non-members know who's boss.

• Not surprisingly, tuition is steep, and the Forum has become quite wealthy educating the magically-inclined rich in the ways of wizardry. They're not above using their funds to secure the services of mercenaries or spies to root out rival spell-casters who refuse to follow their fold, either.

• The Forum has more official governmental authority than any other Guild; they work closely with the City Guard to regulate magic, and certain wizards are basically full-time guardsmen, capable of ordering arrests and searches. Forum wizards with this specific authority are known as Mage-Protectors, and most specialize in abjuration and divination, and many are trained warriors in addition to spell-casters.

History

The Forum Arcanis was one of the most recent Guilds established, founded by the arch-wizard Aegeron as a means of regulating magic in the city. Before then, whenever a wizard would cause some magical disaster (purposefully or not), demagogues would rally the townsfolk into a posse and begin burning wizards at the stake indiscriminately. The big losers here were the apprentices, whose inexperience meant they were good at causing magical disasters, but bad at defending themselves. Thus, to ensure the continuation of the city's arcane lineage, the Forum Arcanis was founded, contingent on their ability to police magic in the city.

At the time of the founding, Aegeron was a human wizard surrounded by elitist elves and, insecure about his own mortality, transferred his essence into a magical artifact, the staff of Aegeron to watch over the Guild for all time. The Guild-Master of Wizards is the one chosen by Aegeron' spirit to wield the staff.

Nunc ut Magicae! (Now That's Magic!)

-- Wizard's Guild Motto

Type

Guild, Mages

Alternative Names

The Wizards' Guild, the Forum

Parent Organization

The Guilds of Ralindor

Location

The Free City of Ralindor