Arcane Society

While practitioners of magic are a very varied group, when they come together
there are some customs they all tend to follow.

Due to the greater ease of stealing youth while somewhat physically old, most
arcanists tend to appear to be in their forties or fifties.

Arcanist or Practitioner are the most accepted terms for anybody who uses magic,
with Practitioner being preferred in non-supernaturally aware society.

Those who can use battle magic but not yet throw around pure force are usually
called Mancers, and battle magic of this type is generally referred to as
Mancing.

Those who can throw around pure bolts of fire or lightning or similar forces are
called Sorcerers, and that type of magic sorcery.

Most arcanists first spend time as an apprentice, working for their master in
exchange for tutelage. In some organizations apprentices might be apprenticed to
a group instead of an individual. In formal introductions it’s customary to give
the name of your master, and often even their master even if the arcanist is no
longer an apprentice. Such as: “I am Jane Smith, student of John Smith, student
of John Doe.” An apprentice would introduce themselves as “I am Jane
Smith, apprentice of John Smith, student of John Doe.”

Apprenticeships vary significantly in length, few are shorter than one year or
longer than ten. Abuse of apprentices if a very common practice in many magical
circles, but rarely discussed. It is not uncommon for them to be taken advantage
of sexually by their masters, to be beaten physically for poor performance, to
be sacrificed in rituals if they do not perform, to have their life force fed
upon, or their possessions and finances claimed by their master.

A rogue is someone who belongs to no arcane group.

A hedge mage/witch is someone who has been self taught and are generally looked
down upon.

A magical duel is a fight in which neither participant may assault the other
except through magical means, and continues until either the participant is no
longer able to stand, or no longer able to keep fighting such as if they have no
sorcery and their minion has been dispelled. Among mancers this becomes in
essence a test of minion against minion, with their mancing being used to try
and effect the outcome, among sorcerers however it usually becomes much more a
battle of energy vs energy. It is almost impossible under the rules of a
standard magical duel for a mancer to defeat a sorcerer.