World of Æor

Wizards are those who have been awakened from their mundane existence as sleepers and began training to change the tapestry that Vis has created around them. Awakening is an ordeal both painful and wondrous. It is the single-most memorable experience any sleeper will ever have during the course of their lifetime. Awakening leads to Awareness and teaches you to see Vis as it flows through the world. Wizards can judge the strength of Vis, objects that are affecting the flow, and other such information just as easily as you or I can see a tree, a house, or a thick fog.

Wizards fall into one of several categories: a tradition wizard, nephandi, marauder, or a constructus (calculist.) Beside the acknowledged types of wizards, there are outsiders–most of whom, but not all, are also awakened.

After awakening, the question remains of what else there is to know about the things around you. This question is very universal for the awakened and it drives the ultimate goal for most wizards: To become more than you were. No two wizards would agree on what exactly is meant by ascension, but most strive to figure out “what next”.

Not every type of wizard is subject to the same punishment for the same crime. But it's good to be aware of the consequences that could be levied against those who break the rules of their brethren. The tradition wizards, for example, wouldn't put a wizard to death–preferring either ostracism, censure, or in extreme cases, gilgul.

• Quiet - A quiet is not imposed on the wizard by others in judgement. Quiet is imposed on the wizard by reality itself. When the collective consciousness of the Tapestry resists your desire to make a change, your mind and avatar are put silently to sleep for some period of time as the Tapestry mends the damage in the fastest way possible.

• Wasting - Like quiet, wasting is not imposed on the wizards in judgement. Wasting is the result of over-extending your used power. Even when a change to the Tapestry is successful, there is often a cost to maintain the change. If you spend too much of your energy maintaining long-term changes, you enter a downward spiral of chasing power with borrowed power to maintain your spell. This is referred to as a wasting.

• Censure - Censure is the forced removal for a period of time from his peers. During such time, no wizard is allowed to have any dealings with the wizard. This is a low-severity punishment and the duration of the censure is determined by what offense has happened.

• Branding - Branding is the permanent marking of the wizard’s avatar. Following the branding, a period of censure usually follows. This punishment is more severe and for the rest of his life, anyone who is awakened will see the avatar mark that has been put to him.

• Ostracism - To be ostracized means permanent removal from your collective. None of the wizards from your collective are allowed to have any dealings with you, ever. Anyone breaking an order of ostracism by dealing with the ostracized wizard is usually sentenced to no less than branding.

• Death - They kill you. Needless to say, if you are able to control your avatar enough to do something corrupt enough to be sentenced to death you are a really really really evil wizard.

• Gilgul - Gilgul is the most terrible punishment that can befall a wizard – quite literally worse than death. Gilgul is the removal and destruction of your avatar. When an offense so great has been committed that you are sentenced to gilgul, there is no question that your avatar has been corrupted beyond hope of ever recovering. In some cases, the wizard has been corrupted enough to cause his avatar to become corrupt. In other cases, someone just happens to be unlucky enough to inherit a very corrupt avatar. Removal of an avatar is one of the most difficult rituals that wizards perform. No less than three master-level wizards are required to perform the removal. The wizard is usually left alive after the removal. He will live the rest of his life as a sleeper that knows there is more out there that he can never again see. Often, the tribunal that sentences the wizard to gilgul will also put other enchantments on his avatar-less body to prevent him from being able to kill himself and end his torture as a sleeper.

• Acolytes - Acolytes are the servitors of the wizards. Many times the acolyte is a potential apprentice that the wizard is testing for worthiness. An acolyte is not awakened and is of relatively low value to the wizard unless for some other reason.

• Consors - Consors are the partially awakened servitors and friends of the wizard. They often possess unique or important skills and abilities even though they have only a partial understanding of the tapestry, Essence, Vis, or magic in some form.

• Familiars - A familiar is a creature that is bound avatar-to-avatar with a wizard. They are specifically called for by the wizard and are considered by the wizard to be an equal. The wizard cares for the familiar and they form a bond that allows the wizard and the familiar to share specific abilities and powers. A wizard whose familiar is killed while bound to the wizard is greatly diminished in power. The familiar will usually consider the wizard he is bound to as HIS familiar. Nobody knows for sure, but it is believed that a very strong avatar that is bound to an animal by chance can attempt to awaken the animal and cause it to seek out a wizard that will familiar it.