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”.

Once nomadic and individual, the tradition wizards have found greater strength through organization and passing on their skills through apprenticeship. Tradition wizards all seem to possess a similar set of traits; intelligence, pride, drive, and incredible patience. They study the arts as an apprentice under a wizard. Those common folk who parent a tradition wizard’s apprentice are justly proud, but seldom see their child again. These apprentices are awakened from their mundane sleep during their apprenticeship. Tradition wizards generally have one proper name that they append with titles of their power and their deeds. They speak as the noble and educated commoners only in the proper language of Tolmarain, never in the more common Tolarin familiar to peasants and beggars. Wizards read and write in Cævas Togran, a cryptic and difficult symbolic language from ancient times. Tradition wizards will never write in proper Tolmarain and read it only when necessary, even though it is the native script of only the most fortunate of apprentices.

Tradition wizards have written most of the historical records that survive to this day. To that end, they have of course been around since the beginning of recorded history. Recorded wizard history begins with Grand Archmage Vertalu who led the ancient tradition wizards out of the dark times. Vertalu is the only wizard to ever hold the title of Grand Archmage. Although his magic was not unusually strong, he was wise and his leadership is legendary. For hundreds of years he kept the entire continent’s tradition wizards unified under his single ruling council. He hunted and converted most of the non-tradition wizards to near extinction. In time however, a growing allegiance of nephandi captured and killed Vertalu. Without his leadership, the single governing body has forever been divided into no less than four geographic regions. Although four out of five wizards today are tradition wizards, most of the tradition wizards agree that they will never know what they are to do for ascension until their council is once again made into one whole.