Here's a little something I have from DA. A writing about different kinds of mages, none of which have a pointy cap with stars and a short black wand with a white plastic tip. :D ------------------------- Many different types of mages exist in the world. Each kind differs in either the source of their power, what kind of magic they use, or how they use it. Therefore, each type of mage needs to be examined individually. While there is no absolute pattern connecting mages to specific types of personalities, there are strong tendencies in many instances, although there are many, many exceptions to these trends. These personality types will be detailed below, with every effort made to avoid stereotyping. As I am a cleric, I can best give my point of view on the matter as to the personality which is common of a priest or other religious figure who uses magic from his deity. I am not, however, qualified to comment on most other forms of mage, although I will explain about necromancers as best I can, as I was unable to find a death mage who was willing to speak. Given that necromancy tends to be illegal in the dracon realms, this should come as no surprise. To this end, I am including the testimony of other mages in the section below, in addition to my own comments. I can only hope the reader finds this information to be informative and useful in one’s dealings with mages. -- Vespion of Minbenthac, cleric of the Great Temple. Wizard True scholars, wizards derive their power not by a gift from nature or an accident of birth, but from years of arduous study and endless practice. As such, wizards tend to possess a logical mindset, one able to see the connections between seemingly unrelated phenomena, and can put forth abstract theories underlying concrete realities. In some circles, we wizards consider ourselves to be the only ones who truly understand magic. Though it is true that sorcerers can wield magic, simple use of a spell doesn’t mean one knows how it works, anymore than an eel understands the electricity it uses against its prey. Furthermore, the very merit-based system of wizardry ensures a certain level of quality in our spells. Simply put, the more one knows and understands, the more power one has. Knowledge is quite literally power for a wizard. Of the three primary sources of magic (wizardry, sorcery, and witchcraft), only the first one is available to everyone and without strings attached. Anyone can be a wizard if they study hard enough. Like a warlock, anyone can become a wizard, and like a sorcerer, the power comes from within, not from an outside entity. Therefore, wizardry is not only meritocratic, but democratic as well, as one can rise to be a great mage by one’s own effort, regardless of birth. -- Ophion of Minbenthac, Archmage. Sorcerer For me, talking about my sorcery is like talking about my body, my eyes, my face, my horns, my skin. I was born with my powers, as are all sorcerers, and it is a part of me. Even as a little hatchling, I was always aware of something in the back of my mind, a sort of presence. It is hard to put into words, but think of it like the assurance a person has when he has someone behind him to catch him should he fall. Although my magic didn’t manifest until puberty, I was always aware of it, even if I couldn’t put it into words as a little girl. Sorcerers are not all born with equal levels of power, and some are naturally more powerful than others. This doesn’t mean that one is “born invincible”, as even those with the greatest natural talent for magic can waste it if they do not practice it and discover ways to wield it and control it. Most mages tend to compartmentalize their magic and relegate it to a certain part of their life, as if it were a tool to be wielded or a pen to be put down when one is finished writing. For sorcerers, this is simply beyond comprehension. It is for me. Truly, I do not know what it would be like to live without these powers. I do not know where they came from, or why I have them, and while I have studied a little into how my spells work, my primary concern is wielding the magic I already know I have, not learning the little ins and outs of it. It is an art for me, not a science. While logic and will are the most common means of wielding magic among the other groups, sorcerers find themselves split almost down the middle in this matter. Perhaps it is due to differences in male and female nervous systems, but sorcerers use willpower to activate their spells, while sorcereresses use their emotions. The hardest part of wielding sorcerous power is not learning spells as a wizard does, but learning control. This is especially true for females, as too much emotional release makes it hard to control the excessive amount of magic set forth, but too much restraint can weaken one’s spell of prevent spells from being cast in the first place. It is a balancing act. Male sorcerers have it much easier: they simply will their spells into existence hard enough, and they are cast. -- Aerta, archmage. Warlock I made a deal with a certain spirit a few decades back. I’m not at liberty to tell you anything about him. Or her. Or it. If I did that, it would break the deal and I’d lose my magic in an instant. That’s where warlocks derive their power, from deals with entities who have powers to grant. It’s a bit like clerics in that an entity is ultimately responsible for the magic, but unlike clerics who have to ask their deity for every spell cast, a warlock has power in his own right. Think of it like the difference between being given a box of items to do what one pleases with them save for a few restrictions, and having to ask permission to borrow an item each time one wants to use it. It’s not quite the same, but it is a close enough analogy. Warlocks sometimes make the stereotypical “deal with the devil” for their powers, a term not at all false in a number of cases. The terms of these deals can indeed be quite reprehensible, although they commonly involve deeds one might consider to be good. Deals with the fae often require a warlock thus empowered to protect a sacred grove or a part of the year, with the understanding that he can use his powers for anything else he wants. The powers that a warlock wields vary according to the terms of the deal which gave him his powers in the first place. As the variety of entities which grant powers to warlocks is as varied as the universe, this variety is reflected in warlocks themselves. For example, a sea god might grant water magic to a witch (a female warlock), while a diabolic entity might give the warlock he contracted a deal with the ability to summon fiends to aid him in combat. Often, the deal is made in exchange for a one-time good or service to be given to the entity, sometimes (and this really angers the wizards), these powers are granted in exchange for gold, after which the newly-minted warlock has no more strings attached to his powers and can use them for whatever purposes he sees fit. I can tell you that I got my powers when they were on sale. It only cost me half my lands, which I had to sell to raise the cash. It was a real bargain. Personality-wise, there isn’t all that much to say about warlocks. We do tend to be paranoid, I suppose, as there may be hidden terms in the deal which we could come to regret later. --Rotomagus, advisor to the crown of Hekaga Cleric Clerics do not cast spells, they ask for them. If the deity is willing, the spell is cast, and if not, nothing happens. All clerics have to undergo training in the rites, rules, and rituals of their deity or deities, and it is these three R’s which one must always keep in mind when thinking about clerical magic. A rite in this case means a ceremony by which a candidate for a priesthood formally enters its ranks. Think of the term “rite of passage.” Once a candidate has passed his rites, he is granted the ability to request spells from his gods, he gains all of the privileges which come with his position (such as access to holy tomes), and he also assumes all of the responsibilities which come with it as well. Rules should be self-explanatory; every cleric has to abide by the commandments of his divinities. Obedience to them means a continuation of one’s ability to “cast” clerical spells. Violation of the rules may lead to a suspension or revocation of these abilities. For example, a religion which prohibits killing may see a cleric lose his powers if he commit’s a murder. Rituals are known in many other magical traditions and schools. The term refers to a set of actions done in a certain way and in a certain order. Clerics have special access to their gods because they have permission from them to call upon them for certain special requests. A clerical ritual might establish direct communication with a deity, call forth a major miracle, or even summon the god (or an avatar of the god) into the material world. Because of these three necessary things, clerics are obliged to be pious and obedient. If they aren’t, their gods will know and act accordingly, offering up chastisement at best and damnation at worst. -- Vespion of Minbenthac, cleric of the Great Temple. Druid If my order knew that I was revealing their knowledge, they’d burn me alive. Druids take their privacy very seriously. We are secretive, to a fault. I still don’t want to say much, but I will tell you that our powers derive from nature spirits, which are really just sentient energy beings who arise from the magic which emanates from the natural world. They are rarely gods. Many of these beings need more power, or at least, they want more power to be able to manifest beyond their home environments. Some druid orders sacrifice blood to these beings, but my order doesn’t do that. Not anymore, at least. As much as I hate to admit it, we are usually power-hungry as well. We not only seek out the hidden knowledge of the wilds, we hoard it, keep it to ourselves. I suppose that makes us hypocrites on a level. I’ll let you decide. -- “Windsand”, druid. Necromancer From what few dealings I have had with necromancers, the only real generalization I can make about them is that they are all rather morbid and suffer from a fascination with death, pain, suffering, rot, decay, and many other aspects of harm. The more competent among them appear to be power-mad and obsessive, seemingly oblivious to the consequences of their action, and even more alarmingly, oblivious to the harm they cause to others. If there is anything positive I can say about necromancers, it is that many of them must work very hard to master the complex spells they wield, especially the ones who obtain their powers through wizardry instead of sorcery. They also seem to have excellent knowledge of pathology, anatomy and physiology. It is a shame that such magical knowledge and skill should be wasted on such wickedness. -- Vespion of Minbenthac, cleric of the Great Temple. Pyromancer The element of fire is reflected in the burning passion for life pyromancers so commonly have. I’ll spare you the lame puns from here on in, but it is true that we feel intensely, are quick to anger, and we most commonly react to danger by attacking it directly. We tend to be unsubtle, and are very honest and straightforward, no matter how much the truth burns (sorry!) Most of us tend to have a series of brief but intense infatuations and short-lived relationships before cooling down and settling on a single husband or wife. If both husband and wife are pyromancers, even average conversations can get quite heated (sorry again!), with even small disagreements seeming like a fight which would end in a breakup, at least to outsiders. Our forceful personalities are a reflection of the flames we wield. Fire is a tempestuous, rebellious, difficult element. One has to take care not to be consumed by the flames, to wield them rather than to be caught up in a rush by them. -- Fosaf, pyromage sorcerer, writing the results of an interview verbatim. Hydromancer Of all the elemental mages, we tend to be the most relaxed and laid-back, preferring to go with the flow of events and take solace in the eternal mysteries of the great world oceans. Some say we are lethargic or lazy, but I beg to differ. We take things as they come and usually move after carefully thinking out our next moves. Petty disagreements are usually forgotten, and we tend to be quite forgiving. That said, many hydromancers can be rather traditional, even to the point of rigidness. Our magic is based on the ancient power of the oceans, a realm which resists the much faster pace of change seen on dry land. As a result, we tend to like the old ways best, and insist on long-held customs and manners. -- Syvanthia, hydromage sorceress. Aeromancer The first lesson of those who seek our magic is that our power comes not from our staffs, but from a combination of contemplativeness and action. It is said that haste makes waste. This is true. It is also said that he who hesitates is lost. This is also true. On the whole, aeromancers abide by these two beliefs, despite their seeming contradiction. As air magic is connected to the ethereal and because air itself quite hard to grasp, it takes a great deal of thought to determine how it is to be contained, used, and manipulated. As with the other elemental magics, aeromancy attracts those of a certain mindset to the element. A laid-back aeromancer will not likely succeed at wielding an element which defies most attempts at containment, nor will a hot-tempered mage possess the patience necessary to deal with the intangible. And let us not get started on the earth mages. -- Asterion, aeromancer wizard. Geomancer All creatures who live on the Earth are connected to it, whether they realize it or not. Even civilizations who think themselves above the planet still find themselves cutting out stones for building, mining ores for their metals, chopping wood to fuel their fires, and of course, ploughing the soil for their farms. I suppose you could say that geomancers are conscientious or at least nature-conscious, if that helps. In general, we appreciate two thing about the Earth, or at least acknowledge them. First is that the rocks and mountains are enduring, that they last, that they are indeed mighty refuges with the strength to outlast any foe at a given time. Second, we acknowledge that even the mightiest of mountains will one day be battered down by time, by the wind and water, even by flame. The inability of the other elements to defeat the stone over a short period of time is balanced by the inevitability of victory over the stone in the long run. Appreciation for the transient nature of the world is quite common among Geomancers, although it would be a mistake to assume that we live for today. On the contrary, it is because nothing lasts forever that we have to plan for the future, always being mindful of what may come next. -- Agriseous, geomancer wizard Enchanter I’ll be quick and to the point. Enchanters really have very little in common, apart from the fact that we all have to force magic into an item to get it to do what the laws of nature say it should not be able to do. A sword which burns? Enchantment. A piece of armor which is always surrounded by a freezing wind? Enchantment. A diadem which makes its wearer irresistible to the opposite sex? That’s a popular enchantment, right there. The only thing which links those who enchant items is that we have to have a good deal of willpower. That’s really it. Got to get over those stubborn rules of physics somehow. It’s the magic equivalent of forcing a square peg through a round hole. Not easy to do. Luckily, they teach you these things as a wizard. Most enchanters? They’re wizards too. -- Nerses, enchanter. Alchemist First off, alchemy is only really a borderline “magic.” Yes, we alchemists use magical reagents and we often know a thing or two about magic, but there’s no magic within us, and unless we happen to also have magic by some other means, we do not cast spells. Alchemy is a craft as least as much as it is an art, and don’t let those shameless self-promoters tell you otherwise! They prey on customers too naïve or stupid to know any better, and charge a premium for something it took them all of fifteen minutes to whip up. Anyway, most alchemists possess a natural curiosity. We like to experiment, to mix things, to see what we can come up with. I suppose that’s how alchemy got its start, when people began mixing things together and seeing what would happen. Outside of that, an alchemist has to have a steady hand, a good eye for fine ingredients, and a great deal of patience. Most of our alchemical innovations come from trial and error, and if one in twenty of our experiments succeed, we consider that alchemist to be rather fortunate. And my name? I share it with someone the great Adykon once knew. They say he had a son by her. I don’t know if it’s true. I have a very common name. -- Vaeri, dracon alchemist Psionic I’m pretty sure you know by now that psionic magic is the art of manipulating the mind, and using mental powers to achieve magical effects. While many of the flashier manifestations of these powers may be obvious to the layman (such as telekinesis), a psionic has to be ever vigilant that his powers not get out of control. To maintain control, vigilance by itself will not do. No one can be in complete control of themselves for every second of every day. To prevent one’s power from getting out of control, one has to do what is needed to maintain inner calm and peace, or serenity. Not all psionics are serene, far from it. The difficulties of keeping one’s powers from accidentally reading the minds of others put a psionic under pressure every day. Strict discipline is often adopted by psionic orders, as they know a healthy mindset is conducive to control over psionic powers. -- “The Red Psion”, a dracon mage. Empath Most dracons have not heard of empaths. We are a small and poorly-understood group, not really understood even by ourselves. Empathic magic deals with the manipulation of emotions, not minds. Not conscious minds, at least. It really concerns aspects of the psyche such as love and hate, confidence and fear, courage and jealousy. The big thing one has to keep in mind about empaths is that we need to feel the specified emotion in order to spread it to others. Most empaths are female and quite in touch with their feelings. Perhaps too much, as most who know empaths say we are overemotional, possibly even bipolar, prone to intense joy, burning anger, deep depression, and extremes of paralyzing fear and boundless confidence alike. I guess that is true, but when emotions are literally our weapons, I can respond to that charge by saying if we didn’t have a large emotional reserve, we wouldn’t be very powerful mages. -- Lissandra, draconess empath.