[quote=@Light]
How plausible is it that someone would have had some experience/training with magic before joining a proper academy? I'm thinking of playing someone who's already a bit traveled, and knows enough magic already to fend for themselves on simple mercenary jobs. Would that be ok? I don't imagine they'll be more powerful than the other players per se, but maybe they would already know their affinities and know a small handful of spells before joining the school?
[/quote]

I mean, they might have trained some at home with their parents, but since this is the equivalent of going off to college, they would probably be considered children prior to enrolling at the Academy. I'm not sure who would hire a child for mercenary work on modern Earth (well besides real-world examples in impoverished areas of the planet), but you could say your character comes from a plane where they have an ages-old tradition of children going on a two-year solo journey when they turn sixteen. At the start of the RP, you could say your character has recently returned home from their pilgrimage or whatever you want to call it, during which they offered their services as a mercenary-for-hire at various locations during their journey. And now that they're eighteen, they've enrolled at the Academy.

As for knowing Arcane Arts prior to coming to the school, I'm fine with them knowing some basic stuff, and we can say some communities and households have their own Crystal Mirrors. You could say that in your character's hometown, wherever that is, they have a town hall with a Crystal Mirror that every child looks into on their sixteenth birthday. Then, once they know their Auras and ideal Conduit, the town craftsmen outfit them for the two year journey. You can also say that prior to this, they received some survival training and basic magic instruction from local mentors. 

And actually, I think we should all have something similar so that we are all a little familiar by the time we get to the Academy. My main character is going to have been born and raised in a modern human city, but his high school had a secret "magic class" for Magi students that prepared them for the Academy. If anyone wants to have their characters from a human city as well, feel free to say they were in the same class as him, then they can already be friends prior to the Academy and request to be roommates in the dorms. 

[quote=@vietmyke]
I have an idea for a character based roughly on genasi, with the whole lightning or stone spear shtick, I have an alternative for a sorta tomboy girl with general lightning powers 
[/quote]

Sounds good!