-- Magic in Society

As a general rule magic is poorly understood, even by magi. It's hardly surprising, then, that those with no contact with magic beyond the little they hear during childhood stories or from passing merchants understand the Art even less. This misunderstanding most commonly takes two forms.

The first and more common one among the common folk is this notion that magic simply allows you to do whatever you want, within "reason" (whatever the hell that's meant to mean). This notion is especially strong in areas without a magic user nearby, for obvious reasons, but even where they do exist it is often still applied to other types of magi. The presence of a divine magician will do little to dissuade peasants, merchants, even nobles, from harassing the man who can turn into a bear at will to cure all their ills (which to be fair, he can often do), or turn away a hurricane (which very few druids can do). Magi often have a reputation for being cruel or sarcastic among these people - they refuse to wave their hands and solve the world's ills, or to provide food and drink for peasants. The second part is an especial problem because very powerful priests can do just that (though on a very limited basis) and attempts to contain these in items have so far failed, or if they haven't failed they at least haven't been publicized in the Avurian area.

The second and more common one among the nobility and warrior caste is an underestimation of the power of magic. This either takes the form of underestimating the power of High Magic or True Magic, or underestimating the personal ability of a magus to dictate the terms of a battle even without doing direct damage or fighting on the front lines. For example, many nobles understand that the Imperial Mage Guard is a very powerful force multiplier, far more than any similarly powerful elite shock squad, though there are still some which deny its power - an inevitability, considering that the power of magecraft tends to be inborn; it's never comfortable to admit that someone else might have been born better. But even among those who realize the power of the imperial mage guard, many don't see their own power as all that remarkable. In some ways, they're right - a Fireball is powerful but a single magus spewing for fireballs would still be taken down by a squad of archers or a number of spread out riders, and a powerful warrior could cause almost as much carnage. But there's only so much even very skilled fighting can do to combat the things that people like Roka or Cassia can do, let alone those like Madrizei who can also prove a match for warriors in skill. As a result, it's difficult sometimes for, say, nobles in Avurs to justify not simply taking back the land that Roka has "stolen" from them.

On the other hand, the warrior caste has a tendency to correctly gauge or even overestimate a mage's pure power, but underestimate their ability to control a battle without fighting directly. The power of a Blackbox or a Pit, even in advance, shapes the battlefield in favor of the side with a magus. Intelligent commanders know that a group of magi has the ability to turn a battle against cavalry on an open plain into a battle against cavalry on a hilly, forested, pockmarked ground, or open a hole in a castle wall without the use of clumsy siege equipment, which wins battles far more handily than simply sending them in to blast.

Magecraft is also sometimes viewed with suspicion - less for the reason that it's thought of as some sort of curse or gift from an evil god or something similar and more because it's often impossible to tell what a certain spell is meant to do, when you can tell it's being cast at all. A high magician often has the power to cast simple spells without movement or sound with an invisible effect that originates from somewhere other than himself. With spells that charm, befuddle, curse, harm, brainwash, or bless others just in the first circle alone, it's not hard to see why the power of magic keeps people wary. In the same way, a magus is always armed. The standard incantation of Magic Missile is three to four words long, while the standard functioning movement is snapping your fingers and pointing at your target, and the spell often causes near-lethal damage in the same way a man with a shortsword could. The incantation of Flaming Bolt is even shorter, and while it is notoriously imprecise and causes a rather large amount of collateral damage, it's also often deadlier. For this reason, while the arrival of a magus is sometimes welcomed, sometimes feared, and often anticipated, they are always watched. Many magi, distracted and distraught by the constant suspicion and endless stream of people begging the mage to solve their problems, live alone or with others of their kind. This is the origin of the idea of the mage tower - it is a comfortably large building but takes very little room in a town where they, often, don't belong. This also allows them to pack themselves up more tightly in a city, and still have room for their experimental, alchemical, libraries, or other equipment.

Mages are generally rather prized. Excepting slaves or others compelled to work for free, they tend to comprise almost the entire middle class along with merchants. Due to their powers, which are eternally in high demand, they can charge rather extraordinary rates from those looking for their services, if they so wish. Certain arcane casters are almost certain to do so if they don't have another source of money, as their research is the most expensive out of all mages. Alchemical substances are very expensive, let alone the equipment or books. Those who gain their abilities from faith or from inborn power, of course, don't need to bother with earning so much money - but it's not uncommon for the lure of gold to call to them anyway.

 -- Magic Societies

Despite Cornelia's proposal to open a magical university being received with shock and being treated as completely unprecedented, it is not truly original, as she herself points out. The basic concept is much the same as that of formal clergies who encourage the development of the Gift in their ranks, though her version would have more emphasis on understanding and none at all on faith. It is also paralleled by the ancient Druidic Society, which extends an invitation to all practicing Natural Magi (Druids), and gathers them to share their insights with their peers every five years or so at the Gate of the Fae. The relatively young organization known as the Occult Eye (or the Paragnostic Assembly), which takes only High Magecraft wielders as members, made with the express purpose of aiding others in their research. Its current (and third) head is the often-absent Roka Laemindira, and Cornelia often works with the founder, Madrizei, to administer the society in her stead. The society headquarters is found in Cornelia's territory, but most major cities have at least a small branch - known colloquially as the Mage's Guild.

Obviously, all churches are also technically magical societies. They don't often choose to share their advancements (though you could argue that sharing their holy texts and their theology, which most do freely in hopes of attracting new converts, is much the same as sharing spells would be for arcane casters). Their magic is generally incompatible with natural magi or arcane magi (or even occult magi, who are known to be compatible with both others). This isn't to say that their results (always) can't be replicated - just that the formulae themselves don't work. Arcane casters, in particular, are rather annoyed by this fact, as unlike natural and occult magic they write their formulae down, and yet arcane casters can't use them. The reason is fairly simple - the formula includes a few references to their god, which generally acts as a power source.

The Druidic Society is extremely large, geographically. It spans effectively the entire globe, and getting invitations to members (or even knowing they exist) is sometimes a problem. The Gate of the Fae is on the Plane of the Fae, which means that to reach it at all is sometimes a problem. The Gate is only somewhat physical, and reaching it requires a small amount of magical understanding. Generally, low druids can only send their words to the gate, usually done in a plead for assistance. Those who can use high magecraft or magic can physically reach it. While there's technically only a meeting every half a decade, it's not uncommon for some druids to dwell there semi-permanently, and those who arrive seeking help or guidance often find at least half a dozen people.