Once a Jolly Cleric

In Another Mansion

At this point let us turn out attention to the world of Ærth. Ærth in one sense doesn’t truly exist, but for our purposes it does well enough.

Ærth is Earth reimagined, a place where things can exist that cannot here. An Earth where there are living gods, and where magic does work in an all too real way.

It is true that not everyone on Ærth can cast, or even has a psychogenic power, but most anyone can use a magickal device; get some use out of it that is.

This means to some extent everybody on Ærth uses magick. Small magick, piddling magick, but magick for all that. Thing about those with a psychogenic power is that they don’t need what one RPG called an obvious accessible focus; or OAF. Those who can cast have a further advantage; they can improvise.

Then you have those with a talent for their talent.

But With the Fingers Crossed

Those who have just the talent are known as Partial Practitioners. Some are professionals, but most can best be called amateurs.

Those who have the special talent, and training and education in magick, are all professionals; for it is not enough to have an especial talent without the training and education.

To be a mage takes not just the talent, it also takes dedication. To be a wizard means taking that dedication to a higher level.

And Society?

Keep in mind now that Ærth is a place where magick works, and where there are many gods. Gods and magick play a constant role on that world, and even when a person cannot cast and does not have a psychogenic power, he can still use a magickal device of some sort. Ærth’s magic may not be exactly common, but for most people it’s occurrence is often enough. Then you have the work of the gods, who on Ærth are prone to a fair degree of interventionism.

The end result of this is, people are used to it. The witch lights of Paris are a marvel, but they’re and ordinary marvel for all. Even with real casters running around there’s still enough room for fraud.

To dock the tale, wizards are just a part of life. A big part of life, but you can still talk to them on the streets.

The end result of all this is that most wizards have a house in town. A fine house with many servants, but they garden, hold parties, and go calling on the neighbors. A common reaction in a neighborhood to strange noises and lights is often, “Another party? Where does he get the time?”

Wizards are just a part of life.

This means that the wizards of Ærth rarely live secluded from the rest of the world. Most of them like living in town because of the available resources. Saffron from Panay Sulu is rare and expensive in the city, but it is nigh impossible to find in the typical village. You have libraries and restaurants in the city. Parks as well. There are things for an apprentice to do when the rebe needs an hour or two for meditation.

Most importantly, you have a chance of getting paying work when you need it―alchemy and astrology aren’t exactly cheap you know.

Above all else, most people are used to having casters around. The wizard Jones may have elves over to his house, but the neighbors know Jones, and most of the elves. When you’ve dealt with anybody blind stinking drunk, they stop being so high falutin.

In the End

In the end that means that on Ærth most wizards are just guys. Powerful guys that true, but hardly anyone to fawn over. You get right down to it, in any existence where magick works, and is fairly common, it becomes rather mundane. To the wise it remains something to respect, but you’d hardly poop your pantaloons over.

The wizard of Ærth is somebody to respect, but he’s also a person you can get along with. A few are quick to anger, but it’s hard to be frighten of a fellow with bursitis of the hip.

On the subject of the magick of Ærth there is more that could be said. Volumes more. But that is for another time.

So, what are wizards like in your sub-creation?