Blue Mythos #4: The Hall Of Mages

Welcome back gang, in this installment of Blue Mythos, we're going to talk about The Hall Of Mages, the primary learning facility for mages. The Hall Of Mages is entirely free to attend as the school is a self-sustaining school as the Mages make their own uniforms, and tend to the general upkeep of the facility and many of the professors are already established professionals in their own lives. The set faculty of The Hall Of Mages are paid by The United Kingdoms. Much like The School Of Athens, many of The Hall Of Mages' teachings is open forum style, where learned Mages gather and teach or be taught. However, despite the open forum style, there is a solid curriculum that's adhered to and there is a set faculty. The current Dean Of The Hall Of Mages is Faaden Wellinquest. In this article you're going to learn how it operates and what goes on behind these walls.

Dean Wellinquest showcasing his Ether

Enrollment in The Hall Of Mages is easy, so it easy it all boils down to arriving at the lobby and telling the Desk Clerk you'd like to be a Mage. Why is this so easy? Because fortunately Mist Manipulation or Magic is an extremely useful skill and nearly all people can learn and The United Kingdoms gain benefits from having as many Mages in there kingdoms. When someone arrives at The Hall Of Mages and asks to become a Mage the first thing that happens is their Ether Assessment. If you haven't read "Blue Mythos #2: What Is Magic & Ether ?", no worries, Ether is "the inner strength of a person's will manifested in spiritual form". Mist is "the life force of the universe", Mages merely channel Mist through their bodies and expel it in a different form, that form is called Magic. Those with high amounts of Ether are accepted while those with low amounts of Ether are rejected.

The reason why is because Mist needs to channel through the body of a Mage and they need to be able to manipulate it. Manipulating Mist requires a strong will and if your will isn't strong enough, channeling Mist in any amount could potentially destroy you. If you're curious an Ether Assessment is done by having a Mage evaluate you, they use Magic to gain insight into your Spirit and the Enrollee is placed in several different scenarios that tests how strong their Ether is. If you have a High or Average amount of Ether your are officially enrolled in The Hall Of Mages as an Underling (more on that later). Being an Underling will be the shortest or longest period of becoming a Mage. As an Underling, your first class will be in Ether Manipulation. Before I continue, I should tell you that The Hall Of Mages aren't set up by any Grade Level, as you don't automatically graduate from one grade to another. You could be an Underling for 2 to 3 years or 2 to 3 minutes depending on how well you can manage your Ether. Underling simply means that your are not a Mage as your cannot manipulate Mist yet. Manipulating your Ether will help you manipulate Mist, the better control you have your Ether the better control you'll have over Mist.

Ether Manipulation is taught through meditation, learning to concentrate and focus your will to actually manifest it into a form of spiritual energy. Ether Manipulation will teach Underlings how to perform such feats as telekinesis, flight, increasing speed, self-healing, shield generating, and exercising their will over creatures. Learning how to manipulate one's Ether is a hard process and many drop out of The Hall Of Mages at this point. Once you've mastered the basics of Ether Manipulation, you are given a Mage uniform and you must sign The Charter Of Magic (a document outlining the uses of Magic), once you sign The Charter Of Magic you are officially a Mage and have earned the title of Mage and you will remain a Mage until your Graduation Assessment. As a Mage your next class would be Ether Manipulation II. Ether Manipulation II teach Mages how to turn their Ether into defensive & enhancing tools, such as protecting themselves from physical and mystical harm or increasing their physical attributes to channel more Mist. Once you master Ether Manipulation II, you learn Basic Magic & Magic Philosophy. Basic Magic are the need to know common things that every Mage must learn (how to manipulate elements, how to assess Ether). Magic Philosophy is a class that teaches what Magic is and how it is used and understood. Once you master Basic Magic & Magic Philosophy, the world is your oyster and you're allowed to explore Magic in other fields.

The Fields of Magic range from Combat Magic (focus on using Magic as a weapon both defensive and offensive) Combat Magic also comes with a course on Ether Combat and several categories for Ether Combat training, Probability Magic (Future Sight, Temporal and Extra Dimensional Awareness), Light Magic (focus on using Magic to replenish the environment, thus replenishing The Mist), Object Magic (using objects as a means to manipulate or store the Mist), Medical Magic (healing, curing, manipulating biology), Domestic Magic (Building and fashioning clothing and other objects from the elements), Ancient Magic (a focus on runes, seals, summons, and a focus on Magic's origins) and Mystic Magic (Teleportation, illusion generating, phasing, cloaking and other supernatural abilities).

Those who choose Combat Magic are usually those who plan to serve on The King's Guard and since Mages are incredibly invaluable (ever since The 1st Dark Wars) no Kingdom can go wrong by adding more Mages to their ranks. Those who Probability Magic are often sought after as advisors in various sectors of industry as their ability to see the future or accurately assess all potential outcomes makes them incredibly handy for businessmen. Light Magic Mages, since they have such a strong connection with nature are employed by Kingdoms to prevent droughts and to still oncoming disasters that may strike. Object Mages can trickle down into several categories, a musical instrument can be used to manipulate Mist and Music Mages are often sought after to add atmosphere to bars ,play for Kings or use their instrument to perform any feat. Medical Mages learn about the biology of every living thing and are able to assess things they are unfamiliar with, they can heal broken bones, wounds and other ailments. Medical Mages get their practice while in The Hall Of Mages exercising their skills during The Mage Spell Games where they use their skills to heal many of the combatants.

Domestic Mages also get their practices at The Hall Of Mages using their skills to expand on the dormitory (as many Mages live on campus). Domestic Mages enter into the fashion industry but many Domestic Mages have gone on to fashion arms and armor and survival gear. Ancient Magic Mages are incredibly powerful as the study of Ancient Magic allows Mages access to "God Runes". God Runes are the language of the Gods and God Runes can alter reality, open shifts in dimensional gates and causes other effects. Ancient Magic is an extremely difficult practice and those who excel are boosted to The Master Class almost immediately. While Mages may seem incredibly powerful, one must understand that while one Mage maybe to create a deluxe suite from trees and some other crude implements, another Mage maybe only be able to manage a tent before their body is exhausted from Mist manipulation.

The Hall Of Mages hosts an annual competition called The Mage Spell Games, where Mages who train with Masters apart from The Hall Of Mages can come and compete against other Mages and hone their skills. There are various competitions that Mages can compete for and Mages are not required to compete. The competitions are as followed: There's the Combat Magic Tournament, which is a 1 vs 1 tournament of Mage vs Mage, MMA style where they battle using Magic & Ether Combat skills. As stated before, Medical Mages are on hand and continue their training by healing the combatants. Theres the Survival Games where a team of Mages are placed into an virtual space world (created by Mage Scientists) where there are various dangers and predators and they must rely on their skills to survive. There is the War Games where Mages are entered into a war simulation and use their skills to win. There's a Racing competition and a Spell Casting competition to see how quickly a Mage can create an object and how accurately they do it.

While The Mage Spell Games won't aide in graduate it is a way for Mages to stay sharp, meet other Mages, learn from each other and hone their skills in real world scenarios. The Champions of the Mage Spell Games are not Champions in perpetuity, they win their Championship and are required to compete again if they wish to win the Championship again. Champions are re-assessed to see if they are eligible for advancement. Graduation is again dependant on the Mage and when they're ready to take the Graduation Assessment. The Graduation Assessment is done based on each study a Mage chooses to pursue so the Graduation Assessment for a Medical Mage wouldn't be the same as a Graduation Assessment for a Combat Mage.  If you pass The Graduation Assessment, you're then given a Rank based on your skills which will determine what kind of Mage you are. Understand that the Graduation Assessment can be taken at anytime a Mage feels ready to take it and can be taken multiple times. Here are The Ranks:

• Mage: You get this title upon enrollment in The Hall Of Mages. A Mage is simply someone who is studying Magic.
• Junior Mage: You get this title if your Graduation Assessment shows that you can still improve in some areas but have fully mastered the basics of your chosen field.
• Senior Mage: You get this title if your Graduation Assessment shows that you are prepared to utilize your skills on a professional level and can leave The Hall Of Mages if you so desire.
• Apprentice Mage: You get this title if your Graduation Assessment shows that your are able to preform at a Master & Professional level and can leave The Hall Of Mages if you so desire. You are able to apply for The Master's Program to become a satellite teacher. 
• Mage Master: You can't Graduate a Mage Master, you have to achieve the rank of Apprentice and apply for The Master's Program. The Master's Program officially certifies that you are a Master of your chosen field and therefore are entrusted with the ability to teach students apart from The Hall Of Mages if you so desire. Becoming a Mage Master is EXTREMELY difficult as the assessment for Mastership is harsh (as The Hall Of Mages gives you permission to train others, they have to make sure whomever they trust will follow The Charter Of Magic). Also, Mage Masters come with a Writ of Combat, which allows The Kingdoms to implore their services should a crisis arise. Becoming a Mage Master (regardless of field) is a very high honor.

You'll notice on many of The Blue Mist cards that the majority of Mage character's emblems on their uniforms are blank, that's because they have yet to take The Graduation Assessment and get ranked. Once they're ranked, a symbol will be given to them by the one assessing them. Anyway, that's how you become a Mage. Hope this helps and enhances your fun in playing Blue Mist, enjoy!