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Resident Bard
Magic is real. It’s a very legitimate part of every day life. Everyone knows it. It’s just that the mystic arts aren’t the most reputable of study areas. Everyone’s parents push them to become doctors or lawyers. No-one really wants their kids to go into mystic arts. High effort, low reward, even lower employability. Ayris had tried telling people that. People tended not to listen. Most people gave up after their first year of study anyway. It took too much effort to learn magic. People thought you just learnt some Latin and that was you done. They were painfully wrong. Ayris didn’t even know any Latin.
Learning magic took training from a young age, dedication to the learning of the complex language and concentration and daily practice. Sure, you could pick up a cheap spell at a shop and learn how to warm your tea up with it, but to make the spell in the first place? To use magic to do anything you wanted? That took a full-time apprenticeship, and a commitment to the society most people were barely even aware of. Most students either burnt out early, or gave up quickly. These two, however, they could be good for something.
At least Ayris sincerely hoped they were, because one of them was now his apprentice.
Learning magic took training from a young age, dedication to the learning of the complex language and concentration and daily practice. Sure, you could pick up a cheap spell at a shop and learn how to warm your tea up with it, but to make the spell in the first place? To use magic to do anything you wanted? That took a full-time apprenticeship, and a commitment to the society most people were barely even aware of. Most students either burnt out early, or gave up quickly. These two, however, they could be good for something.
At least Ayris sincerely hoped they were, because one of them was now his apprentice.
Hello everybody! Thanks for the click.
This is an urban fantasy rp where magic is a mundane part of everyday life. You have to train for years to use it, but its effects are just about everywhere. Most mages work a couple of jobs within the industry, cause working in the mystic arts doesn’t exactly cover much unless you’ve found yourself some government funding, and damn if those grants can’t be hell to get hold of.
This story is about Ayris, and his housemate/friend (they’ve never quite decided-sometimes they don’t even like each other all that much). They share a house, a lab, and now, a pair of apprentices. They’ve been manoeuvred into taking them on by word of law from the university dean. Between them, Ayris and his friend do some of the most effective mage freelance work in the city, and they both have teaching posts or research positions at the university. According to the dean, this has made them both ideal to take on a couple of new apprentices they’ve deemed as very promising.
The reason for the sudden shift?
The Nightbane Festival.
The Nightbane Festival is a big conference of mages from all over the country. International delegates sometimes come to have a look as well. And chief among the entertainments at this conference, are the challenges between apprentices. It’s said that once these battles determined the fate of all mankind in some kind of fierce war over which clan got to protect the world. These days, its mostly bickering over big government grants.
While the clans have faded out, most mages have invested interests in a few programs or institutions that pay them well to represent them. Ayris and his friend, and now their apprentices, have to do their best to win the challenges, because god knows the university needs the help.
This rp will start at the beginning of this plot, when Ayris and his friend just receive news of their new apprentices and meet them for the first time. We'll write on through to the Nightbane festival once everyone's trained up enough.
Mage training system:
Mages take on junior apprenticeships in their early years. Group lessons are usually fairly helpful to get a grasp on some of the theory, but the only real aim is to start climbing Tiers. As early as possible, if you want to be successful. There are a few ways of going about it. Some mages are trained by family. Some do extensive reading and group classes. Some are pushed into it from the minute they can form words, and some find a passion for it later, closer to their teens.
They do have to take exams. The exams are graded 1-7. Usually you can reach the 1st tier without dedicating your life to it, sometimes the 2nd if you have a good teacher and practice every day, but the 3rd upwards must be taught in a prep school setting with a heavy leaning on theory and ethical practice. If you have sat the 4th Tier Exam and passed, that is when you can be considered for a senior apprenticeship, though those going for competitive positions are usually better off having passed the 5th. Usually, people are taken into apprenticeships and learn to do whatever their master does, going into that career with them. It’s an old model, but mages still like to use it-if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
During their apprenticeship, a mage apprentice lives with their master, training daily, doing as they’re told, and basically learning how to become them in the future. These personal, live-in apprenticeships to full time mages are a big deal, and usually start around age fifteen or sixteen (give or take). There is no average time for how long they will take to complete. Many argue that they’re never complete. Once you pass the 7th tier exam, you are technically able to be employed as a mage, so some claim that that is when the apprenticeship ends, but even people well beyond the 7th tier will still jump if their old master tells them to go make some tea.
Characters:
Ayris-a chipper mage who cares a great deal for his research project and is slightly bemused by the concept of having apprentices-played by yours truly
Ayris’ friend-(spot reserved for now, character description will be inserted in due course)
Apprentice #1-open
Apprentice #2-open
Looking for:
Two apprentices! Possibly room for more as the story gets more involved, but let’s keep it small for now. This is going to be pretty big on character development, and we tend to write pretty big posts, so please be literate (we’re talking a couple of paragraphs per post) and active! Once daily is ideal, more would be great! But also, totally fine with people having busy lives and needing to put a hold on things as long as you let me know
It’s totally up to you how your characters got involved in this, but they do have to have passed the 4th Tier in order to be considered, which means they have had formal training somewhere, likely at a school, so try not to get too outlandish! Best magic style will also be decided IC. As for the mystic strengths, just pick a couple for now and they will be explained in greater details later.
Name: (normal names-they’ll get their funky fantasy name when they pass 7th Tier)
Age:
Tier: (4th, or 5th, exceptions may be made for high 3rd)
Mystic strengths: (Pick two: Theory, Imbuement, Conceptualisation, Runecraft, Channelling)
Personality:
Appearance: (descriptions and face claims both welcome, try and put a general clothing style in there)
Background: (how they were trained and how they ended up as a plot-centric apprentice)
Family: (this will most likely be plot relevant)
Sample: (Chuck in a general idea of how your char would respond to receiving a letter telling them they’ve been selected for a personal apprenticeship with Ayris-a relatively well-known mage of high standing and academic interest. Doesn’t have to be long, just giving me an idea of your style)