Collegiate Arcane

"Knowledge is power."

—Reconciler Ahom, Celestial Wizard

The Collegiate Arcane is a loose alliance of human sorcerers, wizards, mages and seers found among the cities of the Free Peoples. They reside in towers and palaces, where they might conduct their arcane studies away from the disruption of the mundane.

Ostensibly academic in nature, the organisation provides the mystically-gifted a safe outlet for the proper exploration and exploitation of their magic.

Alchemists, elementalists and many others all find welcome within the floating towers of the Collegiate Arcane.

The most skilled of these individuals craft wondrous artefacts of incalculable power or assist the Cities of Sigmar and the armies of the Free Peoples on the battlefield.

The most commonly encountered members of the Collegiate Arcane are the Battlemages, each of who tends to be dedicated to a particular lore of magic, but all are supremely skilled. Most are changed, in noticeable ways both mentally and physically, by the lore of magic they wield most frequently.

The Collegiate's schools and academies are filled with a wide variety of scholars and arcane wielders of lesser power.

History

Legends tell that men first learned magic during the Age of Myth, when Sigmar's Pantheon of Order stood united, and the aelven god Teclis the Illuminator, god of light and knowledge, taught them how to craft spells from the eldritch energy of the Mortal Realms.

For countless generations, human wielders of the arcane dedicated themselves to the pursuit of knowledge, creating a myriad of magical disciplines, lores and foci with which to harness it.

All that changed with the coming of Chaos. The towers of learning that had once stood throughout the Mortal Realms, for all their arcane might, fell, one by one, to the forces of the Dark Gods.

The human wizards that survived fled to Azyrheim, where they built the Collegiate Arcane with Sigmar's blessing, an institution dedicated to preserving the teachings of Teclis, and instructing new wizards.

A Collegiate tower now stands in every Free City, housing human wizards that fight with all their arts to safeguard the Free Peoples.

Goals and Ideals

Initially, the purpose of the Collegiate Arcane was the furtherance of magical knowledge, as well as the reclamation of the many semi-mystical technologies lost with the coming of Chaos.

But in recent years, their studies have increasingly turned towards battle-magics and the business of war. Nonetheless, the wizards of the Collegiate Arcane remain, at heart, seekers of wisdom. They will go to great lengths to acquire ancient grimoires, forgotten technologies and unusual artefacts, all in the name of preserving knowledge.

The Collegiate Arcane seeks to uncover knowledge lost during the Age of Chaos. To that end, they often employ adventurers and mercenaries to search for ancient tomes and mystical artefacts on their behalf.

The Bright College, in particular, has a growing interest in the alchemical technologies and sorcerous war constructs of the Agloraxi, who controlled large portions of Aqshy in their time.

Numerous expeditions to the ruins that dot the searing landscape of the Great Parch of Aqshy have been funded in the hopes of recovering lost secrets; however, the Collegiate treads carefully on the Great Parch for fear of drawing the attention of the wizards of Aspiria.

Structure

The Collegiate Arcane are organised along rough academic lines, with each school of magic wielding a greater or lesser degree of influence at any given time, due to a variety of factors.

For instance, in the cities of Ghur, the Realm of Beasts, the wizards of the Amber College are often paramount among their fellows, for their mastery over beast magics.

The struggle for position within the Collegiate Arcane hierarchy is a constant concern for Collegiate mages, as loss of influence can spell disaster for a wizard's private studies, forcing them to grub for coin like a common sage.

The ruling elite of the Collegiate Arcane is composed of a council of the most senior mages of every lore of magic from across the realms, who have the authority to open up new avenues of study -- or shut them down -- as well as hear petitions from those seeking their services, whether in battle or some other purpose.

The Collegiate is divided up into separate "colleges" based upon one of the eight lores of magic that both constitute the Mortal Realms and can be successfully wielded by humanity. These include the following:

• Amber College - Practicioners of amber magic, the lore of beasts native to Ghyran. Amber magic concerns the hunter, the hunted, beasts, prey and the feral aggression of nature. It is a wild and untamed magical force.
• Amethyst College - The wizards who specialise in amethyst magic, the lore of death native to Shyish. Amethyst magic concerns endings, doom, inevitability and death. It is a grim magical lore with a chilling hue that can most easily be found on battlefields and amidst cairns and graveyards.
• Bright College - Practicioners of bright magic, the lore of fire native to Aqshy. Bright magic concerns flames, fireballs, fury and burning passions and powerful emotions. It shimmers like heat haze and smoulders like burning coals.
• Celestial College - The mages who dedicate themselves to celestial magic, the lore of heavens native to Azyr. Celestial magic concerns the unknown, prognostications, storms and stars. It dissipates and drifts across the realms much like the storms whose power it often calls upon.
• Gold College - Practicioners of gold magic, the lore of metal native to Chamon. Gold magic concerns metallurgy, alchemy and transmutations. It is the heaviest of all the magical lores.
• Jade College - The jade wizards specialise in jade magic, the lore of life native to Ghyran. Jade magic concerns life, growth, healing and nature. It waxes and wanes in cycles like nature itself.
• Grey College - Grey wizards specialise in grey magic, the lore of shadows native to Ulgu. Grey magic concerns shadows, mists, illusions, ruses, lies, phantasms and hidden meanings. It is fundamentally a force wielded by tricksters and illusionists.
• Light College - Light mages make use of light magic, the lore of light native to Hysh. Light magic concerns illumination, spiritual purity, symbolism and learning. It has the power to banish shadows and reveal truths. It is utterly inimical to grey magic and the lore of shadows.

Sources

• Warhammer Age of Sigmar - Soulbound: Core Rulebook (RPG), pp. 47, 187
• Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Malign Sorcery (2nd Edition), pp. 6-7