Wizardry

In general, the term wizard refers to any magic user capable of using the lingua arcana to perform magic.^[10] The first people to ever figure out how to use the lingua arcana where known as the College of Summoners.^[11] Though nowadays wizardry magic is often seen as cold and steril in its perfect geometry, and many wizards pride themselves on this image, the geometry of wizardry is in fact "a love letter to the mathematics of creation, to the music of the spirit and the real ad where they dance togerther." It is in euqual measuers art and science.^[12]

In the Empire, wizards are classified into two subgroups, as follows:^[2]

• Citadel Wizards, who form and lead the Citadel, which acts both as a magical research center and an arm of the Empire's military.
  • Citadel wizards can be classified by the school of magic in which they specialize (e.g. a diviner specializes in divination).
  • Some wizards blend spellcraft with more physical forms of combat (e.g. the Sword of the Citadel).
• Guild Mages (or Wizards of the Crown), who form and lead magical guilds reporting directly to the royal family (e.g. the Scepter's Chorus).
• There are also still other wizard academies than the Citadel, namely the Library of Nuwara, but they are not recognised and in fact actively fought by the Empire.^[13]

The culture of wizardry in the Empire is competitive and hierarchical. Citadel wizards consider themselves superior to guild mages, who in turn look down on hedge mages.^[14] Students who wash out of the Citadel's competitive schools often become Guild Mages.^[15]

Wizards tend to carry this attitude forward to magic users who aren't wizards, even to their detriment: one high-ranking Citadel wizard remarked that underestimating (comparatively humble) witches was "the most common of [wizards'] downfalls."^[16]