Arcane magic is the Council's bread and butter, as it is an art that can be learned and taught. Beyond wizards and artificers, the Council endorses various academies for bards to learn from, and offers training and support for the sorcerers that are willing to be studied. Warlocks are typically frowned upon, as the Council promotes the study of magic rather than the receiving of it from planar outsiders. Despite this, arcane magic as a whole is viewed as a versatile tool that lets users interact with and alter the world around them.
Mage Council
“Magic is a beautiful thing. Not as beautiful as jiji...you get my point.”- Heathcliff Arbuckle
Overview
Created afer the Woven Gates became demonic portals, we are a netural faction that oversees the use and misuse of magic within Val'darin. We hunt down threats such as Betrayer Cults, store powerful artificats that would be abused by the public, and are a driving force behind research into all things arcane. Additonally, we are a driving force behind research into all things arcane. Our leaderships is made up of delegates from various regions, helping bringing peace to the realm.
Structure
The Mage Council has two branches of government: the legislative branch, and the executive branch. The legislative branch is where decisions are made, and the executive branch is where those decisions are translated into action.
Legislative Branch
The head of the legislative branch is composed of various representatives from each member nation. Each major city in the region will have a representative and an associated office they work in within the Mage Council.
When necessary, the representatives themselves all meet in a big room and talk politics. To prevent any drama or petty squabbles, the Grandsage of the Mage Council guides the conversation of the room and acts as a tie-breaker when necessary. While the Grandmaster is the official leader of the Mage Council, the real power is designed to be held by the representatives.
If a major situation arises, the representatives will use this meeting room as an opportunity to discuss a plan of action to be executed by both the Executive Branch and the home cities the representatives are associated with.
Executive Branch
The executive branch is easily the more visible portion of the Mage Council. Made up of dozens of bureaucratic departments and committees, the executive branch enforces policies and activities as outlined by the legislative branch. The executive branch is led by the Head of Affairs, who then appoints various administrators that head these various departments.
Power Source
The council's stance on each general use of the Weave
The Council is generally accepting of the traditional pantheons that are worshiped, but is ultimately a secular institution. However, they acknowledge the importance of magical healing and other abilities that only divine spellcasters have access to. With this in mind, the Council has deemed non-heretical clerics and paladins to be allies and exchanges arcane lore and knowledge in exchange for divine spellcasting services. Others claim that the Council has an unspoken belief that arcane magic is superior to divine magic, but the validity of these claims is nothing more than a rumor.
The most ancient and raw use of the Weave, the Council views this kind of magic distinct from others.
The most rare use of the Weave, though is increasing over time. The council views this magic with suspicion, especially with its link to aberrations.
Schools of Magic
Most defensive forms of magic are safe to use and are also employed by the Council itself to protect its agents and the citizen body as a whole. However, they recognize the importance of spells like nondetection and forbiddance and their ability to deny magical scrying and teleportation for both themselves and the enemy. In addition, spells that produce antimagic like counterspell and antimagic field are deemed to be very potent, whereas the Magic Council must strike a balance between using antimagic to fight against arcane threats and keeping antimagic out of the hands of the enemy.
It cannot be overstated enough that the ability to manipulate time is very powerful, yet extremely dangerous. Unlike antimagic, the Council has a definitive stance against Chronurgy and only allow it to be used when properly licensed along with approval.
Being able to instantly transport objects and people is a valuable ability that the Council takes advantage of whenever possible. The Council is wary of spells that summon planar outsiders, but at minimum approves of the summoning of elementals as long as they do not break free from their master's control.
Information is everything. The Council constantly employs divination magic to spy on their enemies and to acquire as much intel as possible before committing to a plan of action. In turn, the Council emphasizes the use of abjuration magic to deny attempts by the enemy to use divination magic.
Enchantment magic is extremely dangerous due to its ability to bend other creatures, including agents of the Council, to its will. However, it can also be used by said agents to acquire information from the Council's enemies, or to manipulate them in order to advance the Council's goals. Thus, while the Council might openly discourage the use of enchantment magic, it is often used by high ranking agents for the purpose of information and espionage.
Evocation is the most direct school of magic in how it is often oriented towards dealing direct damage. Spells like fireball have the potential to kill dozens of innocent people, but can also be used against evildoers to great effect. As a whole, the Council views evocation magic just like arcane magic: it is a tool, rather than something that is inherently risky or evil.
While not as dangerous as time manipulation, the manipulation of space and gravity is still fairy dangerous. Most graviturgy spells are evocation spells, so the Council's stance on evocation spells applies here as well, although they are more likely to be wary of graviturgy spells in particular.
Illusion magic is often employed by the Council to mislead the enemy and to deny them accurate information. In particular, spells like disguise self,illusory script, and invisibility are often employed by the Council as a part of their espionage operations. Its usage is niche yet potent, so the Council makes sure to invest in divination magic as a way to counteract any illusions that are employed against them.
Necromancy is banned in nearly all regions and seen as evil. Only certain licnesed professionals such as investgators can use spells such as animated dead to complete cases.
Transmutation spells vary wildly in effect and tend not to deal direct damage. Thus, the Council uses them on a regular basis, and tends not to place too many restrictions on their usage. In particular, the use of transmutation magic to manipulate the elements is taken advantage of by the Council to create new buildings and structures.
Regulations
First and foremost, the Magic Council attempts to regulate the trade of all magic items in the region, and crack down on any magic item smuggling rings they find. Next, one avenue for spellcasters to obtain licenses that increase their magical freedom is by acquiring one from the Council. Spellcasters that disobey these restrictions will face heavy fines or criminal charges. Additionally, the Council also sets standard prices for spellcasting services, material components for spells, and the ink used by wizards to copy new spells into their spellbooks.
The Council constantly seeks out powerful magic items and artifacts that could be dangerous if fallen into the wrong hands, if they haven't done so already. Once acquired, the Council generally places them in a secure vault within its main headquarters.
While not its main goal, the Magic Council is also involved in academia, particularly that which relates to the study of magic. While we have our own research endeavors, the Council mostly prefers to let others do this work, which it encourages by providing funding and aid to other institutions that are dedicated to magical studies.
Through the executive branch, the Mage Council strives to maintain the political power held by the Council and its member nations.
Within its own bounds, the Mage Council enforces its laws and regulations much like a regular nation would. These include operatives and special agents that use advanced magic to their advantage. These agents are scattered throughout the region, serving as spies, enforcers, and seekers of artifacts as appropriate. The few agents that sit at the top of the executive branch tend to be archmages, although it is acceptable for such agents to be less magically adept as long as they are qualified for the job.
We fully restrict multiuniversal travel, we believe it is not wise to travel between universes.
Multidimensional travel should be approved by a government, governmental guilds are given clearance but other classifications need to seek approval.
All Abberrations should be killed and travel to space should be restricted to governmental guilds only unless an overwhelming threat is present.