The Legend of Godsbane
Founded over a thousand years ago, the Convocation of Elementalists brought elementalists together under a common set of laws and guidelines. It survived the machinations of the Liche-Priest and the destruction of the Blizzard War only because of its unity.
Before this time, elementalists would gather only with those of their own element. Centuries of open at-tacks and murder led to bad feelings among the masses, which saw the mages as power mad individuals. Worse still, elementalists would often cheat the masses when asked to manufacture potions or charms, further sullying the name of their art.
The founding of the Convocation ended most disputes, forced members to be licensed or declared out-casts, lay down a set of rules which elementalists must live by, and in doing so made elementalism a respectable art once more. Frost dwarves and elf elementalists, who have both refused to join, are exempt from these rules. A few engro have joined the Convocation, more out of curiosity than anything else. Some human elementalists have refused to join, especially among the Finnar.
Such folk are not welcome at Convocation buildings. The Convocation has its headquarters in the Imperial City, though it maintains a strong presence in Aspiria, among other places. Technically, the arkhwisards at the Imperial City are the supreme masters of the Convoca-tion, but elementalists in distant regions often consider themselves independent of any central authority.
THE ELEMENTAL ORDERS
The Convocation still maintains separation within elementalism, and all mages belong to one of the four elemental orders. Regardless of how many elements a mage has mastered, he is always grouped by the one he learned first, which is considered his prime element.
Elementalists are required to wear robes matching the color of their order. Air mages wear white, earth mages brown or green (personal preferences are allowed), wa-ter mages blue, and fire mages wear red. As a mage masters more elements, he is required to introduce extra colors into his robes. However, the pre-dominant color must always be that of the element he studied as an apprentice.
A few elementalists now believe that hrimwisards should be accepted into the Convocation, claiming that coldfire is a distinct element. To many this is akin to heresy. Not only do hrimwisards manipulate magic in a different way than elementalists, but coldfire is not considered an element by the civilized races.
Elementalists use titles to denote their status, and how many elements they have mastered, though not which ones. That’s covered by the color of their robes. Apprentices are known simply as Aprentis. Once an apprentice qualifies and leaves his master’s service, he takes the title Prynciple.
A mage who has mastered two elements is called a Magus, and a mage with all three elements a Maegister A mage who masters all four elements takes the title, Arkhwisard.
Ranking among those of equal title is informal. Among his peers, a mage must earn his respect through his actions, not demand it because he holds a title. Apprentices are not required to obey any mage other than a member of the Four or their own mentor. The Four is the ruling body of the Convocation. The council consists of four arkhwisards, each taking a seat according to which of the four elements he studied first. They are elected to serve for four years by their peers.
In order to settle ties when voting, each arkhwisard serves one year as Primus. In the event of a tie, the vote always goes in favor of the Primus.
The current members of the Four are Arkhwisard of Eir, Urit Biscali (male Anari), Arkhwisard of Ertha, Gal-winith Treelimb (female hearth elf), Arkhwisard of Fyr, Davina ap-Meredith (female Anari), and Arkhwisard of Waeter, Marmaduke Bentwhistle (male engro)