High Warmage

Overview

The original companions on King Artourious Bordevar included a single powerful warmage that kept loyalty to their liege when he fled to Esterra. Over time the skills of this mage created a lineage of loyal servants of the crown. Mixing powerful combat magic, ambition and a heroic disposition, the High Mages of Bordevar are mighty arcanists.

However, the looming presence of Artourious still casts a dour shadow over the High Warmages. Legend has it that the King of Bordevar had no trust for those magi whole delved into magic that was not as straightforward as a lance. To this day The High Warmages struggle to reclaim arcane skill outside of war, but on the field of battle they are maelstroms of destruction.

Need:

Magus / Battlemage / Combatant

The core of a High Mage is their control of the arcane to bring destruction and protection on the field of battle. While a Warmage who focuses on protection and healing is a still emblematic of this, they must be willing to wade into battle alongside the other warriors of Bordevar.

Shouldn’t:

Divine Lore

The Church of the Divine Spheres is one far more rigid than that of Artebazzan or Esterra. Mixing of Arcane and the Spheres was unheard of. While this has softened in Esterra, many High Mages still frown on the mixing of the two, preferring to focus their learning and attention on the here and now.

Costume Marker:

The Twin Sigils of the Warmage

With one hand a warmage protects the realm, shielding with arcane knowledge. With the other they bring the righteous warflame. Each warmage will select a focus of their skill, either destruction or protection and they will assosciate this with one of their hands (likely their lead hand) and the other will become secondary. To show their dedication or their skills and their loyalty they will mark themselves in some manenr to reflect this.

They symbols are quite common, either a flame or lightning bolt for destruction and a shield or helm for protection. Those who truly pursue the skills and heroism of a High Warmage will get the marks tattooed (or branded for the truly mad) onto the palms or backs of their hands. While those with more discernment or wealth may have them embroided into sleeves or gloves, or perhaps worn as bracelets or rings.

This leads to a Bordevarian peasant saying “If you shake with shield handed mage, watch their left hook.” Which broadly speaking translates into “keep an eye out for trouble” and “Warmages will punch you in the face”.

History:

Unlike many other Realms, magic has a short history in Bordevar. King Artourious’ father was a powerful mage in his own right and his failure in seeing betrayal (or perhaps his sons inabiltiy to master the art) lead to a mistrust in the halls of power for Magi and their ilk. It was Elaith Gravemarked, a powerful Warmage who stood by House Bordevar when it fled west, that ensured there was any place for arcane study in the new Kingdom.

Elaith managed to convince the warrior-minded King that arcane power was more than just a tool for betrayal, but also a skill as strong as steel, and its wielders were as respectable as any knight. In a series of grueling tourneys at the sight of true landing , Elaith’s students held their own. But Artourious was still not convinced and was sure that the Magi’s ability to hold their own was a trick or an illusion. He declared that the final bout would be to the death against the King's own protector, Ser Kadreigan Dracos, the knight known as ‘The Eagleheart’.

On the day of the final bout, Ser Dracos did not face a student, but Elaith herself. The King was reportedly outraged, as much as he disagreed with Elaith’s methods, he could not risk two of his lieutenants to this. But honour demanded the tourney be fought. The exact events are lost to legend and hearsay. Some say The Eaglehearts armor heightened the lightning of the Elaith, others say she drowned him in the bay, even fewer say that she spirited him away to some far corner of the world. But what is known is that Elaith Gravemark served as the first High Warmage and the royal bodyguard until her death in 50AE.

Since then, The High Warmagi have been an unofficial order, a creed, of heroic arcane warriors, who challenge the knights of Bordevar to the title of champions of the Realm. They are warrior scholars who wield the power of sun, storm, and steel.

Three Things High Warmages Are:

Arcane Warstorm

High Warmages are masters of arcane violence. As such they tend to be ‘firey’ individuals. Not bound by the perceived etiquette of the Knights of Bordevar, Warmages speak their mind and are known to be direct. They also pride themselves on their unique mixture of combat and arcane skill, ever seeking new heights of power.

Heroic Champions

In a land that includes the perfected ideal of a fantasy hero, High Warmages struggle to compete for that title using arcane power and strength. They are courageous to the point of foolhardiness, charismatic to the point of mania, and true characters. A Warmage should be a big personality that fills a space, be that a quiet tavern or a whole battlefield.

Pride reveals the fall

Warmages are not unaware of the risk. Too many of their number fall to the might of necromancers, sages, or other arcane rivals. Warmages are bound in an unofficial unity with other spellcasters that are their greatest risk and see each other far more as comrades than rivals.

One Thing High Warmages Aren't:

Magic Berserkers

Despite all this talk of courage and firepower, Warmages are not arcane rage-monsters. They are proud and powerful, but to even begin to use magic requires a decent amount of intelligence and wisdom.