Magic in the Reich

Magic is at the heart of the Reich way of life, much as it is in Sable. The nature of the world makes it so. All children are tested for the Talent while still at school. If they exhibit a full and useable Talent, then it is automatically blocked until such time as the individual gains his or her age of majority, whereupon they are encouraged to go to Mage College, so that their arcane abilities can be trained and ultimately used for the good of the State. If they have a weak or flawed Talent it is recorded, and they may be invited to explore their potential further at a later time.

Should a Talented individual choose not to attend Mage College, their Talent remains blocked until such time as they change their mind, as nothing is more dangerous than a wildcard Talent. However, if a potential mage chooses not to train their Talent, it is noted by the powers that be and can sometimes lead to suspicion and distrust in later life.

Mage College

Signet of a Doctor of Magic

There are four major mage colleges to choose from in the Reich itself: the Imperial College, Berlin; the Hamburg Mage School; the Bremen College of Magic; and the Armed Forces Mage College. In addition, the Schutzstaffel runs its own, invitation-only magical training facility near Bremen, as part of the SS-Schule Haus.

The arcane education at the first two of these is biased towards those disciplines most useful for the smooth running of the State itself, and the day-to-day well-being of the Citizenry. In contrast, but probably not surprisingly, the Armed Forces Mage College and the SS-Schule Haus concentrate on the military aspects of magic. That is not to say that the disciplines are exclusively taught at one establishment or the other – there is crossover – but the overall bias is there in the general funding and educational standards of each magical speciality at each school, as well as the mundane grounding that goes with it.

The teaching of magic and duration of courses is similar to that at Sable Mage College of the SCMM (with equivalent points costings), and a magical education will normally also include mundane specialisation in related subjects.

All graduation ceremonies are attended by representatives of the Reich Bureau of Talented Affairs, who issue the new graduates with their licence to practice magic. This is normally in the form of a certificate, and either a signet ring or a jewelled pin, although these are not the only options: the successful student is allowed to choose the form this will take between confirmation of their degree and their graduation ceremony. All graduates take an oath to serve the Reich and uphold its magical laws.

Sensitives Within the Reich

The Reich also recognises the unusual abilites encompassed under the title “Sensitive”. Sensitives who are not trainable mages are still invited to spend time studying with certain specially trained tutors operating out of the mage college envionment, who will help the Sensitive explore their abilities, and find out their limitations and strengths. Once they have undertaken such training, they are also encouraged to serve their country, so their unique abilities can be put to use of the greater good of the Reich.

Sensitives also fall under the purview of the RBTA. As the nature of a Sensitive is such that their ability cannot be blocked in the same way as the Talent, Sensitives who have not passed their age of majority are placed under the instruction of a local RBTA representative, who will instruct them in the basis of what they should and should not do, but they are not allowed to use their Sensitive ability except in an emergency (all declared emergencies later being investigated for their validity). Once a Sensitive comes of age, and before their State Service if they are intending to undertake it, they are expected to spend six months at one of the approved Reich mage schools, where they are taught how to use the particular Sensitive talent they have safely and for the benefit of the Reich. Indeed, it may be that the the use of their Sensitive abilities would count as State Service in certain cases.

The Reich Bureau of Talented Affairs (RBTA)

Registration

All Talented persons, including Sensitives, whether trained as mages or not, are registered with the Reich Bureau of Talented Affairs (RBTA), headed for the last twenty years by Archmagus Tobias de Vries, and are expected to carry papers with them identifying them as such, whatever their degree of residency (Citizen, non-Citizen, Resident Alien and Visitor). Visiting mages are expected to present themselves at the local representative office of the Bureau within twenty-four hours of arrival to be issued with their papers, or face a fine, imprisonment or expulsion from the Fatherland.

Students currently at Mage College – and therefore with active Talent, but not yet trained – are issued with papers identifying them as such, and if they are caught in any form of magical transgression their Talent is once again blocked until they are decreed fit to have that reversed.

The Bureau issues licences to practice magic and student identification cards, monitors magical activity, and acts as the enforcement agency should one be required. It imposes a code of conduct on mages which is designed to protect them from the non-Talented majority, by making sure that they do not obviously abuse their abilities to the detriment of others. However, they are less specific on definitions of light and dark magic than the Sable Magical Oversight Council, which remains one of the major bones of contention between the magical establishments of the two realms.

Ritual magic is more common in the Reich, with more non-Talented people involved in it than in the Sable. Blood magic is practised, if not particularly common except in certain circles. Ritual Magicians are expected to register with the RBTA, although beyond that requirement, the Bureau has little interest in their activities, as long as they do not actively harm the Reich and its Citizens. What they do to non-Citizens is completely their affair.

Enforcement

Penalties for breaking the laws governing the Talented range from a temporary or permanent blocking of the Talent, through to eradication for significant abuses, a particularly unpleasant and painful process for the recipient. Particularly heinous breaches of the law are punished by death – the Reich does not feel that one who is Talented, and who has worked against Citizens or the State, deserves to live, in prison or otherwise.

To be identified as Talented or as a Sensitive, but to be without papers is a criminal offence, punishable by fine, imprisonment or death if the non-registered person has been engaging in dangerous magical activity.

The RBTA also settles disputes between mages: either by normal rule of law or by duel arcane. Unlike in the Kingdom of Sable, however, duel arcane is often to serious injury or death, given something of the survival of the fittest attitude within the Reich. Consequently, such duels are less common than in Sable.

The ReichsMagieren

The equivalent of the SMOC is a group of thirteen mages known simply as the ReichsMagieren, a combined civilian/military group led by the ArchMagus. It comprises eight civilian representatives (including the Archmage) and usually three representatives from the Wehrmacht, and two from Schutzstaffel, who handle what enforcement does occur.

As at January SY 159, the stated ReichsMagieren were as follows: Archmage Tobias de Vries, Klaus von Beck, Bettina Kramer von Bomhardt, Karl-Heinz von Brandt, Stefan Weber, Gebhard Eckhard, Annemarie von Raeder, Stefan Heydrich, General Raimund Landau, Generalmajor der Fleiger Alexis Lindhout, Kapitän zur See Kurt Valentin, Oberstgruppenführer Georg von Raeder and Gruppenführer Michael Lorenz.

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