Magi Lycia
"It is always possible the records are incomplete."
- Proverb of the Azurejays, Scholar-Knights of San Sylvester
This article is incomplete and will require additional work.
The Magi Lycia, are one of the Martial Schools of the Former Petrenea headquartered in Petrenea, where they train at the Lycium of Petrenea. They perform important paramilitary and religious functions throughout the city-state of Petrenea. They are an ancient order of late made up largely of the children of prominent families in the city, who would not otherwise have an inheritance due to the presence of an older sibling.
The commanding officer of the Magi is known as its Brigadier and is elected from the surviving ranking officers on the death or retirement of their predecessor. The Brigadier, together with all other officers in the order, owes fealty to the Signoria of Petrenea.
The magi maintain no blazon. They are instead known by their blue-and-black uniforms, and the silver lanyards which mark them out particularly as members of the regiment.
Many in the peasantry view the members of the Magi as heroic, monk-like, or chivalrous, not unlike knights or paladins. This reputation is only partially accurate - while the Magi do undertake great feats of heroism and are the best defence of the city, they are also highly corruptable due to their make-up of individuals who may feel cheated of their birthrights by the fates. A great many Magi recognize they can accumulate great personal wealth with their abilities beyond what the Lycium and the city leadership are willing to pay for their services and become independent mercenaries - known in the local dialect as condotierre.
Recruitment and Training
Lycium of Petrenea students attend the college on the basis of their ability (or their parents ability) to pay the necessary tuition, equipment, and materials costs. Accordingly, they are disproportionately composed of the non-inheriting (that is, junior) children of prominent Petrenean families, with an occasional scattering of well-regarded illegitimate children, minor adventurers looking to upgrade, and the occasional foreign student. In addition to physical and intellectual aptitude requirements at entry, students must keep up with certain minimum standards in both academic and athletic performance in order to qualify for each returning year. Typically, students enter the school as pre-adult youths.
Students undertake a mixture of military-academy style physical and martial education and formal education in the arcane arts, as prepared spellcasters similar to wizards - some students entering the college with pre-existing arcane or divine spellcasting abilities may occasionally be diverted into specialist training programs. While the school maintains Magisters who are specialists in specific areas, all students maintain a relationship with one specific magister as a mentor or advisor, who will help catch out any developing bad habits or recommend them for specialization training.
While graduation from Adept to Magus simply requires passage of a combined test of martial and arcane capability - the Grand Examen - and could therefore happen in as little as a single year of training, most students take on average anywhere from five to eight years to make the grade, and most students are therefore young adults by the time they graduate. Graduation and earning the title of magus enters the student into a contract where they must serve exclusively with the Magi Lycia for a year and a day as a professional solider.
Service Life
A graduated Magus on their mandatory service term - or who has extended that term by an additional year at the expiry of the previous term at their option - lives as a professional soldier. They will be housed and headquartered either at the Lycium of Peternea or any of several permanent "Minilycia" - formerly, anywhere throughout the Petrenean Republic, but since the Great Collapse, these have consolidated to just the area around Petrenea and Albussaria.
Magi in this condition belong to an organizational unit known as a company (which may be further subdivided). Each company has a Captain. Together, these companies are themselves members of larger units known as Battalions, which usually serve as a form of regional command (this being a diminished capacity since the Great Collapse, naturally), each with a Colonel. Ultimately, the entire active duty component of the Magi constitute a Brigade, with a Brigadier as the senior officer, who is therefore in charge of all Magi including the students at the Lyceum.
Active Duty consists of alternating periods of Watchstanding and "Recreation", usually in a month-on-fortnight-off arrangement (when conditions permit). Watchstanders fulfill many of the obligations of other professional military units, while individuals on recreation both enjoy periods of leave as well as supplementary training and educational blocks.
At the end of each year-and-a-day service contract, each Magus must decide for themselves whether or not to commit to an additional full term, and if renewing their service they re-swear their oath to the city of Petrenea. Those who serve such terms with distinction eventually become distinguished seniors and even officers within the corps, and every Brigadier in recorded history has come up to their rank in this way.
Former Magi
Graduated Magi who are no longer serving members of the Magi Lycia can be broadly divided into two categories: leavers and deserters. Leavers have elected not to renew their term of service at the end of their period, thereby honourably ending their contract, or have earned an honourable discharge by some other means at the discretion of a senior officer, usually the Brigadier or one of their direct subordinates. Leavers maintain full rights and even some privleges normally reserved for active Magi, including the right to wear most of the Magi uniform (excluding the lanyard), to continue their education and studies at the Lyceum (for fees) and the right to bear unbound arms in the City of Petrenea. In contrast, deserters have fled their posts and violated their oaths, or been summarily discharged at the discretion of an officer. For dischargees, the penalty is usually to be stripped of their uniform and their rights and privileges as Magi, and sometimes even banishment from the city. For full deserters, the penalty is often summary execution by an officer.
Many Leavers and even Deserters leverage their abilities and the prestige of their former service for their own gain. Many become professional adventurers or mercenaries (even the captains of mercenary units), and some more socially-inclined service members become social climbers in their own right.
Uniform
As has been mentioned, Magi of the Lycium have specific uniforms, consisting of a blue, buttoned tunic and black salvar trousers, which are worn bloused into leather boots that rise to mid-shin - these boots should be maintained to a reasonable polish. Adepts wear simply this uniform. Graduated Magi - including Leavers - wear this uniform together with a breastplate of a standard fit and pattern. Magi who are on a term of service wear a lanyard indicating their rank - ice blue for Magi, white for Sergeants, Silver for Captains, Gold-Thread for Colonels, and Gold-Chain for the Brigadier. Magi wear a headdress dependant on their Specialization - detailed below. In adverse weather, the uniform calls for a flowing grey overcoat. Magi who have retained the right to bear arms (that is, Magi, Magi-officers and Leavers), wear a broad scarlet sash, over which their weapon-belt is fastened.
Specializations
A few specialist cadres exist among the magi.
Students, known as Adepts, have not yet recieved a specialization of any type. Their formal headgear is the Fez.
Regular Magi (known simply as "Magi") are specialists in at least one spellcasting school and the use of bladed weapons, specifically the scimitar. The dress uniform specifies a kepi as the uniform headdress for members of this specialization.
Magi Cavalry, in addition to their spellcasting specialization, are Masters of Horse and talented riders in their own rite. While they are required to maintain a basic familiarity with the scimitar, they tend not to use one as their primary weapon, instead wielding staves and focusing on casting from horseback as part of hit-and-fade operations to soften battlefield positions for the regular Magi. The uniform headgear for this specialization is a close-fitting headwrap and veil suitable for keeping down the dust - the wrap is applied in such a way that the veil can be dropped. Such Magi often have avian familiars that are trained as messengers.