the Sturthus Magister

Continuing the new player introduction to races and guilds, here is the Sturthus Magister.

You are one of the proud tribes of the Sturthis, decedents of the Sorcerer Sovereigns of old! Your people are desert dwellers, originating as family groups in the great desert of the east. You are adapted for the dry climate with your  scaled skin, low body temperature, and long layered tunics and turbans.

Your ancestors were the first to establish the tenants of Alchemy, and through intense study and experiment, became the legendary sovereigns of the Sturthis. Ultimately they're unyielding commitment to learning transformed them wholly into the great dragons that flew across the world and destroyed  each other in rage. Some legends are just strange.

Since those times of legend, the tribes of Sturthis grew into the mighty tribal city-states of today. All the tribes kept long established cultural traditions that included ownership of slaves that were taken from vanquished foes. Your own family probably kept them, possibly many, maintaining a slave culture with rules on marriage and children. Generations of young were born into slavery and lived with their families, forgetting the destroyed tribes they once came from.

Only since the end of the Western War has the practice of slavery been abolished, and your grandparents suffered greatly at the loss. The change in social order was difficult, and the tribes have struggled to recover. Yours is the first generation to find success in the new Guild order. Your parents still speak of the new order is bitter tones.

Your grandparents may have told you of humans and what good servants they made. It makes for awkward conversation when you are trying to make human friends and business associates. Alfar were known but seldom slaves, prized highly by the sorcerer caste for study. They were also said to be very dangerous. Dwarves were unknown to Sturthis.

There is also stories of the Hithus, the unclean, living in the feted swamps to the south. They are savage and wild, and should not be spoken to if at all possible.

the Magister's Guild

You are a student in the college of Magisters. You were the second, third, or fourth child of a noble or wealthy merchant family, with little interest in inheriting title or business. Instead you were drawn into the arcane arts of Alchemy, a practice of the Sturthus Magi of the east. Using your family coin for the cost of training and components, you are learning to bend elemental forces for your defense and benefit, and to the service of those who might commission you. However, your new command of the elements is misunderstood and feared by a city that may no longer trust you. Never the less, they all need you.

• The Noble Court can find use of you for their own political machinations, in court or on a battlefield. Their Goldsmith agents are often the ones to seek you out.
• The Military may also want your support, but also distrust you as competition for noble commissions or other work for the wealthy.
• The Church of Saints has a wary eye on you too, due to your potential dangerous and corrupting power.
• Merchants may employ your service, or you may employ them to attain items of alchemical potential.
• Blacksmiths and Tradesmen have a working relationship with Magisters, needing to enchant their crafts with your arcane secrets.