Walking Mage

Intro:

From the writings of the last monk of the God above All temple: "When I first laid mine eye on the New World I wept for joy. A place free of the Mind Killer disease. I can feel an energy here, a power that will gave all man freedom to be who they had been intended to be!"

From the logs of the First Mage. Believed to be from 50 to 100 cycles after Exodus: "It is being called magic, but we know the truth. It is power, the power to rise above the dirt of the common man."

From the official history of the Mage council, soon after the Mage war had ended: "Never again can the Mage see themselves as greater than a common man. We are the servants of all and each other. For at least two full cycles a new Mage must walk long and far the land of this New World. The Long Walk should show that with this power, we call magic, also comes the lives that channel and feed these same currents of magic."

Lynn has been sent on the Long Walk, making her a Walking Mage. She finds herself at the center of a plot to take over a House within the city of Farth. What the plot is about will have to be discovered by Lynn and the new friends she makes along the way.

So a Walking Mage is sent out by the Mage council when they deem that someone has become strong enough in their prime magics to now go out and learn about life and real magic. Think of it as an apprenticeship phase. They are now a Mage by all rights but can not train further until giving at least two full cycles of their life. This can only be bypassed by a High Mage, and only if they are willing to adopt the Walking Mage in question. Prime magics are the five trained skills that are taught to all Mages. Anyone can use basic magic but to harness and use stronger magic a Mage must connect to the five prime magics within themselves.

A Mage on the Long Walk is free to go anywhere in the New World. Most stay near the school that sent them out. There have been stories of Walkers that go to the Far Wilds and live to report back. Stories of fantastic creatures and vast open fields are all they report about, but to have spent over five cycles gone from the world is a steep price to pay for this knowledge. The New World is a massive continent with every climate that a world can have. From the deep frozen north all the way down to the jungles on the southern borders.

If there was a native race they have been assimilated and forgotten long ago. One race with similar features are the race of the New World. Some are darker or lighter but that seemed to depend on where they live or the foods eaten.

It has been close to a thousand cycles since man left the Old World for this one, called the Exodus. (A four season trip around the primary sun is a cycle. A day, or one changing of the moon watch, is a basic unit of time. A full cycle is 391 days long. Summer is the long season with planting and harvesting season next. Still is the cold season and in Farth it can snow but not usually very deep.)

The planet has three visible moons. The white moon is the biggest but also the furthest away. Most of time is based on the White moons movements in the sky. The two Lovers, Mar and Tia chase each other across the skies so many beliefs and thinking are based on the actions of the two smaller moons.

Of the two moons, Tia is smaller and mostly invisible in the sky. Also called the Hidden Lover, or the dark moon, Tia will dip very close to the planet causing all sorts of problems or even catastrophic events. This has only been recorded twice since the Exodus.

The New World is broke up into districts that govern and rule themselves. So Farth rules and controls all the area around it, known by the Nobles as the River Valley district.

North Haven is up river to Farth, but still controlled by Farthen Nobility and laws. Down river is Rock Island A fishing city that sits between the sea, a huge lake, and the river. This is also under Farthen rule. Rock Island has gotten so big that many live in floating barges on White Lake. Or even in stilt houses on the shore of the fresh water inland sea that is White Lake.

A brackish swamp on the edge of White Lake connects the sea to the huge lake. Notorious for its sharks, dolphin, alligators, and a large reptile called a water dragon the swamp is no place for the faint of heart. Water dragons are said to be what dragite's design and heritage may come from. Wingless and nasty, the water dragon is an opportunity killer that waits for its pray to become sick from it's bite, then follows it till it dies.

The Exodus took what was left of mankind from the Old World to the New World. It lasted for many cycles and took hundreds of ships to move who they could. Only those that had been clean of the insanity and disease were allowed onto the voyage across. Man was just trying to survive and any chance to escape was taken. The rich went first, with only a handful of workers to restart a new home.

It's believed that magic began to appear within just ten cycles of the first landing on the shores of the New World. Safe Port Cove was one of the first landing sites. It's now the biggest city in the land. Some even consider the King there as the High King of all.

The Houses were the first thing created in the New World. As the centers of everything the House were the government, entertainment, and main commerce spot for all. Nothing happened if it did not happen in a House, was an old saying. Most information about the Houses was lost in the Mage War.

The Mage War was fought by two major factions of the Mages. One believed that Mages were the servants of mankind, while the other believed that mankind was to be ruled by Mages. The side that won quickly enforced their rule to not rule. The Long Walk was created later to help Mages see non-magic users as important to life. The other faction of Mages was believed to have been destroyed or assimilated. They are going to find out just how wrong they were.