Wielders of magic and defenders of the Known Lands.
Wizards should always be given respect, even if untrained. True wizards have great powers, and false wizards can have powers also. The most powerful and most evil wizards can live for a very long time. Wizards are rare.
Wizards carry staffs as weapons and aids. The full power of a staff is only available for a true wizard, who must take a staff only when invited. If a staff is purchased by other than a true wizard, the staff will be less than fully powerful. “A wizard with a staff makes a great difference to most people” (3:68).
Some people pretend to be wizards, and can even so great deeds. But their power is never comparable to that of a true wizard. However, sometimes recognizing pretenders can be difficult except for true wizards. “Few pretenders would want to be caught by a true wizard” because “there are some harsh penalties for pretenders” (3:69).
True wizards take a staff when invited and take an oath to abide by wizard law, which includes doing only good and seeking to eradicate any evil that is found. The wizard’s oath is more binding than the adventurers’ bargain, so when a wizard must confront evil, the adventurers’ bargain may be broken.
A wizard’s staff is only at full power when a wizard takes one by invitation. Doing so increases the power of the wizard and the staff. Staffs that are simply bought are not as powerful. Most wizards are in their thirties or forties when they take a staff.
Wizards can carry their staffs when they meet an Oracle “as a symbol of what [they are] and as a sign of respect” (3:428). A wizard’s staff is only a weapon to an enemy.
Only true wizards take the wizard’s oath, and that only after accomplishing four great wizard acts. Witnesses for a wizard taking an oath are accorded great honor, and often are given greater preference for adventures (2:363). “Most apprentices are in training for years, [and] a great many of them never learn enough to take a staff” (3:472).
Wizards are overseen by a council of nine wizards, of whom Whalen Vankin is a member. They “work to fight evil, help train young wizards, and uphold wizard laws” (2:352).
All wizards have a limit to their magic, and once the limit is reached they need time to recover their power.
Wizards are bound by their promises and oaths. They cannot lie if they swear on their staffs.
They can bind others’ oaths with a wizard’s seal of magic, which grants the oathtakers power and ensures complete ruin if the oath is broken.
At times, they can feel the pain of others.
The hardest thing for a wizard to learn is that he has much to learn because “thinking that you know everything you need to know and that you understand everything that is said is what keeps most wizards from ever becoming truly great” (2:349).
Many wizards have a familiar (a pet), and many wear distinct robes.
Few wizards are as powerful as Paladins, and a paladin bowing to a wizard is unheard of. Alex is the only known wizard to have received a bow from a paladin.
Wizards can sway a person’s opinions and emotions against the person’s will.
Wizards can transform themselves into many forms, though staying in one form too long endangers the wizard of becoming lost in the form. No wizard can safely take the dragon form (except Alex).
“Better to die once in flame than live forever in the half-life of the necromancer” (3:290).
“A wizard’s deeds are often foretold” (3:476).
A wizard who knows a dragon’s true name has power over the dragon and is known as a dragon lord.
“Wizards should have some secrets that only they know” (3:483).
Wizards are able to use the Great Arch to travel between lands without having to go through an intermediary.
All good wizards are bound to bring evil wizards to justice.
A wizard can waive rules of honor is exigent circumstances.
A true wizard cannot lie if he swears by his staff. When a wizard does so, he is sometimes surrounded by a light and seems to grow larger (see 4:198-200).
“Real wizards know better than to mix the living and the dead. Real wizards do not willingly harm others or take unneeded risks” (4:213).
“True wizards do not sell their power” (4:229).
Wizards can conjure up fog.
“The link between wizards, and especially the link between student and teacher, is a strong one” (4:376). This allows wizards to put thoughts into another wizard’s mind.