Editing Journey of the Strange (section)

=Notes of Interest=
==The Shepherds - A religion of the Old world==
The church of the Shepherds is the true and only church of the Trader League and holds a tradeguild writ to tha effect. While the worship of other gods and philosophies is not forbidden, only the shepherds may own holy ground and receive offerings and public donations. It also fills all religious positions in Guild offices.
The Shepherds are those that guard the flock from the dangers of the world. They are also the few that commune with the divine powers of the universe so that the many may understand their will. Only through training and understanding may a shepherd come to hear and dream of the great, remote powers and be able to dispense their divine guidance and will in the world.

While the church holds much power in the affairs of the world, their 'divine' word is accorded a less than totally accepted place in the politics of the Middle Sea. Yes, priests exhibit odd powers and magics - but no more than mages or alchemists. Some even believe that divine power is a trick...

==Native gods and the Church of the Shepherd==
The islands and some of the coastal areas are littered with huge carvings of demonic heads (think Olmec etc, but wood). Curiously, these heads are wooden yet are apparently ancient, the wood remaining sleek with natural oils as if only a year old and are mostly uncovered with mosses or lichens.

Over the last two years, a good half of the temple compound has been given over to native, or half-native carvers. These men (there are two women among them) have some of the status of a shaman in what is left of the native community and are said to trap spirits into these carvings. They have been carving effigies of saints, and a few more eastern gargoyles, and at least two ships have been laden with these devices and sent back across the sea, to what purpose only the priests know.

Meanwhile, some priests have taken to carrying symbols which stem from the native culture, whether of local demons and spirits or of local animals.
==Sorcery limits==

The use of magic can be studied, and a certain level of intellectually pursued power can, with the right tools, items, astrologically correct hours, sacrifices and [huge efforts] be gained.
However, real power comes from birthright. The withered arm, the offspring of unnatural union, the seventh son of a seventh son - these are the things that mark any true weilder of magic. Magic seems to come naturally only to those marked by fate or oddity or both.

The darker path of the intellectual schools, of course, seek to provoke fate or bring oddity upon themselves to gain true access to magic power.
The lighter path seeks within to transform themselves into worthy bearers of fate - and such an inner search has occasionally brought out an oddity or two...

It should be noted that both these paths rarely see any true success.

Some reasonably classical magical 'marks'
Fits, withered limb, hunchback, mother was visited by the devil/a demon/a faerie lord/a god/a demi-god/a dragon/you name it. [or reversed].
Born on a special day/hour/moon/conjunction.
Parents are wildly divergent 'types'.
An unusual combination of features or 'marks'.

==The great Magic Schools==
Magic is rare in the New World. Even more rare then in the Old World. The Art, as it's called, requires immense dedication to wield even a bit of mystical power. Only the truly blessed, and there are some few of them about, ever gain magical might of any true potency.

Therefore, The Art is rarely the focus of study for most so-called Mages. The magical schools of the Old World- there are 4 in total- tend to teach only the most fundamental magic to the vast majority of their students. They instead prefer to give a well rounded, complete education with a greater focus on more worldly and practical knowledge. Science, geometry, natural law, and languages. Only those with an obvious gift- called Sorcerers- are taught high magic, usually by private tutors. None of the schools ever has more then one of these pupils at a time- there simply aren't enough gifted students for them to have more.

Due to offering a deep and immense education, graduates of the magical academy are highly sought after for government positions of all kinds. Therefore, tuition rates are wildly exorbenant. This confers two benefits: 1) it keeps the low class riff raff out of the hallowed halls, making room for more deserving nobility. 2) It makes the schools enourmously wealthy.

Each school has it's own charter and is run in it's own way, but they share a few common elements. Due to their extreme wealth and myriad political ties and prestigious alumni, all four schools are world powers in their own right, rivaling almost any nation. They all keep vast libraries of information, occult, scientific, and heraldric. Their students are often called in as legislators for legal issues- whether their education specialized in law or not.

Finally, the few truly gifted magicians they educate tend to be enormously powerful . While they are rare, their ability once educated is worth the wait. True Sorcerers at the height of the ability can end wars with a word, vanish and reappear across the globe or create an item that will make a legend out of whomever touches it. It is fortunate there are only a quarter dozen known Sorcerers in the world, as reality could hardly bear the strain of any more.