Editing Lineage:Mage Society (section)

=Disputes=

Mages recognize no common body of law.  In theory, a mage’s rights extend as far as their ability to defend them.  In practice, this means that security usually lies in being a member of a group.  Mages working with the Houses rely on their House to back them up.  Mages of the Rebellion rely on other rebels and especially on their Orders.  Mages who owe no political allegiance gather in their own cabals, pursuing their own desires and ambitions.

The degree to which an individual can expect backup will vary greatly depending on the situation and can be difficult to predict.  Much will depend on how great a patron the group was to the individual, which ways the winds of politics are currently blowing, and on the individual personalities of people in power.  Naturally, feuds over who wrongfully killed who are common in mage societies and may last for centuries.

Minor magewars are common, occurring either between local mages or, more rarely, between whole Houses and Orders.  The Houses tend to be much better at conducting magewar than the Orders of the Rebellion are.  However, magewar between a House and an Order always runs the risk of drawing in other rebels.  It is rare for one Order of the Rebellion to declare magewar on another Order of the Rebellion and it always generates a political crisis.  Magewars are usually fought for economic reasons, a strategic competition for assets rather than an ideological clash.  Houses and Orders do not declare magewar lightly and almost never do it over a matter of principle.