Council of Mages

The Council of Mages was a primarily advisory group of arcane spellcasters who served the kingdom of Cormyr, along with its monarch and their royal family. While they were synonymous with the famous War Wizards that defended the Forest Kingdom, the two groups had very distinct and different responsibilities.

Activities
As the War Wizards focused purely on military matters, it was the Council's job to advise the king on all matters magical. Thus they helped to craft the laws governing magic, create magic items for use by the royal family, and battled the most dire of magical threats that presented themselves to Cormyr. They were also responsible for overseeing and policing War Wizard activities.

When out in the field, council mages spent some of their time dealing with lingering arcane effects that troubled the landscape of Cormyr. The Helmlands and the region around the Wyvernwater were especially afflicted in this regard.

All available members of the Council met once every month to hear the concerns of arcane spellcasters in Cormyr and consider all applicants who wished to join the War Wizards. Any mage of a certain level of power and esteem was welcome to attend.

Abilities
Upon their admittance into the council, the mages were taught a form of 'cooperative casting' which allowed them to bolster the spells of their allies and fellow council members. This effect magnified with every additional spellcaster who lent their efforts to the team.

As they progressed in their training, council mages were offered a wider variety of spell selection than other wizards. Due to their efforts as arcane craftspeople, they were offered all the resources they needed in order to learn how to fabricate magical items of their choosing.

Their studies allowed them to draw upon the years of research Cormyrean wizards have put into the art of dispelling. They were similarly taught how to casting sending spells, in order to keep lines of communication open with one another.

All council mages were given the specifications of a spell that allowed a musical instrument to play itself, one of Vangerdahast's own creation.

History
The first "council" formed some time around the, during the reign of Rhiiman the Glorious, a matter of decades after the Forest Kingdom was founded. Baerauble Etharr arose as the kingdom's first Royal Magician and assembled all the local wizards to deal with the threat of monsters that appeared from within the King's Forest. This group came to be known as the War Wizards.

In the, when Rhigaerd II was prevented from ascending the throne by Salember, the War Wizards were divided in their loyalties. Two years later, the Royal Magician Jorunhast made the executive decision to kill Salember. As a result he was exiled for murdering a member of the royal family. The position of Royal Magician was disbanded, and the War Wizards were left without a single polarizing individual to serve as their leader. After this tragedy the group of spellcasters lost a great amount of their power and prestige.

Rhigaerd eventually reversed his decision in the, when he appointed Vangerdahast as the new Royal Magician. In an attempt to prevent such a disaster happening to the group again, Vangerdahast took several elite War Wizards and magic item crafters renowned for their loyalty to Cormyr and created a separate group he called the Council of Mages.

Leadership
The Royal Magician was always the head of the Council. However when Vangerdahast disappeared, he was replaced by Caladnei a young wizard who was uncomfortable with officiousness. She delegated the duty of chairing meetings of the Council to Laspeera Inthré, until Laspeera formally replaced Caladnei as Royal Magician in the.

Membership
To join the Council, an individual had to receive an invitation. They also had to swear a blood oath to do no harm to Cormyr or its crown, in that order. .