Guild Arcane

A Guild Arcane was a mages' guild, local to a Calishite city, that totally controlled and regulated the use of magic within that city.

Organization
Each of the five Guilds Arcane was led by a caleph arcane, who was the most influential wizard in his or her respective city. The syl-pasha of Calimshan had the unwritten support of the leaders of the Guilds Arcane.

Every wizard within the city was assigned a place in the hierarchy of the guild, by which means he or she could be controlled and manipulated if need arose.

Activities
The primary way in which a young wizard was taught magic in Calimshan was through one of the Guilds Arcane. Guild members shared spell components, minor magical items, and arcane secrets with each other for far cheaper fees than with outsiders to the Guild, making dealing in magic nearly impossible for non-members.

Standard fees in most cities for Guild Arcane services were 25 gold pieces per day plus meals to the one providing magical assistance, in addition to reimbursement for whatever spells were actually cast during the hired mage's employment. The fees for cast spells depended on the kind of spell, the difficulty of the spell to cast, and the capabilities of the spellcaster.

Base of Operations
The cities of Almraiven, Calimport, Keltar, Memnon, and Volothamp each contained an active Guild Arcane. The headquarters of the Guild Arcane in each of these cities was called the Minargent, after the silver-colored minarets used in their construction. An exception was the Auret, the main headquarters of the Guild Arcane located in Calimport.

History
The need for a powerful consortium of mages' guilds revealed itself as early as the Sixth Age of Calimshan. At that time, the number of mercenary wizards in the various noble courts was high, leading to financial chaos, and this drove the qysars of the Shoon Imperium to form Wizards' Consortiums to create standard mage-hiring fees and enchantment costs. These consortiums evolved in stages into the Guilds Arcane.

The first Guild Arcane was founded in Almraiven and was followed successively by four others in Calimport, Volothamp, Keltar, and Memnon.

Members
While independent wizards did exist in Calimshan, they were rare and frowned upon by society.