After the fall of the Empire, the status of mages in society shifted dramatically. The schisms within the Advisory and its corruption were seen as evidence that mages were more dangerous than helpful. Incidents including the Tortugan Massacre showed that the Advisory did not take the Invasions seriously and in fact used it to their own ends. The suspicious death of Targus Otallus in that battle threw the entire Kadian power structure into turmoil, and ended with the immolation of a dozen Advisory mages. Many vigilantes have since followed that example, and burn magic-users whenever they get the opportunity.
Superstition and fear now permeate popular sentiments toward mages in Dage. The Northmen tolerate shamanistic or Elementalist magic, but are wary of any enchantments, illusions, or warping of reality. Most common folk fear all magic-users as evil, and either drive them away or try and kill them. In the surviving Southern cities, mages are at least accepted, and not hunted down openly. However, even in the most liberal areas, mages are treated with suspicion.
We are the children of Thanatos, the Mage-Father. We honor his structure of magic. We reshape reality with our spells. We hold true to the promise of spellcraft. We seek to preserve the Light, which are the Words of Thanatos, and the Shadow, our mortal incarnations of his teachings.
The Advisory is the old Imperial Advisory of Magic-Users -- with the fall of the Empire, the "Imperial" was dropped. These mages also lost their venerated status within the former lands of the Empire, and are actively hunted down by many who blame them for the collapse of the Empire.
This discipline is highly structured and ritualized, more so than any other discipline. At times, mages of the Advisory can seem like more like members of a religious order than a cabal of magic-users. It was this trend toward ceremony and ritual which likely preserved them through the fall of the Empire.
We do not fight. We defend. The words and spirit of Thanatos still stand in our cabal. Preservation of the living form against the evils of mental influence and physical harm is our goal.
The Defenders have experienced difficulty with many religious sects because of their emphasis on magic as a protective, preserving force over faith. They are a splinter group who formed from the Imperial Advisory during the Invasions, rejecting mental manipulation for protection of mind and body. They saw the Advisory as corrupt and as much of a menace as the physical danger of the barbarians.
The Defenders are somewhat secretive, mostly because of their frequent clashes with other powerful groups (priests of Uluanth and the Advisory). They embrace free thought, and keep rituals to the absolute minimum needed for maintainence of the discipline.
To summon and command the power of the earth, the wind, the seas, fire, and their denizens is to honor the supremacy of magic. Pure magic takes the elements and binds them to one's will. Pure magic honors the reality of the elements and creatures within them.
The Elementalists are composed of two separate groups -- the descendants of the Northern shamans whose destructive magic tore apart the Empire, and the "converts" to this discipline from the former lands of the Empire. The "converts" are often seen by other disciplines as traitors to the Imperial legacy of spellcraft, and are persecuted as such.
The Elementalists or Shamans, as they are sometimes called, see themselves practicing a "pure" form of magic. They are directly in tune with the natural forces of the world, and care not for the illusions and trickery of the Advisory's making. However, the group itself is the least organized of all the proper disciplines. They are the most open of the disciplines, professing their trade to all by wearing brightly colored, flashy robes and clothing.
Magic should assume domain over all creation and should only be used for such purposes. It is the most powerful force on the world and thus should rule supreme.
Warlocks are a splinter group, formed from those shamans and elementalists who sought dominion rather than simple mastery over natural forces. They see nature as a servant of magic, rather than the source of their power. They are a secretive group, rarely even admitting their existence. Warlocks embrace elaborate rituals to enhance their magic, and many of their members worship the darker gods of the Dagean pantheon. However, their leadership resembles a theives' guild more than a collection of mages, and the organization is weak as a result. These are the mages most commoners deride as evil wizards, characterizing all magic-users as warlocks and witches in their hatred of magic.
With the rapid proliferation of disciplines, many younger mages (and some older ones) feel that the point of magic is being perverted by "pigeonholing" its specific uses. The older trend toward specialization has been reversed by the fall of the Empire. Large-scale organization is now impossible (no new Imperial Advisory will be created soon, which is just fine with me), while changing conditions mandate adaptation and openness rather than ritual and orthodoxy.
The words of Haskur of Ciliano sum up the attitudes of a growing number of mages. To remove themselves from the stigma of disciplines, they openly practice all schools of magic. This is seen as idiotic and impractical by some members of the old ways of thought, and heresy by others, but the numbers of "Free Mages," as they call themselves, are growing rapidly. While no one official organization exists to hold all of these magic-users together, numerous regional cabals and groups exist. Often, they resemble schools of rhetoric more than serious organizations of mages, but that is fine with the free mages.
While it is hard to generalize about this group, they are typically young, good or neutral in morals, and far more tolerant than other mages of discipline.