Wizarding Pharaphernalia

Written by The Mad Professor

Clothing
Most mages choose to dress themselves in robes expressive of their station in life, however, some choose to dress otherwise though this makes it harder to identify them as magi. The robes themselves may vary from the relatively simple robes of apprentices to the elaborate robes of true magi and according to local fashions. Experienced magi often have extensive protective spells woven into the fabric of their robes though, though it should be noted that there are very few spells which protect against physical harm, most hindering spells from having an effect on the wearer instead. While hats, hoods and such are common among magi, they carry little by way of significance for them. There are several other items of clothing magi wear, but apart from the robes they rarely have any significance and are only rarely enchanted in any way.

Staffs
While not a necessity, most mages make use of a staff to aid them in spells. For most apprentices and hedge magi this is merely a piece of wood which occasionally serves as a weapon. The more advanced magi though implant powerful spells within their staffs, using them in a variety of ways, some make them into reservoirs for Numen, others make them a repository of powerful spells while some ancient wizards merely use them as walking aides. The staff is another piece of a wizard's attire and is sure to give any wizard wielding one instant recognition for his rank. Sadly as often happens among wizards, when the particularly powerful die, their staffs quickly become highly attractive items for wizards who are still alive.

Rings & Jewellery
One of the more common items to be enchanted for the wizard's own benefit are rings. Usually these offer some subtle benefit to the wizard wearing them, such as the ability to see any spells located nearby or heightening the wizard's intelligence or any number of other similar effects. Other pieces of jewellery are often enchanted too and worn as amulets, often these have protective properties and function to ward off offensive spells. Some wizards have a fondness for this, while other consider them too gaudy. Generally, to avoid spells interacting with each other in ways the wizard cannot anticipate, they will avoid wearing too many enchanted items while casting spells.

Spellbooks
One of the things which identify a wizard are his spellbooks, these grimoires are often warded with spells to keep others from making use of them. A spellbook will contain everything from a wizard's spells and notes to his diary and often contain information on spells no other wizard has in their possession. These books can be anything from small personal books to large tomes, most contain spells and notes on magic which contain the wizard's personal research and spells. While wizards can usually remember their spells without needing an extra reference, for the less used spells and rituals the spellbooks are often handy. As a consequence of wizards wishing to keep their spells secret often write their spellbooks in code or in long lost languages. It is also fairly standard practise to leave small traps for those reading it to keep the random dabbler from pillaging a wizard's work.

The Tower
While not every wizard has a tower, their abodes are often referred to as such. Most towers are immense places of power, wherein the wizards have spent years placing wards and barriers and all manner of spells of advantage. Generally speaking the older the wizard, the more potent the defences a tower has. It is generally considered to be very ill advised to attack or act against wizards in their tower as this is where they are at their mightiest and hold all the cards. Despite this, there are often several rooms in a wizard's tower wherein no spells have been cast. Usually these rooms are used for allowing other wizards to communicate with them and for summoning things from other planes. While towers often have specific rooms like magical laboratories and storage rooms and similar, each tower is specific to the wizard who lives there and will usually be made to fit the residing wizard.

After Death
Once a wizard is dead it often becomes a race for other wizards to get at their belongings, powerful enchantments, their towers and their spellbooks are all considered up for grabs, especially among the more mercenary wizards. For this reason, wizards often implant a Geis in their apprentices to bury them in prepared vaults with potent defences, to keep their bodies from being desecrated in death. Often wizards also leave towers and other paraphernalia to their apprentices, though, just as often it is a case of some other wizard coming along, slowly destroying the defences and settling in where the powerful wizard once lived. Generally speaking, the more powerful the deceased wizard, the sooner their counterparts will come to loot his treasures and research. Of course, the more powerful the wizard, the more potent the spells they will have left in place to protect their belongings once they are deceased.