On the topic of Magetown.

I know that we had listed a specific Mages' District earlier in the thread; it was supposed to be a foil to the Academy, in that the Academy is where one goes for learning and the Mages' District is where one goes to apply it in practical ways. It was suggested that the Mages' District was where the main portal to the Astral Plane would be located, attached to a MASSIVE interstellar port for flying Astral merchant vessels. This is also the district where there is so much magical run-off that a Great Work can be powered by it.

I find it perfectly reasonable to squish Mage Town and the Mages' District into one district. Magetown would probably be the "lower class" section of the Mages' District - the place where the people with less-marketable magic like sorcery tend to live. The upper class and merchant class would be wizards and other people with controllable, predictable magic. I could see definite discrimination between the rich parts of the district and the poor part, perhaps even gangs of rich wizard and artificer kids throwing down versus gangs of sorcerers and warlocks.

The question, then, is what the official name of the district would be. I think that the Mages' District makes the most sense because of how basic it is. It would, however, be called Magetown to the point that nobody would call it the Mages' District in anything but the stuffiest of dialogues. It's like one of those universities that's only ever referred to by its initials. So, Magetown (the Mages' District to those fat, dry asses in Mithral Heights) would be set up in three tiered rings. Starting in the center, the first ring would be the merchant area, with the Astral Plaza at the center. The next ring out would be where the richer people tend to live, mostly Wizards and Artificers. The third ring would be where the lower class tends to live, with sorcerers and warlocks.

This would add some new slang to the city. Specifically, it would provide a descriptor for a particular mage. In the same way that a person's level of dryness or wetness denotes their wealth or poverty, a mage's circle would tell people a lot about his traditions, method, and expected income. A third-circle mage is probably a sorcerer or a warlock - people who don't have many tricks, but can repeat them often. They're expected to be rather poor, and people called a third-ring mage when you're a second- or first-ring mage is a significant insult. A second-circle mage is a mage with a marketable talent. These are wizards and artificers that one would expect to own a shop somewhere selling potions and services.

A first-circle mage is more of an achieved title than an inherent mark. A first-circle mage is anyone with arcane ability who becomes an adventurer, who "crosses through the first ring." Be they a plane-hopping gatekeeper, a member of the elemental guard, or a corsair who plies the Astral currents on his own vessel, a first-circle mage is one who finds owning a successful shop dissatisfying and therefore goes adventuring. A third-circle gang probably sees low-rank individuals brown-nosing to their leaders by saying something like, "He's a real first-circle kind of guy, you know?"

Being a first-circle mage is a mixed basket. It's a lot like being a rock star. Sure, people are going to want stories, and they'll buy you free drinks. Professionals tend not to take you seriously, though, when it comes to "serious" business. After all, what could you know about balancing an inventory or negotiating a trade? While everyone growing up in Magetown wants to be one when they're little, most would rather be a second-circle mage by the time they've grown up.