Returning the book, you head over to the desk to see if you can wake Sekiri. Finally, after making what you judge is enough noise to stampede a herd of elephants, he wakes up and sees you.

"Ah, I have a memo around here somewhere" he says, waving his hand at the uneven piles of paper all over his desk. "I understand you're ready to choose an order. Want some advice?". As you nod, you sit in one of the chairs before the desk and prepare to listen. "First, some background."

"Right, well, the Wizards' Guild is made up of eight Unseen University orders, eight corresponding orders of Hedge Wizardry, and 3 Klatchian orders. Each of the Unseen University orders have their own specialised areas in which they focus, and therefore teach skills to their members. The orders of Hedge Wizardry each correspond to one of the UU orders, with the same basic skill set. The Klatchian orders have a set of primary skills identical to that of their Unseen University counterparts, the Lodgers. Neither the Hedge orders, nor the Klatchian orders play any part in the political structure of the Unseen University."

"Now that you have graduated by reaching guild level 40, you can join an order. Once you do, you will be able to advance all the way to level 300 in the set of skills that the order you chose specialises in. You can register your selection of order in the room just three north, northeast and then south of the student lounge."

"Once you join, you will officially be a First Level Wizard of that order. As you advance through the ranks, you will become a Second, Third and then Fourth Level Wizard at guild levels 60, 80 and 100 respectively. After that, you'll be competing with the other members of your order for titles. Note that there is quite an element of dead man's shoes involved."

"You will also of course, gain access to the order rooms once you join. Each order has their own common room, where they can advance and peruse the boards, and perhaps find a way into a rather special area just for Unseen University wizards. In addition, there will be a membership rota for your order which will show you all the wizards currently Fifth level or higher. Next to the common room you will find a voting room, for when it is time to elect the Senior Wizard, and the office of said Senior Wizard."

"Here is a map you can have. As well as the location of the order rooms, it shows the offices of the Archchancellor, the Bursar and the Dean of Liberal Studies, plus the order selection room."





"Now, choosing an order is an important event in the life of a young wizard, and is a choice for life. Hence you should think very carefully before deciding."

"You should consider the type of magic you'd like to specialise in, especially in the long term. If you want to specialise in the maintenance and creation of magical artifacts, there is an order for you, same as if you want to make the dead do your bidding. Oh, sure, there is some temptation at least in the short term to choose your order just based on what skills they specialise in, but those benefits won't last forever you know."

"Still, this paper here not only gives you general information about what the order specialises in, it will also discuss a few of the implications that each order's skill set may have on the career or spell selection of its members, so that you can make a hopefully informed decision."

"If you have any further questions after reading it, please ask away."

CHOOSING THE RIGHT ORDER FOR YOU
An analysis

In discussing the implications of an order's core skills on commonly used magic spells, the following analysis will only use a limited spell set. Certain spells are not included as they are clearly the province of the order in question, for example, the spell Myrandil's Mask of Death is clearly the province of those in the order of Midnight.

Another set of spells that are not included in the analysis are those that are too easy. All of these can be easily cast with the level of proficiency that one can obtain as a student, before ever joining an order, and don't improve measurably with much higher method skills. This includes such spells as Endorphin's Floating Friend and Kamikaze Oryctolagus Flammula.

Finally, spells that most orders are in the same position relative to will only usually be discussed where it differs markedly, such as Al'Hrahaz's Scintillating Blorpler, in which a number of the orders all have the same primaries used, or Doctor Kelleflump's Deadly Demon where only the Shadows have at all reasonable primaries.

Hedge Wizardry

Hedge Wizardry is older than the University. In fact, the first Wizards were Hedge Wizards, fiercely independent, wandering the countryside and the world in their quest for power. Since the founding of UU, Hedge Wizardry has become much less popular, since it doesn't offer the same comfortable beds, large meals, or a roof over one's head. However, some find the atmosphere of the University stifling, or the politics distasteful, or simply want to see the world.

Hedge wizards play no part in the Unseen University, they do not vote, and cannot hold any positions. They may, however, use the Student Lounge to advance their skills. Being independent, they also have no use for titles, and are known only by their colour.

Hedge Wizards have the same specialties as the wizards of the Unseen University, and each of the colours of hedge wizardry correspond to one of the UU orders. Please see the corresponding descriptions below for the primaries of each colour.

White - Elemental (or Circle)

Blue - Illusion (or Hoodwinkers)

Red - Thaumaturgy (or Lodgers)

Brown - Magical Artefacts (or Silver Star)

Green - Lore (or Seers)

Black - Demonology (or Shadows)

Grey - Necromancy (or Midnight)

Octarine - Playerkillers (or Last Order)

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The Ancient and Truly Original Sages of the Unbroken Circle

The Ancient and Truly Original Sages of the Unbroken Circle specialize in elemental magic, having the skills to summon the power of the elements to do their bidding. Fire, Water, Earth and Air are the tools of the Circle, and they use them to their fullest advantage.

The skills held by the Circle:

magic.spells.offensive
magic.spells.defensive
magic.spells.misc
magic.spells.special
magic.methods.elemental.air
magic.methods.elemental.earth
magic.methods.elemental.fire
magic.methods.elemental.water
magic.methods.mental.channeling
magic.methods.mental.convoking
magic.methods.physical.binding
magic.methods.physical.evoking
magic.methods.spiritual.summoning
magic.items.held.staff
magic.points

The Circles have been a popular order for a long period, with youngsters attracted to the glamour of an easy route to casting Nargl'frob's Empyrean Spear. In addition, while more skills than even their order can teach them are required, they do of course get a head start at the very powerful Journey of the Heavenly Storm Dragon.

Out of the important offensive spells, they are only slightly lacking in the case of Pragi's Fiery Gaze, in which they have only three out of the five methods as primaries, compared to the four of several other orders. However, the spell requirements are not too high, and the spell tms very well, so it is not too much of an issue. They lack only dancing out of the required skills for Effermhor's Hypersonic Assault and so should have little trouble with this alternative.

The circles are poor at some of the higher level alternative offensive spells. They miss out on the main method for Myrandil's Vicious Seizure, and lack enchanting for Stacklady's Morphic Resonator which is a very high requirement. Like most orders, they will also have difficulty with Wonker's Wicked Wobble.

With regards to Transcendent Pneumatic Alleviator, the order has three out of five required skills as primaries, as many or more than the other orders. While the requirements for the spell are not high, their lack of enchanting and chanting needs to be worked on to achieve a strong consistent impact shield.

Lacking enchanting, the Circle will have particular difficulty with Master Glimer's Amazing Glowing Thing, though they still have three out of the five methods used as primaries, enchanting has far higher requirements than the other skills. They do however, have a good advantage in the casting of Fyodor's Nimbus of Porterage, with five of the six as primaries, though since this spell isn't that difficult, it isn't a great advantage.

The lack of magic.items.scrolls may be a point of concern for some wizards, you will have to enter the Library for most spells rather than relying on a helping hand to scribe some spells for you.

The Circle has few major disadvantages with most of the important spells. On the whole, with the current set of spells, the Circle have one of the better primary trees, and worth a look.

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The Hoodwinkers

The Hoodwinkers are specialists in illusion and conjuring, and generally making ordinary people doubt Up and Down. With absolutely nothing up their sleeves but eye of frog, they can entertain a pub with dancing elves or frighten brigands with fiery dragons.

The skills mastered by the Hoodwinkers:

magic.spells.offensive
magic.spells.defensive
magic.spells.misc
magic.spells.special
magic.methods.elemental.air
magic.methods.mental.animating
magic.methods.mental.channeling
magic.methods.mental.charming
magic.methods.mental.convoking
magic.methods.physical.binding
magic.methods.physical.evoking
magic.methods.spiritual.conjuring
magic.methods.spiritual.summoning
magic.items.held.staff
magic.points

The Hoodwinkers, unlike the Circle have few major strengths out of the offensive and defensive spells. Two of their primaries, charming and conjuring are currently little used, though the former may give them some minor advantage in the spells for the Shadows. Like the Circle, they also lack magic.items.scroll. They have mastery over five of the six most used methods, lacking only enchanting out of those used in the most spells.

They have average primaries for the important offensive and defensive spells, with few weaknesses or real strengths. They have a minor head start with spear, but still only one two of five as primaries. Like the Circle, they are quite good at Effermhor's Hypersonic Assault, lacking only dancing and should be quite proficient at this spell.

As with Circle, they need to work on chanting and enchanting to achieve a strong Transcendent Pneumatic Alleviator.

Their lack of enchanting needs to be worked on, or they will have difficulty with spells such as Stacklady's Morphic Resonator and Master Glimer's Amazing Glowing Thing.

They have a natural affinity with things of the air such as Master Woddeley's Luminescent Companion and Gryntard's Feathery Reliever, having all the methods used as primaries, though again, since the requirements are not high, this is not a great advantage.

They are of course, the masters of Torqvald's Illusion Generatrix with all the required skills as primaries. They also have all the primaries required for their own offensive spell, Mugwuddle's Muddling Mirage.

Overall, they have a good set of general primaries, with some specialisation, and aren't particularly good or bad at most of the conventional spells.

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Mrs. Widgery's Lodgers

Mrs. Widgery's Lodgers is the oldest continuous Order in the University, dating back to the founding of the UU. In the beginning, the Tower of Art was the only building of the University, and was too small to house the students. So, they were boarded at the house of Mrs. Widgery, on the site of what is now New Hall. In keeping with this long history, the Lodgers study the basics and fundamentals of magic, rather than branching out into different specializations. They receive a well-rounded magical education.

Those skills taught to the Lodgers are:

magic.spells.offensive
magic.spells.defensive
magic.spells.misc
magic.spells.special
magic.methods.mental.animating
magic.methods.mental.channeling
magic.methods.mental.convoking
magic.methods.physical.binding
magic.methods.physical.enchanting
magic.methods.physical.evoking
magic.methods.physical.dancing
magic.methods.spiritual.summoning
magic.items.held.staff
magic.items.scroll
magic.points

As the description states, the Lodgers have well-rounded primaries, with all six of the most used methods. They also have the added advantage of having magic.items.scroll as a primary, a skill often put into good use by wizards.

The Lodgers are quite proficient at Pragi's Fiery Gaze and Effermhor's Hypersonic Assault, having four out of the five skills as primaries. The lodgers are also similarly proficient with Pragi's counterpart, Pragi's Lost Gaze, having five out of it's six methods as primaries.

Like most orders, they are weak at Nargl'frob's Empyrean Spear.

Having enchanting as a primary, they will have less trouble than some in casting Stacklady's Morphic Resonator and Master Glimer's Amazing Glowing Thing well since guild max and above is required.

They have the usual amount of primaries for the main defensive spells.

They are a general order, and their primaries differ only slightly from those of the Seers, the Last Order and are the same as the Klatchian orders. The primaries of this order are quite good, and are used more often than any of the other orders (except the Klatchians of course), and their skill at Pragi's and Stacklady's make them worth considering.

This order has attracted the most members in recent times.

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Brothers of the Silver Star

The Brothers of the Silver Star are those wizards who did especially well in woodworking class. Being well-versed in the spells and lore needed to make and use magical artefacts, as well as the physical skills required, they are the fabricators of most magical items.

The skills granted to those of the Silver Star are:

magic.spells.offensive
magic.spells.defensive
magic.spells.misc
magic.spells.special
magic.methods.physical.binding
magic.methods.physical.enchanting
magic.items.held.wand
magic.items.held.rod
magic.items.held.staff
magic.items.worn.ring
magic.points
crafts.smithing.gold
crafts.carpentry.turning
crafts.carpentry.whittling
crafts.points

Having only two magic.method primaries, the Silver Stars is definitely not recommended for those that are not well prepared for it. The members of this order will have a great deal of difficulty casting any of the higher level spells, and even greater difficulty getting effective first order spells. This order is not for those who delight in combat.

Many of the spells which the majority of wizards use often and to great effect, only come difficultly to those of this order. They only have one primary used in Pragi's Fiery Gaze, Effermhor's Hypersonic Assault and Transcendent Pneumatic Alleviator, and no primaries out of the skills used in Al'Hrahaz's Scintillating Blorpler and Nargl'frob's Empyrean Spear.

Their skill in enchanting gives them some advantage in casting Stacklady's Morphic Resonator, but this is offset by their lack of skill in channeling which has a requirement even higher for this spell.

This order suits those really prepared to specialise in the focus of the order, as they are woefully lacking in the skills for just about all the traditional spells.

What they do specialise in, is those spells dealing with artefacts or magical items. They therefore unsurprisingly have all the primaries for spells such as Gillimer's Ring of Temperate Weather and Crondor's Fabulous Detection and most of Rubayak's Power Storage. While these are heavily aligned with the specific field of the order and won't be of much interest to most wizards, the same cannot be said of Wonker's Wicked Wobble, which is a very powerful offensive spell, and one which the order has a significant advantage in.

They also have all the skills required to be involved with the recharging of magical artefacts, which again, is for those who are attracted to the specialty of the order.

The Brothers also have a high level of proficiency with certain crafts, at present, there is not a great deal of use for these skills, but they will certainly have a substantial advantage if the fabled Staffs with Knobs on the End are re-discovered.

You should think very carefullly about joining this order as it is, probably more so than any other order, particularly tailored to only its speciality, and no others.

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Venerable Council of Seers

The Venerable Council of Seers specializes in Ancient Lore, new magical research, and General Knowledge about Things. They have the skills necessary to Find Things Out. The Seers are the ones to ask about any obscure bit of knowledge, and also the ones to ask about current secrets.

The skills developed by the Seers are:

magic.spells.offensive
magic.spells.defensive
magic.spells.misc
magic.spells.special
magic.methods.mental.animating
magic.methods.mental.channeling
magic.methods.mental.convoking
magic.methods.physical.binding
magic.methods.physical.enchanting
magic.methods.physical.evoking
magic.methods.physical.scrying
magic.methods.spiritual.divining
magic.items.held.staff
magic.items.scroll
magic.points

As mentioned above, the Seers also have a general set of primaries, but they also specialise in two unique methods. For this reason, some feel called to this path rather than the other general orders.

They have a few spells at present fitting this specialisation, Kipperwald's Perlustration Prevention and Floron's Fabulous Mirror being the two difficult enough for the primaries to be an advantage, though how much of an advantage these spells are is uncertain. In addition they have a significant advantage in casting Reckless Encouragement of Arcane Peacock.

Because their primaries are similar to the Lodgers, with scrying and divining in place of dancing and summoning, a similar analysis to the above applies.

The reason for joining this order over one of the other more general orders is if you particularly like the specialty of the order and don't mind giving up some minor general primaries to use them. No doubt more spells in this specialty will be discovered in the future.

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Sages of the Unknown Shadow

"Demonology" is generally a nasty word around UU, and wizards in general. On one hand, the demonologist can have awesome power and his wishes fulfilled, on the other he's likely to end up being devoured by some tentacled thing, or burning forever in a pit of agony. This wouldn't be too bad, except they sometimes bring it on those standing too close, as well.

Still, someone has to summon all those imps for household tasks, and know the Names one shouldn't say after dark. This is where the Shadows come in.

The skills in which the Shadows are gifted are:

magic.spells.offensive
magic.spells.defensive
magic.spells.misc
magic.spells.special
magic.methods.elemental.fire
magic.methods.mental.charming
magic.methods.mental.cursing
magic.methods.physical.binding
magic.methods.physical.chanting
magic.methods.physical.dancing
magic.methods.spiritual.abjuring
magic.methods.spiritual.banishing
magic.methods.spiritual.summoning
magic.items.held.staff
magic.points

Again, like the Silver Star, members of the Shadows will have great difficulty in casting most of the higher levels spells, though in this case they have far more than two primaries. The reason their primaries are used so few times overall is that the Shadows have only one of the five most used method subskills. The Shadows specialise in a branch of magic for which there are currently very few spells.

Like the Silver Star, this is an order which is highly specialised and aimed towards those who like the idea of consorting with demons, and not being proficient with the common spells. However, unlike the Silver Star, the order currently does not have much of a body of specialised magic built up, with only one spell really worth mentioning.

This spell is called Doctor Kelleflump's Deadly Demon and is held to be one of the most powerful offensive spell in the wizard lexicon. The spell has such high requirements that the proficiency you can gain even in this order isn't enough, but it is certainly a very helpful start. Though the spell is powerful, it may not be good enough to make up for the lack of other useful spells in this area of magic, or the severe lack of skill in all the conventional areas of magic.

With their primaries, they lack in almost all the conventional offensive and defensive spells, as well as most of the more useful miscellaneous spells. The sheer number of spells at which they will struggle precludes listing them all.

Because of this lack, like the Silver Star, those joining this order should be truly interested in the specialisation present in the order, and have optimism about the future discovery of demon spells.

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The Order of Midnight

The Order of Midnight engages in another questionable branch of magic. They're probably the ones you'd be most likely to see in the graveyards with a shovel, and least likely to invite to your fancy dress ball. While all wizards know the potency of dead things, and have a certain familiarity with certain 'bits', the necromancer is the only one who enjoys the company of the dead.

The skills of Midnight are:

magic.spells.offensive
magic.spells.defensive
magic.spells.misc
magic.spells.special
magic.methods.mental.animating
magic.methods.mental.charming
magic.methods.mental.convoking
magic.methods.physical.binding
magic.methods.physical.enchanting
magic.methods.physical.healing
magic.methods.spiritual.abjuring
magic.methods.spiritual.summoning
magic.items.held.staff
magic.items.scroll
magic.points

Like the Silver Star and Shadows, this is an order designed for those attracted to their specialisation, and not a more generalist approach.

While their primaries are better suited to the conventional spells than the two mentioned above, they still lack the two most used methods, evoking and channeling and hence do struggle with some spells, though not as many.

While not highly proficient, those of the Order of Midnight still have a reasonable amount of primaries for some of the important offensive spells. Their primaries form two out of the five required for the spells Pragi's Fiery Gaze and three of those for Pragi's Lost Gaze. However, they only have one of the required skills for both Transcendent Pneumatic Alleviator and Effermhor's Hypersonic Assault and none for Nargl'frob's Empyrean Spear or Al'Hrahaz's Scintillating Blorpler.

However, the order has been the most active recently in building up a set of spells within their particular specialisation. The have all the required primaries for some very useful spells, in which other others have difficulty, such as Myrandil's Vicious Seizure, Grisald's Reanimated Guardian and others where their proficiency will give them decidedly better spells such as Narquin's Mist of Doom and Von Hasselhoff's Skin Condition.

These continuing discoveries are making this order more and more attractive, particularly since some of the new spells are significant offensive and defensive spells in their own right, making up for the lack of proficiency in the more conventional spells.

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The Last Order

The Last Order, or The Other Order, as they're sometimes referred to, are the bullies of Wizardry. They often get into brawls with barbarians or muggers, and try to make sure they come out on top. While no wizard likes dirtying his hands with weaponry, The Last Order knows 15 spells to kill a man. All of the members are 'playerkillers'.

The skills practised by the last order are:

magic.spells.offensive
magic.spells.defensive
magic.spells.misc
magic.spells.special
magic.methods.elemental.fire
magic.methods.mental.animating
magic.methods.mental.channeling
magic.methods.mental.convoking
magic.methods.physical.binding
magic.methods.physical.evoking
magic.methods.physical.scrying
magic.methods.spiritual.summoning
magic.items.held.staff
magic.items.scroll
magic.points

This order is not for those who do not wish the lifestyle of constant danger. Members of this order will not be allowed to advance beyond the level of 100 without registering to become a killer at the Patrician's Palace. As a level 100 'PK' Wizard, you will find the going very tough.

Members of the Last Order are, as suggested, quite practised at offensive magic. They have four out of the five required skills for Pragi's Fiery Gaze, and five of the six for Pragi's Lost Gaze, again very effective if used properly. They even have two of the necessary skills for Nargl'frob's Empyrean Spear as primaries, though this is only a minor advantage.

They have only reasonable profficiency at defensive magic however, with only two of the five spells required for Transcendent Pneumatic Alleviator. They also have two primaries for Sageroff's Sentry Summoning, which finds most of its use in the 'PK' world, and also two of the three for Kipperwald's Perlustration Prevention which is notable for the same reason.

Their primaries are similar to those of the lodgers, though skilled in fire and scrying rather than enchanting and dancing. Much of the comments on that order also apply. On the whole, I'm uncertain as to whether the small specialisation is enough of an advantage to overcome a requirement, rather than an option, to become 'PK'.

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Klatchian Orders

The Institute of Illusory Learning in Djelibeybi is well-known for its collection of obscure foreign magical texts, some of which are not even in the possession of Unseen University. This is often the reason students choose to attend the Institute, despite its limited educational prospects. Another big reason is the climate.

Klatchian wizards have three Orders to choose from:

The Ancient Order of the Scintillating Scarab
The Ancient Order of the Dynastic Crescent
and The Ancient Order of Djinn Diviners

However, there is no functional difference between these Orders.

Klatchian wizards are unable to vote in any UU elections, and unable to hold any positions in the organization.

The skills of all Klatchian wizards are as follows:

magic.spells.offensive
magic.spells.defensive
magic.spells.misc
magic.spells.special
magic.methods.mental.animating
magic.methods.mental.channeling
magic.methods.mental.convoking
magic.methods.physical.binding
magic.methods.physical.enchanting
magic.methods.physical.evoking
magic.methods.physical.dancing
magic.methods.spiritual.summoning
magic.items.held.staff
magic.items.scroll
magic.points

The three Klatchian orders have identical primaries to those of the Lodgers, so what was mentioned there also applies here. They are a general order, with no real weaknesses in the current spell set, but again, no real strengths either.

The Klatchian orders allow those wizards who wish to remain apart from the political structure of the Unseen University a place to study, but still allowing for the comforts of a stationary lifestyle, unlike joining one of the Hedge Orders, and also a chance to compete against their fellows for titles and prestige.

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