Aprendiz de Hechicero

"Mi examen está a punto de llegar. Si puedo encender la vela desde diez pasos sin que arda mi cabello, estoy seguro de que esta vez voy a pasar."

—Aprendiz de Hechicero anónimo

Los humanos que nacen con capacidades mágicas son individuos peligrosos y temibles. Un hechicero inexperto siempre acaba rodeado de demonios y otras catástrofes. Para acabar con esta amenaza, el Imperio envía lejos a estas personas para que se unan a una de las ocho órdenes de hechicería. Durante su aprendizaje los jóvenes hechiceros aprenden a usar la magia sin percances, y deciden a cuál de las órdenes se unirán.

Los Hechiceros deben pasar por un largo y peligroso período de aprendizaje. Al convertirse en Aprendices, los aspirantes a Hechicero se encuentran dedicando muchas y largas horas a tareas serviles a cambio de techo y comida y, de vez en cuando, algunas enseñanzas de magia, ya que están obligados a servir al hechicero que descubrió sus talentos. Muchos Aprendices se cansan de limpiar suelos, hacer recados, llevar cargas y ser tratados como meros criados, y no completan su aprendizaje, mientras que otros se van de aventuras para ganar dinero suficiente para pagar su tutela en los Colegios de la Magia.

Los elfos son mágicos por naturaleza, y no necesitan asistir a estas instituciones humanas, sino que aprenden de sus propios maestros del saber.

A Day in the Life

It isn’t easy mastering magic – of those few with even a hint of the gift, fewer still manage to tame it and control it before it consumes them (or just gets them burned by an angry mob). Apprenticeship is often gruelling, demeaning work, with the master handing out only the smallest nuggets of real knowledge in payment for hours of tedious labour. However, it’s the only even half-safe way to become a true wizard.

An apprentice’s day begins early. There are candles to light, potions to tend to, runes to scribe, and meals to prepare. Even if the master could chop wood or skin chickens by magic, he prefers to let the apprentice do it – both to keep him busy and to teach him not to call on magic for trivial acts. Power must be respected! Over the course of the day, the apprentice will help his master with his many tasks, sometimes accompanying him as he meets other wizards or offers counsel to nobles and merchants. At times, if the master is pleased, there will be formal training in the art of magic, some genuine wisdom that makes the tiring labour of the day seem almost worth it.

Some apprentices leave before their training is complete – their master perished in some disaster and they barely escaped, or there was just one beating too many. Such individuals, with only the barest grasp on their gifts, can parley their limited powers into enough coin to pay for further training, or just learn as they travel, which can be dangerous to both themselves and their companions.

Affiliations

Apprentices have only the most limited status in guilds or academies, but wherever many wizards gather together, their apprentices will likewise gather. They form loose-knit gangs, part study circle, part drinking club, part collection of backstabbing betrayers. The path from apprentice to full wizard is not easy, and while it’s good to have the help of one’s fellows, they also represent competition.

Such gangs rarely last long, but they can provide good contacts or connections once Apprenticeship is past. A typical conversation among former apprentices can often go something like this:

“Remember how you and me and Darryl used to all drink together at the Butchered Sow? Whatever happened to old Darryl, anyway? Eaten by a deamon? Damn, that’s too bad. Anyway, I’ve got a favour to ask...”

Adventure Seeds

• Return Of The Master: An apprentice wizard (a member or friend of the party) who has claimed to be a freelancer, is surprised to find his master – the one he said died in a mysterious fire – alive, well, and angrily looking for his former student. Was the ‘death’ story all a lie to cover up an apprentice running away? Is this an imposter, hunting the student for unknown reasons? Or did he survive the flames and now believes the student was responsible for his near death? The wizard doesn’t seem too inclined to sit down for an explaination.
• The Final Lesson: An arrogant but talented young apprentice has nearly completed his studies and has been sent on a complex errand that requires him to test his skills to the utmost. Or so he has been told. In reality, it’s a complex prank by his master to teach him humility. Unfortunately, something has gone horribly wrong. The embarrassing curse of boils and flatulence the ritual was supposed to create has instead summoned a foul-smelling daemon, covered in boils and rupturing pustules. The master was overwhelmed by the daemon, which now waits for the apprentice...and anyone who might be travelling with him.

Imágenes

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Fuentes

• Manual Warhammer Fantasy JdR (1ª Ed. Rol).
• Manual Warhammer Fantasy JdR (2ª Ed. Rol).
• Warhammer Fantasy JdR: Career Compendium (2ª Ed. Rol).