Setting
Mage Year Designations
Fledgling Mage
Year 1 – Mages 12-13 years old
Year 2 – Mages 13-14 years old
Year 3 – Mages 14-15 years old
Year 4 – Mages 15-16 years old
Year 5 – Mages 16-17 years old
Arcanist Mage
“Arcanist” is replaced with their magikal specialty when they select it such as “Artificer” or “Summoner.”
Year 6 – Mages 17-18 years old
Year 7 – Mages 18-19 years old
Year 8 – Mages 19-20 years old
Master Mage
Year 9 – Mages 20-21 years old
Year 10 – Mages 21-22 years old
Year 11 – Mages 22-23 years old
Schools of Magecraft
Arcane Studies — Arcanist — Professor Art Burke
Alchemy — Alchemist
Artificing — Artificer
Summoning — Summoner
Athame Arts — Professor Drew Burke
(More will be revealed in future stories)
Athame Arts
A class that teaches magikal close combat with a special short saber. Since wands are traditionally considered a long-range magikal weapon, artificers designed the athame saber. This specially created blade allows mages to combine their wand with a double-edged sword for close-range combat and defense.
Bealnora offers this as an optional class to 6th Years and above. However, magikal academies such as Astar require their mages begin taking Athame Arts their 1st Year.
ExSpelled is set in an alternative history Europe roughly analogous to the 1870s Victorian Era. However, magik was gifted to a lucky few nearly 2 millennia ago. Now some 20% of the population has some spark of magik, ranging from faint to extraordinary.
Spells & Magikal Devices
Wands
Bealnora School of Magecraft only permits their mages to use wands they’ve carved themselves. The only exceptions are loaner wands used in select classrooms.
Loaner Wands
Though Bealnora does keep a small supply of loaner wands on site in select classrooms, there is an inherent danger in using a wand you didn’t carve yourself.
Due to each mage’s unique mixture of magik, a loaner or shop-bought wand can fail them at an inopportune moment. Either due to a conflicting affinity, or because the magik that mage possess far outstrips what the wand was ever meant to channel. As such, shop-bought wands are strictly prohibited at Bealnora.
Athame Sabers
These special blades are typically forged by artificers specializing in magikal weaponry. They are designed to have a vertical channel down the grip to the fuller of the athame for the wand.
Snuff
A “Snuff” is an alchemic inscription that’s usually etched or tattooed onto the back of the mage’s main wand hand to dampen their magik. This is done when a mage is born with/or acquires too much magik for the body they were born into.
Chtypáo
Pronounced steep-pow. Greek for to strike a blow.
Chtypáo is a magikal sport that can best be described as arial lacrosse with winged boots or a simulated castle siege. It has been played since magical antiquity in Greece.
The aim of chtypáo is for the opposing teams of knights (players) to lead a castle siege against the opposition while protecting their own castle (goal) from attack from a fireball (ball). Whichever team of knights scores the most strikes (goals) in the allotted 1 hour, wins.
Chtypáo is played for 1 hour in battles (periods) of 15 mins each with a 5 min break between battles.
Positions
Chtypáo has 10 players on each team. And they’re allowed to keep a stable of reserve players to fill each of these positions:
3 Vanguards
3 Knights
3 Tower Guards (Towers)
1 Castle Keeper (Keeper)
* The center Vanguard position is also called the “Harbinger.”
Chtypáo Pitch
A classic chtypáo pitch (field) spans 110×60 yards (101×55 m) of well-maintained grass. The boundaries of the pitch are marked with flag poles, as are the various players’ domains. Two castles (goals) measuring 8x8x4 feet stand on opposite ends of the pitch where they’re guarded by a Castle Keeper and 3 Tower Guards. The castles have also been placed 40 feet in the air.
Equipment
A Chtypáo stick, Chtypáo helm, Winged Boots of the Hippogryph, padded bracers, team tunic (or tunic dress for female players), leggings.
Chtypáo Stick
The Chtypáo stick consists of 2 parts, the net and the shaft. The shaft is crafted from a hard, dense wood that won’t easily shatter on impact. The net is a downward-pointing triangle with a curved edge, and woven from thick cords.
The sticks of Vanguards and Knights are 40 inches/100 CM including the net. Tower Guards and Castle Keepers can have sticks up to 72 inches/180CM including the net.
Chtypáo Helm
Though they resemble a helm from a knight’s suit of armor, they are crafted from boiled leather and padded on the inside with soft fabrics, wool, or even exotic things like alpaca. They also traditionally have a wing motif right above the ears.
Winged Boots of the Hippogryph
Enchanted with hippogryph feathers, these boots allow the wearer to fly up to 1 hour a day. The wearer needs only to lace themselves into the shoes and speak the words of the spell. However, putting on the footwear does not automatically grant one skill at flight.
Chtypáo Ball
This palm-sized red-leather ball has shimmering silk chiffon ribbons in orange and golden yellow to represent a mage’s fireball spell.
The Bealnora Hippogryphs
Beali the hippogryph is the mascot of Bealnora and thus their chtypáo team. The front half of Beali is a copper-colored hawk and his hind half is a black stallion.
Current Team Roster
Kolby Fenwick — Captain – Harbinger Vanguard
Felix Bristow — Vice Captain
Creatures
Hippogryph
Hippogryphs are legendary creatures with the front half of a hawk and the hind half of a horse. They are considered a symbol of forbidden or star-crossed love because a hippogryph’s parents—a mare and a gryphon—are natural enemies. They are also considered the fastest of steeds and highly sought after.
Dragons
Maiden-stalker drake
A species of elder drake prized as a magikal component. Its horns are often crafted into exceptional quality wands. They are black with a viridian-green sheen to their scales and horns.