>I get the impression, but could be
>wrong, that in your view most orders are rather large organisations. I think
>I have a personal preference for smaller/obscurer orders as befits (IMO)
>sorcerers on the edge of the established church. Do you have any suggestions
>as to the 'normal' size of a sorcerous order?
Assuming that there's one sorcerer/wizard per 100 people, we get about 200 wizards in the whole of the black horse country (20,000 souls). Since that supports two orders (each of only one school apiece), one sorcerous school per 100 wizards or per 100,000 souls seems fine to me. This is a mean; some schools will be miniscule - perhaps ten or twenty wizards - while others might have more than two hundred.
An Order would normally have from two to five schools or chapters (the Black Horse Orders only have one school each while Sog City University, the centre of Malkioni Academia has at least eight). Each of these would teach a grimoire in addition to the standard texts. One could move from one school to another within the order but there would be all sorts of requirements. The only thing that can be said is that it _is_ easier to do than to be a complete outsider attempting to get access to a school's grimoires.
><< Order of the New Iron Staff: [...] >>
>Was there an Order of the Old Iron Staff, or the Any Old Iron Order?
The original Iron Staff that I know about, the Iron Energy Prison, was a Mostali artefact which the Vadeli wielded in their battles against the Spirit world.
><< The New Order: [...] >>
>Previously the Order of Joy?
Surely you meant the Division of Joy? But no, I don't think so.
>Love Will Tear Us Apart was their biggest hit.
><< Reformed Sorcerers Alliance: a loose band of wizards. Probably
> include secret New Orders and Monks of Blood. Later became
> formalized into:>>
>I would have thought this was a more political alliance rather than an Order
>or School; an alliance between assorted Sorcerors who don;t exactly agree
>except on a few points. I guess the line between politics and theology can
>get a bit thin sometimes.
>
> <<God Learners Collective: Begins the explorations of Magic.>>
>
>Again, 'collective' suggests to me an amalgam of different parts, collected
>together for some joint purpose.
>
><< Astelkal Horse: Seshnegi order that warred against the Dark>>
>I had believe the Astelkal Horse to be a magical technique, rather than an
>order.
The Arkat cult description implies otherwise.
In the Spirit Plane [Oh Shit!] is the Astelkel Horse. It
became the vehicle for creatures which called themselves
the Outer Atomic Explorers. With the Astelkel Horse they
were able to destroy the known paths to Statham Well.
Troll Gods p23.
--Peter Metcalfe
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