The Mage Guild currently specialises in six schools of magic: Abjuration, Conjuration, Enchantment, Illusion, Divination, and Natural Magic (herbs, minerals and gemstones, incenses, brews). Positions as heads for other schools of magic are open to anyone with enough skill and experience, and obviously enough knowledge of the school of magic in question. The same applies if any of the present positions become open, though it is more likely that the job will go to the next person down from the previous head, especially their second, if they had one.

Joining the guild:

The cost for one year's membership is 6 gold pieces.
To sign up, you must go to the guild building in Myrddin Keep.
Both wizards and sorcerers may join.
Though the mage guild specialises in only six schools of magic, mages from any school may join.

Conditions:

You must be over the age of sixteen to join the guild.
As a guild member, you will have privelages and access to guild resources and facilities. Abuse of this will result in punishment, the severity of which will depend on the act.
Abuse of magical power will have serious consequences, as will the harming of another guild member . . .
If membership fees are not payed, in full, for the following year, it will presumed that you no longer want to be a member of the guild.
Membership fees will not be refunded if membership is cancelled.

((OOC: The following is a reference (originally posted in the Storyline folder and reproduced here) for Mage Guilds in general. This does not necessarily apply to the Guild in Myrddin, as that is left to the writers (and Lenerian in particular).))

The Mages Guild is a guild for both wizards and sorcerers. The main difference between the two disciplines is distinguished by the fact that wizards gain power through study while sorcerers are born with the ability to manipulate power. Over time, wizards can accumlate the ability to wield a great deal of power, and the most powerful wizards are generally aged. A sorcerer's power is finite -- although they can refine their technique to make the most use out of it as they can -- and their power is more readily available to them. Powerful sorcerors do not necessarily have to be old, but they do have to be serious about their craft and spend time in study and practice. Only very powerful sorcerors need spell components (for enhancing and focusing their power control), but generally they can do without them. All wizards use spell components.

Mages often use the Power Bands that criss-cross Myrddin to tap into for their power needs. (These bands are similar to the earth's magnetic field.) People who are sensitive to such emanations know where they are located, and the building of Myrddin's Mages Guild is built on the spot of a Power Center where several of these bands converge. Mages consider the country of Myrddin to have an average flow of magical power. Elven countries and certain other kingdoms have a higher flow while others have less.

One more thing: there is such a thing as a wizard with certain innate abilities that are usually found in sorcerors. These folks were actually born sorcerors but dedicated their life to the wizard's path. As such, they have the best of both magical worlds and are usually very powerful mages by the time they're middle-aged. They are also very rare because most sorcerers, while born with their ability, are not necessarily born with the intelligence to master wizardry skills.

These are the different specialties that mages can concentrate their studies on...

ABJURATION (protection and defensive magics)
ALTERATION (changing the state or location of an object/being)
CONJURATION/SUMMONING (creating matter/calling beings)
ENCHANTMENT/CHARM
DIVINATION (fortune telling and prophecy)
ILLUSION/PHANTASM
INVOCATION/EVOCATION (energy manipulation using matter/ supernatural beings)
NECROMANCY (energy drawn from the dead)

BATTLE MAGIC -- this school is for the most adept of wizards and sorcerors who concentrate their knowledge on spells that are useful in battle situations. This covers information from every other school, as skills from each of the other disciplines are often needed in a fight. Battle mages are highly sought after by armies and mercenary companies, and powerful ones are very rare and usually more than middle-aged.

All of these disciplines have Greater and Lesser Schools and/or disciplines.

In addition, there is a Supplemental Magic School run by the Guild that teaches cantrips and small tricks to students who are not necessarily interested in becoming a full-time mage. This school is not easy to get into, but most court jesters (and thieves) attempt to do so.