[Jack Simth]

Jack "The one mad emporer would explain the bad reputation for weather magic, wouldn't it?"

Jack "Secretive mages though, that's just strange. It doesn't serve a good purpose. Even for the crazies that lust after power for its own sake, it ultimately doesn't do any good. Sharing spells, techniques, and information between a larger community allows for more rapid magical development as the same ground doesn't need to be covered over and over. Secretive mages are left in the dust, unable to compete. To encourage sharing, the Council created the Spell Journals. There is one basic criteria for recieving the Spell Journals: a mage has to contribute articles to them every now and then. This also allows acess to the backlogs, for a mage and any associated apprentices or journymen. As the Journals have been in place for several millenia, all of the most effective spells and techniques are in them, and they are often found nowhere else. Villans have very little hope of getting anywhere with their villany. Not only are they outnumbered, but they are outgunned as well."

Jack "For that matter, mages needs to be honest about their abilities in order to compete well in the market. Mages that exaggerate their abilities quickly develop reputations for not being able to live up to their promises; mages who hide abilities lose contracts to those that don't. A secretive mage is just foreign to me."