[Shovah32]

Just two notes:
Ministers of Magic are WAD as far as I can tell, just like certain other units with randoms who can be recruited without a lab.

And I personally really like Geomancers. Yes, they can forge communion items nicely. But they are also cheap, fortune teller researching mages who are more reliable than Ministers of magic, and slightly cheaper(but 2 more upkeep, due to being non-sacred) - and in my opinion better mages - than masters of the way. They are great communion slaves, being the cheapest guarenteed S1 that Tien Chi gets. They also make great communion masters - getting access to high level astral magic and high level earth magic for spells like Gifts from Heaven, Will of the fates, army of gold/lead, weapons of sharpness ect. Their summon earthpower also boosts their slaves reinvigoration.