What do I do with Initiates?

[Bananadine]

On a similar note: Recently my capital was stormed and I gave a single death gem to each D1 mage present and told each of those mages to cast Raise Skeletons once. That added about 35 units to the field, and I can imagine 35 units making a big difference on occasion. You wouldn't want to burn several gems that way in a normal battle, but when your capital and your research force are at stake, it's a wise thing to do.