Mage

Mages are one of the three main races within Heaven's Fence. As they are created from human stock, they are terrestrial beings (live on land) and usually move with erect, bipedal posture; high, manual dexterity with notable opposable thumbs that allow them to use various tools; and use complex, open-ended language (mainly verbal, but also includes a variety of non-verbal communication as well). Additionally, they have special abilities and power that may exhibit when they are still mostly human, denoting their true nature. They are able to inhabit areas throughout all 78 planets in the colony, but they are very low in numbers.

History
Mages seem to have been apart of the colony since its formation, which no one has yet to recount. Due to their abilities, they are given governing roles in the grand scheme of The Fence; one for each Sector. Additional mages exist, but they are few, perhaps lacking the necessary power to undergo what mages call "the process," "the procedure," or refer to it as "elevation."

The Mage War
(Also known as "The Great Debate.") The first, and perhaps only major event concerning mages, the Mage War comprised of several major events. The first was that the mage governing Sector 6, Sundihar Jepp, died of old age. The mage that replaced him was Wilhelm Ryan. By vote, 10 of the 11 voting mages agreed to Ryan's appointment with only the Sector 4 Governor Covent Marth dissenting. The pair met after Ryan's procedure upon appointment and Marth apparently warned Ryan that he was keeping on eye on him, believing that Ryan had some ill intent regarding the whole of Heaven's Fence. For several years, these fears seemed wholly unfounded. During this time, however, Ryan began amassing an army, later officially named the United Red Army.

The Gurash Example
Sure enough, he captured the governing mage of his own Sector's neighboring Sector 10. Calling a meeting with the other Governors, Ryan sparked the Mage War by executing the mage, Rolander Gurash, in front of them. Basically Ryan told them to join him or face the same fate as Gurash. Only one mage willingly joined him: Althaddeus Favor of Sector 1. Favor also held a stronghold of renown called House Atlantic, which Ryan subsequently made his own base of operations.

The War of the Western Third
Ryan, with control over Sectors 1, 6, & 10, assassinated the Governor of Sector 12, Litan Boss, with the Governors of Sectors 2 & 3 (Hanthon Jo Seph & Malvas Limbi respectively) surrendering to him shortly after. He commanded his Red Army to capture Bran Wilsinger of Sector 5 which they did successfully. Ryan repeated this strategy on Xi Tolendar of Sector 7, which upon success meant that he controlled 8 of 12 Sectors, thus two thirds. This also meant that Sectors 8, 9, & 11 teamed up with Sector 4 who opposed Ryan from the beginning to put up a last stand. As this remaining third resided in the western part of Heaven's Fence, this part of the war was known as the War of the Western Third.

During this part of the war, Ryan was wounded by their effort. He recovered, but it left his body scarred gruesomely. Ultimately, Ryan was able to capture Chu Valentar and Beirut Akara of Sectors 8 & 11, while Grave Minetoter of Sector 9 vanish. Many rumors spread regarding Minetoter; had he committed suicide? Did he escape the Fence altogether? (The latter turned out to be true.) This is also when Favor of Sector 1 was no longer seen from again. This left only Marth standing in Ryan's way. Mostly having helped from the shadows, Marth kept eluding Ryan and finding covert ways to attack his forces. Finally, Marth cornered Ryan to his citadel on Sinosure, the base of the Governing mages, and blew the structure up.

However, things did not go according to plan; Ryan's remains were not found in the rubble of the citadel as was expected. Marth retired to his own citadel to regroup his thoughts, but somehow was confronted by Ryan and completely burned out of existence with not even a molecule remaining. Ryan had won the sole rule of Heaven's Fence and declared himself Supreme Tri-Mage—a title previously held by a mage thought to be a myth, but whose actions Ryan was demonstrating (such as teleportation).

Ryan's Rule
"" Ryan has ruled over the Fence for the last 30 years or so. His rule has been viewed as mostly positive. A rebellion force that sees him as a dictator with ulterior motives has always sought to dispose of him, but has largely been unsuccessful. Though the rebellion force was primarily made up of humans, other species (including the Prise) have been seen among their ranks. For a time, their leader was even an unchanged mage (that is, a mage that did not undergo the procedure). But ultimately, Ryan has been able to defeat all foes that stand before him. He does seem a bit concerned about the prophesy in the Ghansgraad which seems to indicate that Ryan's rule will be thwarted by the messiah-like figure, The Crowing.

Habitat
Mages are so few, but since they share similarities with humans, they too are able to make their homes in any planet within the colony. In addition to their unique powers, they are very adept at using any and all tools and technology available to them to survive various environments. They are also omnivores which helps them to find sustenance in any area. Though their intelligence, strength, and skill-levels vary, their long lives afford them the time to learn from their mistakes and better their weaknesses.

Biology
"" Mages before their procedure, are very similar to humans in their biology; generally symmetrical bodies that include: a head; with hair, two eyes & eyebrows, a nose, a mouth, and two ears; a torso; with a neck the head sits on, a chest that features two breasts with one nipple each, two arms that bend at the elbow, and wrists that have hands with five fingers each, a bellybutton on the stomach, a curved spine along the back that ends at the buttocks, and genitalia; two legs that bend at the knee and ankles that have feet with five toes each. Depending on the sex of the mage, some features may be different. They bleed red blood.

Upon being elevated, mages are nearly identical; their skin changes to a blue-ish hue; most lose their hair, but it's usually white if they keep it; their eyes lose all hue as well, appearing white; and two ridged horns appear behind each shoulder. Their facial and bodily structure also becomes more uniformed making them all look very similar—nearly identical.

Appearance
"" Again, unchanged mages share a variety of appearances. Upon elevation, mages also express themselves in a variety of appearance modifications, including dying their hair, tattooing or painting their skin, and of course, through clothes or armor.

Life Cycle
There is a common saying that mages are made; mostly due to their scarcity and the process of undergoing the procedure to not just change their appearance, but also hone their powers. Nearly all unchanged mages do not have nearly enough power leading many people throughout the Fence to say those mages aren't real mages—only those 12 governing mages that undergo the procedure are true mages. That having been said, mages live very long lives, but it is unknown if this is only after the procedure since most people with minor power just claim to be human. There was only one truly powerful unchanged mage, Mariah Antillarea, but she was killed before she ever reached an age that would be considered outside the norm for a human. We are not sure exactly what a mage's limit for life may be, but we assume the answer is probably well into the 100s, possibly 1000s.

Psychology
"" Ultimately, mages seem to have similar psychological makeup to humans. We know that they don't require as much sleep as a regular human, and that they seem to have better control over their emotions. They also seem to be asexual as they don't necessarily need to reproduce for their race to continue on. What is particularly interesting is how their power generates and why, but this has never and most likely will never be studied.

Culture
Mages who have been elevated are a small-knit group (since they are usually only twelve at a time). Each mage is assigned to a specific Sector that they presumably reside in, but they have a headquarters at the heart of the Fence called Sinosure, in which each mage has a citadel that they may reside in while they are all gathered. There seems to be general consensus among them, with them usually ruling their personal Sector in a uniformed fashion as the others. They don't seem to have any issues being by themselves.

Society
In the society of the Fence, mages are both accessible and above humanity. Their role as rulers was understood and accepted without question; they were stronger and lived longer so they must also be wiser than humans. However, Ryan's forceful and violent actions to take total rule made more people than usual question whether or not he was the right person to rule them. Still, these people were few and far between.

That having been said, mages usually keep a small entourage of staff, including a so-called right-hand man that helps with their day-to-day needs, and may even run errands or do tasks that the mage wouldn't entrust to anyone else. For Ryan, his right-hand man was elevated to General in his United Red Army.

Sinosure
Described as being "the world that was dead center" of Heaven's Fence, Sinosure acts as a headquarters to the elevated mages. It features "The Hub" at its heart—a vast courtyard featuring a twelve pointed star in the middle which spanned 20 feet and walkways stretching out from its center leading to each governing mage's sanctum. Each walkway was made up of mosaic to represent each mage's power and prestige and honor their life's service.

Notable Mages
The most notable mage is undoubtedly Wilhelm Ryan with the second most notable probably being Mariah Antillarea. Other mages of note are as follows.

Supreme Tri-Mage
A once mythical figure who, 1000s of years ago tried to conquer the Fence. It is said he was defeated by The Prise. The Supreme Tri-Mage had special powers that no other mage possessed, including teleportation.

Covent Marth
The governing mage of Sector 4 who stood against Ryan from the beginning. He possessed the power of prophecy, but is cursed to be doubted by all who hear it. Marth distinguishes himself from his fellow mages by painting the varicose veins in face with ebony paint. He is the last mage to succumb to Ryan's will in his pursuit for solo control over the Fence. His right-hand man was Vielar Crom; he had bestowed him with long life so he could continue to serve him as he aged.

Althaddeus Favor
The governing mage of Sector 1 who joined with Ryan from the beginning. He built and owned the stronghold known as House Atlantic before he disappeared and Ryan took the stronghold over for himself and his army. Favor was never found and it was believed that Ryan either killed him or transformed him into an Onstantine Priest, the latter of which is the most likely.

Grave Minetoter
The governing mage of Sector 9 who vanished from fighting against Ryan in the Mage War. Minetoter was later discovered to have, in fact, successfully fled The Fence, taking with him other unchanged mages. He was able to conduct the elevation procedure himself and successfully elevated many of them. It is thought he was attempting to create a mage army to defeat Ryan, but upon discovery, all but one mage was killed and Minetoter was captured. The unknown mage became Ryan's new body after his first official death.

Onstantine Priest
An Onstantine Priest was a creation of Ryan's. Upon capture of the capture of governing mages Hanthon Jo Seph and Malvas Limbi (of Sectors 2 and 3), Ryan began experimenting on them. One theory claims that Ryan used energy from the Keywork to infuse the mages' bodies and transformed them. However he did it, Jo Seph, Limbi, Wilsinger, Tolendar, Valentar, Minetoter, Akara, and Favor were all transformed into mostly mindless creatures that were loyal solely to Ryan and acted on his every word. Their appearance varies greatly; some became brawny, some became lithe, some kept their blue mage skin, some became other colors such as purple or green, some kept their shoulder horns while some shoulder horns were transformed in various ways of their own. They all have monstrous features such as claws and fangs, and some have gross features like tentacle-like tendrils, worm-like features, or additional appendages.