This is primarily just an outline. There are simply too many possibilities in Ell'jaret to cover in a single piece of paper.
In order to be a mage requires a certain amount of dedication and smarts. It is at once a subtle art, a difficult discipline and an esoteric study. Those who decide to settle down and train an apprentice usually look for a child with an unusual amount of perception, cunning, willpower and intuition. When they do take on an apprentice, the learning process takes about 15-20 years - much of that because trust must be established before secrets are taught!
Over the course of an apprenticeship, the mage to be spends an average of 2 hours per day training - the rest is taken up with chores, attending the master and sleep. About 20,000 hours (20 years, assuming about 1 day off out of every five) are necessary for most students to reach a competency of 12-14.
During the early part of the apprenticeship, there is barely any time in day to day life to study. As the apprentice gets older and gains the basics of understanding magic, the chores go by more quickly and the master begins to train more thoroughly, and give more time off to study and read. Near the last few years, when the apprentice has absorbed as much theory as the master can provide without actually practicing magic, the master begins to help the apprentice develop Power (one reason this step is saved for last is trust issues, of course).
This averages out to about 2 hours per day of solid study and professional training, plus 4 hours per day of housekeeping and cooking, and a few more hours per day of necessities (eating, etc.).
A mage may channel up to their Base Power each second for no serious exertion. Each multiple of BP thereafter costs 1% Energy (round up). Thus a mage with a BP 2 who expends 12 Power on a spell would lose 4% Energy. The mage also loses 1 SC per 5% Energy loss (round down).
Constantly channelling also takes its toll, in a manner similar to combat, at a rate of about 1% per 10 seconds.
All mages learn how to do this, although they may not learn all of the elements of the skill.
Sense Spell (-5, x1): Mages can sense spells like a farmer can sense a shift in the weather. The range at which a spell can be spotted is equal to the square root of the Power expended in a single second, measured in tens of meters (thus, a 1 Power spell can be sensed up to 10 meters away). The mage can make a Skill roll to determine anything more specific than "a spell was cast". Each point of success on the roll gives a piece of information: how much energy was in the spell, how far away it was cast (rough estimate only), what direction it was cast, and what kind of spell it was (1 point of success gives the Sphere, 2 points gives the rough purpose, 3 points gives a brief description). A dying mage is treated as a "spell" equal to twice the mage's Base Power strength.
Counter Spell (-5, x1): The mage must be able to sense the spell to counter it. To counter a spell, the mage must expend Power equal to that in the spell and make a Metamagic Skill roll vs the spell's caster's skill in the spell's Sphere. On a successful roll, the spell is countered. Breaking enchantments is handled in the same way, but enchantments resist being countered with Metamagic.
Enchantment (-5, x2): This creates a permanent spell which must be cast into something (whether that is a person, place or thing). To create the enchantment costs the mage part of his Channelling strength (permanently) equal to the Power of the spell. By default, the enchantment can cast the spell once per hour; more Channelling strength can be used to increase this rate, or LESS can be used to decrease the rate; to make an always-on spell, simply create a spell with a 1 hour duration. Enchantments resist Counter Spelling with the Metamagic Skill of the mage who created the enchantment. When a mage creates an enchantment, a Metamagic Skill roll is required; on a failure, the Channelling strength is lost but there is no enchantment.
Sense Mage (-5, x1): The easiest way to detect a mage is to catch them casting a spell (see Sense Spell). However, a mage can attempt to discern whether a particular person is a mage or not. This is at +2 if touching the person, +1 if within 1 meter, plus an additional -1 per doubling of that distance. Two points of success lets the mage know whether the target is an Apprentice, Journeyman, Master, Adept or Lord; five points of success lets the mage know exactly how strong the target's Channel is.
Conceal Aura (-5, x1): A mage can conceal the fact that they are a mage. This directly resists the Sense Mage ability.
Tap Power (-5, x2): When a mage dies, any mage who can sense it can attempt to cannibalize some of the dying mage's Power to increase their own. The maximum amount that can be gained at touch range is equal to the dying mage's Channel strength; at 1 meter, quarter this; each doubling of distance thereafter quarters the amount again. A Skill roll is necessary; for each point of success, take 20% of the maximum amount possible (rolling Skill exactly results in 10%). A mage may not more than double his Channel strength in a single day (thus, if you can Channel 100 Power, you can not gain more than 100 Power that day). Some societies forbid this, as there are indications that it is similar to taking pieces of the dying mage's soul, but it is too easy a route to power for most mages to resist.
Create Tower (-5, x2): A Tower is a very special kind of meta-enchantment. It requires a minimum sacrifice of 10 Power of Channelling strength. However much is sacrificed is the Channel strength of the Tower. The mage can then use the Tower's Channel strength in addition to his own without fatigue. A Tower may only be used if the mage is within a distance equal to the square root of the Tower's Channel strength in miles (so a 100 Power Tower can be used within 10 miles). Most Masters mages will make a Tower at the minimum when they reach 110 Base Power.
The gods smile on some, and this is a way of measuring one's Favor with the gods.
Favor is handled individually for each deity. For any deity that you have direct dealings with, mark your Status (Enemy, Follower, Favored).
Enemy: Having a deity for an enemy is not as bad as it may sound. Deities are very limited in what they can do without agents (that is, mortals). In general, this functions as a -1 Untalent in the deity's Sphere (so if a goddess of romance had developed enmity with you, you would get a penalty of -1 to seduce others). In addition, those who are Favored or Priests of that deity will know you for an enemy if they meet you in person, and may act against you.
Follower: Being a follower of a deity simply means that you spend a reasonable amount of time worshipping the deity. Most deities require an hour per week (or 10 minutes per day) for them to consider you a Follower; others may require more or less. Being a Follower really only adds to the deity's power, but those who are Favored or Priests of that deity will know you for a follower if they meet you in person, and will generally be more helpful.
Favored: The deity favors you. Primarily, this functions as a +1 Talent in the deity's Sphere (so if a goddess of romance Favored you, you would get a +1 to seduce others). Becoming Favored generally requires great deeds in that deity's name, particularly those that net the deity more Followers, and Favored status can be gradually lost ("what have you done for me lately?"). In addition, those who are Favored or Priests of that deity will know you for Favored if they meet you in person, and will often offer assistance on your deeds. The Favored of a deity may learn the Skill "Priest of [deity] (-5, x8)". Even if he does not learn it, he can use it at default.
Any time a Favored performs great deeds for the deity (from recruiting and founding new temples to defeating ancient evils), he gets a Deed. Each dead has a Deed Bonus associated with it (typically from +1 to +3). This is used to measure the Favored's status.
Each year, the Favored loses +1 worth of Deeds. Thus, a +3 Deed will be good for three years of Favored status.
A Favored can also gather Conflicts, the opposite of Deeds. These are things the Favored did which the deity is angry about; these give a Conflict Penalty (typically from -1 to -3). If these total more than the Deeds do, the Favored loses his status until he has regained a higher Deed Bonus total.
When a priest is praying, he can bring up Deeds as bargaining chips to get a bonus to the prayer roll (see the Priest of [deity] Skill below). Each Deed can only be used once and gives its full bonus at that time. At the same time, a deity may bring up Conflicts in the same way, canceling the Deeds. Each Conflict is used once and gives its full penalty at that time.
Priest of [deity] (-5, x8)
This represents divine guidance and other sacred things. For most things, the priest Channels a small amount of energy to the deity as a prayer for guidance, miracles, signs, etc.
Goal: The goal of the prayer modifies the difficulty. An act that the deity desires to happen and was just waiting for the right priest to ask gives a +4; an act that the deity agrees is necessary is +2; an act that the deity agrees is "good" is +1; an act that the deity is neutral about is +0; an act that the deity thinks is questionable is -1; an act that the deity thinks is unnecessary and questionable is -2; an act that the deity disagrees with is -4; acts that the deity thinks are abhorrent are -8 or impossible. Note that even when the deity disagrees with the act, there is diplomatic give and take between god and priest, and a priest may, in his prayer, persuade the deity to let him get away with something.
Sphere: An effect in a deity's primary Sphere gets a +1; related Spheres get a +0; unrelated Spheres get a -1; "opposing" Sphere get a -2.
Power: An effect costing 5 kJ or less has no modifier; for each doubling of Power (round up) there is an additional -1. So pulling off a spell that is the equivalent of a Master mage's "biggest fireball" (400 kJ) would be at a -7 penalty. This is where Deeds come in most handy.
Something to remember with deities is that they are very powerful, but not all powerful. They are essentially powerful entities. A deity has certain essential traits.
The Worship Relationship: A Follower who worships the deity for one hour Channels 360 kJ to the deity in the process. Because Deities are beings of the astral, they are unable to Channel themselves - this is the only way they can accumulate energy. Furthermore, simply worshipping (and thus Channeling) can create a deity from the astral stuff. Deities require and thrive on worship, so Followers are very important to them. In return, deities choose particular exceptional mortals as their representatives. Through their link with these Favored, they can affect the physical world (that is, create miracles). This costs them energy, so they usually only do it when asked by the Favored.
Knowledge: A deity knows a few things by default. When the Followers are worshipping, the deity hears their prayers... so if a Follower is praying for the drought to end, the deity knows there is a drought. Deities also know anything that their Favored sees or otherwise senses (but can not necessarily read the Favored's mind). Deities can sense, in a general way, what happens in temples consecrated to them. Also, deities have a manifest presence in the astral, and can see anything happening near them in the astral, although this will usually not matter to the PCs. Some deities have knowledge Spheres - this allows them to create spell effects for their Favored related to the appropriate knowledge, but does not give them that knowledge directly.
Energy: A deity expends 10 MJ (10,000 kJ) per year just existing. A single Follower, praying twice a month, provides sufficient energy for the deity to continue existing with an extra 5 MJ left over. However, deities interact with each other as well, and often expend considerably more energy in the course of a year just socializing, fighting, etc. This expenditure goes up roughly with status, and status goes up with the number of worshippers. You can generally assume that the deity will expend about 15 MJ per Follower per year in socializing. With standard worship requirements (1 hour per week), this leaves about 15 MJ per Follower which the deity hoards and occasionally uses for miracles. If you assume there is 1 Favored per 20 Followers and the Favored asks for about 100 kJ worth of miracles every day, the Favored would use 60 MJ per year (of 500 MJ available). This is fairly close to the deity's ideal situation.
Motivations: From the above, the deity's basic motivations should be obvious... get enough to eat, socialize with friends, keep the boss happy. Deities often have additional motivations related to their Spheres and the worship that created them, such as improving the human condition (or worsening it), protecting the forests (or destroying them), promoting strong government (or tearing it down) and so on.
Miracles
A deity has a primary Sphere which functions as a sort of Base Competency for the deity. This is treated as a sort of bizarre Skill, for which Followers count as hours. The broader the Sphere, the higher the difficulty multiplier (so Trees might have a -5, x1 while Nature would have a -5, x16). A deity with Life Sphere (-5, x8) who has 800 Followers would have a competency 9.
When a deity wishes to perform a miracle, she simply does so. This is as natural as breathing to the deity, and does not require skill. And the difficulty in performing miracles outside the Sphere is handled in the penalties to the priest's prayer roll.
When two deities are attempting to perform opposite miracles, however, they must both roll their Sphere Skills to oppose each other. Both expend the energy for their miracles, but only the winner's miracle happens.
Example Spheres:
Very Focused (-5, x1) Trees, Kinesthetic Skill, Swordplay, Fire, Illusions
Focused (-5, x2) Forest Life, Athletic Skills, Rotaak's Battle Code, Energy, Flash
Moderate (-5, x4) Plants, Skills, Battle & War, The Four Elements
Broad (-5, x8) Life, Excellence, Violence
Very Broad (-5, x16) Nature, Civilization
Sylv is a forest deity worshipped across a large swath of the continent (mostly from the entire region near Nephyr down along the forest sweep on the border of the Taj Empire). Sylv is usually represented as a lovely female with bark for skin, moss for hair and eyes like green waterfalls.
Her Sphere is Nature, which includes wild plants and animals, weather (but only that appropriate by climate) and wild urges. Fertility and healing are related areas for her; civilization and hermetic elemental magic are opposed areas for her.
She is mostly worshipped by those who live at the edges and within the forests, although she has occasional followers in the cities and civilized regions who try to bring part of the forest into the homes of man. Elves in particular are fond of her (and she is believed to have originated with them). She has perhaps 2.5 million followers.
Sylv is well respected among the deities, and there are few deities who can match her follower base.
Joli is a small but respectable god worshipped mostly by entertainers in the Western Kingdoms. He tends to Favor any follower who entertains other people, so he tends to Favor all of his worshippers. This unusual generosity is in part due to the small size of his worshipper base, but also seems to be part of his nature. Joli is usually represented as a blue, laughing mask (entertainers who worship him often decorate their stages with this icon).
His Sphere is Flash, which includes illusions, pyrotechnics and distracting bits of glitter. While this may not seem like much, it covers invisibility and fireballs as well as card tricks. Related areas are impressive telekinetic tricks, surface mind reading, and fortune telling; opposed areas are anything that is not flashy.
Joli has perhaps 1,000 worshippers.
Rotaak is a god of honorable warfare and battle. He is mostly worshipped by the Tuatha d'Rotaak ("sons of Rotaak"), and indeed usually won't Favor anyone who is not a part of that warrior cult. He is generally represented as a massive, arrogant bear of a man wearing blue armor and wielding an axe.
His Sphere is Battle Code, which includes repairing armor and weapons (and making them unbreakable), preventing system trauma and shock (but not healing wounds), bringing weapons to hand instantly, and enchanting weapons to destroy unnatural things (such as undead and otherworlders). Related areas are healing and removing barriers to battle; opposed areas are anything dishonorable, and magic. Rotaak doesn't much care for mages.
Rotaak's number of worshippers varies, usually rising in the spring and then dropping off rapidly when his followers get embroiled in wars. They average about 500 to 1,000.
Tellur is a goddess of thieves, dancers and even some warriors, and she is mostly worshipped by those groups in Nephyr. She is generally represented as an attractive woman of the culture doing the representation, dressed appropriately as a thief, dancer or similar group for the person buying the icon.
Her Sphere is Kinesthetic Skill, which includes just that. Her miracles are usually "zen moments" of skill, with virtually guaranteed success, but she has few priests that ask for miracles except in dire straits... most of her Favored are pretty happy just with the Talent!
Tellur has perhaps 2,000 worshippers.