I remember chatting to old Varsung Baldwig. Given he was, in some way, a mage; I asked why there were so few mages. He was puffing away at that old pipe of his at the time, mainly because it gave him time to gather his thoughts.

“Well Tallis my boy it’s like this. You raise an interesting philosophical point. Anybody planning to go into usury no doubt sees the risks, but for a young apprentice clerk what are the chances of ending as a man of wealth and station, and what happens if you don’t? Does one individual in a hundred make the grade? One in a thousand? But those who fail to achieve wealth will still live decent enough lives, achieve modest prosperity and die in old age surrounded by their grieving families.”

“For mages, I remember talking to an old friend of mine who studied at the Magistrorum…