College of the Amber Order
The College of Magic which studies Ghur, the Lore of Beasts, is the Amber Order of Wizards. Amber Wizards are rarely seen in the towns and cities of the Empire, preferring to live a solitary life in the wilderness where they are better able to develop their affinity with wild beasts. Ghur magic allows them to commune with the spirits of animals, call the beasts of the wild to their side, and enhance their abilities by summoning the speed, strength and senses of animals. It even allows the wizard to shape shift into the forms of these animals to fight or travel. Amber Wizards are said to have mastered the feral heart that lies under the civilized mask that hides the animal heart in every human. They have an unsentimental vision of the world where only the fittest can survive and where the life-force of the weak feeds the hunger of the strong. Accordingly, they are excellent hunters and trackers, and they tend to dress themselves in rough furs and skins decorated with horns, teeth and claws. Their symbol is the hunting arrow, the means of survival in a world where everybody is hunter and hunted at the same time.
Of all the Orders of Wizardry, the Amber College is the only one without buildings in Altdorf. Its masters inhabit the caves high in the Amber Hills beyond the city, which take their name from the order. These refuges are not easily found and visitors are not welcomed. Other lairs are said to exist throughout the Empire in the depths of forests and high on mountaintops, but monstrous bears or other powerful wild beasts guard these solitary caves and it is a brave individual who dares disturb an Amber Wizard.
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