Archmage

An Archmage is a Magus capable of wielding High Magic. They are very rare - less than one in a thousand magi will ever achieve such heights - and extremely powerful. Every culture in Irion (aside from those who dwell exclusively within the Mer where magic is difficult to wield at all) has legends of Archmagi from ages past and their heroic (and occasionally villainous) exploits.

Qualifications

A magus who wishes to become an Archmage has but one path forward: attempting to cast High Magic. Such an attempt is very risky, especially the first time, for such spells are complex rituals involving incredible amounts of magical energy - so much energy that those in regions sheltered from magical storms, such as the Sleeping Lands or the Mer, must leave these protected areas. Indeed, the amount of energy being used is so great that it is not uncommon for such a ritual to cause a localized magical storm. And even then, if the individual casting the spell can survive this, they face the risk of burning out, damaging their ability to handle magic so badly they might never cast a spell again. While experienced Archmagi can usually recognize a ritual that has started to fail and disperse the energy before they are burned, a magus attempting such a ritual their first time may well be so overwhelmed by the amount of energy they're handling that they fail to sense it before it is too late.
Only a magus who has faced these dangers and successfully completed the ritual has the right to claim the title of Archmage. They must handle the ritual alone - several powerful magi can work together to achieve similar results, significantly reducing the risk of Burnout, but this does not make them Archmagi. However, this only applies to the working of the ritual itself - preparation for the ritual: the research, the gathering of materials, and so on, may be assisted, and very few Archmagi have ever conducted a ritual of High Magic without a cadre of protectors to fight off threats presented by the magic storms that are likely to disrupt the ritual.
The ritual to create an Archmage's Stone is by far the most popular rituals of High Magic for this first ritual, particularly in the Sleeping Lands, where such a stone is virtually emblematic of the title. Not only is the product useful in a much wider set of scenarios than most other rituals, as it makes a number of demanding spells far more accessible to the magus, but the ritual is also among the safest instances of High Magic.