Magai ID badge

Created early in the existence of the Magai, Magai ID badges allow for easy recognition of Magai. All Magai above the rank of Magai Initiate (Magai old enough to receive education and training) own badges, and wear these at all times. Even Initiates receive temporary badges to wear when leaving Magai buildings.
Magai ID badges are flat metal pins, shaped after the logo of the Magai Order: a four-pointed star within a ring (or open circle), dividing it into quarters. Additionally, Magai can clip beads onto their pins to mark their rank, as well as fields they're specializing in.

Mechanics & Inner Workings

Magai ID badges are simple inventions, with no real mechanics and no internal workings whatsoever. They're sturdy metal pins, with beads clipped onto them.

Manufacturing process

Both the pins themselves and the beads are cast from a tough type of metal, capable of lasting through just about any Magai activity. The pins themselves, manufactured with their backing already attached, are then stored until they are assigned to a specific Magai. Once assigned, that Magai's identification number is engraved into the back, above the pin's closing mechanism. It is now ready for the Magai.
Beads are also typically stored after casting, left in their blank unpainted state. If a specific purpose for them is chosen, they are then engraved and painted, or sometimes only painted, in the case of Novice or Disciple beads (as opposed to field-specific beads).

Significance

Used to mark Magai, including a personal identification on the back to allow for verification of a Magai's identity. Additionally, the beads on a Magai ID badge mark a specific Magai's rank, as well as their skills in specific fields.

Bead language

The beads present on a Magai's badge allow others to tell their rank and specializations as a glance. Essential to this is the structure of the pin itself: divided into fours, each quarter of the ring matches with a Magai's rank.
Also notable is that Magai typically do not remove beads, even if they move on to the next rank, or stop pursuing certain fields. This makes their badges easier to read (the more fields filled, the higher a Magai's rank), acknowledges a Magai's training even if they no longer pursue certain fields (having passed entrance exams but not finished that field's training), and shows what fields a Magai Adept might also have Maven-level knowledge of.
Magai Initiates don't have their own badges yet, and don't wear badges at all inside Magai buildings. When they do leave (for example, on field trips), they wear badges that are entirely blank and bead-less.
Magai Novices wear a single bead in the lower-left section of their badge. Their beads come in three possible colors, indicating progression along the generalized learning of a Novice, and lack engravings. Novices start with black beads, indicating that they are still learning. After reaching the end of their standard studies, they swap to a white bead, marking them as available for apprenticeship under a teacher. If they are claimed by a teacher before finishing their studies, they wear a gray bead instead.
Magai Disciples wear their beads in the lower-right section of their badge. They start with a plain black bead, indicating that they are a Disciple, apprenticed to a teacher of Maven or Adept rank. They can also wear the beads of any field in which they pass the entrance studies, indicating what fields they are studying in.
Magai Mavens wear their beads in the upper-right section of the badge. Unlike previous ranks, Mavens wear no additional blank beads, only field-specific beads. To graduate from Disciple to Maven, a Magai must pass exams for their field of choice, earning them the Maven rank in that field, and the right to wear that field's bead in the upper-right. Passing the exams of other fields earns them the right to wear those beads in the Maven section as well.
Magai Adepts are the highest conventional rank available to Magai, and wear their beads in the upper-left of their badge. Adepts also only have field-specific badges, the same as worn by Mavens and Disciples, but unlike them, Adepts typically only wear one. After all, to reach the rank of Adept, a Magai must have proven themselves highly skilled and knowledgeable in that field, and most will choose not to pursue Adept-rank in other fields.

Item type

Clothing / Accessory

Manufacturer

Grand Order of the Magai

Related ethnicities

• Magai Culture

Owning Organization

Grand Order of the Magai

Related Condition

Vita-Touched

Rarity

Common among Magai, not available to outsiders

Raw materials & Components

Sturdy metal, for both pin and beads. Beads are also painted.