Mages and Lichen

The mages have village - set up in the forest at the edge of the Ice Barrens. They use the natural forces that flow for magic. The fishing villages send their promising young ones to the mages for training. The mages excel in healing as well as magic so it makes sense. There are four types of mages: Oracles, weather mages, healers, lore keepers. The oracles are few and far between. It takes a special magic and distinct abilities to be able to speak with the dead. Weather mages can shift the weather - not control it but coax it. If the conditions are right and the mage has enough power. Some are only capable of bringing a few clouds together to relieve a drought but there was once a mage that was able to turn back a hurricane. These types of mages are often sought by villages to go out with the fishermen. There are more weather mages than oracles but the healers and lore keepers outnumber both easily. Lore keepers are the most abundant but healers, even if they don't have magical skill, still are able to treat maladies with herbal remedies.
Children show the first signs of whether they have skills or not around their 7th year. Sometimes there are overlapping of skills and if that is the case, usually the mages pick the more valuable of them to work on as by the time puberty hits - around their 14th year - skills atrophy if one used often. After trial and error it was found that if all the skills are utilized equally, then they all end up being mediocre or even failing completely by the 21st year when the Trial by Fire is attempted. After a successful trial by fire, they are deemed mages and are sent back to their villages where they can either reside or move town to town offering their services. At 42 years they are required to return to the mage village in order to train new recruits. At some point during their training, usually their 17th or 18th year, they are required to go live with the trolls.
The Trial by Fire is the taking of the hallucinogenic lichen after a sweat bath and a dip in the glacial lake. Fasting is required in the 24 hours leading up to the Trial by Fire. The theory is that the gods speak to the apprentice mage and give guidance for their future. If the apprentice had no vision then they are not deemed a mage but must return to their village. This is not a sign of shame as most go on to be school teachers. The mages are men and women. Their is no marriage among mages but they do not take vows of abstinence. It is rare that any sexual relationship occurs among mages until they return in their 42nd year although there have been indiscretions in the younger set. If it occurs any younger than 16, the apprentice is immediately returned their village, being deemed to lack to the drive to become a mage.