For the Archmage, the difference is a matter of scope: the Master may only wish to name the stars, but the Archmage attempts to grasp them. For an Archhmage, there are no limits, no stop signs, and never any turning back. The deepest secrets of magic are hidden simply so that she can experience the challenge of finding them.
— Mage: The Ascension — Masters of the Art
Mekhet is perhapsnote the best example of what several millennia of study can do for one's magical prowess. Formerly a great court magician in a now-forgotten proto-Egyptian culture, Mekhet has used his eons of existence to become the foremost blood magician on the planet. Tremere might have access to Level 10 rituals, but only Mekhet has had five thousand years or so to develop and refine his. Not surprisingly, his greatest affinities are for all forms of blood magic — including Thaumaturgy, Assamite and Setite Sorcery, and Necromancy — as well as Auspex.
— Vampire: The Masquerade — Gehenna
Such is Mazdamundi's power that, with a slow and deliberate gesture, he caused devastating earthquakes to rip open the land itself, swallowing the human settlement of Cadavo, after consistent raiding from the settlers. It is said that it was he that made the volcanoes of the Red Mountains erupt, destroying the lands around them, and that the earthquakes that wracked many of the Dwarf holds in antiquity were caused by him. His wisdom is great, and every action he takes has been carefully deliberated over, though it is often impossible for outsiders to fathom his long-reaching vision.
When the armies of Hexoatl march to war, Lord Mazdamundi will often lead them, borne aloft upon the back of a mighty Stegadon. He controls this massive beast through sheer force of will, and Mazdamundi's fury, when roused, is terrifying to behold. It is said that there is not a wizard alive that can match his powers of the magical arts, and that even his mere presence forces all but the most strong-willed individuals to drop their gaze.
When the armies of Hexoatl march to war, Lord Mazdamundi will often lead them, borne aloft upon the back of a mighty Stegadon. He controls this massive beast through sheer force of will, and Mazdamundi's fury, when roused, is terrifying to behold. It is said that there is not a wizard alive that can match his powers of the magical arts, and that even his mere presence forces all but the most strong-willed individuals to drop their gaze.
— Warhammer: Lizardmen Army Book (6th Edition)
Lords of Change are the most powerful sorcerers in the galaxy, gifted with unparalleled psychic abilities and a near-infinite skill and expertise in the arcane sciences. They can turn scores of mortals to boneless spawn with a mere glance, destroy an armoured vehicle with the flick of a finger or wrench the soul from the mouth of the mightiest of warriors with a single word, only to devour it with the delight of a connoisseur. Magic is the power to change — to change matter into energy, unliving into living, lead into gold, and the opposite of all these. Magic is change and change is magic, and both are boons from their Master, the Changer of the Ways.
— Warhammer 40,000: Codex — Chaos Daemons (4th ed)
Nobody liked him, but it became apparent that Mayakovsky was no fraud. He could do things Quentin had never seen done at Brakebills, things he didn't think had been done for centuries. One afternoon he demonstrated, but did not allow them to try, a spell that reversed the flow of entropy. He popped a helium balloon and then knitted it back together and refilled it with its original helium atoms, in some cases fishing them from deep inside the lungs of spectators who had inhaled them. He used camphor to smother a spider — he showed no particular remorse about this — and then, frowning with the effort, brought the spider back to life. Quentin watched the poor thing creep around in circles on the tabletop, hopelessly traumatized, making little dazed rushes at nothing and then retreating to a corner, hunched up and twitching, while Mayakovsky moved on to another topic.
"I reached out my hand; England's rivers turned and flowed the other way.
I reached out my hand; my enemies' blood stopped in their veins.
I reached out my hand; thought and memory flew out of my enemies' heads like a flock of starlings.
My enemies crumpled like empty sacks.
I came to them out of mists and rain.
I came to them in dreams at midnight.
I came to them in a flock of ravens that filled a northern sky at dawn."
I reached out my hand; my enemies' blood stopped in their veins.
I reached out my hand; thought and memory flew out of my enemies' heads like a flock of starlings.
My enemies crumpled like empty sacks.
I came to them out of mists and rain.
I came to them in dreams at midnight.
I came to them in a flock of ravens that filled a northern sky at dawn."
— The Prophecy of the Raven King, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell
"Who is Theodore Wicker?
Initiate King James Protocol. The code is 30 and 26 and 31. The password is "Job". Transmit!
He was Oxford born and bred, a leading scholar of demonology, this Age's greatest master of portal magic, of stepping between worlds. He came to Hell and adapted to the hallucinatory wilderness, thrived among the ashes and eldritch. An impossible mortal, now immortal, with knowledge of the Second Age. He preaches to the demons, and they listened."
Initiate King James Protocol. The code is 30 and 26 and 31. The password is "Job". Transmit!
He was Oxford born and bred, a leading scholar of demonology, this Age's greatest master of portal magic, of stepping between worlds. He came to Hell and adapted to the hallucinatory wilderness, thrived among the ashes and eldritch. An impossible mortal, now immortal, with knowledge of the Second Age. He preaches to the demons, and they listened."
—The Buzzing, The Secret World
Locke: Five rings. All I ever heard was that more is better. Just how many can one of you people have, anyway?
Archedama Patience: This many.
Archedama Patience: This many.
— Gentleman Bastard: Republic of Thieves
