Rogues

Rogues are largely made up of Elemental Mages which have not been accepted by an officially established Mercenary Guild or by a state's military. Many mages become rogues after large wars, when their services aren't required anymore, or during wars if they do not get payed, or payed enough.

Many have little future official career prospect and have therefore subsequently turned to offering their services in unofficial capacity to poorer clients, who can't afford the service of an official guild member. However, many also turn to illicit work, such as raids, piracy and plunder.

Because the rogues who offer their services to citizens or organisations do so illegally in many cases, they must be payed by unofficial means. In most cases, this usually means simply being offered shelter and food for a few nights. However, because they aren't part of a larger organisation, they can also be prone to exploitation and are generally payed less for the same services than a mage who's part of a official mercenary guild would be.

Rogues are near-universaly hated by mercenary guilds members, as they do not abide by any specific rules of conduct while on duty, nor do they generally care about fellow mercenaries. This makes them a nuisance at best, and a grave danger at worst. Another problem often caused by rogues, is that their actions often result in a bad reputation for all Mercenaries, which impacts their job prospects.

Rogues tend to be poorer, and while some of them are criminals, many others simply have poor magic abilities. In fact, these poor magic abilities are the cause for them to be rejected from guilds and state military in the first place.

Elemental mages

The vast majority of rogues in both the Continent of Enaskia and the Continent of Arros are Elemental Mages. Many are of the Wind, Stone and Water types, who are also some of the most common mage types on both continents. Because of this, both the guilds and state militaries who would be hiring them have higher standards. This, combined with the fact that in general, some of those types of magic aren't in high demand, means that those who also have sub-par abilities very often get rejected, and are forced to become rogues to sustain themselves.

Soulbound mages

Despite their lower populations, many rogues in Enaskia in particular are actually Soulbound Mages. The most common type among them are Necromancers. Due to a combination of factors, such as their scattered population, the patchwork legality of their services, and the inconsistent demand, necromancer guilds are very rare, and most other mercenary guilds have no need for hiring them, at least not permanently. In contrast, Soulstriders and soulweavers have very low numbers, and a consistently high demand for their services, thus are rarely seen as rogues, while Shapeshifters also generally do not become rogues either, since in most regions, they have the numbers to create their own groups: Shapeshifter Clans.