Wizardly rankings and classifications
Classifications and rankings in the wizardly intervention structure vary from species to species. This listing deals with the structure as it appears on Earth and numerous other worlds where hominids have arisen or are living. From smallest / most local to largest / most widespread:
- Advisory
- Senior
- Area Senior / Advisory
- Regional Senior / Advisory
- Continental supervisory or Continental Area Senior (three for Earth: Africa/Europe, the Americas and Asia, Oceania/Antarctica and the Seas)
- Planetary
- System supervisory or Cluster/stream supervisory
- Arm coordinator or Galactic regional coordinator
- Galactic Senior or Coordinator
The Wizard's Manual does not identify any larger subdivisions of supervisory duty at the wizardry level. It is generally thought that the Powers that Be Themselves normally manage intervention at the supercluster level and above.
Wizards who've proven themselves ideally suited for a given level of supervision and its responsibilities may be "bumped up" to the next one for short trial periods or in emergencies, and then later fall back to their original supervisory levels without prejudice (as, for example, S'reee does between WAW and AWOM). Others may keep such promotions for long periods without actually having a change in status be acknowledged (or in some cases even noticed) by the wizards they're working with. All these titles and roles, therefore, are understood to be somewhat arbitrary and fluid. The one thing that all these wizards would agree on is that they serve at the pleasure of the Powers that Be, and that what they all do together -- slow up entropy -- is a lot more important than what any of them are called.
Additionally, it's important to understand that though on the surface these rankings seem to indicate a hierarchy, the actual exercise of authority over an area (or area of expertise) has little to do with one wizard "outranking" another. Wizards are promoted to a given level of authority as a by-product of the Powers that Be noticing that a specific wizard has a feel for, or a way with, a specific kind of relationship with the physical or metaphysical Universe -- an affinity similar to a wizard's personal specialty, but on a significantly larger scale. Other wizards will normally see the good sense in deferring to the professional judgment or instincts of a wizard who's simply proven to be good at getting things done at a given level of authority.
Functions of the Advisories, Supervisors or Coordinators shift somewhat as the catchment area for which each is responsible grows larger: in particular, catchments that stretch over galactic-size regions pose particular challenges. Each arm or other major structural portion of a given galaxy normally has an Arm or Galactic Regional Supervisor responsible for the general supervision of wizards and the conduct of wizardry in the region, especially as it pertains to relationships between empires or similar associations of inhabited worlds. (Some regions have a second or separate Regional Supervisor who specializes in handling "independent" worlds like Earth -- planets not members of larger administrative areas, or otherwise non-affiliated due to insufficient technological expertise, adverse xenognomic response, or sevarfrith status.)
There is also normally a Galactic Coordinator to whom the Regional Supervisors report. Wizards promoted into this position normally come from the longest-lived species native to the Galaxy, as species with median lifespans of less than ten thousand (Earth) years normally have difficulty amassing and getting sufficiently to grips with the information and history of the Arm-Regions to administer them effectively. Also particularly useful in such work are wizards from species where a single consciousness is housed across multiple physical bodies, as it makes it easy for the Coordinator to cover more ground when investigating local issues. But almost all Supervisory or Coordinating wizards at this level have large teams of trusted colleagues from whom they solicit frequent status reports and with whom they regularly consult.