High Mage

High Mage is a title of the Malazan world for practitioners of sorcery of the first rank, used in both military and civilian life. In the Malazan Army the rank typically marks the commander of a mage cadre, though not every cadre commander holds it, and some talents decline it altogether, as the sorceress Tattersail does more than once. Among civilians the term simply names mages of unusual power, such as most members of Darujhistan's T'orrud Cabal. Above all of these stands the Imperial High Mage, the highest-ranking mage in the whole imperial military, an office held for many years by Tayschrenn, who was at the siege of Pale. Other powers grant the title in their own service as well, and armies reckon a High Mage as a weapon in itself.