"So, how does one become an Apprentice or Arcane Master anyway?". Although different Arcane Masters will answer this question differently, this is the usual reply:

The first thing I would do is join another house if you do not belong to one already. They all have different benefits and almost all of them have a web page, so you can check them out to see what type of house suits you (check out the links page). Also, I and several others, usually don't consider adventurers without a history of good standing in another house, and a great many of us have characters in other houses, because a lot of them are fun to belong to. After all, having fun is what being in the lands is all about!

If you want to join House Arcane for reasons such as: it would be cool to be an Arcane Master, you just want to have the title of Arcane Master to improve the appearence of your character, don't like any of the other houses, and/or want more locker space, then I would recommend that you create your own house. I can assure you that you won't be considered as an Apprentice or as an Arcane Master. We're not here to improve your character's social standards.

As for becoming an Apprentice or an Arcane Master, I usually tell people to have patience and no expectations. My best recommendation is to get to know as many Arcane Masters as you can, be yourself, role-play well, and hope you get considered. This can be rather difficult since a great many of the current active masters do not adventure in the lands too often and most hunt in high level areas that a great many adventurers do not go near, but it is possible to meet a majority of us if one is patient and watchful. We have somewhat regularly scheduled house hunts and social functions open to the public every once in awhile, and we will be starting to post more info about these more often in the House Arcane topic on the GS Message Boards, so check there regularly.

Some characters are a little old to be considered as an Apprentice by most Active Masters. Being an Apprentice means learning your art or skills from a master and if you are already titled then you must have learned the arts and skills of your profession already, or you would not be of such a high level. There have been exceptions, but they are very rare. If you are titled already, but not a legend then you do have time to get to know members of the house before you're qualified to become an Arcane Master. If you are a legend already then you have an easier time of getting to know Arcane Masters since you might be able to join them when they hunt. If you know some active masters, you role-play well, and they think you would be a worthy Arcane Master then you may be considered for membership. As in most things in life, there's no guarantee on this though.

Also, some adventurers are not voted in because we do not think they would truly enjoy being Arcane Masters. Some things we generally don't talk about in public, but there are things about being an Arcane Master that some players do not enjoy, such as the internal politics and not having a lot of other members around all the time. Some people are concerned about what other people think, and since a lot of people think all Arcane Masters are snobby aristocratic blue-bloods (some of us are, but most are not) it might detract from some players enjoyment. We actually did have a player who loved being our Page, but hated being an Arcane Master.

Even if you are considered as an Apprentice or as an Active Master, you may not even know that you have been since we generally do not discuss these matters with people outside of the house... even with those who are being considered. Another very important thing to remember is if you know you have been considered that even if you do not get voted in, that does not mean that you never will be voted in. Politics, and thus votes, can change over time.

In summary - Hope for the best, have no expectations, and above all... Have fun!