Perineers, also called magineers, are seafaring adventurers who are trained to search for magic. True perineers swear loyalty only to their ship, crew, and the search for magic. They deny allegiance to a single nation, land, or people. Another mark of a perineer is a simple lifestyle. Many prefer to keep a light and quick ship, unburdened by excess goods.
Perineers originated shortly before the mage-wars in the Iksandi empire, and their original occupation was to hunt down and catch mages fleeing Marisen on ships and hiding in sea-forts. However, there was a high rate of mutiny among the ships upon finding the sea-forts and learning of the mages' plight that the official government position of Perineer was disbanded. The perineer crews remained active, though on the side of the mages instead. Many ships were turned into refugee ships, hiding stowaways and ferrying magefolk out of the empire.
The Perineer's Guild was founded during the mage wars, and kept a secret catalog of all of the active and registered perineer ships. When the war ended, the Perineer's Guild turned to recovering artifacts lost at sea. Since the mage wars, the number of active ships has declined severely. It is estimated that there are only around twenty active crews, one of which being the Blue Beauty.
The qualifications to be a Perineer are on the surface, much the same as being a sailor. In order for a crew to be a perineer ship, however, at least one member of the crew must be a seafolk or magefolk, both of whom have magic sensing abilities that are useful for the perineer's profession. A majority of crews have seafolk members, with a rare few ships being led or occupied by a mage. There are exceptions to this, such as if a crew is in the possession of a mage-map or other enchanted navigation tool of sorts.
Being a perineer is not by nature an illicit profession, but often there comes a time when most crews must slip by government regulations or evade notice or capture by Iksandi ships. Most people in the northern empiric nations (Iksand and Civiel) are biased against the perineers due to their pro-magic ways.
The ranking on board ships, if any, is similar to the ranks of many empiric ships or pirate crews, with the distinction that there is a special rank for the mage-scout, a specially trained sailor who is a magic sensor and often also plays the role of ship navigator.
A majority of perineers are siren, elven, and merfolk in lineage, though anyone can join a crew. Iksandi, Civielite, and Faenlic elves are among the most common ethnicities.