Reading the pamphlet describing the Constitutional Convention, Fernando saw an opportunity worth his true greatness for the first time in a long time.

Since the day he pulled his backup "spellbook" out of it's hiding spot, Fernando knew for sure he was meant for greater things.  In truth, it was just a collection of loose pages, but it held his chance to prove that he was right and they were wrong.  That his mother was wrong, when she told him to pretend to be dumber so that he wouldn't be taken off to wizard school (he knew he would be a great wizard one day).  That his spellcraft instructor was wrong to mistake his stutter for stupidity.  That the test evaluation was wrong (his spell preparation was just fine on two days out of three, judging him by one day in particular didn't reflect on his true potential).  That mistake saw three years wasted and Fernando beaten and expelled with three years of wizard school debt to pay off.  But he still had his magic, and, thanks to his foresight, the means to shape it into a decent set of cantrips (and on a good day maybe even a 1st circle spell).  At the time Fernando figured it would be simple matter to earn a living with cantrips while paying the debt and developing his abilities as a wizard as they were meant to be developed.

In another country, Fernando might have paid off the debt in a few years.  In Cheliax, there are enough petty 1st circle wizards for every village with more than 50 people to have one. In Cheliax, casting cantrips all day to do minor mendings and laundry and make ice to sell could barely earn more than a simple laborer's wages.  In Cheliax, the school debt was structured such that without an assignment to (and corresponding pay from) Cheliax's army, even a full proper 1st circle wizard would struggle and fall behind on the debt and be paying interest for the rest of their life.  Still, Fernando had managed to out scheme the system once before, he could do it again.  Realizing the debt was impossible to pay off with just cantrips, he paid the minimum on it and put every spare bit of coin he could into obtaining more spells and looking for opportunities to sell them.

An adventurer looking for spellcasting might pay anywhere from 50 to 100 silver pieces for a 1st circle spell if there is some risk and inconvenience to the wizard.  In practice, in Cheliax, a commoner might, at most, pay a day's wage or so (a silver piece or two) for a 1st circle spell from a 1st circle wizard.  With no debts, this is still enough for a comfortable life, but it is far short of the amount needed to pay down the debt.  So Fernando looked for the spell he could sell for the most money.  Learning infernal healing wasn't that hard.  Selling it for its true worth was trickier.  Fernando patiently accepted a silver coin per casting from the peasants around him in the backwater village he had set up in for minor injuries, trying just enough to haggle to make clear it wasn't a guaranteed price.  Until the day a man came to him to ask for healing for his pregnant wife who was bleeding out.  And so, Fernando followed him back to his home, then demanded 20 crowns (200 silver pieces) for the healing spell.  The man balked and complained he didn't have that much money, but Fernando pulled out a contract he had cleverly had prepared in advance, stipulating a debt and interest plan.  Fernando hasn't repeated this strategy often, but the several times he had mentioned it had been so worth it and were still paying interest.

Still, despite his clever schemes, his debt piled on, and Fernando's magic didn't grow stronger.  He kept an eye out for opportunity though.  The four day war was over before he could figure out a way to profit.  But, when he saw the pamphlet about the constitutional convention and even better, heard the common misunderstanding of it, Fernando saw opportunity.  Commoners, and indeed educated people used to the Asmodeanism of the old regime figured it was a test (and possibly trap) intended for the delegates personally.  Fernando had figured it out better than that.  Good people couldn't set traps like that, so it was purely a test.  And the emphasis was that it was by county, with each county producing delegates from the Nobility, by sortition, and by election.  So the test was of the county, not the individuals, the individuals were merely proxies.  And it being Good people, failure didn't mean being tortured to death, but rather reeducation to proper Goodness.  The stipend was better than he made on a typical day, and the challenge of this "convention" (even if, ran by Good people, it wouldn't be fatal) would give him an opportunity to grow stronger.  But if he was honest with himself, Fernando was looking for an opportunity to express his true greatness.  And if he somehow failed this test, at least all the other people in the county would also suffer for it.

It took a bit of playing the idiot (but this wasn't hard, fully graduated wizards already looked down on him as stupid, and other laundry wizards thought of him as foolishly ambitious), but he got someone to suggest he put himself forward.  (They suggested to Fernando someone looking to climb up in station might do well at the convention).  Fernando readily agreed with this misunderstanding, and it turned out the bit of infamy from his string of prices gougings had given him the fame to get a plurality of the vote.  Now he just had to enjoy his stipend (he already had a few spells to purchase in mind) and look for further opportunity. 

Reading the pamphlet describing the Constitutional Convention, Fernando saw an opportunity worth his true greatness for the first time in a long time.

Since the day he pulled his backup "spellbook" out of it's hiding spot, Fernando knew for sure he was meant for greater things.  In truth, it was just a collection of loose pages, but it held his chance to prove that he was right and they were wrong.  That his mother was wrong, when she told him to pretend to be dumber so that he wouldn't be taken off to wizard school (he knew he would be a great wizard one day).  That his spellcraft instructor was wrong to mistake his stutter for stupidity.  That the test evaluation was wrong (his spell preparation was just fine on two days out of three, judging him by one day in particular didn't reflect on his true potential).  That mistake saw three years wasted and Fernando beaten and expelled with three years of wizard school debt to pay off.  But he still had his magic, and, thanks to his foresight, the means to shape it into a decent set of cantrips (and on a good day maybe even a 1st circle spell).  At the time Fernando figured it would be simple matter to earn a living with cantrips while paying the debt and developing his abilities as a wizard as they were meant to be developed.

In another country, Fernando might have paid off the debt in a few years.  In Cheliax, there are enough petty 1st circle wizards for every village with more than 50 people to have one. In Cheliax, casting cantrips all day to do minor mendings and laundry and make ice to sell could barely earn more than a simple laborer's wages.  In Cheliax, the school debt was structured such that without an assignment to (and corresponding pay from) Cheliax's army, even a full proper 1st circle wizard would struggle and fall behind on the debt and be paying interest for the rest of their life.  Still, Fernando had managed to out scheme the system once before, he could do it again.  Realizing the debt was impossible to pay off with just cantrips, he paid the minimum on it and put every spare bit of coin he could into obtaining more spells and looking for opportunities to sell them.

An adventurer looking for spellcasting might pay anywhere from 50 to 100 silver pieces for a 1st circle spell if there is some risk and inconvenience to the wizard.  In practice, in Cheliax, a commoner might, at most, pay a day's wage or so (a silver piece or two) for a 1st circle spell from a 1st circle wizard.  With no debts, this is still enough for a comfortable life, but it is far short of the amount needed to pay down the debt.  So Fernando looked for the spell he could sell for the most money.  Learning infernal healing wasn't that hard.  Selling it for its true worth was trickier.  Fernando patiently accepted a silver coin per casting from the peasants around him in the backwater village he had set up in for minor injuries, trying just enough to haggle to make clear it wasn't a guaranteed price.  Until the day a man came to him to ask for healing for his pregnant wife who was bleeding out.  And so, Fernando followed him back to his home, then demanded 20 crowns (200 silver pieces) for the healing spell.  The man balked and complained he didn't have that much money, but Fernando pulled out a contract he had cleverly had prepared in advance, stipulating a debt and interest plan.  Fernando hasn't repeated this strategy often, but the several times he had mentioned it had been so worth it and were still paying interest.

Still, despite his clever schemes, his debt piled on, and Fernando's magic didn't grow stronger.  He managed to learn a trick or too, and buy knowledge of a common technique, but he was still only at 2 1st circle spells per day.  He kept an eye out for opportunity though.  The four day war was over before he could figure out a way to profit.  But, when he saw the pamphlet about the constitutional convention and even better, heard the common misunderstanding of it, Fernando saw opportunity.  Commoners, and indeed educated people used to the Asmodeanism of the old regime figured it was a test (and possibly trap) intended for the delegates personally.  Fernando had figured it out better than that.  Good people couldn't set traps like that, so it was purely a test.  And the emphasis was that it was by county, with each county producing delegates from the Nobility, by sortition, and by election.  So the test was of the county, not the individuals, the individuals were merely proxies.  And it being Good people, failure didn't mean being tortured to death, but rather reeducation to proper Goodness (which was great, but would be tolerable).  The stipend was better than he made on a typical day, and the challenge of this "convention" (even if, ran by Good people, it wouldn't be fatal) would give him an opportunity to grow stronger.  And, if he was honest with himself, Fernando was looking for an opportunity to express his true greatness.  And if he somehow failed this test, at least all the other people in the county would also suffer for it.

It took a bit of playing the idiot (but this wasn't hard, fully graduated wizards already looked down on him as stupid, and other laundry wizards thought of him as foolishly ambitious), but he got someone to suggest he put himself forward.  (They suggested to Fernando someone looking to climb up in station might do well at the convention).  Fernando readily agreed with this misunderstanding, and it turned out the bit of infamy from his string of prices gougings had given him the fame to get a plurality of the vote.  Now he just had to enjoy his stipend (he already had a few spells to purchase in mind) and look for further opportunity. 

Reading the pamphlet describing the Constitutional Convention, Fernando saw an opportunity worth his true greatness for the first time in his life..

Since the day he pulled his backup "spellbook" out of it's hiding spot, Fernando knew for sure he was meant for greater things.  In truth, it was just a collection of loose pages, but it held his chance to prove that he was right and they were wrong.  That his mother was wrong, when she told him to pretend to be dumber so that he wouldn't be taken off to wizard school (he knew he would be a great wizard one day).  That his spellcraft instructor was wrong to mistake his stutter for stupidity.  That the test evaluation was wrong (his spell preparation was just fine on two days out of three, judging him by one day in particular didn't reflect on his true potential).  That mistake saw three years wasted and Fernando beaten and expelled with three years of wizard school debt to pay off.  But he still had his magic, and, thanks to his foresight, the means to shape it into a decent set of cantrips (and on a good day maybe even a 1st circle spell).  At the time Fernando figured it would be simple matter to earn a living with cantrips while paying the debt and developing his abilities as a wizard as they were meant to be developed.

In another country, Fernando might have paid off the debt in a few years.  In Cheliax, there are enough petty 1st circle wizards for every village with more than 50 people to have one. In Cheliax, casting cantrips all day to do minor mendings and laundry and make ice to sell can barely earn more than a simple laborer's wages.  In Cheliax, the school debt was structured such that without an assignment to (and corresponding pay from) Cheliax's army, even a full proper 1st circle wizard would struggle and fall behind on the debt and be paying interest for the rest of their life.  Still, Fernando had managed to out scheme the system once before, he could do it again.  Realizing the debt was impossible to pay off with just cantrips, he paid the minimum on it and put every spare bit of coin he could into obtaining more spells and looking for opportunities to sell them.

An adventurer looking for spellcasting might pay anywhere from 50 to 100 silver pieces for a 1st circle spell if there is some risk and inconvenience to the wizard.  In practice, in Cheliax, a commoner might, at most, pay a day's wage or so (a silver piece or two) for a 1st circle spell from a 1st circle wizard.  With no debts, this would still be enough for a comfortable life, but it is far short of the amount needed to pay down the debt from three years of wizard school.  So Fernando looked for the spell he could sell for the most money.  Learning infernal healing wasn't that hard.  Selling it for its true worth was trickier.  Fernando patiently accepted a silver coin per casting from the peasants around him in the backwater village he had set up in for minor injuries, trying just enough to haggle to make clear it wasn't a guaranteed price.  Until the day a man came to him to ask for healing for his pregnant wife who was bleeding out.  And so, Fernando followed him back to his home, then demanded 20 crowns (200 silver pieces) for the healing spell.  The man balked and complained he didn't have that much money, but Fernando pulled out a contract he had cleverly had prepared in advance, stipulating a debt and interest plan.  Fernando hasn't repeated this strategy often, but the several times he had mentioned it had been so worth it and were still paying interest (well, except for one individual that took advantage of the disruption of the 4 day's war to abscond).

Still, despite his clever schemes, his school debt piled on, and Fernando's magic didn't grow stronger.  He managed to learn a trick or too, and buy knowledge of a common technique, but at 31 years of age he was still only at 2 1st circle spells per day (three if you counted the bonded object he had saved so hard for).  He kept an eye out for opportunity though.  The four day war was over before he could figure out a way to profit.  But, when he saw the pamphlet about the constitutional convention and, even better, heard the common misunderstanding of it, Fernando saw opportunity.  Commoners, and indeed educated people used to the Asmodeanism of the old regime figured it was a test (and possibly trap) intended for the delegates personally.  Fernando had figured it out better than that.  Good people weren't allowed to set traps like that, so it was purely a test.  And the emphasis was that it was by county, with each county producing delegates from the Nobility, by sortition, and by election.  So the test was of the county, not the individuals, the individuals were merely proxies.  And it being Good people, failure didn't mean being tortured to death, but rather reeducation to proper Goodness (which wasn't great, but would be tolerable, Good people weren't allowed to use proper torture).  The stipend was better than he made on a typical day, and the challenge of this "convention" (even if, ran by Good people, it wouldn't be fatal) would give him an opportunity to grow stronger.  And, if he was honest with himself, Fernando was looking for an opportunity to express his true greatness.  And if he somehow failed this test, at least all the other people in the county would also suffer for it.

It took a bit of playing the idiot (but this wasn't hard, fully graduated wizards already looked down on him as stupid, and other laundry wizards thought of him as foolishly ambitious), but he got someone to suggest he put himself forward.  (They suggested to Fernando someone looking to climb up in station might do well at the convention).  Fernando readily agreed with this misunderstanding, and it turned out the bit of infamy from his string of prices gougings had given him the fame to get a plurality of the vote.  Now he just had to enjoy his stipend (he already had a few spells to purchase in mind) and look for further opportunity. 

Reading the pamphlet describing the Constitutional Convention, Fernando saw an opportunity worth his true greatness for the first time in his life..

Since the day he pulled his backup "spellbook" out of it's hiding spot, Fernando knew for sure he was meant for greater things.  In truth, it was just a collection of loose pages, but it held his chance to prove that he was right and they were wrong.  That his mother was wrong, when she told him to pretend to be dumber so that he wouldn't be taken off to wizard school (he knew he would be a great wizard one day).  That his spellcraft instructor was wrong to mistake his stutter for stupidity.  That the test evaluation was wrong (his spell preparation was just fine on two days out of three, judging him by one day in particular didn't reflect on his true potential).  That mistake saw three years wasted and Fernando beaten and expelled with three years of wizard school debt to pay off.  But he still had his magic, and, thanks to his foresight, the means to shape it into a decent set of cantrips (and on a good day maybe even a 1st circle spell).  At the time Fernando figured it would be simple matter to earn a living with cantrips while paying the debt and developing his abilities as a wizard as they were meant to be developed.

In another country, Fernando might have paid off the debt in a few years.  In Cheliax, there are enough petty 1st circle wizards for every village with more than 50 people to have one. In Cheliax, casting cantrips all day to do minor mendings and laundry and make ice to sell can barely earn more than a simple laborer's wages.  In Cheliax, the school debt was structured such that without an assignment to (and corresponding pay from) Cheliax's army, even a full proper 1st circle wizard would struggle and fall behind on the debt and be paying interest for the rest of their life.  Still, Fernando had managed to out scheme the system once before, he could do it again.  Realizing the debt was impossible to pay off with just cantrips, he paid the minimum on it and put every spare bit of coin he could into obtaining more spells and looking for opportunities to sell them.

An adventurer looking for spellcasting might pay anywhere from 50 to 100 silver pieces for a 1st circle spell if there is some risk and inconvenience to the wizard.  In practice, in Cheliax, a commoner might, at most, pay a day's wage or so (a silver piece or two) for a 1st circle spell from a 1st circle wizard.  With no debts, this would still be enough for a comfortable life, but it is far short of the amount needed to pay down the debt from three years of wizard school.  So Fernando looked for the spell he could sell for the most money.  Learning infernal healing wasn't that hard.  Selling it for its true worth was trickier.  Fernando patiently accepted a silver coin per casting from the peasants around him in the backwater village he had set up in for minor injuries, trying just enough to haggle to make clear it wasn't a guaranteed price.  Until the day a man came to him to ask for healing for his pregnant wife who was bleeding out.  And so, Fernando followed him back to his home, then demanded 20 crowns (200 silver pieces) for the healing spell.  The man balked and complained he didn't have that much money, but Fernando pulled out a contract he had cleverly had prepared in advance, stipulating a debt and interest plan.  Fernando hasn't repeated this strategy often, but the several times he had mentioned it had been so worth it and were still paying interest (well, except for one individual that took advantage of the disruption of the 4 day's war to abscond).

Still, despite his clever schemes, his school debt piled on, and Fernando's magic didn't grow stronger.  He managed to learn a trick or too, and eventually buy knowledge to bond an object, but at 31 years of age he was still only at 2 1st circle spells per day (three if you counted the bonded object he had saved so hard for).  He kept an eye out for opportunity though.  The four day war was over before he could figure out a way to profit.  But, when he saw the pamphlet about the constitutional convention and, even better, heard the common misunderstanding of it, Fernando saw opportunity.  Commoners, and indeed educated people used to the Asmodeanism of the old regime figured it was a test (and possibly trap) intended for the delegates personally.  Fernando had figured it out better than that.  Good people weren't allowed to set traps like that, so it was purely a test.  And the emphasis was that it was by county, with each county producing delegates from the Nobility, by sortition, and by election.  So the test was of the county, not the individuals, the individuals were merely proxies.  And it being Good people, failure didn't mean being tortured to death, but rather reeducation to proper Goodness (which wasn't great, but would be tolerable, Good people weren't allowed to use proper torture).  The stipend was better than he made on a typical day, and the challenge of this "convention" (even if, ran by Good people, it wouldn't be fatal) would give him an opportunity to grow stronger.  And, if he was honest with himself, Fernando was looking for an opportunity to express his true greatness.  And if he somehow failed this test, at least all the other people in the county would also suffer for it.

It took a bit of playing the idiot (but this wasn't hard, fully graduated wizards already looked down on him as stupid, and other laundry wizards thought of him as foolishly ambitious), but he got someone to suggest he put himself forward.  (They suggested to Fernando someone looking to climb up in station might do well at the convention).  Fernando readily agreed with this misunderstanding, and it turned out the bit of infamy from his string of prices gougings had given him the fame to get a plurality of the vote.  Now he just had to enjoy his stipend (he already had a few spells to purchase in mind) and look for further opportunity. 

Reading the pamphlet describing the Constitutional Convention, Fernando saw an opportunity worth his true greatness for the first time in his life..

Since the day he pulled his backup "spellbook" out of it's hiding spot, Fernando knew for sure he was meant for greater things.  In truth, it was just a collection of loose pages, but it held his chance to prove that he was right and they were wrong.  That his mother was wrong, when she told him to pretend to be dumber so that he wouldn't be taken off to wizard school (he knew he would be a great wizard one day).  That his spellcraft instructor was wrong to mistake his stutter for stupidity.  That the test evaluation was wrong (his spell preparation was just fine on two days out of three, judging him by one day in particular didn't reflect on his true potential).  That mistake saw three years wasted and Fernando beaten and expelled with three years of wizard school debt to pay off.  But he still had his magic, and, thanks to his foresight, the means to shape it into a decent set of cantrips (and on a good day maybe even a 1st circle spell).  At the time Fernando figured it would be simple matter to earn a living with cantrips while paying the debt and developing his abilities as a wizard as they were meant to be developed.

In another country, Fernando might have paid off the debt in a few years.  In Cheliax, there are enough petty 1st circle wizards for every village with more than 100 people to have one. In Cheliax, casting cantrips all day to do minor mendings and laundry and make ice to sell can barely earn more than a simple laborer's wages.  In Cheliax, the school debt was structured such that without an assignment to (and corresponding pay from) Cheliax's army, even a full proper 1st circle wizard would struggle and fall behind on the debt and be paying interest for the rest of their life.  Still, Fernando had managed to out scheme the system once before, he could do it again.  Realizing the debt was impossible to pay off with just cantrips, he paid the minimum on it and put every spare bit of coin he could into obtaining more spells and looking for opportunities to sell them.

An adventurer looking for spellcasting might pay anywhere from 50 to 100 silver pieces for a 1st circle spell if there is some risk and inconvenience to the wizard.  In practice, in Cheliax, a commoner might, at most, pay a day's wage or so (a silver piece or two) for a 1st circle spell from a 1st circle wizard.  With no debts, this would still be enough for a comfortable life, but it is far short of the amount needed to pay down the debt from three years of wizard school.  So Fernando looked for the spell he could sell for the most money.  Learning infernal healing wasn't that hard.  Selling it for its true worth was trickier.  Fernando patiently accepted a silver coin per casting from the peasants around him in the backwater village he had set up in for minor injuries, trying just enough to haggle to make clear it wasn't a guaranteed price.  Until the day a man came to him to ask for healing for his pregnant wife who was bleeding out.  And so, Fernando followed him back to his home, then demanded 200 silver pieces for the healing spell.  The man balked and complained he didn't have that much money, but Fernando pulled out a contract he had cleverly had prepared in advance, stipulating a debt and interest plan.  Fernando doesn't find the opportunity to use this strategy often, but at around one such deal each year or so, with careful renegotiation and penalty terms over missed payments, Fernando had managed to set up a system of passive income across a circuit of villages that simply required he collect.

Still, despite his clever schemes, his school debt piled on, and Fernando's magic didn't grow stronger.  He managed to learn a trick or too, and eventually buy knowledge to bond an object, but at 31 years of age he was still only at 2 1st circle spells per day (three if you counted the bonded object he had saved so hard for).  He kept an eye out for opportunity though.  The Four Day War was over before he could figure out a way to profit, and in fact had cut into his profits when one of his debtors slipped away from their village to locations unknown.  But, when he saw the pamphlet about the constitutional convention and, even better, heard the common misunderstanding of it, Fernando saw opportunity.  Commoners, and indeed educated people used to the Asmodeanism of the old regime figured it was a test (and possibly trap) intended for the delegates personally.  Fernando had figured it out better than that.  Good people weren't allowed to set traps like that, so it was purely a test.  And the emphasis was that it was by county, with each county producing delegates from the Nobility, by sortition, and by election.  So the test was of the county, not the individuals, the individuals were merely proxies.  And it being Good people, failure didn't mean being tortured to death, but rather reeducation to proper Goodness (which wasn't great, but would be tolerable, Good people weren't allowed to use proper torture).  The stipend was better than he made on a typical day, and the challenge of this "convention" (even if, ran by Good people, it wouldn't be fatal) would give him an opportunity to grow stronger.  And, if he was honest with himself, Fernando was looking for an opportunity to express his true greatness.  And if he somehow failed this test, at least all the other people in the county would also suffer for it.

It took a bit of playing the idiot (but this wasn't hard, fully graduated wizards already looked down on him as stupid, and other laundry wizards thought of him as foolishly ambitious), but he got someone to suggest he put himself forward, letting him win the first stage of the election.  (They suggested to Fernando someone looking to climb up in station might do well at the convention).  At the second stage of the election, it turned out the bit of infamy from his string of prices gougings had given him the fame (and hatred) to attract a plurality of the vote.  It turns out even people he hadn't locked into a contract hated the sense that he was looking to get one over on them the next time they were in need.  But, it didn't matter.  Their hatred and misunderstanding of the circumstance had let him win, and soon he would be gone from this miserable backwater of a county.  Now he just had to enjoy his stipend (he already had a few spells to purchase in mind) and look for further opportunity as he prepared for the convention. 

Reading the pamphlet describing the Constitutional Convention, Fernando saw an opportunity worth his true greatness for the first time in his life..

Since the day he pulled his backup "spellbook" out of it's hiding spot, Fernando knew for sure he was meant for greater things.  In truth, it was just a collection of loose pages, but it held his chance to prove that he was right and they were wrong.  That his mother was wrong, when she told him to pretend to be dumber so that he wouldn't be taken off to wizard school (he knew he would be a great wizard one day).  That his spellcraft instructor was wrong to mistake his stutter for stupidity.  That the test evaluation was wrong (his spell preparation was just fine on two days out of three, judging him by one day in particular didn't reflect on his true potential).  That mistake saw three years wasted and Fernando beaten and expelled with three years of wizard school debt to pay off.  But he still had his magic, and, thanks to his foresight, the means to shape it into a decent set of cantrips (and on a good day maybe even a 1st circle spell).  At the time Fernando figured it would be simple matter to earn a living with cantrips while paying the debt and developing his abilities as a wizard as they were meant to be developed.

In another country, Fernando might have paid off the debt in a few years.  In Cheliax, there are enough petty 1st circle wizards for every village with more than 100 people to have one. In Cheliax, casting cantrips all day to do minor mendings and laundry and make ice to sell can barely earn more than a simple laborer's wages.  In Cheliax, the school debt was structured such that without an assignment to (and corresponding pay from) Cheliax's army, even a full proper 1st circle wizard would struggle and fall behind on the debt and be paying interest for the rest of their life.  Still, Fernando had managed to out scheme the system once before, he could do it again.  Realizing the debt was impossible to pay off with just cantrips, he paid the minimum on it and put every spare bit of coin he could into obtaining more spells and looking for opportunities to sell them.

An adventurer looking for spellcasting might pay anywhere from 50 to 100 silver pieces for a 1st circle spell if there is some risk and inconvenience to the wizard.  In practice, in Cheliax, a commoner might, at most, pay a day's wage or so (a silver piece or two) for a 1st circle spell from a 1st circle wizard.  With no debts, this would still be enough for a comfortable life, but it is far short of the amount needed to pay down the debt from three years of wizard school.  So Fernando looked for the spell he could sell for the most money.  Learning infernal healing wasn't that hard.  Selling it for its true worth was trickier.  Fernando patiently accepted a silver coin per casting from the peasants around him in the backwater village he had set up in for minor injuries, trying just enough to haggle to make clear it wasn't a guaranteed price.  Until the day a man came to him to ask for healing for his pregnant wife who was bleeding out.  And so, Fernando followed him back to his home, then demanded 200 silver pieces for the healing spell.  The man balked and complained he didn't have that much money, but Fernando pulled out a contract he had cleverly had prepared in advance, stipulating a debt and interest plan.  Fernando doesn't find the opportunity to use this strategy often, but at around one such deal each year or so, with careful renegotiation and penalty terms over missed payments, Fernando had managed to set up a system of passive income across a circuit of villages that simply required he collect.

Still, despite his clever schemes, his school debt piled on, and Fernando's magic didn't grow stronger.  He managed to learn a trick or too, and eventually buy knowledge to bond an object, but at 31 years of age he was still only at 2 1st circle spells per day (three if you counted the bonded object he had saved so hard for).  He kept an eye out for opportunity though.  The Four Day War was over before he could figure out a way to profit, and in fact had cut into his profits when one of his debtors slipped away from their village to locations unknown.  But, when he saw the pamphlet about the constitutional convention and, even better, heard the common misunderstanding of it, Fernando saw opportunity.  Commoners, and indeed educated people used to the Asmodeanism of the old regime figured it was a test (and possibly trap) intended for the delegates personally.  Fernando had figured it out better than that.  Good people weren't allowed to set traps like that, so it was purely a test.  And the emphasis was that it was by county, with each county producing delegates from the Nobility, by sortition, and by election.  So the test was of the county, not the individuals, the individuals were merely proxies.  And it being Good people, failure didn't mean being tortured to death, but rather reeducation to proper Goodness (which wasn't great, but would be tolerable, Good people weren't allowed to use proper torture).  The stipend was better than he made on a typical day, and the challenge of this "convention" (even if, ran by Good people, it wouldn't be fatal) would give him an opportunity to grow stronger.  And, if he was honest with himself, Fernando was looking for an opportunity to express his true greatness.  And if he somehow failed this test, at least all the other people in the county would also suffer for it.

It took a bit of playing the idiot (but this wasn't hard, fully graduated wizards already looked down on him as stupid, and other laundry wizards thought of him as foolishly ambitious), but he got someone to suggest he put himself forward, letting him win the first stage of the election.  (They suggested to Fernando someone looking to climb up in station might do well at the convention).  At the second stage of the election, it turned out the bit of infamy from his string of prices gougings had given him the fame (and hatred) to attract a plurality of the vote.  It turns out even people he hadn't locked into a contract hated the sense that he was looking to get one over on them the next time they were in need.  But, it didn't matter.  Their hatred and misunderstanding of the circumstance had let him win, and soon he would be gone from this miserable backwater of a county.  Now he just had to enjoy his stipend (he already had a few spells to purchase in mind) and look for further opportunity as he prepared for the convention.