Magic Stuff

Familiars

 * Bonding a familiar requires the mage to sacrifice part of his Magery. From that point on, his magery is only accessible when touching the the familiar (or when close to the familiar... haven't decided yet). Thus, familiars are usually kept close by. And safe.
 * The bond a mage has with his familiar can be strengthen him in some ways, such as allowing the mage to store a certain amount of mana "inside" the familiar.

Items of Power

 * They work like familiars. The mage binds part of his Gift to an object. That object subsequently gains powers. The mage may also store magical energy within the object. He can only access that part of his magery when he is touching the object.

Metaphysics

 * Of the "standard" races, High Elves are the most magically potent. Not all of them learn how to use their talents, but most of them do.
 * Humans are magically weak. Quite a few humans have some degree of magical ability. It's not as well developed as the elves's, of course. So most humans have to use foci to manipulate mana. This means using material reagents, verbal incantations or arcane gestures. These foci help gather and shape the mana required for a spell.
 * A few humans every generation are special. This means they have great control over mana. Most of them die young, never knowing how to control their powers. They are not usually "diagnosed", and die of mana burns (which the common peasantry takes for some strange disease). The few that manage to survive learn slowly, as there are no schools or masters for them. And nearly all of these end up being killed by the Holy Inquisition, which has a branch exclusively dedicated to the hunting elimination of these mages. The final result is that only a handful of them became famous and/or successful since the fall of the Old Empire.