Playing through as both a mage and a bandit, I think the rune seals are a waste of lp. If I had bought 15-20 levitation scrolls, 10 telekinesis scrolls, maybe 5 nautilus scrolls, I would have saved money overall that I had spent on runes and gotten just as much use of the spells. The rest of the spells I used less than the amount of their scrolls I received.

It wouldn't have hurt to spell it out clearer that getting caught by the inquisition would eliminate your chance of becoming a mage. Maybe have one of your guides say it emphatically, hey if you are caught there is no becoming a mage, they don't let prisoners in their ranks. Maybe he did and I didn't catch it, but it's not like the game would become all hugs and hand-holding after this one clarification. It would still likely murder you in the woods a couple minutes later.