# Lords of the Wasteland: Path of the Archmage - Main



## Chaos (Oct 4, 2012)

Lords of the Wasteland
Path of the Archmage​
_We're on the brink of a new age of magic. In a torn world, the unknowing catalysts of this new time rise to power. Some of the biggest sources ever discovered are found, eight sources for eight elements. The secrets about to be unveiled will change the world forever, the ancient powers that are entering the play dwarfing any that have walked the earth for thousands of years. Eight archmages will rise, unlocking magic that hasn't been seen since the Age of Heroes. Eight will rise, that's one certainty. The remaining question is as follows; How many will fall?_


----------



## Thaddeus Griffin (Oct 31, 2012)

Shelf after shelf, book after book Thorain browsed his library. Searching for one particular book, referenced in a faded footnote on a charred page of one of the books he?d saved from the fire some time before. He was researching ways of distilling more potent and more tasteful booze, hammered as is tradition. It was in that book saved from the fire, on the charred page where he saw the faded footnote that piqued his interest and made him browse his library in the first place.

After a few hours of searching he?d found it. Half-hidden on the lowest shelf of a bookcase behind his favourite chair. The tome was entitled: ?Magic Booze and You; A Journeyman?s Guide to Magic Brewing and Equipment.? The index showed promise hidden amongst knowledge long since obtained by Thorain. Especially interesting were the chapters regarding distilling equipment. Aside the chapters on standard equipment and usage there were chapters on home-made equipment, constructed through both physical and magical means. ?If I could somehow summon ready-made equipment it would increase my output tremendously!? he thought. 

Reading further into the subject his hopes seemed not entirely unfounded. Recorded in these pages were instructions on magical rites and rituals, all regarding the summoning of brewing and distilling equipment. Accompanying the script of the book were many hand-written additions and notes mad by familiar hands. It seemed this book had been in his family?s possession for some generations already. It seemed the rituals were not dissimilar to the type of magic he was accustomed to using for summoning his minions and various other beasts. The focus lied less with the animation in this school of magic. As the summoned objects are inanimate, the focus lies more on the material and its properties, magical or otherwise.

After reading through the chapters on summoning smaller objects such as barrels and glassware, he decided to give it a go. Drawing the magic circle illustrated in the book, seating himself before it, memorising and reciting the incantation. He focused on what it felt like, the rough grain of the wood, the cold iron of the hoops, the knots and ridges in the planks, the size and shape, all he saw before him as his world turned into a barrel, and only a barrel. He recited the incantation, knowing no other words, and released his magic.

?A plank?, he thought miserably as said plank burst into flames. ?All that and all I get is a PLANK?! GODDAMN IT ALL!??? He decided it wasn?t over yet. He grabbed his ever-at-hand bottle of booze, took a mighty swig and realised something. All this time he?d been drinking out of bottles mostly, since he considered most conventional glasses far too small. ?A barrel might have been overreaching a bit. a glass should be easier since it?s smaller, I?ll keep it simple, nothing fancy.? He looked up the relevant pages and started again.

The feeling was the same, his focus narrowing until he saw only the glass he was forming in his mind. The texture, the shape, the size and even the colour, he envisioned it all, not even by conscious thought, but more as if in a trance, letting himself create glass as it would be created. This time he felt much more at ease with the feeling so fresh and familiar in his mind. He released his magic gradually this time, slowly forming the glass before him, materialising the base form. He was surprised that it was sand, he could see it shaping as a glass, but remaining sand in every other way. Thorain didn?t hesitate as he knew what was needed. Infusing the ritual with his most trusted and potent magic, fire. He saw the sand begin to glow and fuse, forming a red-hot shape in the circle before him. Channeling fire through the ritual made it more potent, Thorain noticed as he found himself straining less to maintain the shape. Trying to deform the glass proved possible, and he decided to add a little flair to his creation. He felt confident and focused as he began to transform the glass. He twisted the bottom, forming diagonal ridges along the length of the glass. He tried increasing the thickness of the bottom and found it within his abilities, the core of the bottom burning more intensely it seemed that the more heat, the easier it was to manipulate the object. He diffused the heat outward, to create a depression in the bottom of the glass. Feeling the effects of maintaining his magic flow, he left it at that. Slowly letting the glass cool and settle by sapping it of its warmth.

He marvelled at his successful creation. The glass was magically pure, seemingly having its own shine reflecting from it. It was quite large, about the size of a good tankard, which was just fine for Thorain. The glass had a slight colouration to it, darkening at the bottom where the glass was thickest, was a deep golden colour, resembling his darkest brews. The top was thin and had an almost translucent golden shine, reminding Thorain of his purest filtrations, the ones that he had been proud of in another time. The efforts had left him tired and he decided to call it a day. He retired to his room and put the glass beside the decanter on his nightstand before resting his head and drifting into an exhausted sleep, nevertheless filled with a sense of accomplishment for successfully creating his very own glass.


----------



## Thaddeus Griffin (Jan 19, 2013)

Beneath the main levels of Shesol Volas, deep within the cavernous vaults sunk into the mountain was Thorain. As he was looking to install a still in his tower, he was searching for the appropriate place to put it. In these caves he felt a force of magic, not a disturbance, but much the opposite. He felt as if he knew this magic, as if it were connected to him and his tower somehow.

	After searching chambers and sub chambers, well-lit storage spaces, and musty dank mountain caves, he came across a small cave. It looked ordinary to mundane eyes, but to Thorain this cave was of special interest. Emanating from it, Thorain could feel that same familiar magic he felt all along, but somehow more focused here. Stepping inside proved his instincts to be correct, for as his eyes scanned the walls of the cave he felt the magic all around him. Though he could not even see it, he could imagine the magic seeping from the very rock of the mountain.

 	The size seemed adequate, he could envision his still in this room, and furthermore he anticipated that the magic could very well infuse and empower his brews, granting them magical potency with alcoholic and thus flammable potency to boot._ Yes, this will do. I?ll have Jack and Morgan begin construction. I?ll have to study this magic more thoroughly however, I need to find its source._ As he climbed back to his living quarters he could not shake the sensation of the magic he had felt. It permeated his tower, the mountain, it was everywhere around him. He did not mind it, though he was intrigued by its vast presence.

	Later that day, before the hearth sweetly humming in the library, stood Jack and Morgan side by side. ?I want you to begin working on a still, leave the still?s components to me, but begin construction on the frame.? They looked at each other slightly quizzically, before starting on the task appointed to them. Thorain kept reading, he needed to further research and practice his conjuration if he wished to make a still anytime soon. Besides that, he needed to investigate the omnipresent magic. The longer he thought about it, the more he could feel it all throughout his tower.

	He smoked his pipe, filled with the herbs he had found growing beneath his tower. In a deep, humid cavern he had found these plants. He had not expected to find much floral life here, and decided to inspect the cave. The humidity was caused by hot vents, spewing water vapor from even lower caves, heated by the mountain. There wasn?t much light, but he could see the sky through slits in the rock. He had picked some of the herbs, swiftly drying them with a flash of magical heat and storing them in his pouch. He brought them to his alchemy bench in his library. There he examined the plant more closely, looking through several floral encyclopedia for a reference to what he had found. 

	The third book proved helpful, stating it as a smokable herb, used to induce different effects specific to each strain, but generally it provided a euphoric state of mind and impaired motor skills. Writ within another tome, an old, leather-bound and dust-covered collection of pages, loosely banded, was stated that this plant could induce hallucinations, or an altered perception of reality. This interested Thorain, he wondered if he could come to a better understanding of magic, in whatever manner, if he tried smoking this herb.

	As he smoked his pipe, he felt the smoke had a more intense impact on his airways than tobacco. Nevertheless, the taste was splendid and fresh, almost mint-like in flavor. The effects were not immediately noticed, but as Thorain stood to reach a bookshelf he felt himself wobble, almost losing his balance. He felt light-headed and slightly fuzzy, as if he had drunk too much the night before, but with a most pleasant replacement for the headache that usually came with that fuzziness. After regaining his composure he grabbed the book he was looking for and sat down to read, of latent magic hidden in the soil and rock of the world, of places of import to magic, its sources and potencies, seeking something describing the magic he could feel throughout his tower evermore.


----------

