The Task at Hand
Chapter: Season Four
Characters: Brett Kringle, Charlie, Jeda Swiftbeard - PC, Kel'Fazat - PC, Mel, Rian Dovaire - PC, Sam, The Iron King - NPC, Trevor, Vella Tyrell - PC
You haven’t seen Jeda’s hands until now…
Today we learn the actual name of Trevor’s character (Kel’Fazat), a little more about the lore of mages in Karthun, and the scope of the task at hand.
Mages are bound to elementals, spirits, or Djinn through ritual. The process is permanent and there is a bit of a taboo or misunderstanding with the entire lore, as you’ve seen already and perpetuated by mages like Qesh’Nax who are bound to evil beings. Both caster and being influence decisions and you may notice that some (like Kel) refer to themselves as “we” rather than “I”.
We’ll see more on mages as the series goes but I will go ahead and let everyone know that Kel’Fazat is bound to an air elemental.
The story continues on Friday.
Seems to be a minor typo in panel one, “gives pause us pause”
Yep, that got past me. FIXED! Thanks, CJ.
The mages have me interested for sure, I like the take on magic so far. Keep up the good work.
Strongly seconded. That is a very interesting take on the source of power for mages. Holds quite a lot of potential.
And the last panel really made me laugh. Absolutely epic and totally in character at that! 😀
we are still in the intro and I want to play this badly!
Rock on! Lord of the Cinderhaunt?!?!
Alright, curiosity super piqued!
Agreed RaiseDead…that is a seriously badass title to wear..but all good bad guys should have suitably epic title, that when spoken should put the fear of god in your players.
Very interesting..
The magic system so far reminds me of the Sha’ir of Al’ Qadim who are also linked to specific elements and depend upon their bond to their elementals (Gens or Genies) as the source of their spellcasting abilities.
Of course the bond of Sha’ir and Gen is nowhere near as encompassing as what is described with Qesh’nax.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, please kickstarter this setting and write it for all your adoring fans 😀
Sweet Gaming Gods, yes!
Double yes!
So let it be written, so let it be done… please
I concur, please give us this setting
At the very least, I think a few strips dedicated to setting details and fluff would be much appreciated.
Certainly not an accusation more observation, but is there a Dragon Age influence going on here? Magic and Mages mistrusted specifically due to the threat of possession by extra-dimensional being. A beardless, wise-cracking dwarven rogue formerly a prisoner of the kingdom. Even the honor bound lady knight rings a bell.
Well it certainly wasn’t meant to be but now that is all I will think about. In fact, I am going over what is to come and editing, revising, or outright throwing away aspects of this story just in case.
Expect sweeping changes.
I feel like this is sarcasm, but the fact that I almost can’t tell makes it glorious and hilarious.
Good! And be sure to never do it again. God forbid you inadvertently repeat a trope that might have, possibly, been hinted at in such a saturated genre. For example, dwarves being short? Passé, sir! I expect the full rewrite in my inbox first thing Monday morning.
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Point taken.
Ha thats awesome.
We have two, er had two, now one who were fighting for their “Parole”
And I myself, am hoping my noble and fierce actions during my last game will avoid having a mark of justice place up on me.
Makes me think of Stormbringer, just a bit… The game was solid and the books were great, but the magic system felt like it deserved a game all to itself (and I’ve always been tempted to turn it into a homebrew class for 1.0, because I feel like it’d be a good counter to runemagics/runecasters).
Must say you’ve got my attention, though.
In panel four you mean “rain” to fall from the sky, not “reign” to govern over, correct?
Yep. I’ll have to fix it when I get home from work. Late night lettering will be the death of me.
Dude, Brian, I’m very excited for this series. The talking of efreeti being bound to mages reminds me of the Sha’ir from the 4e Elemental Chaos supplement.
Out of curiosity, what edition/fluff/whatevers are you basing this on? And I echo that it has a sweet Dragon Age-esque vibe to it. Which is a good thing.
Also, minor typo on panel 4. It should read “He will rain down fire…” “Reign” is something that a king or leader does.
I’ll fix the typo when I get home today. Thanks for catching it.
I’m also making sweeping changes to the story and soon the characters to get it away from being a Dragon Age rip-off.
Now, I wouldn’t go so far to call it a rip off. So far besides the beardless dwarf and POSSIBLY the magic system there’s nothing concrete between the two. Besides we haven’t seen HOW magic works in this world yet..and the idea of magic-users being possessed by spirits and demons goes back to before the invention of bronze.
The magic system does not require any change. A lot of settings (and a lot of points in history) have been very, very distrustful of spellcasters of any sort, whether their powers are “of the devil” or the very real chance of possession. Hell, a lot of shamanic magic has at its heart a necessity of possession.
And I fail to see why a beardless dwarf is such an unusual thing. If your beard is too long, it’s in the way of everything. Really, there’s no need to change a thing.
Unless you’re still using that sarcasm thing. So hard to tell…..
That third panel looks pretty epic! 😀
DUDE!
Loving the story arc so far (had to catch back up as I was lagging a few strips behind).
Huh, that’s a really cool concept for mages, gives a lot of room for creativity.
Hey Brian, would you mind if at some point in the future I incorporated that idea for a game I GM?
I’ve had way too many adventurers start on the career for the same reason as Jeda Swiftbeard. Though my personal favourite shall always remain “Loot.” Died really early one session, rolled up my new character, and was ready well before the end of the night. The DM had me introduced to, and join the party as part of the loot from their successful fight with the Prince of Crows.
His real name was Allan, but no one ever remembered. He is, was, and shall remain, Loot.
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