Glastrom the Terrifying Adept of Black Flame

Role

Chapter 11

(Date Unknown)

I find that I am, for now, content with my place in the world.

True, others were chosen to lead in the Chasm over me. Two much newer to it
than I, the eldest remaining. One not even a true mage. Some would find it
insulting. I! I would have once found it insulting.

But I find that I appreciate these two, as much as I am capable of appreciating
another living creature. Charine and Paraloiut both are a powerful scourge on
those who would assail and limit magic. Both are clever and interesting.

I feel confident that both appreciate that it is the triumvirate of we three
who are the core might and wisdom of the Chasm, and if the other two are
burdened with fending off a horde of sycophants and leeches who dare to ask
for the secrets of Night? Well. I cannot deny that Chancellor Glastrom has
a fantastic sound to it, but there is still so much magic for me to learn and
make my own. There are still so many savages and idiots who cry out for
arcane fire. It does not displease me to be more free to focus on these
matters, for now.

Under leadership I liked less, I would be quick to plot and cease power. From
these two? I am satisfied to focus on being the most terrifying adept of black
flame I can be.

Yes. All will remember just why it is they fear the night.

Role

Chapter 10

(Date Unknown)
Today the Lord of Magic answered my prayers again after a fashion. I asked if
he had come to see the reasons for my choice, but he only called me a deceiver
again and again. His words, again, like daggers through my heart.

I steeled myself as best I could, declaring "It may be you are right in this,
Lord Twist. There may come a day where this Magic has twisted me far away from
what I wished to be, and that whatever Hell exists for Magic's apostates will
be mine. But until that day I will not hesitate to bloody my hands and use
this tool to fight the destroyers that I now grasp. If that damns me in your
eyes, I am saddened, but I will not waver."

The God of Magic's voice was like ice, like rage and loathing frozen over.
"Damn you, then." Glaring balefully at me, he willed that very thing to be
true.

It was divine Magic, direct from the Source, rushing at me like a diving dragon.
Yet at the same time, it was only Magic. I had trained so long in the bowels
of the Chasm, learning to seize upon sorcery meant to harm me and turn it on
its maker as the assassins are trained to turn an enemy's own momentum and
physical strength against them. Without time to think of the blasphemy I
committing, I turned that Magic upon my God. I felt it take hold.

"I see you've damned me. So be it."
He said nothing more. I could not help but feel that despite the reversal, I
was more damned, more the bastard child of Magic than ever.

Role

Chapter 9

(On one page of his journal it appears as though Glastrom attempted to codify
his thoughts on his beliefs and morality. Messy penmanship and a tone that is
sometimes informal make it clear that these are a work in progress or thoughts
he is weighing rather than something meant to be a final draft.)

Though the Lord of Magic shuns me, it changes nothing. My path is set.

I. The power of Magic is the great hope for all worlds, including Thera. It
is our means of progress, civilization, advancement, and security. It frees us
from the shackles of the natural world and sets us above animals. Preservation
of the power of Magic is the supreme imperative. Anything done to this end is
justified.

II. Those who would destroy Magic and who would murder all mages, or even all
members of any guild of mages without regard to their individual natures must
themselves be destroyed.

III. Servants or priests of Nature need to be culled as well. The natural
world is at odds with the power of Magic. It is a starting point, kindling
for the spark of life perhaps, but we can do better. Magic can build a better
world. Plant-loving reactionaries will stand in the way of this progress and
tend to murder useful necromancers and conjurers anyway. See II.

IV. The Empire and its servants need to be punished for casting out their
Arcane Sect and treating many mages as second-class citizens. This form of
bondage for mages can't be allowed to be the model of civilization.

V. Anyone who wants to kill me needs to die first, even if I wouldn't
otherwise have a problem with them. I can't walk this righteous path if I am
dead.

VI. The lives of mages should be preserved where possible. As long as they
aren't looking to kill me, or worshipping Nature, or part of the Empire, or
some of those Island people on whichever days they're trying to kill me, better
just assume they're always dangerous, or some kind of elf, or maybe some kind
of law mage trying to execute me, or someone who has something I need and won't
give it to me, or (scrawled in the margin: maybe skip this item, too many
exceptions!)

VII. Violence is necessary for many of the greatest magics, directly or
indirectly. This hard truth may not be eschewed or abjured.

VIII.Seek perfection in all things, especially those arcane, no matter how minor
the spell or technique. Said to be a teaching of the Masters of the Five Magics
and there must be a purpose or some power in it. Progress through elemental
magic reflects this principal, may hint at a greater truth.

Role

Chapter 8

(Date Unknown)

A Crk'than first came to my summons tonight.

How did I come to arrive at a place where I could call forth such a merciless,
twisted creature without fear or revulsion? Even reading my own words back in
this journal, I do not know. I only am certain that I am proud to be there.

We hunted, this Ccul'gra and I. We ran an elf down and tore him limb from limb
with spell and claw. I could feel that the Crk'than was impressed by the bloody
display of my magic. There was nothing of fear in the black thing, and yet I
could sense that it understood that I had a power worthy of its respect.

What a thing, to be bonded to such a creature! It is a ferocious thing, with
a hundred predatory senses and instincts I have no words for. I could feel its
every unspeakable hunger -- did the tomes and other Scions omit this information
in their accounts as a secret of the initiated, or have I forged some dark tie
to these beings beind their comprehension?

As our hunt concluded and the Ccul'gra returned to the Shadow Plane, a feeling
of disorientation washed over me, something like what the earthbound races call
vertigo. I suddenly understood that I had not only been sharing in the
Crk'than's dark lusts, but that I had also been experiencing a powerful echo
of my own bloodlust, perceived in me by the Crk'than's empathic senses and read
in turn by me through my tie to the creature.

Did it respect not my power but rather a kindred spirit? What have I become?

Role

Chapter 7

(Date Unknown. Unlike others this entry is in a hard to read, jagged scrawl)

Met Lord Twist today. An honor turned sour. Deceiver, betrayer he names me.
Disdains me for the Pact of Night. Tried to explain. None other have will and
power do what must be done. Safeguard Magic from barbarian destroyers. Twist
will not hear it. Explained Night might never come, but feared death of all
Magic more likely. Twist will not hear. Values balance. Hates Ccul'gra.

What sane course is left when the Lord of Magic will not stand with Magic?

No way back for me, only forward. Plan will continue. Can my passion jolt a
God back to sense? Seems unthinkable, but if not, I must go it alone.

(Just below, in angry block letters)

Apostate though I may be, my course can not waver. I choose Magic.

Role

Chapter 6

(Date Unknown)

I feel clear today. Some days are better, some days are worse.

Some days I get lost in my studies and before I know it the whole day has
passed. Those days I have no patience for the interruptions of petty people
and their irrelevant needs. Only the magic seems important.

Other days I am consumed by thoughts of the things I've done. Some voice
inside me remembers that it is wrong to harm or kill people. It finds fault
with even my acts of self defense. It recoils from the fact that I no longer
hesitate to eat meat. That voice seems quieter, more distant than it once
did. I hear its scolding less. Often it seems like the voice of a child to
me. The time has come to put aside childish things.

I killed another assassin yesterday. He tried to take my life in the forest
but the power of magic is greater than his bloodthirsty trickery. I chased
him into the city of Galadon and froze the flesh from his very bones. Although
he at first tried to deny it, when pressed he admitted that he hunts all magi.
His kind seem without end.

I am not ready to die. I have discovered a hunger to know just what the limits
of my magic are, and to exceed them any way I can. I also understand that the
promise of magic is even greater than my own wizardry. It is the light of
progress and the hope of a better tomorrow for all people. I can't let that
light be extinguished by some raging barbarians. They must instead be
eliminated by any means necessary. Someone must dirty their hands.

It is too much of a task for me alone. I need to find a like-minded group of
mages, one that won't balk at the crimes I've committed, one that isn't afraid
to do what must be done, one that doesn't fear to explore magic that the
guilds are too timid to study. I have heard of a group so bold that they
blasted a crater into the sands of Araile with their magic and now dwell there
unafraid of the attention and mage hunters it attracts. I mean to be one of
them.

Role

Chapter 5

(Summer 1630)

The healer says I'm sterile now. Always thought I'd have children someday, but
it's not to be. Don't have time for children now anyway. Maybe I can adopt
some orphans once I become a professor and get married.

Heard that my parents died of the plague in Arkham. I didn't cry but I feel
hollow inside.

Bought some more food and a sack full of iron rods to charge with lightning.
A man with an axe was watching me, but he kept his distance. Will return to
the wilderness tomorrow.

(Summer 1630)

The man with the axe was following me. I won't be another Ephelus! I set him
on fire. I thought it would be so hard, but he died like a rat, thrashing and
screeching. I didn't even feel sick. The guards don't seem to understand that
it was self-defense. I flew for the mountains.

(Autumn 1630)

Word has come on the wind that the guild sees me as a dangerous renegade now.
Teaching job seems unlikely. Official story is that the axe man was just a
lumberjack. Just a lumberjack until he takes his first mage skull and that
won't be mine. Won't be anyone's, now. Maybe he can chop some trees in Hell.

(Date Unknown)

City's gone. Family's gone. No leatherworker's daughter for me. No children
for me. No guild job for me. Nothing left but the magic, but the magic is
all I need. It solves every problem if I just use enough.

Not so hard. Not so hard at all.

Role

Chapter 4

(Date Unknown)

I've lost track of what day it is, but the important thing is, I've mastered the
spell for creating a localized earthquake. I ate some animals that wandered
into the vicinity and died of the tremors, so I still have some food left. I
might as well start in on mastering walls of air.

(Date Unknown)

The wind does my will. I still have some food, so I'll just make springs for a
while and see how that goes.

(Date Unknown)

These hares and llamas aren't going to burn themselves to death. I will
sacrifice their green hides on the altar of my mastery of fire.

(Spring 1629)

Finally ran out of food and went back to town. Leatherworker's daughter now
married with a three year old son. Guess I've been gone a while. Family seems
all right. Streets still full of blood. Got more food, heading back out to
study.

(Autumn 1629)

Can cast my voice far distances across the wind flawlessly now. Went back to
town for more food. Apparently my family moved to Arkham? Not that sure where.
Some dark elf with a whip started chasing me. Don't know why. Ran for it.

(Date Unknown)

Had an embarrassing accident with ice magic today. Don't feel so good.
Learned from that mistake, though. Closer than ever to a greater grasp of ice
para-element. Will head back to town and see a healer as soon as I finish with
this spell.

Role

Chapter 3

(Spring 1625)

I got to thinking about how hard I'd worked and how much I'd sacrificed to get
as far as I was, and tried to work up the courage to cyclone a rat. I was so
mortified by the very thought that my stomach kept heaving long after it had
gone empty. Eventually I managed to get all the way through casting the spell.
A flurry of winds tore the rat into a mist of fur and blood. Just when I
thought I couldn't throw up any more, that sight had me right back at it.

(Spring 1625)

It gets easier. By the tenth rat I could keep from vomiting. By the hundredth
rat I didn't even feel sick. I lost count after a thousand and now I feel
nothing. I am focused solely on the mastery of my craft. If these rats must
die so that my art can flourish, so be it.

(Summer 1625)

At last, I have a greater insight into wind magic. I've never felt so alive.
There's definitely something to this violence method. I'm learning to control
the heat in my hands much faster now that I'm trying to burn and freeze fish
with them. I hate to write it, but as disgusting as the necromancers are,
maybe they're on to something. Maybe only death can pay the price for true
power. At least the deaths of these mindless creatures suffice.

(Autumn 1625)

I stopped back into town for supplies. I fear that every stranger plans to wear
my scalp as a grim trophy. I heard that last week a storm giant broke into the
conjurer's guild and killed everyone inside. What a crazy world we live in.
I'll be safer back in the mountains for now. Anyway, I think spending so much
time in them is giving me a stronger grasp of earth.

The leatherworker's daughter bloomed considerably since I was here last. She's
looking really good. Maybe things will feel safer when I get back and I can
ask her to dinner. I'll just study this earthquake magic quickly and come back.

Role

Chapter 2

(Spring 1624)

Fill the jug, empty the jug, repeat. I don't see why I had to journey to
Darsylon's guild and study with these elves to fill a jug. There are plenty of
perfectly good jugs back home. I miss my family.

(Summer 1624)

I got word today that my old roommate Ephelus was killed in Hamsah Mu'tazz. He
was sitting by the fountain trying to coax para-elemental frost to his fingers
when some dwarf he'd never met buried an axe in his face. Who even does
something like that?

(Autumn 1624)

Apparently there's a whole village of madmen who murder apprentice mages for
some reason. I had never heard of them before Ephelus' incident. Now I can't
help but fear that everyone I don't know is one of them or one of their
supporters. I'm afraid to practice my spells in the comfort of a city . the
magistrates don't seem very effective in stopping these maniacs. Maybe I could
row a small boat to the middle of the ocean or fly up to the mountains and hide
out away from civilization somewhere as I study.

(Winter 1625)

Air is supposed to be my strong element, and yet, I can't summon forth the wind
unless it's to hurt something. I don't know why. The little cyclones I've
learned to make just don't coalesce without a living target.

I really struggle with this. I want to master the winds, but killing is wrong.
By Shokai's spear, I'm a pacifist and a vegetarian! I just can't commit mass
murder in the name of learning.

Role

Chapter 1

(Spring 1620)

Today I began my apprenticeship in the guild of invokers. Father says this is
the beginning of my life as an adult, so I've decided to keep this journal of
my thoughts along the way.

I have always wanted to be a wizard. I've been fascinated by magic my whole
life, and to be accepted by one of the great guilds is the best thing I could
have hoped for. Maybe someday I can be a great invoker and teach at the guild
myself. The admissions prefect tested me for affinity to each of the favored
elemental forces. He said that I had some command of all seven, though a
strong affinity for none. Except air, of course, but that's to be expected.
I thought this was great news, since I would be able to walk all seven paths
and command every element, but the prefect seemed concerned. He said that it
would have been better had I possessed a greater affinity for a smaller number
of elements. He said that it would be very difficult to master all seven and
that few managed to complete the long and grueling years of intense study
necessary to do so.

I think I can do it, though. School has always been easy for me. How hard
could this be?

(Winter 1624)

After several long years, I've completed the basics of my study, and can now
cast a basic spell in each of the seven paths. Most of the time, anyway, as
long as I can manage to focus and nothing distracts me too much. To think that
it's taken me so long to achieve such limited control, but oh, to think that the
very elements obey my will now! What a feeling to be able to bend reality with
my words and thoughts. The headmaster says I'm ready to be a journeyman now,
and that I can strive for mastery of these spells as I wander Thera and learn
from other masters.

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