ADIOS (Aka a Day in the Isles of Scion) is the occasional post about some random aspect of the Isles of Scion Universe, this time around we will be discussing the wonders of the Wyrd Mages. For those of you out of the loop the Isles of Scion is a universe I’m developing through a series of books that should sometime in the next 3 years see their first release. Until then these posts will be helpful for me and those interested in getting ideas out. I’ll try to keep spoilers to a minimum (that being said if you read further than this expect to learn something you might not want to know when reading the book.

  In the Universe of Scion there are many different classes of sentient being, wizards, mages, knights, warlocks, sorcerers, paladins, rogues, and depending on the region you live in each can have a greatly varying set of skills that may in any case require the use of arcane energy or even in the case of wizards and warlocks (and various other spell casters) it may not require any sort of unexplainable energy source at all. Indeed the universe is vast and varying styles and strategies have been adapted by equally varying races to make even the same specialty wildly different for all those involved.

  However there is one class of being that is chaotically similar regardless of where you go, while no two is likely to be the same they all share the same base qualities that make them unique. These beings are known as Wyrd mages.

  A Wyrd mage is any being that has been the lucky victim of a sustained Wyrd spell, while many (essentially all) beings dealing with Wyrds will find themselves quickly digging their own grave a special few are given an eternal curse that for many involved is considered quite a blessing. The Curse of the Wyrd is a never ending and ever growing tomb of powers that are stored within the mind of the carrier. Without warning the Wyrd Mage, if perceptive enough, will begin to notice abnormalities in basically any one variable of life. Warping of time and space, water acting of its own accord, fire stopping its flicker and gazing at the mage, wood reaching towards the mage, and hundreds of thousands of other ever increasing anomalies.

  These events initially are all but impossible to control, for those unlucky enough to, for instance, be on a boat when a Wyrd related to water or wind begins could very well find themselves tossed out to sea by uncontrollable gusts, sitting idly in the midst of still air, or even watching the sea itself crawl up around their boat in an ill fated attempt to caress (and likely drown) them. It is an eternal struggle that is made ever more apparent by the fact that a Wyrd mage cannot die easily, a sustained and extreme amount of damage must be done to them as time itself and aging mysteriously halt. It gets even worse if the Mage has succumb to a regenerative Wyrd.

  At no point does the Mage grow more than one power, these powers become more and more extreme as the Mage attempts to master them. Once they have reached full mastery of the power, they will begin anew growing some other power. Previous Wyrds never vanish from their mind, being under their full control for as long as they live, however they cease to torture the caster once they are mastered. Indeed in a sick twist of fate the only way a Wyrd Mage knows that they have mastered something is when a whole new problem has begun to arise.

  For those who are not versed a Wyrd is a spell that results in a random result, casting a wyrd could as easily grant you power as strike you dead. It could just as easily fill a canteen with water as summon a golem to crush your skull. These spells are only cast by the most powerful of beings and even then it often leads to their deaths.

  The only good news a Wyrd Mage can garner outside of the possibility of eventually mastering all things, is that those wyrds that are mastered will take on a life of their own, when the Mage is threatened the realms they’ve garnered mastery over will do all in their powers to protect their host. For the oldest of Mages this can lead to defensive powers unimaginable by all but a small collective of sentient beings. This is also why many Wyrd Mages are hunted down and killed at a young age, to help circumvent the possibility of a nigh invincible being turning to death and destruction for their kicks.

  But so is the life of those blessed and cursed, to go an eternity in hopes of transcending all things and becoming a god amongst mortals.