A Lesson in Conjuring
The following content is a synopsis of Act I – Chapter 5 of Volanthia Divided, a campaign set in Norlanin and played by members of the Realm of Strife Patron’s Guild.
It has been two weeks since Oscar was expelled from VASA, and Mastermage Alonsus Wetherby has decided its high time that the students had a proper lesson in Conjuring so that any future “incidents” can be avoided.
He spends the first half of the class explaining the particulars of conjuring, and the differences between passive and active Conjurations. As he nears the end of his lecture, he introduces his own personal code of conduct for Conjuring.
“As practitioners of the Spiritual Arts, we have an ethical duty to the mundie populations living outside the walls of Volanthia, to ALWAYS conjure responsibly. Furthermore, if and when we lose control of our conjurations, it is OUR responsibility to deal with them, no one else. To assume otherwise, is to forever damage the delicate trust and goodwill that we ask of all mundies.” – Mastermage Alonsus Wetherby
Moving on to a more practical, hands-on lesson, he informs the class that they are to divide up into small groups and make their way to the training rooms. Once there each group faces off against a selection of conjured entities, unique to each student, that they may soon come across in their own studies.
Mastermage Alonsus Wetherby provides mischievous Brownie familiars for most of the mages, battlemages and wizards, while Flavia the Many-Coloured uses her Runeweaving to conjur Shadowbeasts to attack Woggugat the Misshapen (interestingly enough they take on the form of a circus handler with a cruel curved blade dripping purple ooze).
The mysterious shaman instructor, Speaker Gohron, summons Earth and Fire Elemental spawns to challenge Dwahain and Marimas, as well as a Treant Sapling for a student that he claims he does not see, yet can clearly sense. He also leaves Marimas with a dire warning:
“Young halfling, I sense a rage within you to rival even the wildest of Fire Elementals. You must learn to control that rage, or it will one day consume you.” -Speaker Gohron to apprentice Marimas Bilberry
The apprentices are able to subdue their out of control conjurations, and learn some valuable lessons in doing so.