An account written on the appearance of Magicians with mention of the Philosopher’s Stone.

From the Reconstruction Archive, 533 Sela

Documented by Magister Ashwise, The Cloisters

For those of our generation, The Blood War saw unparalleled levels of death and destruction. While many are quick to blame the Gods and their followers on this, it can not be overstated that some of the most horrendous violence had nothing to do with the Gods themselves. Indeed, many opportunists took the ample chance and fell upon the weakened lands and people of Circadia.

The Witches of Blackbird Hill are perhaps among the most infamous of wartime scavengers, but they are far from the most nefarious. Whatever your opinion may be on witchcraft as a practice, the Blackbird Hill lot were little more than carrion crows descending upon an available feast. We may find it a desecration of the fallen, yes, but they no doubt find it an appropriate recycling of resources. Or so I’ve been told.

In any event, some of the most senseless and greedy acts were committed by otherwise mundane people divorced from magic of any type. One of the most notorious being Balyn the Butcher.

Balyn the Butcher and the Massacre at Wexly Pass

Balyn Crawford was once a cattle farmer from the low country at Plymore. He inherited the farm from his mother and her father before her. The Crawfords were known for sturdy herds of healthy, docile cattle; they distributed leather, meat, and dairy widely to any number of merchants. Balyn Crawford mostly kept to himself, with his wife and two sons playing equal part in the upkeep of the farm.

Unlike many other farmers, Crawford was uniquely situated at the outbreak of the Blood War. His family had never followed the Gods and, by their account, had amassed considerable land and worth without Divine favor. Prior to the war, Balyn had been proud of this, frequently dismissing the Devout of neighboring towns as “lazy” and “incompetent save their gods.” As violence among the Gods and Devout broke out, Balyn became more confident in his gloating.

Indeed, the braggart was perhaps not entirely without foundation. Many common farmers found themselves and their families pulled towards their Divine allegiances. Many crops and livestock were diverted towards feeding the war effort. Some lands were entirely destroyed by battles. And, of course, many fields lay fallow as their tenders abandoned growing for the war and failed to ever return. All the more disastrous trade routes became fraught and deadly. Merchants and traders stopped traveling to remote areas such as Plymore.

Amidst all this, Balyn and his family sat cozily from their lands, chuckling at the good fortune of following no God. Prior to war, Balyn had served as an unlikable but respected farmer; during the war, as food became increasingly scarce, Balyn and his farm were precious necessitites, particularly for the tiny villages in his immediate proximity.

Balyn’s Greed and a Terrible Tax

Another man might have measured out kindness to his fellows, but Balyn was shrewd and self-interested. He drove up prices on his goods, selling the worst of cuts at the highest known marks. When the leaders of the surrounding villages demanded (and later begged) his pity, he struck icy bargains: he would supply meat, dairy, and leather at more reasonable prices, but they would surrender their arable land to him. Should they want to work it for their own good, they would pay him a hefty tax.

The villages had no choice, and the two hundred or so people who relied on the Crawford farm for food found themselves working Balyn’s newly acquired land. However, their landlord was not content and continued to demand increased goods. After a few months, the meager crops they grew failed to match the increasingly burdensome taxes Crawford took.

A Meeting with Balyn

After a year of the Blood War, the largest of the villages, Wexly Pass, populated by some hundred people, found the situation unlivable. Malnutrition and frustration flourished at equal pace. Wexly Pass was a village that had long favored Steramestei, and, due to their continued misfortune, even the Star Lady had been uncharacteristically generous in her blessings. However, dreams don’t fill bellies, and the villagers decided something must be done.

A group of three Wexly Pass leaders organized a meeting at Crawford’s farm. In no uncertain terms, they stated that Crawford’s avarice would cause the death of many and in short order. They asked that he immediately alleviate them of his demands and provide food to the growing number of families going without.

According to eyewitness accounts, Crawford laughed and slapped the table in front of him. “You and what army? Do tell!” he howled, mocking the villagers’ belief in the “all but useless” Steramestei. The villagers retreated in defeat–a simple coup over Crawford, at least in their small number, seemed unlikely. With his wealth, he had hired a group of mercenaries to protect his property.

However, some weeks later, Crawford found himself without pay from Wexly Pass. He sent a scout to demand the taxes, but the scout returned empty-handed. The scout reported further than all of Wexly Pass was barricaded with thirty foot staked fences, including the land Crawford had claimed. Clearly, the inspiration of Steramestei meant something.

Balyn Becomes the Butcher

Crawford was enraged, and his cold heart shivered all the more frozen. He gathered his mercenary group and, leading the charge, set out to Wexly Pass.

The village’s gates did not hold. Things that occurred remain among the ugliest accounts in all Circadian history, and the Massacre at Wexly Pass is a grim story told, in detail, in many other archives. Suffice to say, there were no survivors. The tales we know were recounted directly by Balyn and his mercenaries.

Today, Wexly Pass serves as a memorial to the fallen villagers. It was erected by the Clergy of Kasamei and Steramestei and stands as a somber, eerie condemnation of greed in the face of hardship. Few visit Wexly Pass, remarking on the creeping nightmares that descend upon any who visit.

Justice Writ Heavenly

Balyn remains alive. To the casual reader, this might be surprising. However, as Wexly Pass was Blessed by the Star Lady, Steramestei meted out his judgment swiftly and mercilessly.

Even now, Balyn is held in an unknown jail–he thrashes in his sleep, attempting to wake himself from the endless nightmare with which Steramestei has punished him. It is said that, through her nightmares, he is forced to relive the violence that he has done in an endless cycle. He would be driven mad, some say, were it not for Steramestei’s purview over Madness itself. If Balyn’s heart is of mere earthly ice, Steramestei’s heart is frosted by the unforgiving coldness which garlands the circling heavens.

But where are Magicians in all of this?

Balyn was, after all, an ordinary man who did extraordinary wickedness.

While it is important to be aware of the evil that simple folk can do, it is equally important to understand the strange history of Wexly Pass in order to fully appreciate the Magician Rodney McQuinn.

The Strange Pursuits of Rodney McQuinn and the Philosopher’s Stone

Rodney McQuinn was a rather odd young man who, among other things, fancied a young lady or three at Wexly Pass. A Plymore commoner out of Wexly Pass’s neighboring village, Hardwick, McQuinn traveled weekly to Wexly.

While there, McQuinn was known to dazzle the locals with magical tricks. He would conjure immaterial flowers from the air, change the color of rooftops, and swirl the well-water until it frothed jewel-tone bubbles. Indeed, the parents of the young ladies he fancied might have been less generous with their patience had McQuinn not kept the village’s young children occupied for hours.

McQuinn’s Mystery Tutor

It was widely assumed, of course, that McQuinn was a Devout of Opix or Steramestei who was given to using his magic for frivolity rather than things of a practical nature. However, McQuinn offered no such worship. He kept it a secret unto himself, but McQuinn was a Magician of the simplest kind. Since boyhood, he had been interested in Magic and, at some point in his young adulthood, he had come under the tutelage of a most skilled teacher.

By age 20, McQuinn could bring forth illusory flowers and birds and, by age 22, he had some minor control over the movement of water.

Prior to the Blood War, this meant little, of course. Followers of Opix and Mynair were much better at the control (and even some creation) of water, and McQuinn’s dalliance were no more than entertaining.

McQuinn’s Professional Development

However, as the Devout left for the war, McQuinn found himself frequently asked after. In the absence of ranking Devout, villagers still needed streams diverted for irrigation or flood waters removed from homes. While any such action caused him a great deal of effort, McQuinn was a local handyman of sorts. The mundane chores gave him the opportunity to practice, and he continued to hone his abilities.

As things became dire with Crawford, however, McQuinn’s meager abilities were less and less needed. Villages became insular and former customers could no longer pay. McQuinn charged little for his services, but many who might have formerly asked for his work abandoned their farms and took to gathering their foods wholly from the woods. (“After all,” one woman stated, “Crawford hasn’t yet thought to take what we don’t grow.”) While a bit sad, McQuinn retired from his odd jobs and returned to, in his copious free time, reading the tomes his absent master gave him.

A Return to Wexly Pass

Which brings us to Wexly. McQuinn and his family, who had many a friend in Wexly Pass, were among the first in Hardwick to hear of the massacre. Rodney McQuinn and his three brothers quickly rode their horses to the small village. None of the McQuinn’s will speak on the carnage, but, apparently, Rodney McQuinn had his own sort of awakening.

His oldest brother Osric reports his younger brother stated:

“What is the point of the Gods’ Magic if it cannot protect against the harms Mortals do without it? Mortals should learn to arm themselves, free of the Gods, with Magic.”

Osric claims his brother was “basically raving as one struck by Steramestei.” On their trip back to Hardwick, Rodney continued to ramble to himself, repeatedly claiming that “the Philosopher’s Stone is the answer to all this.” That night, reportedly, Rodney packed up his things and made for the cities. His family has not seen him since.

The Puzzling End

Rodney McQuinn is something of a folk hero, and local Circadian theaters all have their own rendition of his tale. Certainly, McQuinn’s sentiments echo that of many of contemporary Heretics, and even the steeliest of Devouts sympathize with the story.

However, McQuinn’s Magic, and the Magic of all Magicians, should not be relegated to romance. The practice of the Magician, however Heretical, is complex and all but unknown. Afterall, Magicians didn’t emerge in number until shortly before the Blood War. If their magic is anything like that of Witches, it is potentially dangerous to the world around us. If it is not, well… who is to say?

Sadly, McQuinn never left note of where he learned the fundamentals of being a Magician. That remains a story, for now, unknown and all the moreso worthy of earnest pursuit.

Glossary

Balyn the Butcher-A cattle farmer responsible for the murder of some 4 dozen villagers

Kasamei-Steramestei’s sister, she is the celestial goddess associated with passage and death

Magician- an individual who can do minor acts of magic without the Blessing of a God and without using witchcraft

Opix– A fallen God, they are associated with chaos, change, and minor weather events

Philosopher’s Stone-a Magician’s item frequently referenced by known Magicians

Plymore-a remote valley area populated by small villages including Wexly Pass and Hardwick

Steramestei-the goddess of dreams and stars, she is known to be equally kind or cruel when provoked

Rodney McQuinn-a known Magician from the small village of Hardwick

Wexly Pass-A village that was the site of a massacre; it remains an uninhabited memorial