#.about an archmage

[electoons]

I love the college of winterhold. everyone there is casually deranged and there's like an alarming number of students and staff who threaten you immediately when they meet you. it's always one of the first questlines I do. which makes it even funnier when you get made the arch-mage of the college. I'm level 12 and got through this questline knowing exactly 3 spells. what do you mean you want me to lead the college. this school CANNOT be an accredited institution

[bishie-in-azeroth]

Just a reminder that if your character did the legendary ring questline in Warlords of Draenor this guy had them (temporarily) killed.

[essektheylyss]

Here's the thing. Yes of course I am very excited that there is more of my boy tonight. But what I am MOST excited about is that we are finally getting ASSEMBLY POLITICS LORE THAT I HAVE BEEN ASKING ABOUT FOR A YEAR AND A HALF

[fidgetspringer-art]

✷ Archmage Tethry Ikos ✷

[antiqua-lugar]

"what's the secret to befriending lae'zel" when she tells me that we need to find her people because they have been fighting mindflayers for centuries and she asks me to trust her about her own people and her own culture, I do.

[its-leethee]

What kind of magic does the Jailer use, and what is her connection to the Key of Aaravos?

I have thought for a while that perhaps the Jailer is neither a primal nor a dark magic user, and that she utilized the Key of Aaravos to serve an important role in his imprisonment. Now, there isn't a lot of overt evidence for my hypothesis here; this is a ramble of pure speculation. I'm going to do my best to present the dialogue and canon-consistent logic to support my thoughts. Here goes:

The prevailing opinion in Xadia is that "human magic" is akin to trickery and sleight of hand. When confronted with Callum's claim of being a primal mage in 5x07, Nyx dismisses his boast reflexively: “I’ve seen ‘human magic.’ Fake ropes, false doors, birds and rabbits stuffed into clothing.” To her, it's common knowledge that humans can't use real primal magic, and her derisive attitude shows she doesn't have much respect for human magic either. As for dark magic, Nyx doesn't even mention it at all; as Lujanne said in 2x01, "we do not call that practice magic. It's an atrocity."

But human magic has one more specialty: creating and solving puzzles. The mechanical devices and riddles guarding the secrets in Kpp'ar's labyrinthine house and the rock-stone puzzle hiding the staircase to Viren's dungeon are story-significant examples of the types of innovations created by human magic. In 1x03, Ezran solves the rock-stone puzzle to reveal the staircase hiding Viren's dungeon. Callum answers the riddle posed by Rex Igneous in 4x08, "having knowledge isn't knowing knowledge…. He has a map!"

So neither a primal mage nor a dark mage would resort to puzzles and riddles, the gimmicks used by magic-less humans. So let's now consider the Jailer.

During the post-season four Discord Q&A, Aaron Ehasz states that the Jailer is a "mastermind of prisons and puzzles."

In episode 5x05, Archmage Akiyu tells the story of how she met the Jailer and introduces her as "a human mage." Akiyu goes on to explain:

"The archdragons had given the Jailer a daunting task, to design a magical prison that could hold a Startouch Elf. She needed my powers to craft the prison itself." (emphasis mine).

It stands to reason that a competent dark mage, with the notoreity to catch the attention of the archdragons, could bring that kind of power into her grasp on her own. So why would the Jailer seek out the powers of primal archmage, unless she couldn't wield that power herself? Furthermore, knowing the prejudice that the archdragons hold against dark magic--all of humanity was driven out of Xadia for refusing to forswear its use--I don't believe the archdragons would ever condone cooperating with a dark mage, even to quell an existential crisis like a demi-god bent on world destruction.

Akiyu tells us one more intriguing thing that the Jailer said:

"'The puzzle is the real prison,' she told me with a proud smile," (again, emphasis mine)

There's another word besides "magic" that we can use to describe the practice of creating and solving puzzles: cryptography; the art and science of creating and breaking codes and ciphers. The terms code and cipher are often used interchangeably, but their meanings are technically different. Basically, a code uses arbitrary substitutions while a cipher uses an algorithm.

Now, if you wish to solve a puzzle, you're going to need all the pieces - and if you wish to solve a cipher or code, you're going to need a key.

More than one use has been hinted at for the Key of Aaravos. We've heard Rayla refer to it several times as a toy and a game piece (1x04, 2x07). In the book two novelization, Callum notices that the Key left marks on the ground that appeared to point toward Xadia (we get a glimpse of those lines in early episode 2x07). In 4x07, we get suspiciously up-close framing of the Key when Callum asks, "is there no primal gem for star magic?"

And a few months back, one of the TDP creators shared on Twitter about a season 6 scene that was eventually cut. In the scene, Callum holds the Key up to a symbol on a wall and says, "I'm gleaming the cube!" (if anyone remembers this twitter convo and can provide me a link to this, I would be so grateful)

This is the Key feature we're all most familiar with: its glow. When exposed to a source of magic, the corresponding primal magic symbol on the Key lights up. This is why I think one of the potential functions of the Key of Aaravos is as a cryptographic key. If it were held up to a magic-infused symbol, the glow effect would reveal the primal magic source - and in this way it could be used to decode a secret message.

In cryptography, a key is the series of words, symbols or phrases that contain all of the basic information you need to decode or understand a specific coded message. Both the sender and receiver of the coded message need to know the key in order to create the coded message or decode it into plaintext - to lock or unlock the meaning behind a cipher or code.

I can't speculate on the exact nature of the secrets that she encrypted with it, but the Key can literally shed light on the solution! It was a toy that was repurposed by a the Jailer, magicless human mage and mastermind of ciphers and codes, to protect the secrets of Aaravos and his prison.

Exactly what secrets it will be used to reveal remains part of the Mystery.

if you're interested in learning more about cryptography, this page has links to a lot of my favorite resources

Recommended reading for more Key of Aaravos and the Jailer theories:

the post that initially enabled my crazy train of thoughts, thank you @beautifulterriblequeen

super rad analysis of the Jailer's unique character design by @kradogsrats, who also authored one of my favorite alternative hypothesis for the real function of the Key of Aaravos

an amazing thorough and detailed Key analysis, by @raayllum and another very interesting conversation about the Key here

Special thanks to @raayllum for answering my random Akiyu and Jailer questions, and to @self-spaghettification for giving me the push I needed to bring this essay together!

[romance-rambles]

somehow i am completely, totally, absolutely, postively normal about mc calling alkaid "pretty boy" (flirty) and then he gets flustered because?? you're smiling at him?? so prettily?? you're the pretty one actually—how on earth could you not know that??

[astrid-beck]

that's MASTER astrid becke to you cunt

[recitedemise]

𝗕𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲, 𝗚𝗮𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝘄𝗶𝘇𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹, and that, rest assured, is NOT just ego talking. Under Mystra's doting guidance, Gale Dekarios, or the esteemed Gale of Waterdeep, was well and truly a nigh on frightening wizard. Having then been a proud owner of the title of archmage, this man's pure arcane might was not to be underestimated. An archmage, or an exceptionally high-classed spellcaster, is no classification easily obtained. One must study hard, rigorously, poring themselves utterly into tomes and practice, and even then, those practitioners of magic that whittle years for mastery? Not even a quarter of them can dream to hold that coveted distinction. Gale, being a conductor of all the elements, was one of the few, both respected and notable. Even now, Gale, though unable to tap into that power he once had, is incredibly well-versed in high arcana. Truthfully, it hurts him to know he's information he can't use, but you should have seen him work when he still possessed the skill... All that secret lore there for the reckoning! All that half-forgotten knowledge there for his use! Not only had Gale known spells most wizards and sorcerers alike could hardly think to conceive, but he was able to warp them with a flick of his fingers, too. In fact, this very man manipulated nature to his control. Casting firebolt with thunder? Or freezing flesh with flames? He was able to do it all, and he'd even the knack for turning spells back to sender, a mere counterspell turned caster's regret. Now Gale, stripped of power, yearns for this strength again. The netherese blight sucks at it. Knowing what he had been, it makes the coping with who he's become infinitely harder, truthfully—and that's saying nothing of his orb or his new illithid companion.

[rosenfey]

I think it's so brave of me to try and fix my sleeping schedule. unfortunately it's 3:30am

[littlegalerion]

As a homesteader, I can say 100% Halsin needs some serious help. He is all about "nature has a balance, where all are cared for", meanwhile here I am, having to pull two drakes off one lady duck because, by nature, both will attempt to breed her as roughly as possible, even if it ends up injuring/killing her.

Also, by nature, my chickens have a strict pecking order. A good few get bullied as they are the lowest in the order. I attempted to introduce some young ladies to my less than a foot tall Sebright Rooster, and he was brutal with the bullying. I had to pull them out, he was so bad.

Nature is not a beautiful, idealistic lifestyle. It is survival of the fittest.

Perhaps Halsin needs to seriously rethink civilizations' role in nature. That we, as people of all races, differ from animals in that we can choose to rise above our basic desires and urges if we so choose. Chaotic change is normal among the wilds, but we can actually bring good change, despite however much evil is in the world.

That is our role.

[serpentineshine]

Letters A, K, J, and P?

Yippee! Thank you tumblr mutual starredforlife <3 Oh boy, D&D NPC time, this post might be a bit of a long one… I may not be the best explanatory writer right now, but I tried. :’)

Alba Elûmoine (World Setting: Trita, Deltarra, Other)

A is pretty easy since Alba is a beloved recurring NPC of mine. Alba Elûmoine, or stage name “Alba Alabaster”, is a Tiefling with Ice Devil heritage. He’s a cleric, usually of a setting’s moon goddess (Selûne, Deonora, etc.), and is legally blind. He’s typically soft-spoken, polite, and pleasant to talk to, but can be stubborn and brazen if the situation calls for it. Born to be sassy, forced to be classy.😔 It depends on what setting he appears in, but he typically works as a courtesan and often attracts clients wishing to keep their identity a secret(in his early life he makes a lot of extra money blackmailing clients who think he is more blind than he actually is). In settings where he is older and more wealthy he’s an avid collector of magical and historical artifacts and will often hire adventurers to fetch things for him. Love this guy, he’s so fun, I think I’ve had him as a character since maybe like 2018, maybe 2017? Thankfully he’s been very beloved, so I was not short on finding art of him. <3

My most recent sketch of him is with a werewolf, I thought you’d appreciate that info :)

Khovid Va Otsukimi (World Setting: Deltarra)

This is my warning and reminder to all GMs and OC creators to say your characters names out loud, or mid D&D game you might accidentally end up with a character named Covid, even though it’s not spelled the same way... Khovid Va is Elven and a shopkeeper in the city of Ebon'rana. His shop is called “Glasshopper” and he specializes in selling magical weapons. He’s mute and has a large horizontal scar across the front of his neck, as well as a scar across his left cheek by his mouth and right eyebrow. He can do that cool thing where he can write upside down and does that at his counter to communicate with guests (and show off). His fun trivia and secret lore is that he faked his own death and ran away from his noble family in the Feywild because they wanted him to basically become the next leader of the Autumn Court and he couldn’t take the responsibility. Khovid Va is his full first name! He just has a two-part first name. Yes, I created him in 2020, no I did not realize at the time that I named him Covid until it was too late… I don’t have many drawings of him, but here’s a very small old sketch of him.

Jortly (World Setting: Deltarra)

I actually have very few NPCs who have names starting with J so this took me a sec, but then I was reminded of Jortly (thank you hedgie). Jortly is a Tortle monk and a son of one of my player’s characters. Think about combining a turtle with one of those stretchy blue sticky hand toys and that’s basically Jortly. He talks like he’s so worried all the time and his catchphrase is “Oh gosh”.

Phonoko Silverscribe (World Setting: Trita)

Archivist Phonoko Silverscribe is one of the three head mages of the Harmonic Circle Mage’s Association, and right-hand to the High Mage. He’s an older Aarakocra gentleman with a bit of a nervous demeanor. He and his team are in charge of magical archival information for the association as well as he basically keeps everything in order for the other two top archmages. There’s more to him as well, but I have a couple of my players following me here who are playing in this setting right now, so I can’t reveal too much at the moment, he might be a more relevant character at a later time. :)) this drawing and design of him is by @hedgehogofspades!

Oof ok wow that took a while, thank you for the ask!

[beregosts]

to be clear there's not a single va in this game that isn't exceptional, but tim downie should get more credit as gale because it would've been so easy for gale to be utterly insufferable but there isn't a single line read that doesn't balance his clear desire to infodump with that funky funky charm.

[essektheylyss]

Man, I desperately hope we're doing wizard things in Rexxentrum for the Nein one-shot. Please, let me see the terrible, no-good, really shitty Apogee Solstice the terrible, no-good, really shitty wizards are having, Matt.

[psychiclounge]

i know i've seen a post about it before and i think i've talked about it here already as well but man i love the differences between how a wizard tav and gale approach the magic mirror in ilyn toth's cellar... wizard tav is all eager to see it, they've read about magic mirrors before but never seen one in real life! this is so exciting!

and gale's initial reaction is... Unimpressed

and then where tav has the option to simply examine the mirror, gale SNIFFS the thing. i love it. i love it so much i need to know more about magic and the physical senses... what does it smell like gale. tell us please

also more of gale (and a bit of wizard tav) being Like That with the mirror:

[mage-witha-glock]

The group