Mage Wights

High level mages that turn into mage wrights and lose their minds in the process. The type of Wright depends on the type of magic that the Mage used and their personality also depends on it.

If Magic is just the effect of one’s will acting upon the world, what happens when such a person loses control over their Will, or if the world acts upon them, or if they break such intrinsic rules as that of nature. Magic can be twisted and shaped to become what you wish, but lose control, ask too much of it and it begins to do the same to the caster, warps you, changes you and if you do not heed this warning you will fall to into the inevitable ending of all genius mages, the horrid Mage Wright.

There is nothing a mage can do to prevent this final ending except to be smart with the magic they use. Once the eye has “been broken” (that is to say once the signaling colours in the sclera of the eye begins to extend into the rest of the face) it is suggested by most to end their arcane careers. If the sclera is broken the sickness can begin in other places that the caster concentrates their will and energies. If the spread reaches past the elbow or down the neck it can continue without the mage casting. At this point a mage is forcefully retired by the establishment.

Once the spread has established it not only affects the physical self but also the mental. You see magic is highly addictive, this is why you never really see many mages retire, nor voluntarily choose another path. The energy of magic is the strongest drug which, especially to those with it already tied to their blood, courses through every fibre of the being.

On the topic of the final stages of Arcanus et Conlidam (otherwise commonly known as Weave shatter, magic sickness, or arcane shatter) things get a bit more mysterious. There are differing reports as to what actually happens to the body, most don’t survive the initial blast which occurs after the mage is completely turned. Most mages with the illness never create a proper Wright, being mostly a lifelong sickness which eventually only takes over the body when one is elderly. The blast if it does not kill the caster will level whole buildings if they are not fortified and tend to incinerate those near them. It is, from what I hear, highly unseemly. After such trauma the Mage Wright either dies on the spot or goes on to become fully transformed.

A Mage Wight usually takes highly educated people to take them out. Often if there’s no one in the region local barons will muster the militia to try to deal with the destructive force the Wight brings. More often than not these armies will be wiped out with little damage done.

There are multiple types of Wights and each one has a weakness and many strengths. It knows all the spells it knew when alive but with the added ability to control the environment around it. Here I will give the most basic information about these aberrations.

Abjuration Wight
This is the Wight created by those who focused in life on protecting, banishing, and negating effects. These Wights tend to be shades of blue, ranging all cool colours. It’s tougher than most to hit as it has a protective shell of magic around it.

It is important to consider that these beasts tend to, rather than fight head on, banish their enemies sometimes even so far as to another plane. Many times it will be more than harder to hit but will be able to hide from detection magic and have set itself up in a lair which it can trap hunters in to die.

It is lucky that the Abjuration Wight is weak physically and does little harm up close. It’s hard body is built for its own protection and not for attacking.

Conjuration Wights
A conjuration Wight in life concentrated on summoning or transportation. The brightly coloured yellow beasts are adept at using their surroundings to their advantage and are able to quickly Teleport from one space to another.

They are quite weak alone and as such summon creatures and long range attacks to aide them. A yellow Wight alone is easy to kill but with a quick tidal wave they can level the playing field. It is unwise to allow them to get too far away as even their environment will fight you and it will watch as you’re taken down one cut at a time.

=== Divination Wights ===  white) spells reveal information, whether in the form of secrets long forgotten, glimpses of the future, the locations of hidden things, the truth behind illusions, or visions of distant people or places.

Enchantment wights

(green)  spells affect the minds of others, influencing or controlling their behavior. Such spells can make enemies see the caster as a friend, force creatures to take a course of action, or even control another creature like a puppet.

Evocation (red) spells manipulate magical energy to produce a desired effect. Some call up blasts of fire or lightning. Others channel positive energy to heal wounds.

Illusion (indigo)  spells deceive the senses or minds of others. They cause people to see things that are not there, to miss things that are there, to hear phantom noises, or to remember things that never happened. Some illusions create phantom images that any creature can see, but the most insidious illusions plant an image directly in the mind of a creature.

Necromancy (violet) spells manipulate the energies of life and death. Such spells can grant an extra reserve of life force, drain the life energy from another creature, create the undead, or even bring the dead back to life.

Creating the undead through the use of necromancy spells such as animate dead is not a good act, and only evil casters use such spells frequently.

Transmutation (Orange) spells change the properties of a creature, object, or environment. They might turn an enemy into a harmless creature, bolster the strength of an ally, make an object move at the caster’s command, or enhance a creature’s innate healing abilities to rapidly recover from injury.

Druidic Magic (colourless) the magic that is used by those in druid circles is pulled from the nature around the caster. Because of this the magic is colourless even if the druid is casting the same spell as a wizard. Depending on the spell the magic may be visible by looking at the wildlife around, plants may look more vibrant, glow slightly, wither, or animals may flee or be attracted.