Firesign 1 - Wage Slave Rebellion
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42 Adventuring guilds thrived because they held a virtual monopoly on the good quests. Every time a non-guild adventurer completed a major quest, it made them look bad. They were not having a happy day.
43 Long ago, it was next to impossible to restrain a caster who didn’t want to be held. To Yendendanttus, the God of Flatulence and Tooth Decay, this presented an opportunity. Now Yendendanttus was the Patron God of Restraint, and it was its divine magick that made the creation of enchanted bonds possible, which interfered with the flow of a caster’s mana when wrapped around their wrists, ankles, or neck. Now Yendendanttus was one of the most well-known gods on Aegis, though it was still rather gassy, and watching it smile was no treat.
44 The more someone believes in a god, the more power they can obtain, but at the cost of their god acquiring more power over them. Past a certain point the deity begins to warp its most devout followers’ minds, and from there it’s an easy trick to distribute what one sees to the rest of them. It was a magick that by all rights should have been impossible, but gods rarely let that get in the way.
45 Some women can giggle. When they laugh, it’s a light, carefree sound, one that conveys both femininity and youthful excitement, and is guaranteed to induce feelings of dread in men when used in packs of four or more. Gavi was not one of those women. The closest she could get was a nervous chortle.
46 Unlike in ages past, where gladiators were slaves who fought and died for the pleasure of the crowd, Houk had developed a more civilized system. Now all gladiators were casters, partially because casters were more powerful and could give the crowd more entertaining fights, but also because it kept costs down if you didn’t have to keep training new gladiators every time one got killed. Now gladiator battles were more action theater than blood sport, like professional wrestling with more explosions.
47 The Pit was known for more than just caster duels. Some of its most popular events were reenactments of great battles, complete with war animals and siege engines. The animals came from the Kitpicc Stables across the street from the Gladiator School, and entered the arena through Gladiator’s Way. By the smell of the tunnel, some had done so recently.
48 In addition to Gladiator’s Way, there were two other major tunnels that were still in use: Worker’s Way, which connected the Catacombs to a warehouse where they stored props, set pieces, and obstacles for the games, and the Path of Shame, which connected the Gate of Shame with a small hospital (formerly a morgue) where injured gladiators were sent for treatment. To receive enough injuries to be sent directly to the hospital was considered disgraceful, so any gladiator going through the Gate of Shame was said to be doing the “walk of shame,” whether they were able to walk or not.
49 While it was common for many Aegisians to learn how to ride, for city-dwelling casters like Mazik and Raedren—who could sprint an appreciable percent of a horse’s speed, and for extended periods of time—it was seen as optional or unnecessary. Up until it wasn’t.
50 Though it sometimes seems like spells are affected by gravity, they’re not. Casters can choose to act as if they are, though, which can be a useful mental shortcut to help with aiming and control. With casters, believing truly is half the battle, and often far more.
51 One of the side effects of enhancement magick was that it actually exercises the muscles it’s used on. That means that on Aegis, it’s possible to study one’s way to a physically fit, attractive body. If there was ever a reason to hate casters, this was it.
52 In Mazik’s defense, he was really, really drunk at the time. After that night, he vowed to never do shots on a weekday ever again. He even kept his word, for a whole month. Well, most of a month.
53 Some scholars suspected the reason for the often arbitrary rules behind major divine magick was that the gods wanted to give mortals a sporting chance. They were partially right.
54 While most focus crystals are used to focus and project any spell cast through them, certain focus crystals can be used to amplify specific spells past their usual limits. The Pit used its four barrier crystals to project clear barriers several meters over the top of its inner walls, protecting the spectators from stray spells or projectiles. The focus crystals used in large-scale arrays are always large and heinously expensive, and The Pit’s barrier crystals were no exception.
55 The Loci were some of the highest ranking members in the Cult of Amougourest, second only to the two Hands of Amougourest and their god itself.
56 The full spell has to be said, but most gods aren’t picky—all they require is that the caster say all the words and not lose control of the mana needed to power it. Their pronunciation or whether they stop for a break in the middle doesn’t really matter.
57 Specifically, the removal of his head from the rest of his body. Houkians always had an uneasy relationship with royalty—for a people who thought they were better than everyone else, having a bunch of bluebloods running around claiming they were even better than that had always grated—but after the reign of King Rol’Aandt the Pompous, they collectively decided “to hell with it” and took care of the problem. Since then, the country’s rulers had taken great pains to avoid insinuating that they were better than the common folk. They were richer, more powerful, better fed, better educated, and in charge, but that’s not the same. It’s more useful, for starters.
58 Because eventually the monarchy got tired of mucking up their other palaces with the messy business of running the country. Consequently, no monarch ever set foot in the Working Palace.
59 Only certain suitable people actually did the electing—nobles, owners of big businesses, powerful guilds, and the like. The general populace just decided whether their decision warranted a revolt or not60.
60 Most of the time, the victorious candidate was a foregone conclusion by the time the council met, on account of all the others being dead. The council existed mostly to ratify the decision that natural selection had already made.
Table of Contents
Prologue
Adventure One - Working for the Weekend
Adventure Two - The Hard Work of Luck
Adventure Three - Houk Street Havoc
Adventure Four - Salesman of Death
Epilogue
Afterword
About the Author
Notes