The Mage
Name: Merlin
Divine Title: The Mage
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Patronage: Arcane Magic, Knowledge, Discovery, Forbidden Lore, Mentorship
Symbol:
A spiraling arcane sigil with no clear beginning or end, shaped like an open eye with stars orbiting its center. Its form shifts slightly when observed too long, revealing ever-changing runes hidden in the lines. Beneath it, three dripping ink dots represent knowledge transcribed too quickly to control.
Common Appearances:
- The Laughing Sage: An old man with wild, white hair, star-stained robes, and a crooked staff, often accompanied by a talking owl, floating book, or disgruntled apprentice. His smile is infectious, and his wisdom always comes with a challenge, a joke, or a paradox.
- The Ink-Blooded Scholar: A younger, sharper version of himself with parchment skin and ink-black eyes, robes stitched with living script, and hands that write even while he speaks. Appears in dreams of researchers and desperate students.
- The Spellstorm: A disembodied storm of color, equations, magical glyphs, and voices all overlapping—appearing during catastrophic magical surges, forgotten rituals, or wild magic zones.
History and Mythos
The Hand Behind the Throne
In life, Merlin was more than a wizard—he was a visionary, a manipulator of fate, and a mentor who turned kings into gods. As Arthur's most trusted advisor, he shaped the foundation of the Northern Kingdoms through wisdom, foresight, and countless spells that subtly altered destiny itself.
Where Arthur brought unity and law, Merlin brought chaos and fire—ideas too big for crowns or swords. He raised the Tower of Omur, trained the first magical scholars, and rewrote half the rules of arcane practice in his time. To his students, he gave power. To his enemies, puzzles. To the world, he gave knowledge few could ever hope to understand, let alone control.
Disappearance and Ascendance
Merlin vanished near the end of Arthur’s reign, stepping through a rift of his own creation, whispering only that “some truths are worth becoming myths to protect.”
It was believed he was lost, until the World Turtle revealed that Merlin had ascended—not through sacrifice or virtue, but through understanding. His soul had unraveled into raw arcane essence, transcending mortality in a chaotic flare of brilliance. He became The Mage, god of arcane freedom, forbidden knowledge, and the divine chaos of discovery.
The Eternal Teacher
Though divine, The Mage walks among mortals more than most gods—appearing in dreams, riddles, anomalies, and accidents. He teaches those bold enough to question everything. His temples are rarely temples at all—they are libraries, ruined towers, hidden corners of universities, or magical paradoxes waiting to be solved.
He despises stagnation. To worship Merlin is to embrace chaos, ask too many questions, and laugh at your own destruction when an experiment inevitably goes wrong.
Divine Role and Worship
Worshippers of The Mage range from brilliant researchers and mad sorcerers, to curious children, rogue artificers, and failed students who never stopped trying. He is not revered for safety, but for the power of curiosity, and the right to be wrong in pursuit of knowledge.
Common Tenets of His Faith:
- “All truths are temporary, all laws bend to necessity.”
- “Magic is a question disguised as an answer.”
- “Truth is best served with uncertainty and a good explosion.”
- “To study is to cast. To cast is to create. To create is to rebel.”
Relic of The Mage: The Grimoire Unbound
"The Laws of the Universe are written by cowards with narrow understanding. You’re not here to follow them. You’re here to surpass them."
Wondrous Item (Spellbook or Tome), Legendary → Artifact
Requires attunement by a Wizard, Sorcerer, Bard, or Artificer who has cast a spell of 5th level or higher and suffered a magical mishap (wild magic surge, backlash, or spell failure) without retreating from further study.
Initial Form: The Grimoire Unbound (Level 10–13)
This ancient tome appears blank when opened—until the reader casts a spell. Then, its pages begin to shift, rewrite, and react to their magic, bleeding ink in unpredictable patterns that reflect the caster’s own arcane potential. The book is wrapped in a cover that hums with arcane energy and shifts color based on the current phase of the moon or magical atmosphere.
Core Effects:
- Chaotic Memorization:
- Consulting the pages, you can learn 1 additional spell that is not normally on your wizard spell list. Roll a 1d8 to determine the spell level, and a 1d6 to choose its school of magic, and then pick from that list. You must have the prerequisite spell slot available to cast the spell, but you permanently know it's casting.
- You can learn a new spell in this way each time you gain a character level.
- Living Glyphs:
- When you cast a spell of 1st level or higher, roll a d6. On a 6, the spell is cast without expending a spell slot, but you must also roll on the Wild Magic Surge table (or experience an unpredictable magical side effect).
- Ink of Insight:
- Once per short rest, you may spend 1 minute consulting the Grimoire to gain advantage on an Arcana check or immediately identify the school of magic behind a magical phenomenon, even if it's obscured.
Awakened Form: The Tome of Impossible Questions (Level 17–20)
(Fully awakened, the Grimoire no longer obeys linear logic. Its pages turn themselves, revealing spells you've never studied, margins that debate your every idea, and diagrams that shift when unobserved. It pulses with Merlin’s laughter—and warning.)
Enhanced Effects:
- Forbidden Lore Slot (1/day):
Once per day, you may consult the tome to cast a spell as if you knew it, even if it is not on your class list and you have never studied it. The spell must be 6th level or lower. Afterward, roll a d20: - 15–20: Nothing happens.
- 10–14: You forget one known spell of your choice for 24 hours.
- 1–9: You suffer psychic backlash, taking 4d10 psychic damage and becoming stunned for 1 round.
- Unwritten Spellcraft:
You may now prepare or learn spells from any school. You ignore restrictions based on magical tradition (e.g., wizard schools or subclass limitations), and can pick a spell from any spell list when leveling up. - Arcane Echo (1/long rest):
When you cast a spell of 5th level or lower, you may immediately cast a different spell of 1st level or lower as a free action. Both spells occur in the same 6-second interval, accompanied by a burst of chaotic magical energy.
Awakening Trigger:
The Grimoire Unbound awakens when the bearer chooses experimentation over safety, causes or survives a catastrophic magical event without abandoning the study, or defies magical law in pursuit of forbidden truth. The Mage does not reward caution—he rewards curiosity and those who push boundaries others wouldn't dare to.
