Story name: Storm Watch
Author: Terry Spafford
Publication date: November 26, 1997 (on TSA-Talk)
Latest revision: October 1, 2007
Date: Spring 706 CR, Autumn 699 CR
Location: Metamor Keep (the Deaf Mule); Mount Weagle
Overview
Saroth explains how he came to be a telepathic dragon morph and Court Weather Warden.
Summary
Michael is visiting the Deaf Mule, waiting for Copernicus to return from conversation. He suddenly hears a voice in his head, and turns to find a tall dragon man, who introduces himself telepathically as Saroth, court magician and court Weather Warden. Michael asks him to speak normally, but Saroth's voice comes out as a roar and high-pitched keen.
Saroth explains that 6 years ago, he was a magician's apprentice specializing in weather prediction and manipulation. His teacher, Electra, was one of the few who had the patience to teach him. Among her duties was to be Weather Warden, and maintain weather spells south of the valley to ensure calm weather over the farming plateau.
During a meeting of the magician's council, Thomas asked the mages to help defend from Nasoj's attack. Electra needed someone to re-anchor the weather wards; Saroth knew the spells, but she wasn't sure if he was mentally ready. She is worried he will become another Casner, who 130 years ago tampered with the wards, causing the Year of Storms and the Year of Drought. Though fearful of another such incident, Thomas needed his experienced mages at the Keep, and told Electra to get him prepared.
With a horse, two guards, and a telepathy spell cast upon him, Saroth sets off for a two-week journey to Mount Weagle. Saroth began his spell on Mount Weagle at the same time that Nasoj began his attack on the Keep. The power enthralled him, and he spent a week flying through the skies until hunger subdued him. Via telepathy, he learned of the battle and the curses; he and his guards returned as fast as they could within the week. His teacher Electra was now a child, and Thomas was a horse man. Thomas complimented him on his strong spells, and he and Electra offered him the position of Weather Warden.
After 8 days, Saroth discovered a patch of dragon scales on his arm. Electra warned him not to try spells on himself, lest he make it worse. After another 2 days, Saroth attempted to clarify his magic sight, to see what spells were on him, but an accident caused his curse to accelerate. As his scales turned bronze and his body grew rapidly, he jumped out the window and landed in the courtyard below. He awoke as a 50 foot dragon.
The mages shrank him down to a 7 foot tall biped, but were unable to revert him further. Saroth discovered he could no longer speak, but the telepathy spell had now implanted itself on him as a natural ability. He moved into a tower, using his full dragon form to fly there. His magic skill has thankfully not left him, and he has continued to be Weather Warden since then.
Copernicus returns and asks him what the weather will be. After reciting a weather report in a trance, which will include rain after midday, Saroth leaves to get his laundry brought in.
Characters
Main Characters:
- Saroth: A weather mage and dragon morph, a member of the magician's council. He became Weather Warden during the time of the Battle of Three Gates, one of the youngest whose tampering with the curse has made him a dragon morph, with telepathy but no ability to speak normally.
- In his morph form, he is about 7 feet tall with dark bronze scales. He has a short draconic muzzle, tipped with two nasal ridges and slightly flaring nostrils, but an otherwise human head. His neck has lengthened. He has a pair of stunted wings on his back. His hands are tipped with claws. He has a 2 to 3 foot long tail, ending in a triangular tip. He is unable to speak, emitting only loud roars and high-pitching keening; he fortunately has an unremovable telepathic ability to communicate.
- In his full form, he is about 50 feet long with a long neck, massive wings and muscles, ridges down his back and neck (absent in his morph form)
- He wears a sky-blue cloak, with the shield of the Metamor Keep Mage guild on its back, clasped with a golden sun split by a lightning bolt, the symbol of the Weather Wardens.
- He mentions being born and raised in the valley, and Michael gets a brief glimpse of a burning farmstead.
- When he was apprenticed to the Keep magicians, he showed a knack for predicting and manipulating the weather - mostly by summoning tiny rain clouds, breezes, and lightning bolts. Attempts to teach him other spells were mostly failures; he was a bit clumsy and nonattentive for most, except Electra.
- He was barely 20 years old at the time of the Battle. He'd been to the weather wards 3 times before, but the other magicians worried about giving someone so young such a dangerous task. Thomas overruled them, trusting Electra to get him ready so that his more powerful magicians could be used for the Battle.
Supporting:
- Michael: A newcomer to the Keep. He listens to Saroth's story on how he became a Weather Warden.
- Electra: A child morph, a mage on the magician's council, and former Weather Warden, who serving as Saroth's tutor.
- She appears 12-years-old, and has red hair.
Minor characters:
- Copernicus: Michael's guide to the Keep. He spends most of his time at the bar.
- Thomas V: The ruler of Metamor Keep. When Saroth returns from the re-anchoring spells, he officially appoints Saroth to replace Electra as Weather Warden.
Cameo:
- Donny: The Deaf Mule bartender. He doesn't flinch when Saroth keens, and just shoots him a glare.
- Two guards who accompanied Saroth to Mount Weagle. Like Saroth, they were not immediately cursed, but it is not known whether they chose to stay upon returning.
- A giraffe morph, present in the crowd when Saroth first transformed.
Important mention:
- Casner: Metamor Keep's weather warden circa 569 CR. During an attempt at anchoring the weather spells, he succumbed to the intoxicating magic and disrupted the weather spells.
Referenced:
- Nasoj: The evil wizard who attacked Metamor Keep 6 years ago.
Locations
- Mount Weagle lies a full week's journey to the south. North of the mountain lies a fertile farming plateau, which contributes the bulk of the food for the Midlands.
- The spells on Mount Weagle are weather control spells, created in ancient times. Without these spells, the farming plateau to the north would be continually hit by powerful storms.
- The weather in the Sea of Stars is very nasty, and without the weather wards, the Midlands would be battered with strong windstorms.
- Saroth's tower has a large room at the top, with a large open balcony accessible for a dragon. The only way in, besides flying, is a small tight staircase down. It was not in use when Saroth claimed it upon first transforming.
Chronology
- A few centuries ago, during a particularly stormy year (according to legend), one of the Keep's mages rediscovered the weather wards in the farming plateau to the south. He also discovered that the enchantments holding the wards to the plateau were weakening. He cast his own anchor spells on the wards to replace these enchantments.
- When he returned the next year, he found them nearly pulled loose. He recast the spell, and added new wards to alert him when his anchor spells were weak.
- Over the following years, he continued to recast these anchor spells. He trained an associate to cast the anchor spells, which started the line of Weather Wardens at the Keep.
- There have only been a few exceptions where the weather wards were not monitored by the Keep. It is generally kept secret from the general populace to prevent a panic.
- Some time after 570 CR, two years of unseasonable weather happened, which have become well-known lore for farmers of the northern Midlands:
- The Year of Storms happened some time after Casner disrupted the weather control spells. During that year's summer, the plateau north of Mount Weagle suffered continuous rain storms, with very few sunny days.
- The Year of Drought happened just after the wizards had attempted to correct the weather wards. They were over-corrected, and the plateau suffered a severe drought. Only thanks to the abundant rain water from the previous year did the inhabitants survive.
- The Battle of Three Gates lasted at most a week, as Saroth broke off his telepathy spell just as the battle was beginning, and reconnected a week later to hear how it ended.
Behind the Scenes
- At the beginning of the story, Copernicus and Michael are said to have just come from "explaining about the lurkers". This is a reference to the now non-canon story Lurkers in the Keep.
The Weather Warden series | |
---|---|
Stories | Storm Watch · Sea Breeze · Cloud Seeding · Raining Cats and Dragons · Increasing Winds · Eye of the Storm |
Major Characters | Saroth · Electra · Sean · Scratch |