Mage Errant

by John Bierce

Hugh of Emblin is the worst student at Skyhold — anxious, bullied, and convinced he'll never amount to anything. Then a paper mage named Alustin takes him on as an apprentice alongside three other misfits, and Hugh discovers his strange combination of affinities might be more powerful than anyone expected. John Bierce's Mage Errant is a progression fantasy about friendship, creative magic, and the slow realization that the world's power structures are not as stable as they seem.

32 characters, locations, and items in this world codex.

Characters

• Aedan Dragonslayer — Rhodes's former master and a powerful Havath-aligned mage — whose dragonslayer title and imperial connections make him a dangerous player in the confl
• Alustin Haber — A paper-affinity Librarian Errant and the last loyal son of destroyed Helicote — whose sardonic wit and elaborate manipulations conceal a decades-long
• Artur Wallbreaker — A legendary seven-foot stone mage and loving father to Godrick — whose renowned defensive magic and gentle nature couldn't save him when Skyhold neede
• Avah — A Skyhold student and loyal friend to Hugh's group — steady, reliable, and a grounding presence among a circle of mages whose problems tend toward the
• Bakori — A powerful and enigmatic entity dwelling within Skyhold's Labyrinth — ancient, inscrutable, and bound to the mana well at the fortress's foundation.
• Dell — A Skyhold student and one of Sabae's romantic interests — navigating the complicated territory of dating someone whose grandmother could level a city.
• Galvachren — An ancient lich Great Power — one of the most feared beings on Anastis, whose motivations and alliances shift on timescales that make even other Great
• Godrick Hammerbreaker — A seven-foot stone-and-steel mage whose enormous frame and gentle nature belie a terrifying capacity for violence — grieving his father's death while
• Heliothrax — An ancient sunwyrm dragon of terrifying power aligned with the Havath Dominion — who never forms warlock contracts despite possessing power that could
• Hugh of Emblin — A deeply insecure crystal-and-dream mage who grew from bullied outcast to warlock pact anchor — haunted by abandonment yet quietly becoming one of Ana
• Ilinia Kaen Das — The Stormguard of the South — a human Great Power whose brash confidence and devastating storm magic protect Ras Andis, while her granddaughter Sabae
• Indris Stormbreaker — A dragon Great Power who rules Theras Tel and wages climate warfare against the Havath Dominion — a patient, ancient strategist who reshapes weather p
• Kanderon Crux — An 800-year-old crystal sphinx turned lich who founded Skyhold and guards it as a Great Power — whose centuries of political chess have made her brill
• Loarna of the Vault — Skyhold's brilliant wardcrafting teacher — whose obsessive expertise with magical barriers and deep discomfort around people made her the fortress's m
• Mackerel — Hugh's sentient crystal spellbook — a mischievous merged entity of aether crystal, labyrinth stone, and spell book who can fly, store books in pocket
• Rhodes Charax — A five-affinity prince of Highvale who bullies Hugh with the casual cruelty of someone who has never been told no — gifted with rare magical breadth a
• Sabae Kaen Das — A storm-affinity mage and granddaughter of Great Power Ilinia — whose cool political pragmatism and deep cynicism about empires hide a young woman exh
• Talia — A fierce bone-and-dream mage from warrior Clan Castis — whose solution to every problem starts with destruction and whose pride masks a desperate need
• The Last Emperor of Ithos — The final ruler of the Ithonian Empire — a historical figure whose fall reshaped the political landscape of Anastis and whose legacy Havath claims to
• The Tongue Eater — A Great Power-tier sentient artifact — a book and ritual that devours languages whole, stolen from Havath by Alustin, growing increasingly jealous and

Locations

• Anastis — The world of the Mage Errant series — where aether permeates reality, Labyrinths bleed mana from tears between universes, and Great Powers shape the f
• Ithos — The primary continent of Anastis — former seat of the Ithonian Empire, now a fractured landscape of competing powers where Skyhold's alliance and the
• Ras Andis — A southern coastal city guarded by the Great Power Ilinia Kaen Das — Sabae's homeland and the seat of the Kaen Das family's political influence.
• Skyhold — A flying fortress-city carved into a mountain above the continent's largest Labyrinth — home to the Grand Library, a 13-member council, and the Great
• The Endless Erg — A vast magical desert between Skyhold and the Havath Dominion — filled with ancient ruins, hidden dangers, and the remnants of civilizations that pred
• The Grand Library — Kanderon Crux's extraplanar domain within Skyhold — an impossibly vast repository of over twelve million indexed books that exists in a space larger t
• The Havath Dominion — An expansionist eastern empire on Ithos that claims inheritance from the fallen Ithonian Empire — ruled by Duarchs, backed by over a dozen Great Power
• Theras Tel — A city-state ruled by the dragon Great Power Indris Stormbreaker — serving as a forward position in the climate warfare campaign against the Havath Do

Items

• Affinities — The magic system of Anastis — where mages develop natural connections to specific substances or concepts during adolescence, with more specific affini
• Labyrinths — Ancient structures surrounding mana wells — tears between universes built by the mysterious Weavers, producing labyrinth stones and posing constant da
• Spellforms — The structured magical constructs through which mages channel their affinities — tattooed on skin, woven into equipment, or cast dynamically by specia
• Warlock Pacts — Magical bonds between mages — or between mages and Great Powers — that share affinities across partners, creating mutual dependency and dramatically a

View full codex at Simulacra.Ink