"What is he doing?"
"Shhh..."
"Why're you shushing me? He can't hear us through the glass."
"Just wait, and watch, Xibian."
The two wizards had gathered in a small alcove room in the east tower of the arcanux whose large, frosted window had been covered by a heavy, black curtain. Small candles lit by arcane flames floated in the space above their heads, casting a pale, blue light through the scented smoke that rose from the lit pipes tucked into the corner of each of their mouths. They were reclined on two leather seats surrounding a large table covered by a cloth of black velvet, in the center of which rested a glittering scrying orb whose surface radiated with energy.
Within the crystalline sphere, an image was being cast of a small farmstead many hundreds of miles away from their location. The homesteader, unaware of the prying eyes of the mages upon his back was ruffling through an old trunk in his barn. He was a scraggly fellow with a mopped haircut, dirty-skin, and crossed eyes. Standing up from the trunk the peasant withdrew what appeared to be a tattered bridal gown and headed towards one of the stalls which was wreathed in handmade garlands, and small tin-bells.
"No... He's not... surely not?"
The other wizard snorted. "No! Nothing like that, but it still has to be seen to be believed."
Entering into the stall a small goat with brown, and white fur, blue eyes and trimmed horns was resting on a bale of hay. The farmsteader called it over, "H'er princess, com' on nao'... das' et' gir'le. Goo' gir'le." The goat lifted itself up and came to its handlers call while the wizards in their tower puffed quietly on their pipes with aghast faces as the farmer slipped the goat into the gown without much effort. When the goat was fully dressed, the farmer lead it from its stall into the barn and out into the fenced area near the woods nearby. Staked into the ground near the fencing was another, male goat with a hankerchief tied around its neck, wearing a small top-hat that was strapped to its head with a leather chord. The farmer brought them both together, tied them both to the same stake and then proceeded to bless their matrimony, and wish them health.
"The peasants are marrying their goats now?"
"He does it every season with all his animals."
"Endless preserve us from these mud-brained dolts. What else is on? Shall we check in on that bonny lass from the tavern in Sigil?"
In Need of Entertainment
It is a well kept secret among the mages of the Magisterium that they occasionally indulge in scrying upon the local populace of the world. This is a crime, of course, as scrying upon a subject without their knowledge is considered a breach of personal privacy by Magisterium law in all matters except warfare. However, the commonfolk and peasants of the realms have little way to detect, prevent, or advocate their rights when a wizard (and perhaps his entire fraternity) remote-view them. When a wizard travels he may instruct his familiar to keep an eye out for interesting characters among the common folk, or use an Arcane Eye to scout the surrounding village after preparing his morning spells. He may in fact spend a great deal more time than he's liable to admit searching for a new
channel to share with his colleagues.
A channel is a soft term for a member of the peasantry, or a place which exhibits regularly interesting behavior. What is considered interesting is a matter subjective to the wizard in question. While many mages of the Magisterium do revel in finding, and mocking the common man, there are some who live vicariously through them and enjoy simply seeing through their eyes, or watching their lives unfold like the chapter of a new book being written every day.
The danger of becoming too close to a scrying channel is that some mages become so involved with the characters they're viewing that they may begin to invent trouble for them, or attempt to intervene in their lives in some way in order to increase their own enjoyment of the subject. It is only in these rare instances that a commoner might begin to suspect that they are being watched, and that something is amiss about their predicament.
Arcane Fraternities, Sororities, and their Scrying Pranks
The practice of checking on certain members of the peasantry, or locations where they gather is not a new concept, but did become much more popular in the Third Age when the Circle of Nine, and other arcane lyceums throughout Dalair began to adopt the idea of Arcane Fraternities. It is a misconception that the wizards of the world are a shy, pensive lot. Very often mages display extreme temperments based on their mastery of world-altering magic. These fraternities are often determined by the circle of magic in which each wizard specializes, but they regularly intermingle.
With youth, and power on their side, the fraternities and sororities of the Fifth Age have begun to take Arcane Scrying to a new level of 'entertainment' at the expense of the common man, where they actively seek to create 'content' for their fellow mages to enjoy. This often means harassing, and confusing the peasanty with unexpected assaults, magical conundroms, and befuddling circumstances. The problem has become so rampant that for the first time in several ages the commoners of Dalair have begun to push back against the Magisterium. Threatening to end supply chains of goods, services, and food unless their rights are enforced, and the offenders brought to answer for their trickery, and crimes.
While institutions such as the Circle of Nine and
Alkheim Flammel have adopted zero-tolerance policies and threatened expulsion of their students for participating in such low-brow pranking, it has done little slow the escalation of these events.
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