Unintended Consequences
“That first morning after emerging from our homes we discovered the horror that had occurred. Our gradual shoreline was transformed into a sea cliff a hundred feet tall, the docks hung in taters or bashed against the rocks below. Our ships, set adrift in the night, were gone, along with our livelihoods. Houses lifted off foundations and hung in the air. When the rain began to fall, it spiraled and danced, stubbornly refusing to strike the ground and leaving patches of the earth forever parched.
Only the stargazing circle seemed unaffected. People directed their panic at the mages who gathered there, mages who previously were trusted members of the city, predictors of weather, enchanters of wood and metal, defenders against the encroaching marsh, and elders on the council. We conducted a trial, a mockery really, and on the 19th day after the Event, we threw eight mages over the cliff.
Two days later the lizard folk attacked…”
-Excerpt from A Written History of Ghent: 3rd Edition, edited by Maggie Zems
