Opinion: Magical Assassinations and Bumbling Wizards

This is why magic cannot be trusted in the hands of the incompetent.

The beautiful Queen Janna’s death has shaken our community, nay, the entire country, to the core. Who could commit such a foul deed as to attack our noble king in his very throne room, brazenly defying all the guards?

Well, that is a question for others to answer. What concerns me, what should concern all mages, is what spell was cast upon the dagger. And... why was this tragedy not prevented?

QUIVERING SAPLING

The Royal Wizard Orhl is, in his usual bumbling manner, studying the loathsome weapon at this very moment. The process of identifying a spell, then attempting to back-trace it to its source, is, as all should know, an extremely precise, painstaking and fiddly process. Some are – rightly so – beginning to question whether Orhl is the right wizard for the job. It has become obvious for some time that Orhl’s eyesight is fading, his wits dulling and his mind wandering, and this combined with hands that shake like a quivering sapling... well, I fear I need say no more.

The dagger should be brought at once to the University, where the world's finest mages can examine it properly. It must be scrutinized under the most delicate prisms, and the effects of various magical compounds upon its surface analyzed with the correct equipment. This job requires the cutting edge of magical thinking, not the dull blade of a Royal Wizard absent so long from our ivory towers and dusty tombs he no longer knows what a good-quality metamorphoscope looks like. And I think we’ve all seen the inch-thick layer of dust on his Arcane Table.

MURDEROUSLY INTENTIONED

And, of course, this leads to questions about the incident itself. How was the assassin able to enter the presence of the king with a magical weapon in hand? Where were the runestone guards and protective wards? Where was the Royal Wizard’s power when it was needed the most? If Orhl was a less incompetent wizard, would Queen Janna still be alive? These are the difficult questions we must ask ourselves, and ponder, indeed, if the time has come for change in the Royal Court.

With the Archmage so busy with his inestimable responsibilities to both the Magisterium and the University, who – yes who! – will step into this most trusted and vital of positions as the new Royal Wizard?

Finally, this incident serves to remind us all of the extremely potent power that magic represents. In the hands of the less savoury, the badly trained, or the murderously intentioned, it can have devastating effects. I call, as I have in the past, for a ban on magic amongst those not certified by the Magisterium. In such troubled times, can we really afford not to?

by Hieronymous Finnigan