The Arcane tower is the principal school for all forms of magic on the world of Gear. Some might say that the obsidian tower in the heart of the Garnett Desert is the superior school as it produces the best battle and fire mages, as well as magical tinkerers who make any number of marvels. Someone else would claim that the Crystal tower, which rises like an iceberg out of the sea far from the northern shores of Daycut, is the best of them, as they specialise in the healing arts, the movement of water and the arts of the scholar-sorcerer. Whilst the obsidian tower and the crystal tower produce many fine wizards, witches, sorcerers, sorceress, warlocks, mages and even to their shame, the occasional magician, it is the arcane tower that produces the most notable and famous practitioners of magic at every level in every branch of magic. As the namesake suggests they teach the ancient arcane magic rather than elemental magic like water and fire.
It was to this prestigious and ancient school that Peter Wickham was enrolled. He didn’t become a wizard because he wanted to discover ultimate power, neither did he wish to unravel the mysteries of the universe, he certainly didn’t want to prove his prowess on the magical battlefield, or serve kings and emperors. Peter Wickham became a research wizard, because it seemed like a cushy job in doors, with no heavy lifting.
As a young apprentice Peter showed great promise as he learnt spells very quickly, he even began inventing spells of his own to make his life easier. or he adapted existing spells to make them simpler. As he grew older his magic grew with him, but Peter’s tutors would often grow frustrated. He had great talent, but little enthusiasm, he struggled to apply himself to projects where he wasn’t being constantly hounded by his instructors. You see if Peter Wickham was left to his own devices there was nothing he loved better than a large lunch, and to sit on the roof, where he would watch the clouds in between naps. If anyone asked him what he was doing, he would tell them that he was involved in a deep mental exercise or considering some hypothetical conundrum. He was quite good at coming up with excuses, not just for his naps on the roof, but all the things that he had set to do and had failed to complete.
Peter’s primary work as a research wizard was to study old texts and create new spells based on them, but other than rediscovering a minor spell for removing dirt from your shoes he hadn’t been productive lately. Or at least that was the opinion of his supervisor the scholar wizard Amafee. She was a hard task mistress, and would regularly give Peter a hard time for his lack of productivity. Some of her criticisms were well deserved but in truth Peter had discovered and successfully modified a very useful and complex spell, he realised it would be very useful and had therefore decided to keep it to himself. It’s safe to say that as well as being lazy, he was rather selfish and like most wizards more than a little arrogant.
After a particularly long lecture from Amafee, she set Peter two tasks to perform that day, which if he did one after the other would use up most of his time, there would be no opportunity for a nap or even a little cloud gazing. Deciding enough was enough, he put into practice the spell that he had been keeping to himself, in the hope that it would solve his problem.
At the first light of dawn, or more accurately around about 9 o’clock, (Peter wasn’t an early riser), he took half of his magical power and separated it from himself. The orb of gentle white and yellow light hung before him, this ball of magical energy he divided again into two. Each ball, which were now roughly the size of a large melon, he pushed into the chests of two life-sized clay statues of himself. He’d used a little magic the previous day to sculpt the clay, mostly out of vanity he’d made them a little taller, straighter in the back, and he got rid of that horrible pimple on his chin. Now infused with magic the clay golems sprang to life, the clay on their faces and hands looked like skin, the clay of their wizards robes hung like fabric, it was even soft to the touch. Feeling satisfied with his work Peter was sure that no one would be able to tell them apart from the real thing.
He sent the first golem to the library to read the research books he was supposed to be studying. The second got sent on an errand to a nearby town to collect some materials for a magical experiment. In the meantime, the real Peter stretched out in his favourite deckchair on the roof and told himself he deserved it, as this magic so early on in the day had left him feeling tired. After a very large lunch he returned to the roof and watched clouds for the rest of the day before returning to his private study.
As their instructions mandated, the golems had returned to the study and were awaiting him, the one who had spent the day in the library produced several sheets of carefully handwritten notes in Peter’s own handwriting, and the other dropped a basket containing the herbs and roots that he had been sent to collect. Feeling more satisfied with his day’s work than he had done in a long time Peter recalled the magic from his golems and returned it to himself. At this point something unexpected happened, all the knowledge the golem from the library had read suddenly flowed into Peter’s mind and he understood the notes far more comprehensively. Also, he remembered taking the pleasant walk to the town and talking to the lovely and very attractive botanist who grew so many obscure plants for the Arcane tower. The golem had been more charming than his normal self and had flirted with the lovely young woman even complimenting her on her golden curly hair. Peter wondered whether it would be worth taking a walk to the town tomorrow and seeing if she would like to have lunch with him. With this happy thought in mind Peter went to bed and slept soundly knowing that tomorrow Amafee wouldn’t have anything to complain about.
The next day Peter was bolstered by the success of the previous day, he decided to repeat the spell, and to expand it. This time he created four golems, yet again he only used half of his magical powers, as the tasks he was setting them were not magically strenuous. He sent two of the golems into different parts of the library to conduct the main research he was currently supposed to be doing. The third was sent to the nearest mountain to collect a rare herb which only grew there. Peter didn’t need this herb, but he knew that Amafee was using it in her current research and keeping her off his back would make his life so much easier. The final golem was sent back into town with instructions to help the botanist with her work, to make pleasant conversation and to find out what she was doing for dinner that night.
With the golems sent off to complete their work Peter retired to his spot on the roof where he felt distinctly tired, and like the day before spent the day in his favourite way. Even though he had slept well into the afternoon and missed lunch, he felt too tired that evening to reverse the spell, he decided to leave the exertion until tomorrow, after all that way he could collect two days-worth of knowledge in one go.
Peter spent a rather unusual evening with the four copies of himself as they all wanted to sit in his study, and they argued over who got the two chairs.
Little did he know as he slept that night, that the golems did not sleep, they spent the time talking amongst themselves and long before dawn they had created four more golems which they infused with half of their magical energies. Peter didn’t know at that time that he suddenly had eight copies plodding around the Arcane tower.
Over the next few days Peter fell back into his usual routine of, big meals, long naps and hours spent pondering the sky. He truly believed that his golems were working diligently completing his tasks and his research. The spell that he had used to bind the golems to his will, and to keep them working hard even where he would not, wore off after a few days. He should have been alarmed when the four original golems didn’t come back one evening, but he didn’t notice because that evening he was in the town having dinner with the lovely botanist.
About this time, Peter’s peers at the Arcane tower realised they were seeing him around a lot more often, one group of researchers swore they had seen him working in the alchemical research lab, whilst a more senior mage announced that she had seen him in the greenhouse cultivating a tropical vine with magical powers. A member of the senior faculty announced that he had seen Peter lecturing to a class of students, which was an unheard-of feat, mainly because he didn’t teach, but according to the faculty member Peter had offered to take the class as a favour for a friend. With such strange behaviour in evidence, the senior faculty came together and began asking questions. It didn’t take them long to put two and two together.
Quietly they began to roundup the many copies of Peter Wickham. when they had collected more than a dozen golems it was plain to see that something was wrong. Through some magical means they arranged the golems in order of creation. The first golems, the ones that Peter had made were almost perfect copies, each one was just 6’2” tall and they even had the crooked nose from where he had broken it as a student in his first year when a rather silly prank had gone wrong. The copies that had been made by these golems were notably more handsome, the crooked nose was straight, the hair sleeker and more styled, even their robes looked more expensive and freshly laundered. The second-generation golems had made copies, the third generation were a little taller and stood with perfect posture, they had beautiful eyes, that suggested charm and intelligence. By the time the faculty examined the fifth-generation golems it was as if they were looking on demigods, with bronzed skin, toned muscles and beauty beyond that of mere mortals. Amafee who was assisting the senior faculty, as she knew Peter better than nearly anyone else, practically swooned at the site of the fifth-generation golem when he gave her a charming smile.
After some more searching the original Peter Wickham was found sleeping on the roof, he was asked to explain himself to Derek Ryan-Horne the Supreme Arcane Mage, the undisputed leader of the Arcane tower. Rather sheepishly Peter explained what he had been doing, and that he’d only had the best intentions. He outlined how well the magical experiment had gone the first time he had performed it, and that he never thought that the golems would make copies and so on until there were twenty of them. It took the senior faculty some time to decide what they were going to do with Peter and his golems. Amafee, a very practical senior researcher in her mid forties, wanted to keep one of the fifth-generation golems as her assistant. But even as she tried to argue her case, common sense rang out in her mind and she realised what a fool she was making of herself. A couple of other faculty members commented that keeping one or two of the first-generation golems was preferable to the original as they had a good work ethic. Peter hoped that these comments were meant more as an insult towards him then a real option. Predictably the Supreme Arcane Mage announced that the spell should be collapsed, the fourth-generation should dismantle the fifth and so on until there was only the original Peter Wickham.
With the decision made the fourth-generation Peters went to work a little reluctantly as they knew that they would be collapsed next. It was testament to the supreme power and authority of Ryan-Horne that none of the golems protested as they were magically disassembled. As the magic left each generation of golems in turn, a series of beautiful hard baked clay statues were left. These eventually found places in the extensive gardens around the base of the Arcane tower, but one is rumoured to be in the personal study of Amafee, but she always denies it.
Now there were only the original four golems and it was Peter’s turn to reverse the magic, he was aware that the collective knowledge that the twenty golems had gathered over the last few days would certainly be a shock to his system. Nothing could truly prepare him for the flood of knowledge as it entered his mind, and overwhelmed him almost instantly.
Peter awoke five days later in the tower’s infirmary, to be told that he had twenty statues to move out of Ryan-Horne’s office, and that no one was going to give him a helping hand, and under no eventuality could he make another golem.
It would be nice to think that Peter learnt his lesson and did his own work diligently, and he did for a while, but people seldom change and before long he reverted to his old ways. It’s rumoured that you can still find him on the roof of the Arcane tower, and he can tell you everything there is to know about clouds.
The end.