Marcus Vogel

**Marcus Vogel** is a Priest Mage and member of the Mage Council who is elected the new High Mage of Gardneria.

## Physical Description

Marcus is tall and slender. He wears a long, dark priest's tunic with the image of a white bird emblazoned on the chest. He is younger than most priests. He has compelling razor-sharp features, a high forehead, and straight black hair that falls to his shoulders. His face is made of sharp, elegant planes. His green eyes are so intense and vivid that they seem to glove white-hot, as if lit from within. Marcus moves with a lithe, serpentine grace, and his pale and emerald shimmering skin is oddly warm, almost hot. Marcus' voice is unexpectedly throaty with a subtle seductive quality. He also has deft artist's fingers. When Marcs looks at someone, it is a if he can see clear into the back of their head and read their thoughts. His pentrating gaze is unnerving and a righteous fury pulses out from him.

## Personality

Marcus is a religious zealot who discriminates against the other races of Erthia. He's a fanatic who wants to bring about the Reaping Times and wipe out all non-Gardnerians. He is willing to murder anyone who is not Gardnerian, even the Alfsigr Elves who are the Gardnerians' allies. Marcus is hypocritical because he demands that all Gardnerians over sixteen be compulsorily wandfasted, yet as a priest he doesn't have to fast. It is implied that he killed the previous High Mage, Aldus Worthin, because while Vogel was a shoo-in for the position, he didn't want to wait. Seeing Marcus with Vyvian is the first time Elloren has seen her confident and unflappable aunt visibly wilt.

## Biography

### The Black Witch

Marcus attends Vyvian Damon's ball, where he meets Elloren Gardner. Marcus is made High Mage. One of the first things Marcus does as High Mage is to make wandfasting required for all Gardnerians by the time they turn sixteen. He also orders that iron-testing precede each ceremony in order to discover any Fae that are glamoured.

### The Iron Flower

Marcus introduces a new flag for Gardneria, the Ancient One's white bird on a black background.

### The Shadow Wand

Vogel has created a runic border around Gardneria. During Elloren and Lukas's Sealing ceremony, Elloren discovers that Vogel has used the Shadow Wand to tether the affinity lines of those around him to his Wand and feeds their powers into shadow demons. During the ceremony, Vogel uses his Wand to change Elloren's magic. He quickens her fledgling ability to sense power and makes her more vulnerable at the same time. He has made it so that she is overwhelmed by the affinities of those around her and her lines are on full display. Lukas places a shield around her and when Vogel tries to get into her lines he is unable to. Vogel does something to Lukas's magic as well. Lukas now has a much more clearer sense of Elloren's magic even when he's not touching her. Lukas believes that Vogel tried to permanently invade their lines but wound up amplifying their perception of external power instead. Vogel now knows Elloren is the Black Witch.

Vogel survives the Vu Trin's attack on the Grey Estate. He then orders the Mage Guard to elimitate the Vu Trin, and in one day the entire Western Vu Trin force is killed. Vogel then mobilizes the troops east of the Verpacian Pass to prepare for deployment to the Eastern Realm. He declares war on Noilaan. He sends out draft notices to all adult male Mages, imposes martial law on Gardneria, and takes sole control of the government.

## Powers & Abilities

Vogel's power grows to monstrous levels thanks to the Shadow Wand. Lukas Grey believes that Vogel has light magery as he is able to cast Gardnerian runes.

## Trivia

* When Elloren looks at Marcus, an image of the scorched shell of a tree with black limbs rising up against a barren sky bursts into her mind.
* He wields the Shadow Wand, but no one knows this.

## References

1. ↑ *The Black Witch*: page 91
2. ↑ *The Shadow Wand*: page 399
3. ↑ *The Shadow Wand*: page 332