The Switch

*"See those 'arcanists' over there? See these white knights roaming the streets? They're here to make sure nothing terrible happens. Tell them they aren't doing their jobs." -The Mad Mage*

## Overview

The Switch is a twisted and chaotic mage that has plagued Spauria with increasing malevolence for over a decade. The 'Mad Mage' is notorious for his magical "pranks" ranging from irritating tricks to absolute devastation of property, life and livestock. Despite concentrated and desperate efforts, the Spaurian Mages Association has never been able to apprehend him, and with Lord Chyziss 's nationwide ban of all Switch-related talk, doing so has been nearly impossible.

The Switch's motives for magical chaos and menacing are unknown, if they exist at all. His only goal seems to be causing as much trouble as possible on Glaun Encaru and the Southern Seas, and continually embarrassing the Mages Association, which he deems irresponsible and unreliable.

## History

### Origins

In IIA 153, several odd incidents of magical phenomena were reported to the Mages Association from various places around Northern Spauria. Levitating livestock, wandering scarecrows, unusual green clouds and giant crop circles were just a few of the reported incidents, all of which pointed to a magical prankster in the area. A suspected perpetrator was found and tried, and the phenomena ceased for a time, but returned a few weeks later with twice as many incidents as before.

The Mages Association initially suspected copycats, but the advanced power of the spells and sheer range of the separate pranks suggested that they were dealing with a single entity using teleportation methods. As the range, frequency and magnitude of the pranks increased, so did the concern of the Spaurian people, and it wasn't long before the Mages Association realized that they had a malevolent and unpredictable mage on the loose, threatening the safety of all. It was during this time that names such as "the Mad Mage" and "the Switch" first surfaced.

The phenomena caused by the Switch steadily became more serious over a three year period. Floating buildings, floods of goo, ruined crops and wacky magical monsters plagued Spauria, and the situation demanded unwavering attention from the highest standing arcanists in the empire, including the Crownsmage. Despite their best efforts to predict, thwart and apprehend the Switch, they could never manage to accomplish all three, though now they had a description. A young, bald human man, with purple pants, a polka-dotted vest, and a shining green gem implanted in his forehead.

### The Silence Act

In the 55th year of the Second Age, Lord Chyziss the Magnificent passed the Silence Act, banning all talk that suggested that the Switch still existed. This brutally-enforced law was as swift as it was harsh, and was decreed after rumors of the Switch's "prank" on Chyziss began to circulate throughout the empire. The idea of the Mad Mage turning Chyziss's scales pink and his lips bright red was one that the Spaurian people couldn't help but laugh at, especially after three centuries of the tyrannical dragon king breathing down their necks.

Thus, in a fury of wounded pride, Chyziss completely banned all talk of the Switch, insisting that he had slain and devoured the Mad Mage, and demanded it be written in the history books. For the next year, anyone who dared defy the Silence Act was swiftly executed, cementing the new law in the minds of everyone. As the Switch continued to plague Spauria with chaos, the decree would utterly cripple the Empire in their attempts to combat and capture the Mad Mage.

### The Codrex

In IIA 158, a group of shadow monks and local moon druids used a source from STARNET to launch a surprise attack on the Switch, who had appeared unexpectedly near Pendle, and was evidently constructing a magic ritual. During the spellbattle that ensued, the Switch dropped a large polyhedral gemstone that would later be dubbed "the Codrex" for secrecy. It became clear within the next few weeks that the Switch was desperate to retrieve the artifact, as bounty posters began appearing all across the southern border of Spauria. This prompted the shadow monks to smuggle the Codrex to Monarch Academy for study by the clone of Sarvoldis Ilifiel, who had been a part of covert anti-Switch measures for some time (it is possible that he was the STARNET leak that initially located the Switch near Pendle).

The Codrex, or Keystone as it would later be known, was proven to have immense power over the fabric of space time, and the space between worlds. Being an expert in Transmutation and not Conjuration, Sarvoldis's secret examination of the item could only go so far, before he was forced to dispose of the object and it's evidence. However, an unknown individual rescued the Keystone, unbeknownst to Sarvoldis or anyone else, and sent it personally to the true Sarvoldis Ilifiel of the Pureblood Guild

The Keystone itself is a polyhedral object measuring about nine inches in diameter, encapsulated in a golden-framed amulet. It is likely that the artifact was affixed to the amulet by Sarvoldis, and not the Switch.

### Goldmoon Attacks

On Joone 28th of IIA 163, during the annual Goldmoon festival, the Switch orchestrated a series of magical attacks on major Spaurian cities and trade routes, including Noogle, Quimny, Moriguard, Dislar, Pvarm, Mistwood, and others. The celebrations in Noogle came to a frozen halt when a city-wide arcane blizzard appeared, with intense enough elemental energy to create ice mephits in the air. Simultaneously, the entire city of Dislar crackled with wild and unpredictable magic as several chimeric quasi-beasts attacked. In Moriguard, earth elementals broke up from the streets, causing massive damage; similarly in Quimny, magically-charged "shambling mounds" exploded to life and wreaked havoc on the town. Mistwood was plagued by a "werefrog curse," and in Pvarm, green lightning turned individuals to stone at random.

In most cases the pranks were quickly dealt with by the Mages Association, and their speed and effort in doing so was notable. Still, the nation-wide damage and loss of life was enough to ignite both sorrow and burning hatred in the hearts of Spaurians, ruining Goldmoon for many. The silent frustration shared by the citizens and representatives of the empire may have once meant trouble for the Switch, but with the Silence Act still in effect, organizing an effort to stop the Mad Mage seems impossible.

## The Bois Campaign

### The Switch's Realm

After realizing the true nature of the Keystone, the Bois brought it away from Spauria to Qrow's Nest, where it was studied by the simulacrum of Sarvoldis Ilifiel. There, with unrestricted ability to study the artifact, he confirmed the suspicions of Hwom Ching. The Keystone was attached to an Astral coordinate, which is likely the Switch's "lair realm." This demiplane, later called the Nexus by Midas, would serve as a base of operations for the Mad Mage, allowing him to operate off-plane.

Before his death, Sarvoldis's copy was able to convert the Keystone into a "compass," which would indicate the direction to the nearest Nexus portal.

### The Aboleth

After Captain Draz accidentally awoke the Aboleth, the Switch aided in it's efforts to psychically take back the Southern Seas by providing it with a small fleet of voyagers, deterring the Bois, and teleporting William Wade from town to town as a conduit for the Aboleth's mental influence. Whether the Switch's goals for the future aligned with the Aboleth is uncertain, but, unlikely. The Switch was more interested in receiving one of the final Tablets of Ruin from the unsealed Monolith, to use for his own purposes.

### Battle for the Nexus

Using the Keystone, the Bois and the crew of Captain Draz were able to find a Nexus portal hovering above the sea, and use it to gain entry to the Switch's lair realm. Once inside, the Switch decided not to kill the Bois outright, but instead battle them for fun, returning to life over and over as the invaders steadily wore themselves out. However, instead of killing him, the Bois were able to pin him down and restrain him from spellcasting, using his focus gem to gain entry to the Prism. Once inside, they stole many tomes of arcane knowledge, the remaining twenty-one Tablets of Ruin, and the jar they thought contained Cadence's soul. Unable to stop them, the Switch watched as his trophies were plundered, and the Nexus and everything inside were destroyed.

### Death

After the destruction of the Nexus, the Switch was brought back to the Material Plane with the Bois. In a seeming mockery of the Switch's "great mistake," Bird executed the Switch by tearing out his heart, and casting his body into the sea. Still smirking, his last words were "I'll give Cadence your regards" nodding to the fact that Cadence's soul had been gone for some time.

## Trivia

* As a group or individually, the Bois have fought the Switch on six different occasions, including at the Quimny Goldmoon Attacks, Jolly Joe's, the destruction of Qrow's Nest, the Monolith, the Battle for the Tablet, and finally within the Nexus itself. Out of those six battles, the Bois have killed the Switch three times, and taken his focus gem twice.
* The Switch is said to possess greater arcane skill than most casters will ever achieve, and has been known to cast powerful spells with little effort. His spellcasting methods and rituals are also quite bizzare, using methods, runes, and methods that are completely different compared to modern Spaurian arcana.
* The Switch was allegedly "swindled" by Captain Draz when he stole the Tablets of Ruin. Thinking that the captain possessed all twenty-one, the Switch seized them all, and upon receiving the final Tablet from the Monolith, took them back to his "lair" to draw on their fate-bending power. However, one of the Tablets was a fake, rendering the rest useless.
* Qrow suggested that the Switch and Chyziss may have formed an alliance prior to the passing of the Silence Act, since both entities benefit from the agreement. The Switch is protected by Chyziss, and in exchange, the Switch benefits Chyziss by becoming the public enemy, as the emperor could never be overthrown without the Switch first being eradicated.

## "Last Laugh"

The wind howled through rocky, frozen peaks as white snow whipped through the cold grey air like winter phantoms. Somewhere in the Slagrim Mountains, in a nook undiscovered by man or beast, an ornate piece of Nurnian pottery studded with rubies had once sat untouched. Now, it lay shattered on the stone, as the pale, half-naked body it once contained shambled with the grace of a newborn fawn toward the edge of the cliff. Strands of viscus ooze trailed behind it, and each footprint left a thin layer of slime behind that quickly began to freeze.

Over the wind, one sound cut through and echoed down the mountains. A maniacal laughter that Spauria knew too well. The laugh of a creature that had lost everything, and with nothing left to live for, would make his killers... no, the world... rue the day they failed to kill him.

In a flash of light, a pair of purple pants appeared and wove themselves around the skulking form, levitating him a few inches off the ground. In that moment, a brilliant diamond should have appeared in the crevice of his forehead, but on the other side of the world, an idiotic half-orc still held it. The Switch hardly noticed. A toothy smile had uncontrollably crept across his twitching face, like the curtain being drawn on the final act. His eyes were wide open, and in them were visions of fire and chaos being rained on every city in the Empire.

The time to hold back was over. The reign of terror would now begin.

...But interrupting his visions was a subtle orange glow from behind, where a hovering portal had opened. The Mad Mage whirled furiously around and readied a spell in his fingertips, as a wizard clad in red strode through onto the mountaintop, his cloaks billowing stupendously in the wind.

As the spellcasters regarded each other, a chuckle lurched from the gritted teeth of the Switch as he put the pieces together. "What a surprise. I should have guessed!!" he said jaggedly, prying his clenched jaw open. "I suppose it's YOU I have to thank for RUINING everything?!"

Midas ignored him, as his eyes inspected every inch of the bony, hovering creature. In a way he looked almost pitiful, trembling from cold and fury with a soulless rage in his eyes, unable to cast anything more than simple cantrips.

"Has all of this been for your own amusement?"

The Switch giggled. Then laughed. Then threw his head back and spun in the air, looking out into the grey abyss of wind, knowing that Spauria lay just beyond. "Magic is dangerous," he said with a smile, "and the world knows it. No matter how carefully you try to control it, chaos will ALWAYS win."

Midas seemed to ponder this for a moment. "And you are chaos?"

The Switch continued to stare through the clouds with a twitch in his eye. "No," he said. "I'm just the messenger."

Midas considered this for a long moment. "You're correct. Spauria cannot control the arcane forever. No society can," he said, stepping back toward the open portal. "But this world and it's future has something that your world did not."

"And PRAY TELL what could that be?!" the Switch retorted. "Heroes?! Fools?! 'Good people?!?'"

The wizard in red stopped before the glowing orange gateway.

"Me."

The Switch paused. His grin had begun to fade, but he forced his insanity to reignite. "What, then?" he called out mockingly. "Are you here to kill me once and for all?"

"No," Midas replied as the portal closed. "I promised that honor to someone else."

The portal snapped shut, and in that instant, the sun itself seemed to fall to earth, as a blazing stream of radiant light slammed down from the heavens and shattered the rocks where it landed. And as a pair of familiar angelic wings spread themselves out, the Mad Mage beheld the righteous face of the Blade of Dawn.