The Sebastian Syndrome

An exhaustive tome on the history of sorcerers in the world's 4th Cycle. Most of the book is devoted to studying the life and times of the halfling adventurer Sebastian the Character, but there are detailed passages about the different kinds of sorcerers observed in Pescaliat (e.g. Divine Soul, Draconic Bloodline, etc.). Thea Wildheart, the tome's author and tenured professor at Mulane College in Noggin, argues that sorcerers will be the most influential individuals in the modern world due to their innate spellcasting abilities and charismatic powers.

Historical Details

Background

Sebastian the Character, a former adventurer for Gameth's Royal Knights Brigade, became a folk hero among the halflings of the Elflands Empire for the way he used his magic powers to assassinate the tyrant Gen. Boua Ussaki. Most information about sorcerers was restricted or censored by the Elflands government, leading Prof. Thea Wildheart on a mission to study the sorcerer phenomenon on her own to better understand Sebastian's powers. Her research was briefly put on hold during the Sunken God's reign of terror and the collapse of the Elflands in 897, but the finished manuscript was close to a thousand pages long and proved to be one of the most thorough records of sorcerers to date.

Public Reaction

The tome, despite its imposing size, was celebrated as a breakthrough in the study of a rare form of spellcasting. Sorcery became a fad across Pescaliat as armchair scholars tried to find sorcerers of their own to study. Most notably, the tome became a valuable resource for sorcerers trying to understand their powers and keep them under control.

Read the Document

The Sebastian Syndrome

From the book's closing chapters (p. 781): 

"When we consider spellcasting in the modern era, it always come at a cost: wizards spend countless hours memorizing spells, clerics devote their lives to the service of some deity, and warlocks are said to forfeit their souls for just a taste of powerful magic. 
Sorcerers have no such restrictions; through fate and peculiar circumstances this class of spellcasters has access to unfettered power without any of the expected tradeoffs. A child will wake up one day to discover they have the power to raze their entire village with a single spell, with no one to guide or control their powers. 
In the future we'll see two kinds of sorcerers: those who take efforts to control their powers and those who embrace the chaotic nature of their spellcasting. Sebastian spent his entire life studying his powers and controlling their more destructive effects, to the point where he rarely experienced wild magic surges in his final years. Unless world governments take efforts to train these budding sorcerers, Sebastian will prove the exception as many sorcerers fall victim to the dark tides of chaos."

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Type

Manuscript, Historical

Medium

Paper

Authoring Date

901

Authors

• Thea Wildheart