The Incredible Occurrences of Ahora-mirzda
Stage Name: The Stupendous Ahora-mirzda
Name: Newt Radcliffe
Occupation: Stage Magician
Race: Human
Age: 35
Height: 5' 11’'
Weight: Less than 12 and a half stone
History: When The Amazing Vincenzio died, he left his tricks and his possessions to his apprentice, Newt Radcliffe. At first Newt met with little success trying to surpass his master, he struggled for a long time to establish himself as The Stupendous Ahora-mirzda. But among Vincenzio’s possessions, he bequeathed to Newt a trunk containing many documents in ancient and unknown languages.
Newt’s friend, Dr. Thomas Abbott, was a professor of history who on occasion had helped Newt to add flourishes to his act. Abbott was thrilled when Newt brought him the texts because he thought that at the core of the collection there was indeed a very ancient book, The Liber Irtulauratugonii.
“The ritualsâ€, he said, “will add great style to your performance.â€
The Incredible Occurrences of Ahora-mirzda became a hit, the new play drew large crowds and the reviews praised the uncanny atmospherics of the show. What unnerved Newt and Thomas though, was that they could not account for the haunting that had in fact become so popular with the crowd. The strange lights and sounds were completely foreign to them.
At first they accused each other of developing new tricks, but soon they were convinced something eerie was going on when the poltergeist followed them home and began haunting them at night. Abbot suspected that there were clues contained in the commentaries of the Codex Uttukugalli that he hoped would explain the phenomena, and he locked himself away in study cutting off all contact with Newt.
From behind the barred door he shouted, “The show must go on!†but Newt needed Abbott for the biggest performance of his career, opening night, the first show of the new year. Abbott promised he would make it.
Newt came back that night, ready for the show, but his business partner had vanished. The door to the study was open. To his horror, Newt discovered that room was not completely empty on all the surfaces and crammed into all the tight spaces were papers and diagrams chaotically scrawled in the spidery hand of Doctor Thomas Abbott.
When Newt noticed a pile of ash and burned pages, the door slammed shut behind him and a booming voice filled the room with laughter. A fell wind whipped at Newt from every direction, and a vortex of black iridescence opened before him scattering papers, furniture and finally Newt to heaven-knows-where.
He came to in a lightly wooded glen strewn widely with the contents of Abbott’s study, papers flew high on a mischievous wind to every corner of the land while it whipped at Newt who in panic tried to catch his bearings and the hopelessly dispersed pages.
Newt gathered what he could, but over the next few days hunger and the need for shelter drove him from the location. Newt now searches the land for his missing pages, sometimes receiving cryptic revelations from the daimons of the text, all the while looking desperately for a way home.
Appearance: The Stupendous Ahora-mirzda once wore a fine tuxedo, white gloves, a mantle with a green silk lining, and a turban with a glass ruby and peacock feather. But now, his clothes are worn, his gloves are gray, and the hem is frayed at the bottom of his cloak from all his recent travels. He wears a bronze pocket watch on his jacket.
Personality: Newt Radcliffe’s mind is a battleground where two ancient forces fight for magical supremacy. He carries the Ghost-Sickness, concordantly, his spell choice directly affects his mood, his sense of empathy, and his sanity. Irtulauratugoni and the Eudaimonium struggle for dominion over his higher and lower self.
Casting any Irtulauratugonian Spell now leaves him in a cumulatively weakened state, while exhausting his memorized spells knocks him out until the witching hour, 12 am midnight.
Radcliffe experiences Bad Luck when casting Irtulauratugonian spells and he pays it off by casting Eudaimonian spells.
There are three stages of Bad Luck: minor, moderate, and severe:
Minor: Bad lucks strikes Newt Radcliffe more often than other people, such as losing
more often at card games, or such as when he get holes in his shoes more often.
Moderate: Newt’s bad luck worsens and he begins to lose defensive opportunities.
Severe: The daimon Irtulauratugoni whispers constantly in Newt’s ear, his bad luck
grows to extremes like making enemies, failing attacks, and random
convulsions but Irtulauratugonian spells become more likely to succeed.
The Double – This form of bad luck still haunts Ahora-mirzda, in a failed attempt to get home
by using the Liber Irtulauratugonii he released the Fetch who turned on him and escaped
into the night. The wight is always one step ahead of him.
Trained Skills: Before Newt discovered a tome of magic, he developed a number of skills common to Magicians and studied as an apprentice to The Amazing Vincenzio, one of the greatest performers of the day.
Stagecraft—The design of stage trickery, oratory, and sleight of hand; the Art of Magic
Spiritualism—The use of tricks like ringing bells with his toes, throwing knocks, and
automatic writing to create the illusion that ghosts and spirits are present.
Mesmerism—The game of hypnosis played with a willing subject, or with himself.
Literacy—Although many pages are now lost, Thomas Abbott left Newt copious notes on
how to interpret the formulas & passages of the ancient text.
Cane-fighting—Newt is a natural cane-fighter
Smoke & Mirrors: The Stupendous Ahora-mirzda hasn’t yet mastered the spells of the Liber Irtulauratugoni, but he has succeeded in utilizing the translations and commentaries of the Codex to add a number of marvelous features to his performance. What he did not know though is that what appeared to be entertaining cantrips were in fact taking a heavier and heavier toll on his immortal soul.
Newt has two classes of Abilities: Smoke & Mirrors, and Magic Circles
The Codex Uttukugalli is a set of commentates and discourses written by many authors collected around a series of hermetic rituals known as the Liber Irtulauratugoni. Newt Radcliffe uses its pages to prepare and to learn new spells. These spells can be used in self defense but mostly they add spectacle to the Magic Show.
Only 3 spells can be memorized per day but the spells can be memorized in any combination.
The spells of the tome are split into two domains: Irtulauratugonian and Eudaimonian.
Irtulauratugoni
1. Puppet Show - Shadowy illusions of people, animals, and figments of Newt’s imagination are cast on the wall. Newt can only maintain this spell while channeling.
2. Spotlight: A painful ignition causes 1st -2nd degree damage and can light fires at a distance of 135 rows.
3. Puff of Smoke - A cloud of smoke fills the immediate area, Newt vanishes into the shadows taking him out combat, then reappearing after the audience's turn with a flourish.Locked until level 2.
Eudaimonium
1. Airglow - A playful optical effect that manifests in unpredictable ways such as a beam of light, a shimmer, a warp, or a refraction.
2. Vitalize - A feeling of good cheer energizes the crowd, boosting the mental defenses of Newt and all his allies. Friendly targets have raised courage while Newt channels this spell.
3. Aromatic - Creates epiphanies in the audience, lasting highly subjective lengths of time, they lose a turn lost in thought. Locked until level 2.
Magic Circles
Irtulauratugonian Circle - This evocation summons Irtulauratugoni, granting Newt the
ability to commune with the spirit and change his memorized Irtulauratugonian Spells.
Eudaimonian Circle- This invocation makes contact the Eudaimonium, allowing Newt
to memorize Eudaimonian Spells and commune with the spirit.
Magic circle rituals require no rare magical resources, merely a stick of chalk and the right magic words but each takes time to make the proper signs and to recite the all the incantations.
Equipment: Newt also carries the tools of his trade in a large Crocodile Leather case, including a pack of cards, many small tricks, his wand, his papers and pens, and his material components among other small personal possessions.
Weapons:
The Liber Irtulauratugonii
A common ornamental sword cane.
