Coming soon in an issue of Modern Dispatch (from RPGObjects) - the Airborne Legionnaire Advanced Class for Wizards and Wiseguys
Written by Mike Lafferty
Art by Rick Hershey
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(selected excerpts follow)
In the alternate historical setting of Wizards and Wiseguys, Magic is awakened in 1908 and drastically alters the history of the 20th Century. Along with the emergence of sorcery, portals have opened between our world and Faerie. Around these portals, markets and eventually towns spring up as mankind is eager to learn the ways of magic and buy the wares that the Fey offer. Most portals are temporary, only existing during the week of the full moon. A few are permanent however. On the European continent, there are temporary portals scattered randomly throughout various nations with only 2 permanent portals – one in Bavaria.
The Great War sees the first military applications of wizardry upon the European continent. With its permanent access to the Bavarian portal, Germany has outstripped most other nations in magical development and has been able to devote much research towards the uses of magic in warfare – specifically improving their skills in Evocation sorcery.
Fortified with German and Austrian combat mages, the Central Powers dominate the early years of the war. Their infantry pushes into Belgium and the Alsace-Lorraine region – attacking France from two fronts...
With their army retreating, their squadrons of planes reduced to a mere handful and their allies faltering, the French Air Force (the Armée de l’Air) took a gamble and procured several prides of griffins from a Faerie trader at a portal near Marseilles. While French wizards had never been able to apply shielding spells to aircraft, they have no difficulty applying them to living creatures and this provided some measure of protection from the Central Powers combat magic and bullets.
The Fey trader also provided training in the art of griffin riding and aerial combat as well as agreeing to provide the Entente (Allied) Powers with a steady supply of various magic items (particularly wands and rings) that could be used with ease while engaged in airborne combat.
Soon, French spellcasters were trained as griffin riders and the new Calvary of the Sky (Calvaire du Ciel) took to the French skies, the last hope of their desperate nation. Although not as fast as the Central Powers planes at top speed, their combination of defensive spells, magical firepower and maneuverability made them a force to be reckoned with. They had a dramatic impact from the moment they entered service. On one memorable night, July 28, 1915, the air cavalry downed 8 German zeppelins and 30 fighter escorts in a 4 hour time span.
Expert at overwhelming and grounding the feared zeppelins, they also proved effective at negating the air support provided by German combat mages. Over four weeks of extensive combat in the summer of 1915, the griffin riders of the Calvary of the Sky single-handedly turned the tide of the war, halting the unstoppable Central Powers and saving France from almost certain defeat.
Kaiser Wilhelm II responded by ordering the Imperial German Army Air Service (Luftstreitkräfte) to begin the immediate creation of their own airborne legions. Unfortunately for the Central Powers, the Fey traders at the Bavarian Portal did not have access to griffins. The best they could offer in terms of airborne mounts were wyverns – barbarous, draconic creatures. Fierce and savage beasts, wyverns had an unfortunate tendency to kill would-be riders. Because of this issue, they could never be deployed in as great numbers as the allied griffins and do not help regain the initiative as Central Power generals hope they would.
Written by Mike Lafferty
Art by Rick Hershey
-----
(selected excerpts follow)
In the alternate historical setting of Wizards and Wiseguys, Magic is awakened in 1908 and drastically alters the history of the 20th Century. Along with the emergence of sorcery, portals have opened between our world and Faerie. Around these portals, markets and eventually towns spring up as mankind is eager to learn the ways of magic and buy the wares that the Fey offer. Most portals are temporary, only existing during the week of the full moon. A few are permanent however. On the European continent, there are temporary portals scattered randomly throughout various nations with only 2 permanent portals – one in Bavaria.
The Great War sees the first military applications of wizardry upon the European continent. With its permanent access to the Bavarian portal, Germany has outstripped most other nations in magical development and has been able to devote much research towards the uses of magic in warfare – specifically improving their skills in Evocation sorcery.
Fortified with German and Austrian combat mages, the Central Powers dominate the early years of the war. Their infantry pushes into Belgium and the Alsace-Lorraine region – attacking France from two fronts...
With their army retreating, their squadrons of planes reduced to a mere handful and their allies faltering, the French Air Force (the Armée de l’Air) took a gamble and procured several prides of griffins from a Faerie trader at a portal near Marseilles. While French wizards had never been able to apply shielding spells to aircraft, they have no difficulty applying them to living creatures and this provided some measure of protection from the Central Powers combat magic and bullets.
The Fey trader also provided training in the art of griffin riding and aerial combat as well as agreeing to provide the Entente (Allied) Powers with a steady supply of various magic items (particularly wands and rings) that could be used with ease while engaged in airborne combat.
Soon, French spellcasters were trained as griffin riders and the new Calvary of the Sky (Calvaire du Ciel) took to the French skies, the last hope of their desperate nation. Although not as fast as the Central Powers planes at top speed, their combination of defensive spells, magical firepower and maneuverability made them a force to be reckoned with. They had a dramatic impact from the moment they entered service. On one memorable night, July 28, 1915, the air cavalry downed 8 German zeppelins and 30 fighter escorts in a 4 hour time span.
Expert at overwhelming and grounding the feared zeppelins, they also proved effective at negating the air support provided by German combat mages. Over four weeks of extensive combat in the summer of 1915, the griffin riders of the Calvary of the Sky single-handedly turned the tide of the war, halting the unstoppable Central Powers and saving France from almost certain defeat.
Kaiser Wilhelm II responded by ordering the Imperial German Army Air Service (Luftstreitkräfte) to begin the immediate creation of their own airborne legions. Unfortunately for the Central Powers, the Fey traders at the Bavarian Portal did not have access to griffins. The best they could offer in terms of airborne mounts were wyverns – barbarous, draconic creatures. Fierce and savage beasts, wyverns had an unfortunate tendency to kill would-be riders. Because of this issue, they could never be deployed in as great numbers as the allied griffins and do not help regain the initiative as Central Power generals hope they would.
