Mage Adept Jonathan Pierce

Extract taken from scribe Jeron’s “A History of Gunn’s Mages”.
(With occasional quotes from Master Jonathan Pierce for clarity (and fun!))

Hailing from a noble family which has lands and titles mostly condensed around Cambridge and Oxford. Master Johnathan Pierce had always seemed at odds with his family, with his father's strict and draconic policy on "How a member of the illustrious Pierce family should behave and act around fellow nobles and the peasantry of the land! (His words not mine!) or his mothers worried attitude towards Johnathans over friendly nature with the local bar maids and "Those of non noble blood". (Think she was afraid of diluting the blood line of the family or something. Pffft rubbish!) But it's safe to say that Johnathan has never been comftable attending all of the various noble social events thought the lands describing most nobles as "Stuck up bastards!" or as "having there heads stuck too damn far up there ass to hear anything other then their own pompous whining". This as you can imagine has had the effect of many of the noble houses as having a slight problem with Johnathan and being labelled the black sheep of his family throughout many noble social circles. (Not that I really care all that much! ...but wait there was that princess that took an interest that time ...ah sod it!)

But it's safe to say that if at all possible Johnathan would duck out of any ball or other social engagement to sneak down to the local tavern and while the nights away with drink, song and dance! not that this has always gone according to plan, on more then one occasion his father has sent a troop of the house guard down to the village to retrieve his son! (Think I can remember this one.... dragged out of a barmaid’s bed... um half naked and drunk… might have been some singing involved too…)

Anyway back on track… How did old man Gunn find young Pierce?
Well… It all started with a dual… No wait lets start at the start… one particular night young master Pierce found himself at one of those stuffy ballroom affairs. Needless to say the young master was beside himself with boredom (but that princess was there again and she kept giving me the eye and…) and before long noticed a small ruckus erupting as a young drunk noble was accosting one of the serving girls in an increasingly lewd way… well not one to put up with that sort of behaviour towards a young lady Pierce asked the noble to stop. (It may have been not quite that simple) The eventual outcome of this was the young noble knocked to the floor with a black eye! (Oh yeah! He bloody deserved it too!) The eventual out come of which was the slurring young noble issuing a challenge to young Pierce, pistols at dawn! Not being one to back down from such things (and possibly because of one too many glasses of the very fine wine available) and due to the fact that Johnathan was as keen with a blade and a fine shot with a pistol, he accepted. (Yeah blame my father, 9 different instructors in as many years…)

The dual was set for dawn the following day. A slightly hung over and tired Johnathan (That princess again…) emerged on to the field to be met by a few friends and the entourage of the son of the Duke of Kippering, Sebastian. (You must understand this guy was an arse of the highest order) Sebastian in an attempt to enrage young Master Pierce greeted him with a slew of insults mostly directed toward the young serving girl and her “weak blood”. (See! Told you he was an arse!) At this point it’s fair to say that he succeeded, with Master Pierce attempting to assault the young noble with the butt of his pistol even before the dual had even begun!

Finally the scene was set and the two duellists began. Unbeknownst to young master Pierce the pistol supplied to him had been loaded by Sebastian’s friend with powder but no shot! 8… 9… 10! Both duellists turned and fired! Sebastian’s bullet finding its mark in Master Pierce’s shoulder. Then something most unexpected happened!

I can only speculate that it was the rage and injustice Young Master Pierce felt at the insults levelled at the serving girl by the noble or his sudden realisation of his life or death predicament. But what I can only describe as green-blue fire and a noise like a dragons roar erupted from the end of his gun, with a bolt of pure raw magic hitting Sebastian clean in the chest and what I can only liken to an exploding canon ball hitting a watermelon!

The scene was deathly quiet. Most could only look on in disbelief at the site that stood before them. Master Pierce pulling a face that I am reliably informed was that of a dive bombing Muwala Walah bird of the Mahawuss cliff range that had found that its wings had vanished and been replaced with some rather ineffectual pots of salmon moose mid flight. (Think the exact words I said was”…Pissing hell…”)
It’s safe to say that after such a vulgar display of raw power and the fact that most sane people never willingly annoy a mage or master of the arcane arts unless they enjoy the feeling of being turned into a tadpole and placed into a tank of rather hungry piranha fish. Most people quietly slunk away from the scene of the dual with only a few grounds keepers (and a spade if I remember correctly!) staying to attend to the site of the dual. (Think they were there for hours trying to find all the bits.)

It was many weeks after the event that he finally came to understand his raw talent for the arcane. After the event that one morning the name of the young Master Pierce that could throw the fire of the dragon from his very fingertips (the rumours got more and more extravagant as time went on. I’m sure there was one about death beams from my eyes that could blow down castle doors at one point.) had started to become the talk of taverns and campfires around the land. Due to the tales of the master mage with the piercing eye that could see your soul and then incinerate it, (I may have let the rumours get a bit out of hand!) it is no surprise that Alistair Coleman Gunn soon heard of this mage and came to investigate. (Think he found me drunk down the tavern actually…)

After long discussion and more then a few drinks, (Yep Old Man Gunn can hold his ale pretty damn well I can tell you) It was agreed that Young Master Pierce would attend Gunn’s college. This as you can imagine delighted his father as “Some military service will do you some good boy” he was quoted as saying. And with that Master Johnathan Pierce became the 12th of Gunn’s mages to join the illustrious unit.

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