The Wizard Who Disappeared Within His Own Hat

[Meriado]

The Wizard Who Disappeared Within His Own Hat

Many, many years ago there was a wizard whose name was Teslar Netherwind or Teslar Mad-hat as he sometimes was called behind his back. He worked in the Ivory Towers on Edron like many other people who were talented in the arcane arts commonly referred to simply as ‘magic’. He was a teacher and regularly held lectures for the students who also was a part of what was back then called ‘the Academy of Magic Invention and Regulation’. The Academy was divided into different departments which handled different things surrounding the use of magic, but the two main departments were as the name reveals the ones handling magic invention and magic regulation.

Teslar himself was once part of the ‘Department of Magic Invention’, but got kicked out because his ideas were “too foolish” and “too crazy” according to the project leaders. What others saw as his crazy ideas combined with the fact that he always wore a big, pointy hat lead to his nickname “Teslar Mad-hat”. The hat was a magnificent sight, which was something most people agreed to, but seldom acknowledged. It was purple and had lots of different symbols embroidered on it. The symbols varied in size and kind – there were magic symbols, star signs and other more common symbols - all in different colours.

It was after he got kicked out of the ‘Department of Magic Invention’ that he became a teacher, which was not seen as the most prestige filled position within the Academy. Teslar didn’t mind though… he didn’t like his colleagues very much anyways and preferred the company of his students. This might partly have been because of their enthusiasm and curiosity. Unlike his colleagues, they found his ideas interesting and well… maybe a bit crazy, but then in a good way.

The headmaster and his council was very controlling when it came to what was being researched within the Academy and this might necessarily not have been a bad thing, since magic can be very powerful and dangerous if not handled with care. Everyone who worked within the Academy was also checked and controlled so that nobody would do something the council wasn’t aware of and this was something Teslar saw as an obstacle. He had lots of ideas, but could not realise them within the Academy.

After a certain incident involving a summoned dragon, destroyed expensive equipment and a part of the Academy having to be rebuilt, the headmaster had had enough and Teslar got kicked from the Academy. This wasn’t the end of Teslar’s interest in magic invention however – he continued his research in his own house in Stonehome. This went on for a about a year and every week since Teslar had left the Academy a group of so called “Regulators” came by his house and wanted report of every kind of magic he had worked with. The Regulators were a group within the Academy who had the task of checking certain people who worked with magic outside of the Academy and this was done to make sure that the council could regulate the use of magic when needed.

Even though Teslar could do much research and experimenting hidden away from the eyes of the Academy, he felt that he never really could go all the way since they regularly was checking what he was doing. He couldn’t move from Edron if he wanted to continue his research since he had to stay there to get access to certain magic supplies which were only obtainable there. He had tried a lot of things to avoid the controls on a day to day basis though – for example he had tried simple things such as shape shifting, turning himself invisible and so on, but this was always too simple and the Regulators always had means to discover what he was up to.

He knew that to get rid of them and finally be set free to do whatever he wanted he needed to do something radical. He started to do some research and began to test different theories and ideas. Then one day when the Regulators came to his house for the weekly check the door didn’t open after several knocks. This happened regularly though and since they thought that Teslar was just doing one of his tricks to avoid the control, they just opened the door and stepped inside. They started looking everywhere in the house, tried an invisibility purge spell, tried some counter shape shift spells on the cat, but with no results. The only odd thing they saw was that Teslar’s magnificent hat lay on the floor by the workbench. They guessed that it was some trick of his and tried several spells on the hat, but nothing happened. They also searched the surrounding area, but Teslar was nowhere to be found.

After several months with no sign of Teslar the council decided to file him as missing and then they confiscated his belongings and the house. The hat among other magical things was put in the huge storage room for confiscated magical equipment at the Academy. Nobody knows for sure what happened to Teslar, but there are different theories.

Some people of the more ignorant kind think that he simply vanished or were disintegrated in one of his foolish experiments. Others think that since his hat was left untouched on the floor it must have something to do with his disappearance. Maybe he lives on as just an intellectual spirit freed from our material world with its boundaries. Or maybe he lives in a material existence much like ours, but in another plane of existence. Maybe he’s alone wherever he is or maybe he found some like-minded wizards and they now live together in their own domain. Nobody knows for sure.

There have been reports of mysterious sounds coming from the hat now and then since it was put in the storage room though. The guards have said that they’ve heard sounds of laughter and voices talking coming deep from inside the hat. The sounds are always faint and seem to be very far away and thus it’s never possible to hear what’s being said. Either way, this is usually proof enough for most people that wherever Teslar is, he’s very much alive.

[Chikilina]

Oh!! very nice story, Meriado!

I wonder if Teslar will come back!

[Meriado]

Thank you, Chikilina!

Yeah, I wonder that too. We'll just have to wait and see!

[Munch]

Intresting story.. I am curious where he might be! Looking forward to read your stories again Meriado. Thank you for sharing with us.


<tries to hide in a big old hat without success>

Farewell.

Regards,
Salta Apor.

[Meriado]

Thanks for reading, Salta! I hope to write something more in the near future.

[Simet]

<looks amazed>

Very nice story!!! I liked it a lot!

Leaving the final "in the air" to possible ends was a great touch congrats!



Best regards!

[Meriado]

Thanks for your wonderful words and feedback, Simet! <bows>