Property Ward Hoax
Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2013 12:00 am
Buying a home is among the most difficult things to do in Sigil, since unlike the unlimited space available on Prime worlds, The CageÂ’s real estate market is a vicious and small arena. For those lucky, or ruthless enough, to claim themselves a home one of the most immediate tasks is to engage a wizard and ward their home against damage and invasion. To date the Fated report a sum taxed on bought wards to outstrip the combined fortunes of every citizen living in the LadyÂ’s Ward. Mind you, reader, the Fated keep very long backlogs, and weÂ’re talking about a number that represents several generations of spending. However, keep that number firmly in mind.
Lai Kai, an old Rokugani adventurer who made her fortune after she came to Sigil and has lived in the Lady’s Ward for the last fifteen years suffered a break in and arson last week. “I’m just confused,” reported Lai Kai, “I spent nearly one-hundred grand on warding this place against invaders and fire damage.”
This reporter was able to track down and question the mage she employed for her wards, one Magus Gent, and when pressed he replied, “People have to understand that magic is a strange and fickle thing. We only pretend to understand it. So it’s entirely possible that Lady Kai’s wards simply dissipated.” The dissipation in question is one of the clauses on Gent’s employment contract, but after checking with the city’s other leading ward-casting mages, this reporter discovered the same clause on every single contract.
S.I.G.I.S. took the liberty of checking for magical residue on Lai Kai’s home and found none outside the few trophy items she keeps from her old adventuring days. A cross reference and magical detection on other registered warded homes reveals the same complete lack of magical protection. “I just can’t believe it,” commented Lai Kai. “All these years I thought I was safe, and at any time the very things I thought I prevented could have ruined my life.”
Magus Gent was detained shortly thereafter when he tried to leave Sigil via one of our many Toril gates. Packed among his luggage were personal effects that one keeps in a home, not brings for vacation. Since his detention Gent has cooperated and revealed that every ward he cast on a clientÂ’s home was of the personal and temporary variety, each of which ended within 24 hours of the casting. He also revealed the same practice of his colleagues and competitors.
The Harmonium have responded in good form this time around, dispatching magically talented investigators to every registered warded Sigil home and confirming that all, save a small handful, arenÂ’t safely guarded from fire, invasion, or even scrying. The mages responsible for this scandal have been rounded up and detained for questioning and will face trial for false advertisement and mercantile misconduct among a slew of other charges.
One of the homes that are effectively warded against invasion, fire damage, and scrying magics belong to one UnÂ’grakÂ’tozzitÂ’koth, a powerful dragon who occasionally assumes humanoid form and holidays in Sigil. This reporter wasnÂ’t able to personally contact UnÂ’grakÂ’tozzitÂ’koth, but she did respond to a missive delivered via planar courier:
Lai Kai, an old Rokugani adventurer who made her fortune after she came to Sigil and has lived in the Lady’s Ward for the last fifteen years suffered a break in and arson last week. “I’m just confused,” reported Lai Kai, “I spent nearly one-hundred grand on warding this place against invaders and fire damage.”
This reporter was able to track down and question the mage she employed for her wards, one Magus Gent, and when pressed he replied, “People have to understand that magic is a strange and fickle thing. We only pretend to understand it. So it’s entirely possible that Lady Kai’s wards simply dissipated.” The dissipation in question is one of the clauses on Gent’s employment contract, but after checking with the city’s other leading ward-casting mages, this reporter discovered the same clause on every single contract.
S.I.G.I.S. took the liberty of checking for magical residue on Lai Kai’s home and found none outside the few trophy items she keeps from her old adventuring days. A cross reference and magical detection on other registered warded homes reveals the same complete lack of magical protection. “I just can’t believe it,” commented Lai Kai. “All these years I thought I was safe, and at any time the very things I thought I prevented could have ruined my life.”
Magus Gent was detained shortly thereafter when he tried to leave Sigil via one of our many Toril gates. Packed among his luggage were personal effects that one keeps in a home, not brings for vacation. Since his detention Gent has cooperated and revealed that every ward he cast on a clientÂ’s home was of the personal and temporary variety, each of which ended within 24 hours of the casting. He also revealed the same practice of his colleagues and competitors.
The Harmonium have responded in good form this time around, dispatching magically talented investigators to every registered warded Sigil home and confirming that all, save a small handful, arenÂ’t safely guarded from fire, invasion, or even scrying. The mages responsible for this scandal have been rounded up and detained for questioning and will face trial for false advertisement and mercantile misconduct among a slew of other charges.
One of the homes that are effectively warded against invasion, fire damage, and scrying magics belong to one UnÂ’grakÂ’tozzitÂ’koth, a powerful dragon who occasionally assumes humanoid form and holidays in Sigil. This reporter wasnÂ’t able to personally contact UnÂ’grakÂ’tozzitÂ’koth, but she did respond to a missive delivered via planar courier:
That excerpt, taken from the good dragonÂ’s correspondence, sheds a harsh and illuminating light on the truth of the ward industry and those who purchased them. WeÂ’ve been had, Sigil, but fortunately itÂ’s now uncovered, and the Fraternity of Order are even now drafting a bill to illegalize the selling of permanent wards to homeowners. However nothing can now alleviate the shock and violation suffered by those who thought themselves safe, and lost valuable assets in the process of being deceived.wrote:Of course the ward industry is a hoax, and anyone who engaged in that purchase without fully understanding the price was asking to be cheated. It requires one of the single most rarest gemstones in existence to permanently enhance something as small as a sword - naturally the price to permanently effect something as large as a house is respectively more rare and expensive. The price in resources and components that I paid to ward my home is equivalent to several million of your Sigil coins.