#io's not a good leader but a) power = freedom and b) they want to have fun

[venenorum-archive]

I started this off by saying ‘little fantasy verse info dump’ but I’m 80% sure it won’t be little:

io’s powerful in two ways; their magic, and the fact that they’re an archmage. head witch.

it’s sort of a mystery how old they are, whenever asked, they give wildly varied answers. they are a bit younger than main verse, though. and have been archmage for the last fifteen years.

they came out of nowhere, really. it’s given them a lot of flack, as they have no background or family to stake their claim. 

there’s plenty of rumors as to how they forged their way to power, however. it’s given them the named of court viper. far too many people who have crossed them have died, choking on poison. it’s impossible to pin the blame on iovita, however. they cover their tracks.

the biggest rumor is that they poisoned the last archmage, but considering that he was old as well, the evidence in insubstantial.

io always smiles a wicked little smile when confronted by the rumors, but never deign to speak of them. they clawed their way into this position, and they’re going to keep it because power is the ultimate freedom in their eyes.

political menace. they enjoy playing mind games, gathering rumors, spreading rumors, dangling sensitive information above the heads of the elite. 

you can’t get away with not inviting them to an event of high society. it’s better to invite them, bribe them to be as good as possible, and hope for the best, less they show up uninvited instead and start causing mayhem, disguised as it is behind a charming smile and silver tongue.

their own private home is where they’re found most of the time. it’s... mostly humble, and practically lost to a swathe of barely-tamed garden. it’s built on a hot spring, the natural thermal keeping the bath house and the conservatory warm.

the conservatory is filled with even more plants, some of them inherently magical in property, glowing softly into the night. many others are toxic, hidden among the rest of the inconspicuous plant life.

they rarely take students. it’s whoever catches their interest, and that’s always the powerful students.

they still travel a lot, whether to begrudgingly keep up with their duties as archmage, or to simply get away. 

lucrezia is still in this verse. they also keep a leggy black mare named tenebris.

it’s sort of another mystery to others as to why iovita is archmage, considering they’re an indifferent leader at best. most seem to think it’s because they like the power, others because they think io is bloodthirsty; they’re fearsome in battle, after all. others still think it’s because the old witch is having fun, bored with their years and interested in how many words it takes to start a war.

it’s honestly, all of the above.

no one can say they haven’t done good things for magic-users, though, even if it’s mostly for their own personal gain. they’ve gone head to head against laws on magic before, and would do so again.