A month back, we ran a survey asking the 13th Age community to select their favorite icons from the sets of Open Game Content (OGC) icons that work seamlessly with official material. The results are in, and we're pleased to share them with you. As a third-party publisher, you're allowed to use these icons in your products under the Open Game License. Pelgrane Press is going to commission art for each icon symbol, which will also be OGC. In a very real way, these are the community's icons!
- The Mageflame – The most powerful wizard in the world is said to possess a special spark, the Mageflame, that allows him or her to rise above the other masters of the arcane. The current bearer of the Mageflame is a powerful wizard who commands a small army of magic wielders to place and maintain grave wards, beast barriers, and weather towers across the land. His realm is a giant floating city in the sky. He is nominally allied to the Ivory Throne, but it’s unclear what role the surface world plays in his larger agenda.
- The Conqueror – The chosen champion of the dark gods. He rallies armies and razes demonic strongholds, capturing them to make his army stronger and fight ever more demons. He is the counterpoint to the Godspeaker, and in open warfare with the the Tempter.
- The Tempter – The youngest of the current icons, her predecessor, the Dark Master, having been destroyed by the Elven Court. Because she is currently fighting both the Conqueror and the Elven Court, she is having problems expanding her power base. The Tempter serves as a conduit that allows demons to come into the world. In other words – she is the portal.
- The Lord of the Forge – Deep below the mountains, the ruler of the dwarves keeps the different keeps and strongholds united as a kingdom. His position places him in control of a powerful forge from Ages past that allows for the production of new magic items, albeit at great cost of time and resources.
- The Elven Court – The ruling court that oversees the alliance between three factions of elves – Wood, High, and Dark. A tentative peace is held between the factions to keep them from acting out on ancient rivalries and grudges. Elves have long lives and even longer memories. For now, the elves understand that only by working together they can keep the younger races from encroaching on their territory. But still, that doesn’t prevent the occasional conflict to be resolved with arrow, magic spell, and poison.
- The Ivory Throne – In the imperial capital, the king or queen of men rules from a splendorous seat of power. Over the ages, their realm has risen and waned, and today, the sovereign doesn’t control even half the territory they claim to be theirs. But as long as the throne stands, the kingdom will not fall. The Ivory Throne is allied with the Mageflame, the Godspeaker, and the Gatekeeper to keep civilization from teetering back into darkness.
- The Gatekeeper – A gigantic ancient being that some claim to be the physical embodiment of a God. Others claim it is a celestial left to watch over the world they created. The Gatekeeper spends their days locked in battle with the demons that would otherwise destroy the world. A massive battle in a previous Age has left the Gatekeeper in a diminished state – some fear he is on the verge of death. The Gatekeeper is served by a noble order of Paladins who have sworn to fight demonic incursions. They directly oppose the Temptress, but they are wary allies of the Conqueror. In the short term, their goals may be aligned, but the endgame is very different.
- The Wildwalker – As civilization grew, nature retreated. But as the forests shrank, a powerful voice emerged to make their pain heard. The current Wildwalker is a young druid with a powerful rallying cry to fight back. Before, the balance of civilization and nature tilted towards civilization, but she wants to tip the scales back, and many fear this will lead to war with the Ivory Throne.
- The Deathless One – The master of undead and wielder of the raw power that animates such creatures. The Deathless One was once the Mageflame and achieved a state of deathless immortality through control over negative energy. Once his fellows learned that he would neither die nor abdicate, he was forcibly removed from his position and the benefits it provided. Shortly after, he took control of a small kingdom through the expedient of murdering everyone and raising them under his control. He has been quiet for some centuries, tinkering away at making better and stronger undead creations. Biding his time, waiting to strike and liberate the world from the cruelties of life.
- The Devourer – The savage races of the north, the orcs, goblins, ogres and giants, are too locked up in tribal warfare and seasonal raids to pose a threat to civilization. But every now and then, a leader of such strength, ferocity, and cunning rises up to unite the tribes and propels them onto the main stage of history. In this Age, the orcs have proven to be worthy of everyone’s attention under the leadership of one who embodies a terrifying concept – relentless hunger.
- The Godspeaker – The bright gods play a distant role in this world, but in this Age they have blessed someone with the ability to consult with them directly in return for spreading their will. The Godspeaker has unified disparate divinities under one umbrella, but that doesn’t come without petty squabbles among competing clergy. The Godspeaker may speak, but to act, they would have to unite many diverse and stubborn voices with opposing beliefs on anything from the meaning of marriage to what meats are acceptable to eat. They act as the counterpoint to The Conqueror, champion of the dark gods, and like the Ivory Throne, they serve to protect civilization.
- The Faceless – Nobody really knows who the Faceless is or what they truly represent, but everyone is willing to sell you their theory for good coin. Some call the Faceless the one true god, enjoying playing with the toys of the world. Others say the Faceless is “only” a highly successful band of rogues, and that the Faceless’s claim of the theft of a star was merely the hunger of the Devourer that they took credit for. Whatever the truth, the Faceless is always at the heart of yet another riddle and mystery.
- The Council of Scales – By itself, a dragon is a worthy adversary of a band of adventurers. The eldest dragon of each chromatic color rivals the power of entire small nations. Together, as a council, they control entire cities, mountain ranges, and seas, and rival the Ivory Throne in the size of lands they control. If one day they decide to seize their internal squabbles and march their scaled armies into human lands, the throne could finally fall.
- The Dweller Below – A dark reflection of the Wildwalker, ruling over the creatures and sentients who live away from the light, either in caves or deep beneath the waves. Most surface dwellers have forgotten about the Dweller Below or believe him to be a fable crafted to scare children. He simply sleeps in his nest, but will rise if his realm is disturbed.
Sketch from Maximilian Schmuecker's work on the Mageflame icons.
