Motif · from book 3
The war mages
Robed riders on clockwork beasts, and among the dungeon's few true-born: a flesher re-sleeves a body a dozen times until the magic itself goes sapient, and the three fuse. The Rebellion — 'a non-team entity' — kills a king, takes the Gate, trades it for hell-kissed Conscription potions, conscripts gods, builds a zarogoth generator, occupies the castle, and leaves with the Scavenger's daughter.
First appears: Book 3 · Seen for what it is: Book 7
Series arc
In hindsight, after book 7
The war mages were explained four books before they were met. On the Iron Tangle a card for a troll flesher and a hobgoblin skeleton, Levi the Seventh, described You're Not Done Yet as a War Mage spell of 'the brutal, mass combat that will occur on the ninth floor': skin ripped from the fallen becomes a Flesher, a Flesher finds bones and casts Boned, the symbiote is 'new to the world', and 'There are rumors about oft-resleeved Symbiotes. After enough repetitions, it's whispered they can become quite powerful' (B3 ch. 12). Carl killed a war mage named Dismember on that train (B3 ch. 12) and put its head in his inventory (B3 ch. 13); Shi Maria, wearing him four floors later, noticed it — 'You have a war mage head?' (B6 ch. 71). Donut's ninth-floor spellbook is You're Not Done Yet, a name Carl has heard before (B7 ch. 3); King Stalwart brings the largest force of war mages ever (B7 ch. 34); and the card for Akuma completes the rumour — a dozen re-sleevings and the magic goes sapient, nobody made them, their heads explode — before they kill a king (B7 ch. 61).
As of book 7. A non-team entity on the ninth floor with standing of its own and a residual for a warlord: true-born of too many casts of You're Not Done Yet, sapient after a dozen re-sleevings, heads that explode. By the end of book 7 they have killed King Stalwart, taken and traded the Gate, conscripted gods with hell-kissed potions, built a zarogoth generator in a theatre, spared Elle for Scolopendra's sake, and left the floor with the Scavenger's daughter. Akuma's parting orders: kill Agatha on the tenth; keep Elle alive. Carl still carries a war mage's head from the Iron Tangle.
Through book 3
On the Iron Tangle a card explains You're Not Done Yet as a War Mage spell of the ninth floor's mass combat — a Flesher, a set of bones, Boned, a symbiote 'new to the world', and rumours of oft-resleeved symbiotes grown powerful (B3 ch. 12); Carl beheads Dismember the War Mage on the train with Hole (B3 ch. 12) and keeps the head (B3 ch. 13); Carl guesses all the named trains carry one, and the Nightmare Express does (B3 ch. 13, B3 ch. 14).
Through book 6
Shi Maria, reading Carl's inventory: 'You have a war mage head?' (B6 ch. 71).
Through book 7
Robed riders on clockwork mounts, and a primal dread (B7 ch. 35); Stalwart's largest force of them ever (B7 ch. 34). Akuma's card: nobody made them; a flesher re-sleeves a body until the magic goes sapient; heads explode into a Sapient Moment of Destruction (B7 ch. 61). They kill a king, spare Elle, take the Gate, become a non-team entity with a residual for a warlord, conscript gods with hell-kissed potions and build a zarogoth generator (B7 ch. 61, B7 ch. 62, B7 ch. 68, B7 ch. 69, B7 ch. 70), and leave with the Scavenger's daughter (B7 ch. 78).
Trace
The thread line by line, in reading order: its presence before anyone could see it, and the lines that made it legible. Each line is verbatim from the cited book.
| Where | The line | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Book 3, Ch. 12 | Of all the War Mage spells […] the You’re Not Done Yet spell is one of the most terrifying. […] This loose skin becomes a sentient minion called a Flesher. […] Fleshers have one goal. To find a new set of bones. | The ninth floor's signature spell, explained on the fourth floor; Donut receives it in a legendary box on the ninth. |
| Book 3, Ch. 12 | » There are rumors about oft-resleeved Symbiotes. After enough repetitions, it’s whispered they can become quite powerful. | The rumour is the war mages: Akuma's card says a dozen re-sleevings make the magic itself sapient. |
| Book 3, Ch. 13 | We pulled up to the stop, […] I picked up the war mage head and tossed it into my inventory. | Dismember the War Mage's head, kept from the Iron Tangle; Shi Maria remarks on it in book 6; on the ninth floor Carl collects four more before they explode. |
| Book 6, Ch. 71 | So many things. So many possibilities. Kimaris? You have a summoning totem of Kimaris? Does Samantha know this? Hmm. You have a war mage head? […] What to do? | A spider reading Carl's inventory: the head and the totem, both answered in book 7. |
| Book 7, Ch. 61 | » Akuma. War Mage. Level 100. | The first war mage met as a person: leader of a rebellion the system calls a non-team entity. |
Where they appear
| Book | Chapters they are in (of the book's) | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 3 — The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook | 3/35 | Ch. 12, Ch. 13, Ch. 14 · the book's own page |
| 6 — The Eye of the Bedlam Bride | 1/74 | Ch. 71 · the book's own page |
| 7 — This Inevitable Ruin | 22/89 | 34–35, 39, 43, 56–57, 60–62, 65, 68–78, 83 · the book's own page |
By book
The war mages in book 3 — The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook
A card on the Iron Tangle explains You're Not Done Yet as a War Mage spell of the ninth floor's mass combat — a Flesher, a set of bones, Boned, a symbiote 'new to the world', and rumours of oft-resleeved symbiotes grown powerful (ch. 12); Dismember the War Mage on the train, beheaded with Hole, his head kept in Carl's inventory (ch. 12, ch. 13); a war mage on every named train, Carl thinks, and one gone splat in Fire Brandy's cab (ch. 13, ch. 14).
The war mages in book 6 — The Eye of the Bedlam Bride
Shi Maria, reading Carl's inventory: 'You have a war mage head?' (ch. 71).
The war mages in book 7 — This Inevitable Ruin
A dozen robed riders on clockwork mounts, and a primal dread (ch. 35); Stalwart's largest force of them ever (ch. 34). Their card: nobody made them; a flesher re-sleeves a body until the magic goes sapient; heads that explode ten minutes after death; 'maybe you should ask that pissed-off changeling army' (ch. 61). They kill a king, spare Elle, take the Gate, and go to Juice Box (ch. 61, ch. 62); a non-team entity with standing, a residual for a warlord, a Conscription potion for gods and a zarogoth generator in a theatre (ch. 68, ch. 69, ch. 70). Carl's own plan would have made thousands more, and he is relieved when it fails (ch. 65). They leave with the Scavenger's daughter (ch. 78).