The Ascension of Reza - Magic Story Audio Drama
Project Overview
As Wizards of the Coast continues to release their weekly Magic Story updates, it is our goal on the Voice of All podcast to bring these stories to life through audio.
It's time for our final Ravnica Allegiance story! This time we're following a young Azorius lawmage who hasn't been outside in eight years, too busy puzzling over theories of law. He's about to get a crash course in the practical side of things. Our main character is also our narrator this week so if you are prepared for that, read on! You can check out this story in full here:
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/magic-story/ascension-reza-2019-02-27
If you're interested in hearing our past works, you can listen to all of them here:
https://www.voiceofallmtg.com/
We can also be found on Soundcloud, Stitcher, YouTube, iTunes, and Google Podcasts! We are looking to keep up with the release of Wizards' stories as best as possible and will release our version the second following Friday, so expect to be cast this week and have your lines to me within a few days.
As a general casting note, I do not typically have any voice requirements in mind for characters. I would much rather hear your interpretations and choose from among them.
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Rezajaelis Agnaus, Reza (pronounced "ree-zuh") to his associates, is an up and coming lawmage. He loves studying and creating new laws to be exact and precise and good, but he's so busy with it he rarely ever ventures into the real world. As a vedalken, he is tall, slender, and amphibious. He can best be described as quiet, measured, and agoraphobic.
Reza is also the narrator of this tale, so in addition to his in character lines, you will need to read narration for the story - about 15 pages (~6000 words) in total.
"I noticed a possible loophole when I was researching last week . . . a clause that ties the average length of prison sentences to recidivism rates. Theoretically, we could end up having negative-term sentences should the rate fall low enough." [quiet, slightly excited]
"Free to go! Aren't you going to help me find who did this?" [indignant]
[Narration test] That new law I'd put in the sky enters my mind. Failure to produce proper identification will result in detention for an indefinite amount of time—as long as it takes for some overworked public servant to determine if I am who I say I am . . . In other words, I'd be sitting in an Azorius jail for a long, long time. I couldn't let an arrest tarnish my reputation at New Prahv. It'd be like letting everything I've worked so hard for wash right into an open sewer.
My hand touches the vial of cleansing oils Janin had given me. I retrieve it from the satchel, then throw it down at the arrester's feet. Glass breaks, and a caustic odor fills the air. The arrester begins coughing and wheezing, and then I'm running, running. The arrester hails her partners, and then they're all after me, eyes bleary and red from the oil, snot trickling from their noses like busted faucets. It slows them down, but not by much. At every street, I keep looking for nooks and crannies that will take me back into the relative safety of the Thinktank, trying to ignore the fact that I've made things a million times worse for myself. There's no escape. I'd have to climb back inside, and I couldn't get up fast enough.
Hendrik is big, bold, and brash. He's a bearded giant of a man, with a personality to match. He invents things, especially weapons, and likes to give people nicknames. He's passionate about his community being run by itself, neighbor helping neighbor.
"I'm Hendrik. My friends call me Hennie. Or Big Hen. Or B.H. Or Benny Two-Clocks on account of an incident with a fuzzy-headed blastseeker with a flair for misreading dials. Stopped my heart dead. But Ol' Doc jiggered me a new one. Keeps time better than a clock in the Continuism lab!"
"All right, Reeze. Why don't you come home with me? We'll get you all cleaned up and back in the sky in no time."
"You've got about three seconds before those rule sniffers are here." [warning]
A clean, smiling beacon of politeness in the mess that is the Thinktank, Janin is a chemist who befriends Reza. He was raised by vedalkens so he understands Reza's meticulous nature.
"B.H.'s given you a nickname already. Means you're in trouble. He likes you. I'm Janin. I keep the gears from falling off in this little hovel. Master Chemister, if you're the sort that likes respectable titles." [A smiling introduction]
"That's just how it works in the Thinktank. If your inventions hurt someone, you do your best to make it right. They took me in without a moment of hesitation. We can't count on anyone else, so we have to rely on each other."
"We should go check the workshop. He's got an obsession with that place."
The sphinx Tagan is Reza's mentor as he makes himself known as a lawmage. She is quiet, polite, and catlike. She is eager to help him make his mark on the world.
"Theoretical loopholes are easy to sensationalize. We can get the populous riled up about how we averted near disaster within the prison system, and it'll be easier to justify our salaries. It'll take days for the librarians to approve the interlibrary transfer, though. You should visit the Historical Archives yourself, while your rune is still new in the sky."
"I wouldn't dare paraphrase Master Baan without qualifying it first."
"I'm not giving up on you. I can't be your mentor anymore, because I think it's time you become a mentor yourself."