The Cowled Wizards is a corrupt organization that is empowered to regulate the use of wizardly magic by the people in Athkatla during the Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn campaign. They jealously protect their monopoly over arcane magic, by any means.
Chapter I[]
An insane wizard has captured a number of innocent people and is torturing them in his magically enhanced retreat. A lone city guard is standing at the entrance, waiting for the magic specialists who might resolve the situation. He is waiting in vain. Being a professional magic performer, the wizard in question obviously has a magic license. Such licenses are sold to anyone who can pay the price of 5,000 GP, without any background checks, and they are not revoked when the holder breaks the law.
The Cowled Wizards are first seen just a few steps away from the other incident, when a resident wizard employs magic to defend his life and property from a hit team sent by a crime syndicate. Either Jon lacks a license, or his actions were too extravagant to be ignored. Six Cowled Wizard members teleport to the location and attempt to subdue and arrest him, though Jon fights back and kills four of them.
Eventually he allows himself to be taken in as his own laboratory has recently been compromised and the Cowled Wizards maintain a well-equipped laboratory in their prison. To ensure that his escaped captives return to him, he demands Imoen be taken prisoner along with him, on the pretext that she had cast Magic Missiles at him previously. They are both teleported to a brief "trial", and a senior wizard judges that they are deviants and sequestered to "rot in Spellhold."
Wizard Magic Ban[]
The Cowled Wizards place strict laws that ban unlicensed wizardly spells. The casting of one will lead to the arrest of those involved. If they resist, they will be killed. After they are arrested they go on trial in a building in the Athkatla Government, where the leader decides what sentence is applicable. Punishments up to execution are possible, or more likely they may be sent to Spellhold, an asylum for the insane or magically deviant.
Arcane magic cast outside buildings in Waukeen's Promenade, Bridge District, Athkatla City Gates, Athkatla Slums, Athkatla Docks and Athkatla Government areas always trigger a response.
Arcane magic cast in the Athkatla Graveyard, Temple District or random encounter areas in the city seem never to trigger a response.
Enforcing the Ban[]
The first time a party member casts an arcane spell illegally (i.e., without having first bribed, or rather "purchased" a license from, Corneil), a Cowled Enforcer will appear and warn you not to do it again.[1] However, the party member may cast wizard spells for the rest of the day, even transitioning to other districts to do so, without being attacked. After the party has rested once (8 hours), casting another wizard spell results in another enforcer appearing.
The second time an illegal spell is cast, the same Cowled Enforcer shows up and says that you were warned and calls in three other Cowled Enforcers for backup before attacking. (For details on all four enforcers, see the page for Cowled Enforcers.)
If you defeat them, you'll be able to cast spells freely until you rest or enough time passes, but then, the same group will appear again when you cast. Killing them does not lower reputation.
After defeating this repeating encounter a total of five times, the next time you cast a spell the Enforcer teleports to the casting location and announces:
| “ | Your transgressions against the Cowled Wizards have come to an end. Prepare to feel the wrath of the highest members of our order. | ” |
The Enforcer then calls in help from three more powerful Cowled Wizards, including a named mage: Zallanora.
After defeating this final, unique group of Cowled Wizards, the attacks stop and you will be free to cast spells even without a license.
The Cowled Wizards will also not bother trying to enforce the magic ban against a party of Reputation 3 and under (though such a party will be hunted by them in other occasions). Such low reputation characters can experience unique dialogue when trying to acquire a license from Corneil (who tells you not to bother, as, at that point, "you have already proven yourself destructive beyond the boundaries of common sense") and even increase their reputation while continuing to be free of the magic ban.
Mod content[]
This section is about unofficial content that is only available via fan-made mods.
Sword Coast Stratagems mod has two optional components that can be installed regarding the Cowled Wizards:
Allow the Cowled Wizards to detect spellcasting in most indoor, above-ground areas in Athkatla (BG2,BG2EE,BGT)
The Cowled Wizards claim to ban magic everywhere in Athkatla; in practice, though, they only complain if you cast spells out of doors. This component extends their watch to most indoor, above-ground areas in Athkatla (there are a few exceptions, mostly places where wizards live (e.g. Prebek's tower) or where it's likely that the owners have made arrangements with the Cowled Wizards (e.g. the Copper Coronet).
Increase the price of a license to practice magic in Athkatla (BG2, BG2EE, BGT)
The default price for a magic license from the Cowled Wizards is 5,000gp. This component allows you to increase it to an amount between 10,000gp and 50,000gp, depending on which option you choose during installation. These options are useful to realistically manage the abundant gold that accumulates, well beyond the player's needs, to make the party's purse feel more realistic and balanced. Otherwise, money is never an issue in the game - and it probably should be a factor that needs to be considered, and a resource with implications.
Mod Content Gallery[]
Appendix[]
External links[]
- Cowled Wizards on the Forgotten Realms Wiki, a wiki for the Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting Forgotten Realms.
References
- ↑ COWENF02.BCS