The Council watches over the land as teacher, advisor... and guardian.
The plane of magic lies beside our own plane. There is a small amount of magic within everything. The magical plane itself, however, is separated from us by a barrier... It requires years of training to condition ourselves for breaching the barrier... And it is dangerous for the unskilled.
— Opening Narration
Aikonia
is a webcomic based on a not-yet-released game by the same name. It chronicles the tribulations of a magic school through various plots among the staff and a possible disturbance in the source of magic itself. The first three chapters were drawn by Katie Tiedrich, presenting something of a contrast between the serious plot and her usually comedic art style.
On November 4th, 2011, the team surpassed their funding goal for their Kickstarter campaign to help print the first chapter of the series.
As of July 2020 the comic is on indefinite hiatus.
Includes examples of:
- Alien Sky: The world of Magic.
- Aura Vision: Whatever Ariel has turned into seems to have this, and it uses this to single out particularly magically adept students to put under its mind control.
- Background Magic Field: The Veil, an invisible and intangible boundary between Aikonia and Magicka.
- Demonic Possession: Ariel's condition. The real Ariel is dead.
- From Bad to Worse: You think Syd's death is bad? Try again a chapter later.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Solaris holds the possessed Ariel down long enough for Cyril to impale the two of them with a crystal branch, killing them both.
- In the Hood: Every character affiliated with the institute has a hood, apparently. Not surprising for a bunch of mages. Casters have a blue hem on their robes, and channelers have a red hem.
- Off with His Head!: How Deimos dies to a demonic Ariel after foolishly proposing to be her "king".
- Prolonged Prologue: After the actual chapter titled "Prologue" (a brief explanation and history of magic narrated by Cyril) is three and a half chapters detailing the fall of the Institute. Halfway through chapter 4, we meet the real heroes of the story.
- Shock and Awe: One of the most prevalent forms of magic so far. Notably was used by the possessed Ariel to kill Syd.
- Taken for Granite: Used to preserve the bodies of the dead council members as part of their memorial graves.
- Time Skip: After the portal is closed, magic is deemed too hazardous to use and the means to use it are sealed away. A long time later, an adventuring party find the overgrown ruins of the magic academy.
- Wham Episode: When possessed!Ariel throws Solaris through the Magicka portal at the end of Chapter II. The effects of this are still being felt now.
- Wizarding School: The Aikonian Institute of Magical Research and Application.
- Written Sound Effect: Representing some of the only moments of levity in the series, Aikonia employs some ridiculous written sounds. Examples include CLOMK, FLAPPLE, and FOONT.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Said in verbatim by possessed!Ariel to Solaris after he tries to confront her.
