Elminster	Inscribe (MU 6)	Elminster's Evasion (MU9)	Worldwalk (MU9)	-
Dragon magazine	-	Monster Manual III	-	Dragon #110

With a final, sharp, splintering sound,
the door gave way. The soldiers forced it
aside and peered into the dimness beyond,
their blades drawn. They beheld a dark,
littered room, silent and dead. Dust lay
thickly everywhere. In the middle of the
room, with no traces in the dust about him,
an old man sat smoking a pipe, humming
into his beard as he regarded them levelly.

"And who are you, greybeard?” de-
manded the foremost man-at-arms, ap-
proaching warily. In reply, the old man
spoke a Word of Power that smote their ears
with a clap of thunder. His challenger stag-
gered back as if dazed, dropping blade and
shield with a clangor.

“My name, despoilers of tombs,” he said
in a deep, rolling voice, “is Elminster. I sit
here in the crypt to be with my friends. You
will leave them, and you will leave me —
NOW.” And he rose, eyes flashing. The
men turned and, with one accord, fled.
 

The old man chuckled, sighed, and sat
down again. “You were saying?” he
prompted the darkness. And the darkness
answered. . .

Over the years, many articles have ap-
peared in DRAGON® Magazine detailing
various facets of my AD&D® game cam-
paign, set in a world known to us as the
Forgotten Realms (of which more later). I
felt it was only fair to let DRAGON readers
know about my source for all of this, Elmin-
ster the sage. Accordingly, you’ve had a few
glimpses of him —  and some of you have
asked for more.

I should have known Elminster would
cause me trouble. He is old, cantankerous,
and fussy, used to being the center of atten-
tion and respect. His gruff, often sarcastic
manner conceals an essential kindness and
sentimentality —but he enjoys being a man.
of much erudition and personal mystery,
telling tall tales with only a twinkle in his
eye to warn of his triflings with truth. Find-
ing out things from Elminster that he
doesn’t want you to know is well nigh im-
possible; in all the years since we first met,
I’ve only had a handful of personal infor-
mation from his lips. So, I’ve had to be
sneaky. First, I sat and thought about what
must have happened to make Elminster
what he is, and to match every scrap he’d
told me about events in the Realms. Then,
I invited him over and got him drunk.
 

That head-splitting ordeal earned me
(very!) few straight answers; from them,
I’ve extrapolated yet again. Hence, what
background I give here is vague as to pre-
cise places and times (largely meaningless to
anyone who hasn’t received a crash course
in the history and geography of the Realms,
anyway). It is clear that my friend has
traveled widely not only in the Realms but
here also, and in many other parallel
worlds.

ELMINSTER
26th-level magic-user
ALIGNMENT: Chaotic good
HIT POINTS: 96
ARMOR CLASS: 10 (7 with ring)
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE/ATTACK: By weapon or spell
MOVE: 12”
PSIONIC ABILITY: 266
    Attack/Defense Modes: All/all
STRENGTH: 13
INTELLIGENCE: 18
WISDOM: 18
DEXTERITY: 18
CONSTITUTION: 14
CHARISMA: 17
COMELINESS: 12

A human male of advanced age, Elmin-
ster appears to be a grey-bearded man of
weathered visage, gruff voice, dancing eyes,
and nondescript attire. He is a natural
storyteller and mimic, and can be quite
imperious or persuasive if he wants to be.
He rarely travels in the Realms (although it
is apparent that he once traveled there
widely), preferring these days to explore
other worlds. When he does travel, it is
usually in the disguise afforded by a shape
change spell, or under cover of invisibility;
Elminster travels to acquire information; his
great love is-the discovery of the long-
forgotten, or of creatures and magic totally
new to him.

Elminster keeps a low profile in the
Realms, preferring not to engage in open
diplomacy or politics of any sort. Officially,
he maintains a sage’s neutrality; in fact, he
prefers to see peace, freedom from slavery
and oppression for all peoples (of all races),
tolerance, and maintenance of wilderness
and natural beauty. He often works with
circles of druids and allied rangers, magic-
users of like mind (notably Khelben “Black-
staff’ Arunsun; Alustriel, High Lady of
Silverymoon; and The Simbul, mage-queen
of Aglarond), and that mysterious group
known only as the Harpers, working cov-
ertly to prevent war and limit the influence
of rulers and groups viewed as evil.

Elminster has perhaps the best private
library in the Realms, and hence is often
consulted on matters of history and geneal-
ogy, but he is most famous as the foremost
authority on rare and arcane magic, and on
dangerous and unusual beasts. Elminster
enjoys imparting wisdom to others, but
intensely dislikes giving up the time neces-
sary to train a magic-user up to a new level
of mastery, and will not undertake such
tutelage for those he is not friendly with or
not beholden to. Adventurers come to him
from all over the Realms, and he is said to
be fabulously wealthy as a result of the fees
they pay (having only to sell the right to
copy a spell to certain mages, if he ever
desires more wealth). He never dresses as a
person of wealth or influence, however;
formal or grand clothing, to Elminster, is a
simple black or grey robe, clean and un-
adorned. Rumors of his wealth are borne
out by the fact that he aids those it pleases
him to aid, and turns away others, regardless
of how much or how little any of them
offer in payment.

The breadth of Elminster’s knowledge of
beasts is displayed in the many monster
descriptions of creatures unique to the
<monsters: curst, crawling claw, firetail, wingless wonder, tomb tapper, et al.>, <61: firetail> <74: electrum dragon>, <90: sinister, night hunter, werebat, hundar, gloomwing, azmyth>, <101: burbur, hamadryad, orpsu>, <139: lock lurker, lybbarde, metalmaster, serplar, thylacine>, <140: glyptar, magebane, quezzer, scythetail, xantravar>
Realms found in DRAGON Magazine’s
pages from issue #30 onward, and in the
many detailed “ecologies” of monstrous
<ecologies: ettin, basilisk, beholder, chimera, cockatrice, eye of the deep, gas spore, gelatinous cube, gorgon, gulguthra, harpy, ixitxachitl, korred, leucrotta, maedar, mimic, ochre jelly, remorhaz, rot grub, rust monster, sea lion, slithering tracker, stirge, trapper>
creatures found on many worlds also found
therein. The extent of his unrivaled knowl-
edge of the lore of magical spells and items
of the Realms can be seen in “Seven
Swords” (issue #74), “Six Shields” (issue
#89), and many other articles on magical
items, as well as the “Pages From The
Mages” series. As well as drawing on the
library of spells glimpsed in the “Pages”
series, Elminster has a number of powerful,
unique spells he has developed to aid him in
traveling about, and in acquiring informa-
tion. These are described hereafter.

Elminster has been known to wear a
necklace of missiles, and customarily wears
a +3 ring of protection and a non-vampiric
ring of regeneration. He may have ioun
stones of any sort upon his person, and
always carries a staff (usually nonmagical,
although he does own a staff of striking).
Elminster smokes a meerschaum pipe
(burning some strange substance that pro-
duces thick green or blue smoke, sparks,
and smoke rings), and can drink heavily
without apparent ill effects.

He can be witty and clever in conversa-
tion if he so desires, or haughty or charm-
ing, or terrible and commanding. As he has
grown older, Elminster has become more
whimsical, given to sudden impulses and
doing things “for the hell of it.” He is not
aggressive, but is fearless, and will fight if
crossed, threatened, or attacked. He favor-
ite spells are known to include identify,
magic missile, write, magic mouth, disinte-
grate, legend lore, imprisonment, meteor
swarm, and shape change; he is likely to
have memorized some or all of these when-
ever encountered. He dislikes conjuration/
summoning spells of all sorts, and prefers
not to deal with creatures from the Lower
Planes or the Elemental Planes (except
firetails, as described in issue #61, page 48).

Elminster is likely to have memorized any
or all of the following unique spells (he
sometimes calls these his “little triumphs of
Art”) that he has developed:

Inscribe (Evocation/Alteration)
Level: 6
Range: 7”
Duration: 1 turn +1 turn/level
Area of Effect: One inscription
Components: V,S,M
Casting Time: 1 round
Saving Throw: Special

Explanation/Description: By means of
this spell, a magic-user may be able to
inscribe a spell he or she cannot understand
at the time (due to low level, lack of time in
which to study or write, or insufficient
intelligence or training) into a spell book or
onto a suitable writing surface (such as a
slate or scroll). The magic-user may by
means of this’ spell inscribe non-magical text
or markings, spells of any class or level, and
magical runes or inscriptions (such as
glyphs or symbols — these latter are not
triggered by such inscription, but their
duplicates created by this spell contain all
the harmful properties of the originals, and
may be triggered by subsequent examina-
tion, touching, or study). The originals
copied by means of this spell are not altered
or affected in any way. Due to the broad
nature of magics with which this spell can
cope, it is sometimes called the “Universal
Pantograph” by Elminster’s colleagues.

Nonmagical writings are always success-
fully copied by this spell (i.e., the magic-
user will always make his or her saving
throw). Copies are perfect counterfeits of
the original, duplicating errors in the origi-
nal, ink hue, and the layout and size of
characters exactly. The magic-user must
make a saving throw versus spells, at -4,
to attempt the writing of any spell, spell ink
formulas, or magical symbol, glyph, or
rune, if the inscription’s origin or nature is
not that of magic-user or a magic-user
subclass (including incantatrixes, from issue
#90). If the material to be copiedis not a
spell but is of of magic-user or allied origin,
the saving throw is made at +2 if the in-
cription is up to one level greater than those
he or she currently uses, +0 at two levels
higher, and at -1 per level from three levels
higher onward.
 

The saving throw modifiers for the copy-
ing of spell texts are as follows: +3 for a
spell of-the maximum level usable by the
magic-user, +4 for a spell of one level lower
than the maximum, +5 for aspell of two
levels lower, and so on. If thissaving throw
is failed, the inscription is not copied, and
the caster is stunned for 1-3 rounds and
suffers 1-2 hp of damage per level of spell
attempted. Such damage is to both psyche
and body (only 1-4 hp per day can be
healed, by any means or combination of
means).
 

The inscription created by this spell
requires the presence (within a 7” spherical
radius of the quill, which may itself be no
farther than 1" from the original to be
copied) of the caster, but not his or her
concentration. He or she is not in a trance,
and may sleep, cast other spells, study, or
do anything as long as he or she does not
leave the spell radius (including use of a
blink spell or becoming astral or ethereal, or
using a rope trick, portable hole, or other
means to enter an extra-dimensional space)
or die during the process of inscription.
This process is by means of an enchanted,
animated quill (which can be reused as
many times as desired), a general-purpose
magical spell ink formulae (cf. “Pages From
The Mages,” write ink formulas, second
formulas, issue #62), and a drop of the
caster’s blood.
 

The quill will inscribe magical writings at
the rate of one turn per level of the spell
attempted. Non-magical writings take 1-6
turns to inscribe, depending on volume: one
turn for a one-page written inscription (up
to 500 words or so), two turns if maps,
diagrams, illustrations, or designs are in-
volved (including calligraphic variations in
text, illuminated letters, and the like), three
turns for ?chapbook? or pamphlet-sized
writings, four turns for a book, and live or
six turns for large tomes, atlases, multi-
volume works, etc.

If at any time during the process of in-
scription the quill is interrupted (it will
evade attempts to grab or deflect it, but can
be destroyed by any attack dealing at least 4
hp damage, and is flammable) or the mage
breaks the conditions described above, all of
the inscribed writing will fade in 1-2 rounds
and be forever lost, and the spell is wasted
(the quill is not harmed, and may be re-
used). Inscriptions to be copied by means of
an  inscribe  spell may be concealed by dark-
ness, other text overlaid, and the like, but
they cannot be magically concealed (by
invisibility unreadable magic, blur,  and the
like), or the spell has no effect; prior re-
moval of such magics is necessary.

An  erase  spell cast upon the quill will halt
its work and ruin the inscription (unless
itself countered by casting  dispel magic,  or
an offsetting  write  spell, on the quill within
two rounds of casting), but completed in-
scriptions made through use of an  inscribe
spell cannot be erased unless they fail to
save vs. spells as though of the level of the
caster of  inscribe  at the time of casting.
Such inscriptions can be readily concealed
by  secret page  and other magics, however.

This spell requires prior construction of a
quill, which is traditionally made from the
finger bone of an intelligent being who
could, in life, write; electrum of the purest
sort; and, ash wood or rosewood. A shaft of
the desired length is fashioned of the rose-
wood, then riveted with electrum to the
bone. Upon the bone is then cast a Nu-
lathoe’s ninemen spell (q.v., “Pages From
The Mages,” issue #62), and the bone is
then affixed to a pen nib or point fashioned
of electrum.

Enchant an item is then cast upon the
pen, and within its period of efficacy wizard
eye, unseen servant, and (if desired) perma-
nency spells are added. The pen must then
be used daily by the mage, and carried
about on his or her person constantly (next
to the flesh, if possible) for the period of a
moon (in the Realms, as here, about a
month). It is then ready for use, and may
then have subsequent magics (such as invis-
ibility and Drawmij’s instant summons) cast
upon it. It may be carried in a Leomund’s
tiny chest and enlarged or shrunk without
harm. If not endowed with permanency the
quill will last for only seven usages (with an
inscribe spell, unlimited normal use as a
writing implement), or 100 days, whichever
comes first.
 

Elminster's Evasion

Level: 9
Range: 0”
Duration: Special
Area of Effect: The spell caster
Components: V,S,M
Casting Time: 1 turn plus associated spells
Saving Throw: None

Explanation/Description: This is a cus-
tomized version of the contingency spell
that Elminster is quite proud of; he calls it
“a good and true alternative to lichdom.”
Upon certain conditions, set by the caster
during casting and consisting of no more
than six “points”or clauses (Elminster’s
are: upon death, loss of control over mental
faculties or physical body caused by illness,
physical injury, mental damage, or attack;
destruction of both upper limbs or more, of
total body volume; or upon utterance by
self of the command word “Thaele”), the
caster’s body, complete with soul or spirit
(even if this has been somehow separated
from the body) and all physical items worn,
held, or attached to the body, is instantly
snatched through a momentary (1 segment)
worldwalk (q.v.) portal, into a particular
place (chosen by the caster during the initial
casting of this spell), even if that place is
many planes distant, and its arrival there
will trigger two previously cast spells. Such
spells may be of any level, but they must be
personally cast by the caster of the evasion
(hence, spells not known by, or prohibited
to, the caster are unavailable).

The material components of this spell are
a pint of the caster’s blood and a gem of not
less than 5,000 gp value; the gem is pow-
dered into the blood, and both burned in
flames of magical origin. Once cast, this
spell will remain in effect without renewal
until the conditions are met or the caster is
killed (which is usually one of the condi-
tions). At the end of casting, the spell-caster
loses 1-4 hit points; this life energy is set
aside to aid the worldwalk when it is
needed. Every 24 hours after this initial loss
of hit points, a further hit point is lost. Such
hit points may be regained by magical
means, but the initial loss of 1-4 hit points is
permanent until the spell is discharged.

In Elminster’s case, the fulfillment of the
conditions given above whisk his body away
to an extra-dimensional “Safehold” (where
he keeps his spell books), where an automa-
ton (cf. Creature Catalog III, issue #101),
unseen servant, or something of the sort —
Elminster was deliberately vague — will
administer to him an elixir of health, elixir of life,
Keoghtom‘s ointment, or 1-6 potions of healing.
If he does not then revive within
eight turns and speaks the word “Brendar”
while touching the magical servant, a send-
ing spell is cast, with a message asking for
help, to Elminster’s friend the Simbul,
mage-queen of Aglarond, who knows the
location of the Safehold. I suspect, although
Elminster would not confirm this, that she
has a reciprocal arrangement with Elmin-
ster. Elminster would not speak at all on the
subject of who, besides himself, has access
to this spell or an equivalent developed by
another; reports of certain events in the
Realms lead me to suspect that some of the
most powerful of his allies (e.g., Khelben
Arunsun) and foes (e.g., the most powerful
members of “the Network” and of the Red
Wizards of Thay) command similar magics.
Elminster also hinted that his Safehold has
one or more guardian creatures, but de-
clined to say anything definite about the
Safehold’s location or defenses.

Worldwalk (Alteration)
Level: 9
Range: 3”
Duration: Special
Area of Effect: Special
Components: V,S,(M)
Casting Time: 3 segments
Saving Throw: None

Explanation/Description: By means of
this spell, an ultra-dimensional connection
is temporarily created between the plane of
existence the caster is on and another, cho-
sen by the caster. This portal, similar to a
gate, resembles a circular, shimmering disc
of force, floating on edge just above the
ground up to 3"  distant from the caster,
located as he or she wills. The portal can be
placed against solid material (such as walls),
and will function normally, or may be cast
in mid-air, so that it is reachable only by
creatures able to levitate or fly. If a specific
location is not chosen by the caster, the
portal will always appear in front of the
caster in the direction the latter is facing, 1"
distant, so that it can easily be stepped
through.

The portal will last for up to 1 turn per
level of the caster, unless the latter causes it
to vanish (which can be done at will), but
while the portal is in existence, creatures
can pass through it freely from both sides. If
a portal is dispelled (by dispel magic or
upon the will of the caster) while a creature
is traversing it, that creature will be flung
into the uppermost plane of Limbo. The
caster need not concentrate on the portal to
maintain its existence. After casting, the
subsequent absence, death, or mental dis-
ability (such as unconsciousness,  feeble-
mindedness,  etc.) of the caster will not
affect the portal. The portal has a diameter
of 2?, and any creature able to pass within
its confines can use it. Creatures able to
assume or revert to a smaller form (such as
a magic-user employing  polymorph self)
will be forced into that form by the portal?s
nature if (and only if) they cannot pass
through it otherwise; creatures too large to
pass through the portal are simply left be-
hind; the portal has no effect on them. A
creature takes 1 segment to traverse a portal
(not including any time taken to approach
it); thus, a maximum of ten creatures can
pass through a portal in a given round (if
they are lined up and ready at the begin-
ning of the round). Missiles and other ob-
jects not borne directly by a creature will
not pass through a portal; they will be de-
posited at random in Limbo (see above).

The plane reached by a portal may be
one known to (and visualized during casting
by) the spell-caster, or an unknown plane
from which the caster has solid physical
material of any size (which must be touched
or grasped when the spell is cast; this be-
comes a material component of the spell,
but is not consumed, and may be carried
through the portal if it will fit, without
causing the portal to vanish), or at random.
Note that any spell components carried by a
magic-user are likely to have come from his
or her own plane of existence. A portal may
also be created to reach a random (un-
known) plane.

There is a possibility of error in the desti-
nation reached by the portal, of 100% if the
caster is of first level, 95% if of second
level, and so on, decreasing by 5% per
level. A wrong direction is more likely
(60%) to be another (parallel) Prime Mate-
rial Plane, rather than other sorts of planes
of existence. A portal’s destination cannot
be changed, once it is created. If a
wordwalk is cast to reach a plane merely
heard of, or one fullfilling certain imagined
conditions (i.e.,“where magic does not
work”), the destination is 10% (+1% per
level of the caster) likely to be such a plane
(if one exists); the destination will otherwise
be at random. (In Elminster’s case, many
planes are initially reached via research
from written records, encountered inter-
planar travelers, and a few by random
exploration.)
 

As mentioned before, Elminster can
employ many rare or unique spells. He has
revealed only a fraction of these to me thus
far, and I have listed them below by level
for the convenience of DMs (not including
the three just described):

Cantrips: Catfeet⁵, Cut⁵, Gallop⁵, Horn⁵,
Listen⁵, Scorch⁵, Snatch⁵, Spark⁵, Sting⁵

1st level: Scatterspray¹

2nd level: Agannazar’s scorcher³,
Bladethirst³, Dispel silence³

3rd level: Laeral’s dancing dweomer²,
Tasirin‘s haunted sleep²

4th level: Archveult’s skybolt², Bowgentle's
fleeting journey⁴, Caligarde's claw²,
Encrypt³, Hailcone³, Illykur's mantle³,
Meralds murderous mist⁵, Nchaser's
glowing globe¹, Phase trap³, Presper's
moonbow³, Secure³, Spendelarde's chase<r>²,
Thunderlance<?>, Tulrun's tracer²

5th level: Flame shroud⁴, Grimwald's greymantle³,
Nulathoe's ninemen¹,
Watchware⁴

6th level: Reconstruction⁵

8th level: Body sympathy⁵, Great shout⁴,
Spell engine⁵

9th level: Dismind²

1 = Pages from the Mages (I), issue #62
2 = More Pages from the Mages (II),
3 = Pages from the Mages III, issue #92
4 = Pages from the Mages IV, issue #97
5 = Pages from the Mages V, issue # 100 issue #69

For some reason, Elminster has not
revealed any spells of the seventh level. A few
notes regarding the spells listed above:
Nulathoe’s ninemen can be used to con-
struct “crawling claws” (issue #32), and
Elminster, despite his alignment, may em-
ploy these guardians (he hints, you see).
The mage in Pages IV is not “Bowgengle,”
but Bowgentle, and Elminster tells me that
I have messed up one of the spells he told
me about: death chariot (see below). Note
that this last spell is one of many clerical
and druidic prayers usable by mages;
Elminster has revealed eight of these to me,
as well as some previously unknown glyphs
of warding (all printed in the “Pages”
series). He may well have developed, when
he is encountered, magic-user versions of
these magics as spells for his own use!

The death chariot spell, Elminster tells
me (rather testily) was my mistake; I com-
bined what he told me of two versions of the
spell — the original, written by Num “the
Mad” in his book, causes the chariot to
vanish in a 3” radius ball of fire at the end
of one turn after casting regardless of the
caster’s wishes (although the caster may, at
will, "detonate" the chariot earlier that
that). An improved version of the prayer,
devised by (or inspired by Silvanus in)
Mourntarn “the Master,” leader of the
Circle of druids (and rangers) who once
the druid casting a death chariot to ignite
dwelt in the woods near Shadowdale, allows
the chariot at any time except at the natural
expiration of the spell (which is at the end of
a duration of one round per level of the
caster), at which time the chariot fades
away (perhaps dumping any occupants into
mid-air for a fall, but not otherwise harm-
ing them). Both versions of the prayer are
of the same level. I missed Elminster’s
mention of Mourntarn, in the midst of his
babbling; sorry, folks.

Elminster’s precise age is unknown (he
will give coy evasions to any questions on
this topic), but he is at least six hundred
winters of age — and presumably the user
of potions of longevity and vitality, and
perhaps also an imbiber of regular elixir of
life doses. This count of years is inescap-
able, given that he once had Arkhon “the
Old” as a tutor, and that he remembers the
city of Myth Drannor (cf. “Into The For-
gotten Realms,”issue #95) in all its glory.
 

The “Old Sage,”as he himself is now
known, has taught such famous workers of
magic as The Simbul, the witch Sylune
(now deceased), and the bard Storm
Silverhand, who remained with him for
many years as apprenctice and lover before
making her own way in the Realms — and
perhaps knows more of Elminster’s past
than any other living creature. Elminster
now dislikes teaching in any concentrated
form —  he has sickened of such work, he
says, by hearing too many sages, magic-
users, and “scholars of the ‘if I stop talking
for an instant I shall cease to exist’ school
— and knowing how much I came to re-
semble them.”

He is also irked by the constant demands
of those who would hire his knowledge for
information on magic and monsters. “War
— it’s always this or that power, this or that
weapon. Kings make war unceasingly, for
the greater men are, the more petty men
are. . . . and no one seeks me out for the
lore of real value, the lore of the land. No
one wants to hear about how to get good
crops, where to plant or where not to plant,
or how to guard beauty in the taking of
riches from rock and soil. No one wants to
listen to such things, because — mark ye —
swords and spells rule the Realms, not cool
heads and warm hearts.” The true learning
of being a mage, according to Elminster, is
the knowledge of when not to use one’s
powers.

Over the years, Elminster’s memory has
been developed to an astonishing degree; he
can call to mind with crystal clarity the
likenesses of creatures or things seen only
once, or seen long ago. He also has the
unique natural ability (from birth, origin
unknown, and leading to his present career)
to see magical auras — precise locations,
hues, shapes, and intensities — on persons
and things within 3" (even when darkness
prevents his normal sight). He can even see
the potential for magic-wielding (which he
calls “Power”) as betrayed by the uncon-
scious mental seeking or manipulation of
pathways of power between the Positive and
Prime Material Planes, when he looks at
creatures (cf. “More Pages From The
Mages,” issue-#69). Elminster rarely uses
his psionic abilities in combat against non-
psionics; he will sometimes use his disci-
plines while traveling. He possesses the
minor disciplines body equilibrium, cell
adjustment, object reading, and sensitivity
to psychic impressions, and the major disci-
plines energy control and mind bar.

Elminster’s magic sight enables him to
recognize illusions, and polymorphed or
otherwise transformed objects. His vast
experience with magic allows him to iden-
tify all known non-unique magic-user spells
(and many illusionist, druid, and cleric
magics) by the opening activity of a visible
spell-caster’s casting — often enabling him
to counter spell effects with fast, high-level
magics of his own.

Elminster’s parentage is unknown. At
one time, I would have unhesitatingly said
that the sage was of noble birth, but I’ve
since learned that he’s visited enough courts
and mixed with enough high society
throughout the Realms to have the etiquette
and wily wit of a chancellor.

I do know that Elminster was born some-
where in the North— probably somewhere
near the great city of Waterdeep, or at least
the Sword Coast. His knowledge of the
lands from Mirabar south to Baldur’s Gate,
and east to Cormyr and the Desert, is vivid
and varied when he speaks of events five
hundred years ago, and the tone of his voice
suggests that he is remembering things he
experienced and was part of, not things he
has studied in books of lore.
 

During this time of perhaps forty years,
Elminster had a varied career adventuring
(suggesting that he had no parents, or
rather was parted from them early) —
having little to do with magic, it appears,
save as the spoils of tomb-pillaging and
delving in the lost cities of the dwarves.

He was fascinated by the past, as revealed in
the tombs he entered and in bardic lays and
ballads heard in taverns, and was also in-
trigued by the magic that slumbered in
scroll and item that he and his band found.
He speaks of Arkhon ?the Old,? perhaps
the foremost human sage (and a mage of
note, too) in the North at the time, and I
suspect that he took tutelage under Arkhon
in Waterdeep, and probably also learned the
rudiments of an adventuring mage?s art
through his contacts (the merchants and
?fences? of goods from the past) in the
caravan-city of Scornubel. Possible tutors in
magic of the time were Myrjala
?Darkeyes,? the half-elven adventuress, and
the merchant-mage Lycon, called ?Wolf-
beard? for his appearance and manner.

Thereafter, for reasons unknown (to flee
enemies, seek a change, or merely advance
in training, perhaps), Elminster traveled
with his caravan-comrades east via Iriaebor,
to Cormyr and the still-fledgling Dalelands.
There, he is known to have become a friend
of elves, one of the few men allowed to
travel the woods of the Elven Court without
special leave. There, he also came to the
school of wizardry established by the Seven
Wizards, where he studied under Mentor
and the mage known only as “the Masked.”
He stayed in Myth Drannor some twenty
years, growing in lore and maturity, and
when deemed ready left the city (not long
before its destruction) with Alais, an elven
lady, to begin an epic travel about the
Realms, to learn its lands and lore.
 

For fifteen years he traveled, ranging
more widely about the Realms than any
man alive had at the time. At length, Alais
took him over the sea to Evermeet, the
island kingdom of the elves. There she
remained, to pass away, and he returned,
changed in outlook and humor, to visit one
keep of learning after another, quietly
scouring the libraries of the Realms ? and
discreetly furthering his arts under the
tutelage of such mages as Torose, and Sha-
lane of Taerloon. It is thought that at this
time he mastered and completed whatever
processes he thought necessary for his own
longevity, for? Elminster then dropped out of
sight for over two hundred years, doubtless
into seclusion at some haunt of his own
devising, to experiment in magery on his
own, developing some of his spells and the
creation of magic items. At this time, too,
he is known to have tentatively explored
some of the Lower Planes. When he re-
turned to public view, in Waterdeep, he
began to operate as a sage, for hire, and to
take on magical apprentices. Then, as now,
he retained only those he liked and thought
fit: the adventuress Laeral, founder of the
Nine; Allustriel, who was later to become
ruler of the city of Silverymoon; the witch
Sylune, who was to become the lady of
Aumry, Lord of Shadowdale; and, Murask
of Neverwinter.

Subsequently, Sylune?s husband was
slain, and Elminster answered her call for
aid by coming to Shadowdale, where he
helped to overthrow an evil usurper and
quell an uprising of dark elves from the
depths. Elminster loved the peace and
beauty of the dale, its nearness to the Elven
Court, and its simple folk, and he stayed.
Thereafter, he taught the bard Storm
Silverhand, Sylune?s sister, and aided The
Simbul and Khelben Arunsun for the first
time, working together against evil magery
from Thay, Mulmaster, and Zhentil Keep
? foes that have remained, in one form or
another, to this day. I suspect that Elminster
had a hand in raising the present Lords of
Waterdeep (a secretive group that includes
Khelben Arunsun) to power, and in forming
the Harpers, but there is nothing written
anywhere of either of these groups, and
Elminster will tell me  nothing  on either
score; he just smiles, and winks now and
then. He has often aided mages, and elves
in particular, in the last forty winters or so,
but has taken fewer apprentices, and less of
a hand in open politics.
 

Presently, Elminster resides in a place he
loves— the verdant farming valley of Sha-
dow-dale. He lives quietly, respected by the
townsfolk, who consult him on matters of
history and genealogy, and advice on the
upbringing of their sons and daughters. In a
cluttered, two-story tower overlooking a fish
pond, Elminster is accompanied by a scribe
(see Best of DRAGON Magazine Vol. IV)
named Lhaeo, whose cartography is much
in demand by caravan-masters and mer-
chants. Lhaeo plays a lisping, simpering
role in public so that no one will ever recog-
nize his true identity; he is the last surviving
member of a noble family who once held the
crown of Tethyr, and which has been hunted
to virtual extinction during the last thirty
winters.

Elminster does travel more or less contin-
uously in the “endless worlds,” as he puts
it, these days —and may turn up in any
parallel Prime Material Plane a DM wishes,
be it the Realms, the lands of Greyhawk,
our Earth (a la “Modern Monsters” in
issue #57, reprinted in Best of DRAGON
Vol. V), or elsewhere. He will always be
seeking magic, monsters, and — of even
more importance to him — information on
how each world works: its ecology, societies,
and unique beauties. Rather than being a
dramatic power figure, he will travel qui-
etly, in disguise. He does present a model of
a cautious, prepared mage of power — and
no one should find him a pushover. When
traveling, Elminster protects himself with
Serten‘s spell immunity and protection from
normal missiles as a matter of course (he is
94% likely to be so protected, whenever
encountered).

Although I’m always afraid that each
evening with Elminster will be my last, I
suspect that he will outlive me — and may
see a thousand winters or more, always
learning, always traveling about. If you
should meet him, please accord him the
respect that is his due. After all, he can rout
entire armies. . . .
 

ELMINSTER (El-MIN-ster)

    Shadowdale and the Known Planes
    26th level MU
    CG, None
    Human Male

The exact age of the sage Elminster is unknown and his year of birth unrecorded.
It is suspected he learned his magical arts at the feet of Arkhon the Old, who died in Waterdeep over 500 years ago, and was in Myth Drannor near that magickal realm's final days.

The Sage currently makes his abode in the tiny farm community of Shadowdale, living in a two-story house overlooking a fishpond with his aide and scribe, Lhaeo.
Elminster may be the most knowledgeable and well-informed individual in the realms, though this may be only his opinion, it is often voiced in his discussions.
His areas of specialization are the Realms and its people, ecology of various creatures, magical items and their histories, and the known planes of existence.
Elminster no longer tutors nor works for hire, save in the most pressing cases.

Many of his former students && allies include some of the most powerful good individuals in the Realms, including the Lords of Waterdeep, the Simbul, ruler of Aglarond, the group known as the Harpers, and many powerful wizards and sorcerers.

NAME: Elminster
SEX: M
RACE: Human <Saint>
AGE:
ALIGNMENT: CG
CLASS: Magic-user

STR:
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JEWELRY:
GEMS:
PLATINUM:
GOLD:

LEVEL:
EXP:

AC:
HP:
THACO:
DAMAGE:
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MOVEMENT:

WEAPON:
STATUS:

James M: 10. A number of gamers of a certain temperament seem to have developed a particular dislike for your sage of Shadowdale, Elminster, which I've always found a bit odd, given my memories of his early appearances in your Dragon articles. What do you make of this reaction?

Ed Greenwood: Years ago, I was somewhat hurt by it, being as I never wanted Elminster to be anything more than the “old storyteller” figure, the mouthpiece in a DRAGON article that let me say “There’s talk around the village of trolls being seen in yon ruins” as opposed to the omniscient author style that in those days would have forced me to say: “There are two trolls in Room A and one lurking behind the coffin in Room B, and their hit points are . . .”

In play, he did much the same thing; he was the mind-wandering, irritatingly whimsical old man who could OCCASIONALLY be of help to PCs, or who would come wandering along to save their behinds almost by accident in a dungeon when they’d gotten near death and knew no way out - - but who would become VERY irritating, very fast, if they started to rely on him to do anything for them.

It was TSR who wanted me to portray Elminster at GenCon (after an early seminar in which I’d demonstrated how I played quite a few Realms NPCs, voices and mannerisms and all), and it was TSR who wanted me to write novels about him (left to my own devices, I would NEVER have used him as a main character, only as a sort of briefly-seen, often-absent Tom Bombadil-like supporting character). Instead, he’s become the “signature character” that my book editors always demand I write about (just as Bob Salvatore is always asked for more Drizzt books), presumably because there’s a silent majority of book-buyers who LIKE to read more about him.

The gamers who say he always gets the girl and therefore must be my Mary Sue/Bobby Sue character are entirely missing the point; I created almost ALL of the major Realms NPCs, of all ages and races and genders, and when I did so was a skinny young nerd without a beard. :}

Left to my druthers, I would never have had Elminster at center stage, so the accusation that he upstages Player Characters would not have arisen (and never has, in my “home” campaign). He was certainly over-exposed in Realms products, for a long time more or less by company directive (I poked fun at that in one of my books, in a narrative where El doesn’t appear at all, EXCEPT when a character grumbles that he always shows up to save the day or at least take all the credit for doing so, and on cue, I had a portrait on the wall change its face to Elminster’s and wink at the reader, unnoticed by any of the characters in the story).

I think a lot of the anti-Elminster stuff started (long ago) because Greyhawk fans and Dragonlance fans saw the Realms as “replacing” their worlds, and wanted to attack its main characters. As a greedy gamer who wanted ALL the settings supported (I was a fan of both those settings) and who saw far more of what went on inside the company than most “just plain gamers” out there, I never saw the Realms that way at all, and understood far more about sales and how THEY influenced what got published than the fans who wanted to fight setting-versus-setting wars.

These days, I often encounter very young gamers who sneer at Elminster without ever having read a word of one of my novels about him - - which means their dislike of him is an opinion they’ve picked up from older gamers and adopted so as to be “one of the gang” or “cool.”

I would quite cheerfully never write another word about Elminster, if I could still go on writing about the Realms. On the other hand, ELMINSTER IN HELL is the one Realms novel (of them ALL, not just mine) where senior sf writers I respect greatly have made a point of telling me how much they liked it; one of them even said, “You almost committed literature, there!”), and in my recent novels - - the new one that’ll appear in 2010, in particular, entitled ELMINSTER MUST DIE! - - I’ve been using him to explore what it means to get old and feeble and nigh-powerless, and face death or falling from prominence or both.

On the other hand, I’ve had Realms writing assignments I liked less than writing about Elminster - - like writing about Volo!

- Interview with Ed Greenwood (Grognardia)
 

3) The first FR story was written in 1967 by Ed, One Comes, Unheralded to Zirta. It involved Eliminster, Mirt, Waterdeep, and magical crossdressing. Ed was eight years old at the time.
- Realms and Remembrance, by Jeff Grubb