| The Willow Sourcebook |
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No reliable records from Bavmorda's birth night mention strange animal howls, wizards speaking in tongues, disordered constellations, or other bad premonitions. In recollection, seers have discerned many omens and portents - but a retroactive omen has no use. Bavmorda's rise to power was not foretold, predestined, or inevitable. Some philosophers find this less comforting than the alternative - that she was an instrument of some malevolent fate. Better that the universe is hostile by design, they say, rather than letting catastrophe fall at random. Though there was no prophecy of Bavmorda's rise, the prophecy of her downfall turned out to be correct - evidence, for those who worry about such things, that there is a fundamental order in the universe. THE TESTING OF BAVMORDA Fin Raziel, usually silent about all matters of magic, has spoken volubly about Bavmorda's strength, both before and after her fall... beforehand to alert the unbelieving to peril, and afterward to warn them against future apathy. Raziel speaks of one of her early meetings with Bavmorda. Raziel was in her late teens and still powerful, having not yet fallen in love (see FIN RAZIEL). Bavmorda was some years younger, though Raziel does not call her a child. "There was never any childhood in her!" Raziel says. "Prodigy" hardly describes Bavmorda. She had made lights in her crib, and floated before she walked. From the time she learned to talk, she showed no interest in any topic save magic. Comprehending arcane spells at a glance, she earned praise even from Cherlindrea, queen of the fairies. By the time of this meeting, it was not clear to either sorceress who was stronger. They met, by chance, in the castle library at Tir Asleen. In that bright, echoing room, books by the hundreds huddled together in their thick bindings on high shelves, as though sheltering from the cool air. The librarian, looking so dry and dusty that no chill could hurt him, sat behind his desk in a distant corner. There was no one else in the room. Raziel and Bavmorda greeted one another politely (perhaps the last time they would do so). Bavmorda asked, "Do you seek another book of magic?" Raziel had just received her spellbook (see THE BOOK OF MAGIC) from Tir Asleen's court magician, her teacher Vulsant. Bavmorda was plainly jesting, but she spoke coyly, as though only she should enjoy the humor. "No," Raziel replied, decidng not to take offense. "Since there are none on the shelves, I imagine the librarian here has them stacked up as doorstops." They both managed cool smiles, for true books of magic are quite rare. They knew, as everyone knows, that a castle library never holds one. Then, as no one was near, their talk turned to spellbooks. Mages do not speak of these lightly, and never in the presence of others; but then again, they find few subjects more fascinating. Bavmorda asked, "Do you know where to find the Malatrium?" Raziel's eyes widened. "No. And if I did, I would not speak of it!" She peered at Bavmorda, as though gauging her motives in asking. "You are young," Raziel said at last, "but you should learn not to speak of such evil texts. There is nothing in... that book... but corruption." "How do you know? Have you read it?" "No! We are fortunate, for no one has seen it in centuries." "It is lost, then." "Such evil works are never lost. They move of themselves, where no human follows. When a mage of evil nature arises, they appear. When the mage is destroyed, they vanish again. No one can use their spells without becoming corrupt." "Well," said Bavmorda airily, "I really wasn't interested in using the spells, just curious. I feel I've learned everything I can from the usual sources." "Heh. You have not seen my book." "No, though I daresay it holds little I have not found elsewhere - no offense, of course." The tension between them grew thick enough to snap like a twig. "None taken," said Raziel. "I daresay you are wrong." "Oh, so? Let us find out. You would not allow me to glance through your book, of course. Shall we say, then - a contest?" Raziel snorted. "Magic is not for sport." "Think of it as a test of each other's powers. It would be useful to know our relative abilities in case we come to some future... alliance." That was the moment Raziel began to hate Bavmorda. Raziel felt her heart pound and hoped her face was not red. Much later, she felt almost the same when she first came to love: nervous excitement, uncertainty whether the object of your emotion shared these feelings, wonder at your ability to feel this strange new passion. "Love and hatred are not so different at their inception, perhaps," she said later. There in the castle library, she only nodded. They stood by a tall, unglassed window that narrowed from the inside wall to the outside, in the manner of castles. Under the clear sky nobles and servants crossed the courtyard far below. Beyond the battlements the two sorceresses could see the rolling fields of Tir Asleen. Now and then a bird flew overhead. Bavmorda spied one. "That sparrow," she said. "Can you bring it here?" Raziel held out a finger, said a word, and whistled. The bird veered from its path and swooped down to perch lightly on the outstretched finger. Petting it, Raziel looked to Bavmorda; at her tight nod, Raziel spoke another word and sent the bird flying off. "A pretty stunt," said Bavmorda. She saw another bird, a tiny finch, flying nearby. "But I prefer a more direct approach. Avaggdu, magleb, strockt!" With the incantation she pointed, and the bird disappeared in a flash of light. Something fell, something that glittered in the sunlight. With a gesture, Bavmorda halted it and brought it to the windowsill. Raziel gasped. There sat a sculpture of the finch in flight, masterfully executed in glass. It lay tilted on one side, beautiful but lifeless, fracturing the sunlight into a rainbow of color on the sill. "You've killed it," Raziel said, astounded. Bavmorda spoke another word, and the glass flashed. The finch, living once more, floundered and stood up. It wobbled for a few moments, then flew away in panic. "I did not feel like killing it," Bavmorda said, smiling. "If I had, you would have smelled its burnt feathers from here. Tell me, Raziel, does your spellbook let you do that?" With a look of horror and realization, Raziel left the library. Bavmorda lingered awhile, then moved to go. She walked past a shelf, and stopped. She had seen that shelf on her way in... but she had not seen that large book. Bound in iron, it almost staggered her when she took it down. It was cold to her touch. The pages were thin gold leaf. She turned them, saw the words of magic, and felt fear. Exhilaration. Power. The librarian did not see Bavmorda depart with the Malatrium. She made quick farewells later that day, left the castle, and no one saw her for more than a year. When she returned, she was much different. THE PATH TO MONARCHY Whether Bavmorda had already resolved to rule before the evil book found her, or whether it created that desire in her, is unknowable. But in studying the Malatrium, her dark ambition grew, unbounded by sanity. The knowledge of magic mastered her even as she mastered it. Coolly, she plotted her route to monarchy. At that time Prince Mikal Tanthalos, the handsome son of Tir Asleen's rulers, had announced his engagement to Fin Raziel. Bavmorda, knowing that she must either control Tir Asleen or battle it, decided to lure the prince away. Bavmorda asked the prince on a forest trip. Though he could hardly have found her attractive, he could not refuse a noted sorceress. On the journey she worked slow but effective rituals of obedience. Prince Mikal, spellbound, broke off his engagement to Raziel. Wizards across the kingdom looked on in stunned surprise, but they would not intervene in what seemed a private matter. Tir Asleen's air of joyous celebration gave way to demure silence as the royal wedding proceeded with a new bride. "How beauteous the princess, how fluid her movements, how queenly her poise! Now a new star adds luster to Tir Asleen's galaxy. Now a new moon rises to join the sun, our prince, in blissful circadian reign. May the juncture of day's glory and night's quiet beauty herald the dawn of our kingdom's greatest joy." So wrote Tir Asleen's last (and least) court poet, Durward, of the young Bavmorda. Durward delivered this homily on the occasion of her marriage into the royal family. That the poet's oratory appears forced shows how little the citizens felt like celebrating this marriage. Bavmorda still seemed polite and courtly to most. When both king and queen perished in an uncanny accident, soon after the birth of Sorsha, few thought the new Queen Bavmorda might have been responsible. Only one fool dared speak such thoughts: the poet Durward, who became the first victim of Bavmorda's reign. THE TIME OF WHISPERS The years that followed brought terrors, purges, curfews, secret trials, public executions, ruinous taxation, evacuations, and unceasing war. Torture became routine, death squads roamed the countryside, and unimagined monsters began to haunt the lakes and orchards of Tir Asleen. Frightened for their lives, citizens came to call it the "Time of Whispers." Bavmorda ordered astonishing new farming methods: blights ruined the crops. She brought forth new feed for livestock: they sickened and died. She conscripted the youths of her kingdom to wage battles against all its neighbors, but with no apparent strategy or goal beyond sheer destruction. Wizards recognized, even before the rest of the world, Bavmorda's true nature. With her mind warped by her dark magic, the sorceress-queen wanted to lay waste all of creation. Her own kingdom of Tir Asleen proved to be the first step. She cursed Mikal (now King Tanthalos the Ninth) and the city's other inhabitants, trapping them in blocks of quartz. She summoned trolls to guard the city, and for good measure surrounded it with an intricate canyon maze. The city lay desolate for decades, until Willow and his friends rediscovered it. Desperate, Fin Raziel challenged her to single combat, but lost. Raziel was too powerful to kill, so Bavmorda transformed her and imprisoned her on a lonely isle. (see FIN RAZIEL.) THE PROPHECY Having drained Tir Asleen of resources to construct the volcanic fortress of Nockmaar, Bavmorda moved there and continued her reign of horror. She appeared seldom outside the castle walls, so enforcement of her rule fell to her ruthless minions and their Death Dogs. Inside her fortress Bavmorda commanded many creatures, human and less than human. Among them were her druid priests, who prepared her spells and helped her with difficult rituals (see DRUIDS). The druids often cast routine clairvoyance spells. These enchantments, conjured in a rune-carved cistern of water deep beneath Nockmaar Castle, let the druids check on Bavmorda's outlying domains. Through their spells, the druids constantly probed the future, helping Bavmorda anticipate dangers and deal with them before they could materialize. One spell revealed the vision of a baby born with a certain mark on its arm. The druids looked on aghast, realizing by the mark that this was the child foretold by an ancient prophecy. All magicians knew of the prophecy, which told of a child who would appear in a time of great evil. But no one knew when this would be. The druids found that Elora would appear now, during Bavmorda's reign. As with all precognitive visions, the ritual showed many possible timelines and circumstances. Only in one could this tiny child become a force powerful enough to destroy Bavmorda... But one possible future that threatened her rule was enough to drive Bavmorda wild. She would not tolerate the threat. She decided to locate the infant Elora and annihilate the child's spirit through the awful Ritual of Obliteration. THE BIRTH She sent forth her servants throughout the lands, to fetch every human woman more than six months pregnant. The mothers-to-be were imprisoned in the dungeons of Nockmaar Castle. In the appalling conditions many died or miscarried. Bavmorda ordered her daughter, Sorsha, to inspect each newborn child personally, as it was delivered by the enslaved midwife Ethna. Those without the birthmark did not concern Bavmorda. The mothers were turned out with their children, without food or water, to find their way home as best they could. Ethna, a kindhearted old woman, cringed at their harsh treatment. In her downtrodden spirit grew a hatred of Bavmorda and a resolve to fight her tyranny. When Elora was born at last, Ethna spirited her away, moments before Bavmorda appeared and ordered the mother killed. The midwife carried the child on a hazardous, random journey across the kingdoms, evading Nockmaar's soldiers and Death Dogs. They finally located and killed her, but not before she set Elora adrift on River Freen. The child drifted down into Nelwyn Valley, where Ranon and Mims found it and Willow's adventure began. (See WILLOW.) THE RITUAL Yet General Kael captured Elora for Bavmorda's Ritual of Obliteration, the elaborate ceremony that would destroy Elora's spirit. She came within seconds of completing it, despite her pitched battle with the restored Fin Raziel. But at the moment that the ritual's final lightning bolt would have struck Elora and consumed her, Willow's clever trick seemed to make the child vanish. Bavmorda, thinking her target had disappeared through powerful sorcery, had nowhere to direct the bolt she had summoned. So she fell victim to it herself, and the prophecy was surprisingly fulfilled. (See THE RITUAL OF OBLITERATION.) BAVMORDA'S ABILITIES Bavmorda was certainly the most powerful magician of her time. With a single spell she could reshape an army; with the full power of ritual, she molded the lands of entire kingdoms. Virtually nothing in the realm of magic was beyond her. Other powers in the world rival Bavmorda, but they are bound to limited domains. For instance, Cherlindrea, queen of the fairies, cannot pass beyond the shadows at the edge of her forest. Bavmorda, chief among wizards, combined power with freedom of movement. GAMING NOTES 36th skill-level magic user SKILLS Bavmorda knows all spells in your game system, except for those unknown in Willow's world (resurrection, etc.; see MAGIC). She can cast them with minimal cost to her endurance, repeatedly and with near-perfect accuracy. She also can fight hand to hand, as shown in her final battle with Raziel. Bavmorda ordinarily carries no magical items or other possessions. However, she is the most powerful individual in all the kingdoms. If she wants something, she gets it. |
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