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masterghandalf) wrote2024-03-22 07:59 am
masterghandalf) wrote2024-03-22 07:59 am
Elminster in Myth Drannor Chapter Sixteen: Masked Mages
This is a repost from Das_sporking2. Previous installments of this sporking may be found here.
Warning: This chapter contains discussion of magical slavery, discussion of the Elmara plotline from Making of a Mage, and violence against an animal.
MG: Well, everyone, it’s time to continue our journey through Ed Greenwood’s Elminster in Myth Drannor! Last time, we saw what’s become of Symrustar, Elminster somehow managed to recognize his culpability in her condition without actually realizing why what he did was wrong, he flew off to get help but got completely sidetracked by spying on elven politics, got involved in a fight between Mythanthar and some assassins, and got blown up. Today, we bring Part II to an end as we finally get around to introducing some plot points that really should have been set up earlier. Joining us once again will be Calassara and Mira!
Chapter Sixteen: Masked Mages
Calassara: Oooh, ominous! Well, with our quote for the day we’re back with the gossip rag, and it’s a long one, so strap in, everyone! The People looked upon Elminster Aumar and saw, but did not understand what they saw. He was the first gust of the new wind sent by Mystra. And Cormanthor was like an old and mighty wall, that stands against such winds of change for century upon century, until even its builders forget that it was built, and was ever anything else but an unyielding barrier. There will come a day for such a wall when it will topple, and be changed by unseen, solid winds. It always does. That day came for the proud realm when the Coronal named Elminster Aumar a knight of Cormanthor – but the wall knew not that it had been shattered, and waited for its tumbling stones to crash to earth before it would deign to notice. That fall, when it came, would be the laying of the Mythal. But the stones of the wall, being elven stones, lingered in the air for an astonishingly long while… *sigh* That’s sure a lot of words to say that Elminster’s special and the elves refused to appreciate just how special, isn’t it? I’m still not sure exactly what Mystra sent him to this city to do, other than kill a bunch of people… or why Mystra is the one who feels the need to change the elves’ world for them, when I’m led to believe elves in this world have their own gods, who probably aren’t taking too kindly to all of this…
Well, we open the chapter proper as Elminster comes back to himself to find himself being watched from below by… eyeballs. Creepy. Yes, definitely: eyeballs. Scores of blinking and glistening eyeballs, flickering into being and disappearing again in a constant winking cloud as the bored and jaded elves of Cormanthor heard about the latest excitement and hastened to watch from a safe distance. Oh, so those are just nosy mages’ scrying eyes and not, like, literal eyeballs. Boring! Some of them seem to notice the cloud of human-shaped mist that is Elminster’s current form, but mostly they’re more interested in Mythanthar’s tower, in ruins after the battle, as they try to spy out every last detail of the old mage’s revealed magic. Which sounds pretty dangerous to me, considering what he did to the last people who tried to break into his tower…
MG: Yeah, to paraphrase Dragon Ball Z Abridged – are the bodies not an indication of how this is going to go down?
Calassara: Indeed. Speaking of, Elminster spots the remains of two of the Starym, but not the third (didn’t the first Starym who died melt? Did he even leave noticeable remains behind?) and that the two sorceresses are also gone, though he hopes the Srinshee managed to teleport them to safety. Suddenly, some of the eyeballs turn to look at something and Elminster looks in the same direction, though it takes him a minute to spot it. A cone or spiral of smoky strands that moved purposefully among the ruins… where it poked its open end, solid items vanished, whisked away to – elsewhere. Elminster drifts closer and sees that it’s scooping up magic items. *rolling her eyes* Oh my, what a surprise. He wonders if this was sent by Mythantar himself to scoop up his treasures and take them to wherever he’s hiding now before someone else gets them, or did it serve some other master? Elminster drifts closer to get a better look, and then, predictably, gets sucked into it himself. *flatly* Behold the greatest wizard in the world, everyone – his first response to a strange magical phenomenon is to get really close and poke it without taking any precautions, while he exists as pure spirit and is therefore probably vulnerable to this sort of thing and is surprised when the predictable happens! Everything was whirling now, and El sighed aloud. Whither this time? As he’s sucked away, he barely has time to pray to Mystra, when is my task to begin? And what, by all the watching stars, is it? You know, considering this book is now *checks* 81 percent done and we still don’t know that… I’d like to know too, and also think Mystra should consider packaging her divine revelations in a more easily digestible form. Anyway, on that note, the scene ends.
Mira: And so, we cut to Elminster sometime later, when he’s been in the spiral so long he almost forgot what stillness was, and could scarce remember light, which sounds… troublesome. He tries to cry out for help, but no one can hear him, not even Mystra. He was beneath notice, and powerless. Normally, I’d feel pity for a spirit caught in such a trap, but… it’s Elminster. He deserves it. He thinks about how he’s known the love of a goddess and how his fate is now in Mystra’s hands. Hands belonging to one too wise by far to throw away a tool that could still see much use. Is… is Elminster admitting that his beloved goddess sees him as no more than a tool? That doesn’t seem to reflect very well on Mystra! I mean, even devils don’t throw away useful tools… that doesn’t make them good. But no sooner has he thought this than there’s a flash of brilliant light and he finds himself in a chamber he’d not seen before, its floor a glistening sea of black marble, its wall high, its ceiling vaulted. He recognizes this as a mage’s conjuring chamber – or as he calls it, a spellhurling chamber, which just sounds so crude – and indeed he quickly spots its apparent owner, an elven mage hovering above the floor. A masked mage, whose eyes flashed in surprise at Elminster’s sudden appearance. Ah, and so we have our chapter title, I suppose? Though he’s only a masked mage, singular – unless there’s more of him? The mage watches as his vortex sucks Elminster into a glowing transparent sphere; Elminster tries to escape, but it was solid as stone, and his attempt merely took him on a looping journey around the inside of his curves. So, are we to take it that this mage just happens to have a trap for ghosts sitting in his laboratory? I can think of several possible uses for such a thing… and none of them are good.
The mage approaches the sphere and examines it, wondering if he’s caught a human undead? Or… something more interesting? Personally, I think the undead in general are much more interesting than Elminster, though I doubt Greenwood agrees! Elminster nods in greeting as one equal to another – bold, for a man currently trapped in a glass ball! – but says nothing. We learn that the mage’s mask seems to be literally attached to his skin and moves with his expressions – Nemorga help me, that sounds like an artifact for sinister purposes if ever there was one – as he leans in, telling Elminster that he demands one thing of everyone he encounters – their true name. Those who resist me, I destroy, and Elminster has to choose between those options. Because Elminster is still around a thousand years later, I’m going to assume he's not going to choose destruction… and indeed, he finally decides his name isn’t a secret (though giving one’s true name away freely to obviously evil mages… maybe isn’t wise). I am Elminster Aumar, a prince in the human land of Athalantar, and the Coronal recently named me an armathor of Cormanthor. I work magic. I also seem to have a blundering talent for upsetting elves I encounter. *muttering* Half-elves too, for that matter. *more loudly* But is admitting “I’m probably going to annoy you” to the man who currently holds your existence in his hands really that wise? The mage asks if Elminster’s current form is useful for spying on elves, and he admits it isn’t particularly… then why have you wasted our time using it to spy on elves for the last few chapters? Was this subplot completely pointless? Ghosts deserve better treatment! The mage wonders why Elminster was in Mythanthar’s tower and if he was working with him, and Elminster says he’s not pledged to any sorcerer of Cormanthor, feeling that he’s telling the truth since he doubts this mage would consider the Coronal a real sorcerer, and the Srinshee is a sorceress. And… I really doubt this mage is going to care about semantics when he finds out you’ve lied to him…
MG: And I’ll note that in 2e (the only time Eltargrim got actual stats) he was a 19th level wizard. Which makes him, for comparison, more powerful than any of the magelords from the previous book except Ithboltar and maybe Undarl (if he really was Malaug) and a number of notable wizards from Faerun’s present. Apparently, he got his start as a warrior, and only really started pursuing magic after he was named Coronal, but even so… he’s very much a mage.
Calassara: Huh; is Elminster insulting the Coronal, or assuming his current “host” is a snob? But apparently the mage isn’t satisfied with the answer, as he tells Elminster he’s not accustomed to repeating himself, especially not to someone currently in his power. Elminster, instead of answering, asks the mage’s name instead; a name for a name is the custom among the People as well as in the affairs of men. Yes, and this mage currently has you trapped powerlessly in a fishbowl, so… maybe now isn’t the best time to antagonize him? But the mage seems to be amused by Elminster’s impertinence, for reasons why escape me, and introduces himself as The Masked. Ooh, a man in a mask… calling himself The Masked. How original. But he then tells Elminster not to speak again except to answer questions or I shall blow you away to nameless dust forever. Do it.
MG: And, okay, am I the only one thinking that a masked mage called the Masked sounds about like an unknown man called The Unknown? Are we going to find out that The Masked is an evil chocolate maker (does he make evil chocolate, or is he an evil man who makes chocolate? Or both? Who knows!)? Does he live in the walls? Does he scare small children? But I think I am going to start picturing The Masked as looking like The Unknown, just for my own personal amusement.
Calassara: *completely baffled* What in all Nine Hells and the Abyss are you on about? Well, Elminster admits he was only at Mythanthar’s tower to satisfy his curiosity (after having left a woman whose mind you violated crawling helplessly through the woods and promptly forgot about…) specifically about the beauty of two sorceresses… I wanted to see where they’d go, and perhaps learn their names and where they dwelt. Oh, so he admits he was stalking Mladris and Bhuraelea to ogle them! I’d say he was lying to deceive The Masked, but… we were in his head last chapter, and that is about what his thought process seemed to have been… The Masked then asks if Elminster considers elf-shes to be fitting mates for human men – I’ll decide who I think is a “fitting mate,” thank you – and Elminster just says that like most men, he’s attracted to beauty, and like most elves, I see no harm in looking at what I cannot have. But have you considered that the “what” in this case is actually a “who,” and they may not want you invisibly stalking them? Gah, I hate this book… The Masked says that his own chamber is a place where most people are not allowed, and intruders tend to lose their lives, surprising no one. Elminster wonders if that’s what The Masked intends to do to him – wait, weren’t you supposed to stay silent when not asking questions? – and it seems The Masked is still figuring it out. He thinks Elminster isn’t much use in his current form, and he could destroy him easily if he wanted to. On the other hand, he also thinks that Elminster returned to his body might be useful to him. So, I guess this is how the “Elminster the ghost” plot is going to get resolved, then? On the other hand, returning a powerful, potentially hostile mage to his body in the middle of your inner sanctum and letting him in on your secrets – great plan, O Masked! This is sure to end well for you.
Mira: And so, Elminster asks if the Masked wants him as a willing servant or a dupe (if he wants you as a dupe… he’s probably not going to tell you? Since that would defeat the purpose of duping you…) and the Masked responds that he doesn’t tolerate impertinence from rivals, let alone apprentices. Elminster is shocked by this and prays to Mystra and is rewarded with a brief vision of himself learning from The Masked, which he takes as confirmation this is what she wants him to do (as opposed to the product of his fevered imagination – or even of the mage in front of him). He asks if The Masked is really offering him an apprenticeship, and The Masked indicates he is – and Elminster accepts, since he feels he still has much to learn (he’s already bested multiple archmages by this point – how much more powerful does he want to be?) and I should like to be guided by someone I can respect. *confused* And The Masked has done what, exactly, to earn your respect thus far? To me he just seems like another arrogant elf mage in a city with far too many of those around already… The Masked seems pleased and opens a hidden door to reveal a workbench and tools behind it, explaining that the spell to restore Elminster’s body will be complex. He warns Elminster that he should sit still and quiet for now, and the first spells will release him from his bindings rather than having direct effect on Elminster himself. The Masked gets to work as Elminster watches with interest; after he casts his first spell, the sphere holding Elminster catches fire, which fades quickly to leave a single trail of smoke behind, which the Masked shapes into a helix around the sphere. El watched, fascinated, as the masked elf danced and swayed in the working of yet another magic – something that caused a faint music to arise out of nowhere and accompany that tall, graceful body as it swung this way and that. Well, my guild certainly appreciates the value of magical music, especially for dealing with ghosts and spirits… but I’m a better singer than a dancer, and nothing in these books has made me feel much like singing… perhaps a lament for Symrustar would be appropriate…
The Masked continues working, and Elminster, wondering what he’s doing now, prays to Mystra again. This time he’s “rewarded” with a vision of himself, standing naked in a forest with glowing chains on his wrists and ankles. …is this something Elminster and Mystra do in their spare time that I really feel like I shouldn’t be spying on? But no, as it the vision progresses to show The Masked walking past and using the chains to force Elminster to follow. So, Elminster’s goddess’s guidance… has put him in position to be literally enslaved by an evil wizard? Never have I been more glad that Lord Nemorga rarely takes interest in the living… The vision continues to show The Masked dragging Elminster along through the woods, until he stops to examine a certain plant and Elminster has a chance to kneel and pray to Mystra while focusing on a particular magical symbol, an unfamiliar and complex character of shining golden curves that hung in El’s mind and caught fire, as if it was being branded into his memory. And once the symbol fades, the vision Elminster’s body starts changing as it flowed into the smooth, full curves of a woman, a form he’d worn before in Mystra’s service. “Elmara…” *flushing* Oh. Well. That plotline is back again. Is there a reason, beyond Greenwood wanting to write about a naked woman in chains? But in the vision Elmara’s chains vanish and The Masked turns to face her in shock, and the vision ends as she blasts him with a bolt of magic. Elminster returns to the present as The Masked continues working on undoing the sphere, and he realizes the symbol he saw is fresh in his mind. Touch stone and think of that while calling aloud of Mystra (don’t you mean, to Mystra?) and he would wear a woman’s shape again – a changing that would be enough to break the bindings this treacherous elven sorcerer was going to lay upon him now. And at that, he suddenly realizes he’s heard The Masked’s voice before… but he can’t remember where. Hmmm; no doubt, that’s going to be important, and knowing Greenwood, alas, I’m not expecting the revelation to be very exciting.
MG: And yes, everyone, I’m afraid the Elmara plotline is going to be revisited before the book is done, and if you expect Greenwood to have developed a deeper, more nuanced understanding of gender between books… well, everything we’ve read so far probably says otherwise. The good news is, it will be brief. The bad news… is that the fact that it’s so brief, and the context when we get to it, just makes me think all the more that Greenwood tossed this in for sexy purposes. Why, exactly, The Masked’s bindings will be undone by a spell that changes a person’s gender, specifically… I’m genuinely not sure of.
Calassara: I mean, I’m hardly a prude, but these books have not made me want to know what’s going through Greenwood’s mind when he writes about sex and gender, so let’s move on, shall we? Despite recognizing The Masked’s voice, Elminster decides he doesn’t care about his identity. Learning a face and a name meant little when you knew little or nothing of the character behind them. To a Cormanthan born and bred, the identity of The Masked might well be a secret as valuable as it was deadly; to Elminster, it was simply something he didn’t know yet. You… what… how are you so stupid? I mean it, seriously. For one, you already know you recognized the man’s voice, even if you can’t put a name to it. That means whoever he is, he’s probably someone you know, or have at least met. Knowing who it is could be valuable. For another, you already know he plans to betray and enslave you – you know damned well what his character is, and it’s not good! For another, what if you have a chance to get a message to the Coronal or the Srinshee or someone? Maybe this asshole’s true identity would be valuable to them, your patrons and ostensibly your friends? Have you thought of that? Gah; if Errezha was here, she’d slap you for being so bad at intrigue. Of course, if Errezha was here, she’d probably want to burn down this whole city within five minutes… and nothing of value would be lost. Elminster decides that his unfamiliarity with Cormanthor might be what makes him valuable to The Masked (why?) and so resolves not to reveal the full extent of his knowledge and power, or his experience with the kiira, to him (the first smart thing he’s done today… but if The Masked is really someone involved in Cormanthan politics, surely he’d have heard Elminster arrived in the city bearing the Alastrarra kiira? It wasn’t exactly a secret).
Finally, The Masked asks Elminster to look into his eyes *mock swoon* and when he does there’s a flash of light and Elminster finds himself falling. He’s consumed with pain as he finds himself caught squarely in the raging, blistering heat of hot flame (the heat of hot flame… brilliant, Greenwood) and he screams as more spells wind around him. Then it’s done, and he finds himself on his knees on cold flagstones, with The Masked hovering over him and commanding him to rise. Elminster pretends to be more dazed than he is, and so The Masked snaps a command and he finds himself jerked up to his feet; Elminster decides he could fight this (*sigh* of course he could) but for now he thinks it best to play along. The Masked tests his power by making Elminster wave his arms around and slap himself (do it again!) and then decides Elminster’s body is working well (oh, my…) before freeing him to move around as he wishes. He follows after The Masked, head bowed humbly, aware that a scrying eye has been set to follow him and is watching him from behind (is he still naked, by the way?). The Masked leads him out of the laboratory through a secret door, then turns to regard his new “apprentice” with a slow, cold smile of triumph. Elminster smiles back, pretending to be friendly, and The Masked turns away and has him keep following, though inside Elminster is rolling his eyes (me, too, though perhaps not for the same reasons). Thanks be to Mystra, this was going to be a long apprenticeship. Yes, you’ve admitted your goddess sees you only as a tool, and now following her advice has gotten you literally enslaved (she also told you how to break out, but… you don’t seem to be planning to actually do that, for some reason?). Thanks be to Mystra, indeed.
Mira: You know, in Hollowfaust we expect our apprentices to do work, but we also remember the primary purpose of an apprenticeship is to learn. It’s not the same thing as slavery – maybe someone should tell The Masked that? Or Elminster? Well, we cut to the moonlit forests of Cormanthor as, in the distance, a wolf howls, but the naked, shivering elf who was crawling aimlessly down a tangled slope did not seem to hear it. Oh, it’s Symrustar – in exactly the same condition Elminster left her, however many hours ago! And even once he got his body back, he didn’t seem to even think about the possibility of helping her! Has he forgotten her completely? Symrustar slips and falls down the slope the rest of the way, her hair was a muddy mass and there’s dried blood all over her limbs, and why is Greenwood doing this to her? People who’ve done far worse have gotten off with far less! The wolf comes padding out of the forest and walks towards Symrustar, apparently having decided she’s going to be easy prey. And indeed, as it approaches she even rolled over to present her breast and throat to his jaws, and is it just me, or is Greenwood sexualizing the sight of a woman about to be eaten by a wolf? *she shudders* Even the wolf is suspicious about his good fortune, but then he gathers himself to spring, while for some reason we cut to the point of view of a spider watching all of this as it thinks about drinking their blood. The wolf springs, and then out of nowhere a blue-white star hits it, and Symrustar doesn’t hear the silent disintegration that follows. I… beg your pardon? The wolf was going to kill Symrustar, but it was just an animal following its nature! Surely someone who could disintegrate a whole wolf in one blast could also subdue it without killing it? A few hairs from the wolf’s tail were all that was left of it; they drifted down to settle across her thighs and Greenwood, why are you telling us this? A voice then says, poor proud one. By magic bent. Let you be by magic restored.
A circle of stars appears around Symrustar, while the spider hangs back, afraid. When the lights fade, the spider crawls down to the forest floor and it reached the flattened leaves where the she-elf had rolled, and found her gone. The spider is bewildered and enraged – I didn’t even know spiders were capable of those emotions! – as it searches for its prey, and then finally wanders off to look for humans, who it thinks are fat and full of blood and juices. Well, I guess if you are a spider, that is the important thing? The spider is still fantasizing about eating humans when a snake pops out of nowhere and swallows it whole, and on that bafflingly random note, the chapter comes to an end.
MG: No, I don’t know what the spider was about, either. Normally in the Realms, spiders tend to signify Lolth, but despite this book being all about elven politics, the drow, Lolthite or otherwise, are barely relevant in it. And for everyone wondering, this is not the end of Symrustar, and we will be seeing her again, but not for a while. And it feels worth noting that after Elminster went off in the last chapter to find a way to save Symrustar, he ended up completely forgetting about that, didn’t even think about her at all this chapter, and she literally would have been wolf food if (spoilers) a literal deux ex machina hadn’t shown up to save her life. What a guy, that Elminster. Speaking of him, he’s gotten his body back, but through a series of boneheaded choices and some very poor guidance from Mystra, he's now also a magically bound slave. *applauds sarcastically* Great work, Elminster! He also knows how to escape at any time, but he just doesn’t, because reasons. And apparently getting enslaved by this guy is exactly where Mystra wanted him in Cormanthor in the first place. *applauds even more sarcastically* Great job, Mystra! As for The Masked, he is probably the closest thing the book has to an overarching antagonist – and it takes more than eighty percent of the book before we properly met him, because we clearly needed all that nonsense with sexy naked elves and Elminster dodging repetitive assassination attempts and being a ghost first, so the actual plot can get crammed in into the last fifth of the book. Anyway, next time, we’ll be entering PART III: Mythal as Greenwood continues to have a downright baffling approach to his narrative structure, Elminster’s actual love interest of the book is introduced (yes, really) and we find out more about what his “apprenticeship” to The Masked is going to entail. We’ll see you then!
I’ve also just finished my reread and commentary on the (in)famous epic Avatar: The Last Airbender fanfic Embers which can be found here; now’s the time to check it out, if you’re interested!
Warning: This chapter contains discussion of magical slavery, discussion of the Elmara plotline from Making of a Mage, and violence against an animal.
MG: Well, everyone, it’s time to continue our journey through Ed Greenwood’s Elminster in Myth Drannor! Last time, we saw what’s become of Symrustar, Elminster somehow managed to recognize his culpability in her condition without actually realizing why what he did was wrong, he flew off to get help but got completely sidetracked by spying on elven politics, got involved in a fight between Mythanthar and some assassins, and got blown up. Today, we bring Part II to an end as we finally get around to introducing some plot points that really should have been set up earlier. Joining us once again will be Calassara and Mira!
Chapter Sixteen: Masked Mages
Calassara: Oooh, ominous! Well, with our quote for the day we’re back with the gossip rag, and it’s a long one, so strap in, everyone! The People looked upon Elminster Aumar and saw, but did not understand what they saw. He was the first gust of the new wind sent by Mystra. And Cormanthor was like an old and mighty wall, that stands against such winds of change for century upon century, until even its builders forget that it was built, and was ever anything else but an unyielding barrier. There will come a day for such a wall when it will topple, and be changed by unseen, solid winds. It always does. That day came for the proud realm when the Coronal named Elminster Aumar a knight of Cormanthor – but the wall knew not that it had been shattered, and waited for its tumbling stones to crash to earth before it would deign to notice. That fall, when it came, would be the laying of the Mythal. But the stones of the wall, being elven stones, lingered in the air for an astonishingly long while… *sigh* That’s sure a lot of words to say that Elminster’s special and the elves refused to appreciate just how special, isn’t it? I’m still not sure exactly what Mystra sent him to this city to do, other than kill a bunch of people… or why Mystra is the one who feels the need to change the elves’ world for them, when I’m led to believe elves in this world have their own gods, who probably aren’t taking too kindly to all of this…
Well, we open the chapter proper as Elminster comes back to himself to find himself being watched from below by… eyeballs. Creepy. Yes, definitely: eyeballs. Scores of blinking and glistening eyeballs, flickering into being and disappearing again in a constant winking cloud as the bored and jaded elves of Cormanthor heard about the latest excitement and hastened to watch from a safe distance. Oh, so those are just nosy mages’ scrying eyes and not, like, literal eyeballs. Boring! Some of them seem to notice the cloud of human-shaped mist that is Elminster’s current form, but mostly they’re more interested in Mythanthar’s tower, in ruins after the battle, as they try to spy out every last detail of the old mage’s revealed magic. Which sounds pretty dangerous to me, considering what he did to the last people who tried to break into his tower…
MG: Yeah, to paraphrase Dragon Ball Z Abridged – are the bodies not an indication of how this is going to go down?
Calassara: Indeed. Speaking of, Elminster spots the remains of two of the Starym, but not the third (didn’t the first Starym who died melt? Did he even leave noticeable remains behind?) and that the two sorceresses are also gone, though he hopes the Srinshee managed to teleport them to safety. Suddenly, some of the eyeballs turn to look at something and Elminster looks in the same direction, though it takes him a minute to spot it. A cone or spiral of smoky strands that moved purposefully among the ruins… where it poked its open end, solid items vanished, whisked away to – elsewhere. Elminster drifts closer and sees that it’s scooping up magic items. *rolling her eyes* Oh my, what a surprise. He wonders if this was sent by Mythantar himself to scoop up his treasures and take them to wherever he’s hiding now before someone else gets them, or did it serve some other master? Elminster drifts closer to get a better look, and then, predictably, gets sucked into it himself. *flatly* Behold the greatest wizard in the world, everyone – his first response to a strange magical phenomenon is to get really close and poke it without taking any precautions, while he exists as pure spirit and is therefore probably vulnerable to this sort of thing and is surprised when the predictable happens! Everything was whirling now, and El sighed aloud. Whither this time? As he’s sucked away, he barely has time to pray to Mystra, when is my task to begin? And what, by all the watching stars, is it? You know, considering this book is now *checks* 81 percent done and we still don’t know that… I’d like to know too, and also think Mystra should consider packaging her divine revelations in a more easily digestible form. Anyway, on that note, the scene ends.
Mira: And so, we cut to Elminster sometime later, when he’s been in the spiral so long he almost forgot what stillness was, and could scarce remember light, which sounds… troublesome. He tries to cry out for help, but no one can hear him, not even Mystra. He was beneath notice, and powerless. Normally, I’d feel pity for a spirit caught in such a trap, but… it’s Elminster. He deserves it. He thinks about how he’s known the love of a goddess and how his fate is now in Mystra’s hands. Hands belonging to one too wise by far to throw away a tool that could still see much use. Is… is Elminster admitting that his beloved goddess sees him as no more than a tool? That doesn’t seem to reflect very well on Mystra! I mean, even devils don’t throw away useful tools… that doesn’t make them good. But no sooner has he thought this than there’s a flash of brilliant light and he finds himself in a chamber he’d not seen before, its floor a glistening sea of black marble, its wall high, its ceiling vaulted. He recognizes this as a mage’s conjuring chamber – or as he calls it, a spellhurling chamber, which just sounds so crude – and indeed he quickly spots its apparent owner, an elven mage hovering above the floor. A masked mage, whose eyes flashed in surprise at Elminster’s sudden appearance. Ah, and so we have our chapter title, I suppose? Though he’s only a masked mage, singular – unless there’s more of him? The mage watches as his vortex sucks Elminster into a glowing transparent sphere; Elminster tries to escape, but it was solid as stone, and his attempt merely took him on a looping journey around the inside of his curves. So, are we to take it that this mage just happens to have a trap for ghosts sitting in his laboratory? I can think of several possible uses for such a thing… and none of them are good.
The mage approaches the sphere and examines it, wondering if he’s caught a human undead? Or… something more interesting? Personally, I think the undead in general are much more interesting than Elminster, though I doubt Greenwood agrees! Elminster nods in greeting as one equal to another – bold, for a man currently trapped in a glass ball! – but says nothing. We learn that the mage’s mask seems to be literally attached to his skin and moves with his expressions – Nemorga help me, that sounds like an artifact for sinister purposes if ever there was one – as he leans in, telling Elminster that he demands one thing of everyone he encounters – their true name. Those who resist me, I destroy, and Elminster has to choose between those options. Because Elminster is still around a thousand years later, I’m going to assume he's not going to choose destruction… and indeed, he finally decides his name isn’t a secret (though giving one’s true name away freely to obviously evil mages… maybe isn’t wise). I am Elminster Aumar, a prince in the human land of Athalantar, and the Coronal recently named me an armathor of Cormanthor. I work magic. I also seem to have a blundering talent for upsetting elves I encounter. *muttering* Half-elves too, for that matter. *more loudly* But is admitting “I’m probably going to annoy you” to the man who currently holds your existence in his hands really that wise? The mage asks if Elminster’s current form is useful for spying on elves, and he admits it isn’t particularly… then why have you wasted our time using it to spy on elves for the last few chapters? Was this subplot completely pointless? Ghosts deserve better treatment! The mage wonders why Elminster was in Mythanthar’s tower and if he was working with him, and Elminster says he’s not pledged to any sorcerer of Cormanthor, feeling that he’s telling the truth since he doubts this mage would consider the Coronal a real sorcerer, and the Srinshee is a sorceress. And… I really doubt this mage is going to care about semantics when he finds out you’ve lied to him…
MG: And I’ll note that in 2e (the only time Eltargrim got actual stats) he was a 19th level wizard. Which makes him, for comparison, more powerful than any of the magelords from the previous book except Ithboltar and maybe Undarl (if he really was Malaug) and a number of notable wizards from Faerun’s present. Apparently, he got his start as a warrior, and only really started pursuing magic after he was named Coronal, but even so… he’s very much a mage.
Calassara: Huh; is Elminster insulting the Coronal, or assuming his current “host” is a snob? But apparently the mage isn’t satisfied with the answer, as he tells Elminster he’s not accustomed to repeating himself, especially not to someone currently in his power. Elminster, instead of answering, asks the mage’s name instead; a name for a name is the custom among the People as well as in the affairs of men. Yes, and this mage currently has you trapped powerlessly in a fishbowl, so… maybe now isn’t the best time to antagonize him? But the mage seems to be amused by Elminster’s impertinence, for reasons why escape me, and introduces himself as The Masked. Ooh, a man in a mask… calling himself The Masked. How original. But he then tells Elminster not to speak again except to answer questions or I shall blow you away to nameless dust forever. Do it.
MG: And, okay, am I the only one thinking that a masked mage called the Masked sounds about like an unknown man called The Unknown? Are we going to find out that The Masked is an evil chocolate maker (does he make evil chocolate, or is he an evil man who makes chocolate? Or both? Who knows!)? Does he live in the walls? Does he scare small children? But I think I am going to start picturing The Masked as looking like The Unknown, just for my own personal amusement.
Calassara: *completely baffled* What in all Nine Hells and the Abyss are you on about? Well, Elminster admits he was only at Mythanthar’s tower to satisfy his curiosity (after having left a woman whose mind you violated crawling helplessly through the woods and promptly forgot about…) specifically about the beauty of two sorceresses… I wanted to see where they’d go, and perhaps learn their names and where they dwelt. Oh, so he admits he was stalking Mladris and Bhuraelea to ogle them! I’d say he was lying to deceive The Masked, but… we were in his head last chapter, and that is about what his thought process seemed to have been… The Masked then asks if Elminster considers elf-shes to be fitting mates for human men – I’ll decide who I think is a “fitting mate,” thank you – and Elminster just says that like most men, he’s attracted to beauty, and like most elves, I see no harm in looking at what I cannot have. But have you considered that the “what” in this case is actually a “who,” and they may not want you invisibly stalking them? Gah, I hate this book… The Masked says that his own chamber is a place where most people are not allowed, and intruders tend to lose their lives, surprising no one. Elminster wonders if that’s what The Masked intends to do to him – wait, weren’t you supposed to stay silent when not asking questions? – and it seems The Masked is still figuring it out. He thinks Elminster isn’t much use in his current form, and he could destroy him easily if he wanted to. On the other hand, he also thinks that Elminster returned to his body might be useful to him. So, I guess this is how the “Elminster the ghost” plot is going to get resolved, then? On the other hand, returning a powerful, potentially hostile mage to his body in the middle of your inner sanctum and letting him in on your secrets – great plan, O Masked! This is sure to end well for you.
Mira: And so, Elminster asks if the Masked wants him as a willing servant or a dupe (if he wants you as a dupe… he’s probably not going to tell you? Since that would defeat the purpose of duping you…) and the Masked responds that he doesn’t tolerate impertinence from rivals, let alone apprentices. Elminster is shocked by this and prays to Mystra and is rewarded with a brief vision of himself learning from The Masked, which he takes as confirmation this is what she wants him to do (as opposed to the product of his fevered imagination – or even of the mage in front of him). He asks if The Masked is really offering him an apprenticeship, and The Masked indicates he is – and Elminster accepts, since he feels he still has much to learn (he’s already bested multiple archmages by this point – how much more powerful does he want to be?) and I should like to be guided by someone I can respect. *confused* And The Masked has done what, exactly, to earn your respect thus far? To me he just seems like another arrogant elf mage in a city with far too many of those around already… The Masked seems pleased and opens a hidden door to reveal a workbench and tools behind it, explaining that the spell to restore Elminster’s body will be complex. He warns Elminster that he should sit still and quiet for now, and the first spells will release him from his bindings rather than having direct effect on Elminster himself. The Masked gets to work as Elminster watches with interest; after he casts his first spell, the sphere holding Elminster catches fire, which fades quickly to leave a single trail of smoke behind, which the Masked shapes into a helix around the sphere. El watched, fascinated, as the masked elf danced and swayed in the working of yet another magic – something that caused a faint music to arise out of nowhere and accompany that tall, graceful body as it swung this way and that. Well, my guild certainly appreciates the value of magical music, especially for dealing with ghosts and spirits… but I’m a better singer than a dancer, and nothing in these books has made me feel much like singing… perhaps a lament for Symrustar would be appropriate…
The Masked continues working, and Elminster, wondering what he’s doing now, prays to Mystra again. This time he’s “rewarded” with a vision of himself, standing naked in a forest with glowing chains on his wrists and ankles. …is this something Elminster and Mystra do in their spare time that I really feel like I shouldn’t be spying on? But no, as it the vision progresses to show The Masked walking past and using the chains to force Elminster to follow. So, Elminster’s goddess’s guidance… has put him in position to be literally enslaved by an evil wizard? Never have I been more glad that Lord Nemorga rarely takes interest in the living… The vision continues to show The Masked dragging Elminster along through the woods, until he stops to examine a certain plant and Elminster has a chance to kneel and pray to Mystra while focusing on a particular magical symbol, an unfamiliar and complex character of shining golden curves that hung in El’s mind and caught fire, as if it was being branded into his memory. And once the symbol fades, the vision Elminster’s body starts changing as it flowed into the smooth, full curves of a woman, a form he’d worn before in Mystra’s service. “Elmara…” *flushing* Oh. Well. That plotline is back again. Is there a reason, beyond Greenwood wanting to write about a naked woman in chains? But in the vision Elmara’s chains vanish and The Masked turns to face her in shock, and the vision ends as she blasts him with a bolt of magic. Elminster returns to the present as The Masked continues working on undoing the sphere, and he realizes the symbol he saw is fresh in his mind. Touch stone and think of that while calling aloud of Mystra (don’t you mean, to Mystra?) and he would wear a woman’s shape again – a changing that would be enough to break the bindings this treacherous elven sorcerer was going to lay upon him now. And at that, he suddenly realizes he’s heard The Masked’s voice before… but he can’t remember where. Hmmm; no doubt, that’s going to be important, and knowing Greenwood, alas, I’m not expecting the revelation to be very exciting.
MG: And yes, everyone, I’m afraid the Elmara plotline is going to be revisited before the book is done, and if you expect Greenwood to have developed a deeper, more nuanced understanding of gender between books… well, everything we’ve read so far probably says otherwise. The good news is, it will be brief. The bad news… is that the fact that it’s so brief, and the context when we get to it, just makes me think all the more that Greenwood tossed this in for sexy purposes. Why, exactly, The Masked’s bindings will be undone by a spell that changes a person’s gender, specifically… I’m genuinely not sure of.
Calassara: I mean, I’m hardly a prude, but these books have not made me want to know what’s going through Greenwood’s mind when he writes about sex and gender, so let’s move on, shall we? Despite recognizing The Masked’s voice, Elminster decides he doesn’t care about his identity. Learning a face and a name meant little when you knew little or nothing of the character behind them. To a Cormanthan born and bred, the identity of The Masked might well be a secret as valuable as it was deadly; to Elminster, it was simply something he didn’t know yet. You… what… how are you so stupid? I mean it, seriously. For one, you already know you recognized the man’s voice, even if you can’t put a name to it. That means whoever he is, he’s probably someone you know, or have at least met. Knowing who it is could be valuable. For another, you already know he plans to betray and enslave you – you know damned well what his character is, and it’s not good! For another, what if you have a chance to get a message to the Coronal or the Srinshee or someone? Maybe this asshole’s true identity would be valuable to them, your patrons and ostensibly your friends? Have you thought of that? Gah; if Errezha was here, she’d slap you for being so bad at intrigue. Of course, if Errezha was here, she’d probably want to burn down this whole city within five minutes… and nothing of value would be lost. Elminster decides that his unfamiliarity with Cormanthor might be what makes him valuable to The Masked (why?) and so resolves not to reveal the full extent of his knowledge and power, or his experience with the kiira, to him (the first smart thing he’s done today… but if The Masked is really someone involved in Cormanthan politics, surely he’d have heard Elminster arrived in the city bearing the Alastrarra kiira? It wasn’t exactly a secret).
Finally, The Masked asks Elminster to look into his eyes *mock swoon* and when he does there’s a flash of light and Elminster finds himself falling. He’s consumed with pain as he finds himself caught squarely in the raging, blistering heat of hot flame (the heat of hot flame… brilliant, Greenwood) and he screams as more spells wind around him. Then it’s done, and he finds himself on his knees on cold flagstones, with The Masked hovering over him and commanding him to rise. Elminster pretends to be more dazed than he is, and so The Masked snaps a command and he finds himself jerked up to his feet; Elminster decides he could fight this (*sigh* of course he could) but for now he thinks it best to play along. The Masked tests his power by making Elminster wave his arms around and slap himself (do it again!) and then decides Elminster’s body is working well (oh, my…) before freeing him to move around as he wishes. He follows after The Masked, head bowed humbly, aware that a scrying eye has been set to follow him and is watching him from behind (is he still naked, by the way?). The Masked leads him out of the laboratory through a secret door, then turns to regard his new “apprentice” with a slow, cold smile of triumph. Elminster smiles back, pretending to be friendly, and The Masked turns away and has him keep following, though inside Elminster is rolling his eyes (me, too, though perhaps not for the same reasons). Thanks be to Mystra, this was going to be a long apprenticeship. Yes, you’ve admitted your goddess sees you only as a tool, and now following her advice has gotten you literally enslaved (she also told you how to break out, but… you don’t seem to be planning to actually do that, for some reason?). Thanks be to Mystra, indeed.
Mira: You know, in Hollowfaust we expect our apprentices to do work, but we also remember the primary purpose of an apprenticeship is to learn. It’s not the same thing as slavery – maybe someone should tell The Masked that? Or Elminster? Well, we cut to the moonlit forests of Cormanthor as, in the distance, a wolf howls, but the naked, shivering elf who was crawling aimlessly down a tangled slope did not seem to hear it. Oh, it’s Symrustar – in exactly the same condition Elminster left her, however many hours ago! And even once he got his body back, he didn’t seem to even think about the possibility of helping her! Has he forgotten her completely? Symrustar slips and falls down the slope the rest of the way, her hair was a muddy mass and there’s dried blood all over her limbs, and why is Greenwood doing this to her? People who’ve done far worse have gotten off with far less! The wolf comes padding out of the forest and walks towards Symrustar, apparently having decided she’s going to be easy prey. And indeed, as it approaches she even rolled over to present her breast and throat to his jaws, and is it just me, or is Greenwood sexualizing the sight of a woman about to be eaten by a wolf? *she shudders* Even the wolf is suspicious about his good fortune, but then he gathers himself to spring, while for some reason we cut to the point of view of a spider watching all of this as it thinks about drinking their blood. The wolf springs, and then out of nowhere a blue-white star hits it, and Symrustar doesn’t hear the silent disintegration that follows. I… beg your pardon? The wolf was going to kill Symrustar, but it was just an animal following its nature! Surely someone who could disintegrate a whole wolf in one blast could also subdue it without killing it? A few hairs from the wolf’s tail were all that was left of it; they drifted down to settle across her thighs and Greenwood, why are you telling us this? A voice then says, poor proud one. By magic bent. Let you be by magic restored.
A circle of stars appears around Symrustar, while the spider hangs back, afraid. When the lights fade, the spider crawls down to the forest floor and it reached the flattened leaves where the she-elf had rolled, and found her gone. The spider is bewildered and enraged – I didn’t even know spiders were capable of those emotions! – as it searches for its prey, and then finally wanders off to look for humans, who it thinks are fat and full of blood and juices. Well, I guess if you are a spider, that is the important thing? The spider is still fantasizing about eating humans when a snake pops out of nowhere and swallows it whole, and on that bafflingly random note, the chapter comes to an end.
MG: No, I don’t know what the spider was about, either. Normally in the Realms, spiders tend to signify Lolth, but despite this book being all about elven politics, the drow, Lolthite or otherwise, are barely relevant in it. And for everyone wondering, this is not the end of Symrustar, and we will be seeing her again, but not for a while. And it feels worth noting that after Elminster went off in the last chapter to find a way to save Symrustar, he ended up completely forgetting about that, didn’t even think about her at all this chapter, and she literally would have been wolf food if (spoilers) a literal deux ex machina hadn’t shown up to save her life. What a guy, that Elminster. Speaking of him, he’s gotten his body back, but through a series of boneheaded choices and some very poor guidance from Mystra, he's now also a magically bound slave. *applauds sarcastically* Great work, Elminster! He also knows how to escape at any time, but he just doesn’t, because reasons. And apparently getting enslaved by this guy is exactly where Mystra wanted him in Cormanthor in the first place. *applauds even more sarcastically* Great job, Mystra! As for The Masked, he is probably the closest thing the book has to an overarching antagonist – and it takes more than eighty percent of the book before we properly met him, because we clearly needed all that nonsense with sexy naked elves and Elminster dodging repetitive assassination attempts and being a ghost first, so the actual plot can get crammed in into the last fifth of the book. Anyway, next time, we’ll be entering PART III: Mythal as Greenwood continues to have a downright baffling approach to his narrative structure, Elminster’s actual love interest of the book is introduced (yes, really) and we find out more about what his “apprenticeship” to The Masked is going to entail. We’ll see you then!
I’ve also just finished my reread and commentary on the (in)famous epic Avatar: The Last Airbender fanfic Embers which can be found here; now’s the time to check it out, if you’re interested!