Elminster

In ancient days, sorcerers sought to learn the One True Spell that would give them power over all the world and understanding of all magic.... The One True Spell was a woman, and her name was Mystra - and her kisses were wonderful. It is the time before Myth Drannor, when the Heartlands are home to barbarians, and wicked dragons rule the skies. In these ancient days, Elminster is but a shepherd boy, dreaming of adventure and heroics. When a dragon-riding magelord sweeps down upon him, though, the boy is thrust into a world of harsh realities, corrupt rulers, and evil sorcerers.

It is the time of the great elven city of Cormanthor, when the Heartlands are home to barbarians, wicked dragons rule the skies, and the elven people trust no one. Wizards and warriors alike threaten their civilization in vain, arrogant, and ignorant quests for glory.

Thus it was that Elminster was guided to Cormanthor, the Towers of Song, where Eltargrim was Coronal. There he dwelt for 12 summers and more, studying with many mighty mages, learning to feel magic and know how it could be bent and directed to his will....

From a dark and dusty tomb, Elminster emerges, seeking the guidance of Mystra, and finds only silence. He is drawn into the clutches of the mysterious and sinister Lady of Shadows. The path he takes will lead to a Realms-shaking confrontation where Elminster has to make the most important choice of his long life. Whatever he decides, the Realms will be forever changed…

On the world of his birth he's all but a god, but when an ancient evil banishes him to the depths of the Nine Hells, he's just another lost soul. Elminster, Sage of Shadowdale, Chosen of Mystra, faces his most desperate struggle - to survive, to escape, to cling to his very sanity - and all the forces of the inferno are rallied against him.

All her life, Narnra of Waterdeep wondered who her father is. Amid the squalor of the streets, through the danger she faces daily as a thief in the City of Splendors, she speculates on whom the mysterious wizard might be who left her mother to raise a fatherless child. Now she's discovered that it's no less a person than Elminster of Shadowdale, mightiest mage in all Faerian. And her anger is as boundless as his power.

When the goddess of magic was murdered, Elminster’s world shattered. Once the most powerful wizard in the world, immortal, beloved of the goddess of magic, and the bane of villainy, he is now a tired old man. He is powerful but mortal, and with all the enemies a man who makes a habit of saving the world tends to accumulate. To make matters worse, Elminster has needs - feeding powerful magic items to the Simbul, his lover, is the only thing that keeps her sane - but their increasingly risky collection leads his enemies right to him.

Elminster's archenemy, the vampiric Lord Manshoon, thinks he has destroyed Elminster at last. But Elminster survives in the form of magical ash, and with the help of his scion, a fop who is growing into a true nobleman, and his longtime companion Storm, he still has a chance to counter Manshoon's insidious plots.

Elminster's archenemy, the vampiric Lord Manshoon, thinks he has destroyed Elminster at last. But Elminster survives in the form of magical ash, and with the help of his scion, a fop who is growing into a true nobleman, and his longtime companion Storm, he still has a chance to counter Manshoon's insidious plots.

Chaos grips Faern as vainglory, prophecy, and ancient forces comingle in the shadows cast by war. Agents of the Shadovar lurk in the corners of Candlekeep in search of the arcane secrets that will power their war machine toward Myth Drannor. Gods and their Chosen run amok, all in a gambit to seize power. And a threat foretold by an ancient seer stirs.

Rumors race around Cormyr regarding the mythical "lost spell", a powerful enchantment designed centuries ago by the presumed dead god of spells - a spell long thought lost to the ages. Found by some magicless merchant, rumor has it the lost spell is to be auctioned off to the highest bidder.

All of Waterdeep now knew someone was killing the Lords of Waterdeep one by one. Yet that was about where truth ended and speculation - however plausible - began. The broadsheets were full of wild conjecture. Who was behind this? The ousted Lord Neverember? The Zhentarim, the Cult of the Dragon, or some other Outland Power? The Xanathar? Some cabal of guilds or nobles planning a coup? The rumors would rage on whether the Open Lord Laeral Silverhand did something or not.