Vangerdahast Aeiulvana Vangerdahast Aeiulvana was the former Royal Court Wizard of Cormyr who was responsible for the awakening of Nalavarauthatoryl and the returning of the goblin s of Grodd . Vangerdahast was perhaps the greatest mage to have ever taken up the mantle of Mage Royal . For decades he controlled the Kingdom of Cormyr , in fact if not in title . While the king would fight the wars and sit on the throne , Vangerdahast would keep the court in order and keep control of the various factions who wished to dethrone the King . He was the overall leader of the defenses of Cormyr and only the king could command him . His title of Mage Royal allowed him control over the two main military factions of Cormyr , the knights known as the Purple Dragons and the mages and wizards of the War Wizards . He could also to a large extent control the Harpers who resided in the kingdom . He was trained by Elminster and therefore knew spells and magic s far beyond the average wizard . He was called " Vangey " for short by some . Description . Vangerdahast usually wore reddish brown robes . He was average height and slightly overweight , with dark brown eyes that became red when he was angry . His hair and beard were white with a few remaining reddish brown streaks , although he had also been described as bald - headed . He had a slightly protruding belly . He normally looked about fifty years old , though it ' s well known that was not his true age . ) Relationships . Vangerdahast was descended from Baerauble Etharr . Possessions . Vangerdahast possessed the staff of the High Wizard of Cormyr and the blade Symylazarr , both of which he was able to summon into his hand at will . He also carried a small silver whistle in his belt pouch , that made a loud shrill noise for gaining attention . There were several glowstone s in Vangerdahast ' s belt which he could use as sources of light . There was also a hollow metal sphere that , upon spoken command , could transform into a key to unlock a secret vault in the depths of the royal palace . It was one of only five , the others possessed by the king , queen and princesses . Personality . Vangerdahast was a shrewd , yet paranoid man : he simply " had " to know everything that was going on in the realm , all the time - and influence it , often using the War Wizards as a servant force in that regard . He influenced them too , removing the hierarchy that may have promoted internal competition and instead assigned them all to various task forces , all of which reported directly to him . His legacy lived on , even though he had retired , with many of the War Wizards remaining capable spies . It was common knowledge in Cormyr that Vangerdahast had a long standing grudge against Elminster , though the origin of the feud was unknown . Vangerdahast ' s favourite chair was in his private library in Castle Obarskyr in Suzail . It was upholstered in the flesh of a sahuagin . He sometimes attended The Laughing Lass , a tavern and festhall in Suzail , although he was careful to disguise himself . History . Vangerdahast was hired by king Rhigaerd II to tutor Azoun IV in heraldry and ethics . In 1336 DR , when Azoun IV took the throne , Vangerdahast was appointed the Royal Magician of Cormyr and Master of the Council of Mages . By 1372 DR , Vangerdahast had decided to retire from public life and appointed the battle - sorcerer ess , Caladnei , his successor for the position of Royal Magician . As of 1479 DR Vangerdahast ' s spirit lived in the royal palace in a wraith - like form . " Elminster ' s Daughter " . In the book " Elminster ' s Daughter " , Vangerdahast had retired from being Mage Royal and retreated into a hidden Sanctum so that he could devise a new ultimate defense for the kingdom ( the demise of the previous ultimate defense took place during the events of the novel " Beyond the High Road " ) , for he wanted the kingdom to be truly safe long after he had passed away . The only practical solution was to insure that the protection would not be a purely magical defense , ( which might draw arcanists eager to learn the Mage Royal ' s secrets ) by the binding of willing dragons , who would slumber in stasis until they were needed , at which point they could be summoned using key words / phrases and certain gestures using certain objects that only the reigning monarchs and Elminster would know . When a song dragon named Ammaratha Cyndusk found out about the dragon - binding spell being made , she considered it too risky to allow anyone to develop the spell on the off chance that it be stolen and used to enslave the whole of the dragon race . She confronted Vangerdahast , who swiftly defeated her , but spared her life since he felt he had done too much killing in his life already . When a rogue War Wizard blasted Vangerdahast with a powerful spell it momentarily shook Vangerdahast , allowing the dragon to break free . Ammaratha proceeded to ask why the wizard had not slain her , and when he explained , her heart softened . But , weighing the risk to dragonkind , she chose to flee and gather fully a dozen other dragons to kill the wizard . At the same time , word had leaked of his experimentation , and a Master Red Wizard of Thay named Harnrim Starangh gathered a small army of other Red Wizards and launched an attack on the kingdom in hopes of distracting the War Wizard s and Purple Dragons while he stole the spells of binding . Hearing about Vangerdahast ' s plan , a group of revolutionaries launched an assault on the Castle Cormyr and the Royal family in the hopes of slaying them , further adding to the confusion . When the dragon host arrived and saw the Red Wizards , they realized that those Wizards might be able to figure out the spells and proceeded to eat , burn and crush the Red Wizards who , after losing most of their force , proceeded to run screaming from the battlefield that was Cormyr . The dragons then went to Vangerdahast ' s Sanctum and confronted him . Vangerdahast informed them that he had realized the risk involved in the binding spell , and had chained the spells to himself so that , when he died , the spells and all his notes would be instantly destroyed . Seeing this , Ammaratha told the other dragons to go off and divide her hoard amongst themselves and that she would take care of the problem . She revealed that she had talked to Vangerdahast ' s old mentor Elminster and had a solution : that Vangerdahast become a dragon himself to help defend the realm . Ammaratha then said that she would be his Consort and that they would wait in stasis together . Through Elminster ' s magic ( with the aid of Mystra ) Vangerdahast was turned into a dragon ( unknown type ) and the two dragons were bound to the kingdom , awaiting in stasis to be called back to defend the Kingdom of Cormyr .