Taren

* Taren
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### Books

Spellmonger, Warmage, Magelord, High Mage, Journeymage, Enchanter, Court Wizard, Shadowmage, Necromancer, Thaumaturge

Taren is one of the main supporting Magi throughout the Spellmonger Series so far.

## Personality and Traits

One of the most powerful human warmagi as well as being a highly talented thaumaturge, Taren is a loyal member of the Arcane Orders and tenacious in carrying out his duties; during *Shadowmage* we see this quality have some serious consequences after he spends time at Salaisus:

*Taren was one of Tyndal’s favorite warmagi.  A brilliant thaumaturge who was also an excellent combat mage, he had brought some incredible insight to enchantment and thaumaturgy in the last few years.  He was ordinarily a cheerful, enthusiastic-looking man, one who personified the warrior wizard as more than a fancy mercenary.*

*Yet the Taren who stood before him now was a bare shadow of the knight he remembered.  While he wore a warmage’s tight-fitting plated leather hauberk, his eyes were dark and deeply sunken, and his skin had a deathly pallor to it.*

## Early Years

Min and Taren briefly studied together at Inarion Academy before both wizards decided to head to the war college, Relan Cor. As they graduated, Min was called up to serve as a warmage during the Farise campaign, whereas Taren, selected for more advanced warmagic study, missed the conflict altogether.

## Arcane Inventions

1. Created Berserker balls.
2. Barge Transport Wands that were also used to drop boulders on the head of a dragon.
3. Hellpful construction wands for the Great March.
4. Made the snowglass beacon lights for the pele towers built in Northern Alshar.
5. Helped Onranion create a smooth magical interface for the housig of Penny's new Witchstone.
6. Invented a ball of snowglass that generates a cleansing light killing all disease as it floats in water.
7. Crafted a crossbow that automaically reloads itself after it fires.
8. Built Threshold, a five foot baculus with a smooth sphre of *Bluestone* as its staff-head, it has unique properties to do with necromancy and the Otherworld.

## Summary

### Spellmonger

Taren was selected to be the focal point of the spell that opened a portal between *Boval Castle* and *Inarion Academy*, allowing everyone to escape...

> *There was a lot of residual magic there, some going back to the Magocracy, which theoretically made it a bigger target for Taren to latch onto. While the distance was far greater than, say, one of the larger cities in Alshar, we couldn’t really decide if distance had anything to do with it. I was pretty sure it didn’t. Taren had suggested attempting to anchor the other end of the portal – assuming we could activate it – to an old and crumbling memorial archway in one of the courtyards of the Academy.*
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### Warmage

Through *Warmage* Taren studied *Shereul's* zones of influence and was responsible for naming the *Umbra* and *Penumbra* zones, then in the battel of Timberwatch one of Taren's spells was able to turn the tide of the goblin's advance...

> *Taren's spell had chosen that moment to activate, and while thousands of goblins' eyes were trained on the heavens, a wave of finely-tuned magical energy swept over them, and they saw no more*
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### Magelord

During *Magelord* he travelled to Wenshar in Remere to inspect the Censorate commanderies, his role was to catalogue the Censorate's collection of confiscated artifacts.

It was Taren that found the *Grain of Pors* in the Censorate vaults, which he rightly guessed was actually *Ghost Rock,* the imbedded enneagrams were used to revolutionise the practice of enchantment in the Kingdom.

### High Mage

Taren is still at the Censorate Citidel where he sets up a secure laboratory that he uses to make many arcane advancements. From an old spell dating back to the magocracy that he found in the Censorate valts, he created 'Berserker balls' that are used during The Battle of Gavard Crossing by the sky riders throwing them down upon the Gurvani and Trolls.

### Journeymage

At Taren's laboratory in Wenshar he creates most of the magical wands that are used in Journeymage, some of which used the uses one of the *pocket stones* from the Sevendor mountain.

### Enchanter

Minalan includes Taren in the latest magical research and experimentation, it was Taren that affixed the *Celestial Mother* to the Snowflake using the *Alaran stone*.

After *The Greenflower Mage War*, Minalan confiscates the barony in the name of the Arcane Orders, Taren was entrusted with its stewardship; this was in no small part because the area around Salaisus Castle had been damaged by the *Bluestone* spell, tearing a hole between reality and the *Otherworld.*

While exploring the Otherworld Taren held discussions with the dead. *Horka* spends time teaching Taren about his spell to destroy *dragons*, and Delman asks Taren to say hi to *Astyral* for him.

### Court Wizard

Taren is only briefly in this story as he is part of the group that meets at Spellmonger hall just before the Dragon strikes.

### Shadowmage

Taren assists with the battle against the Dragon in Vorone.

### Thaumaturge

While in Vanador, Taren happens to be in the room with Minalin and Pentandra when Ishi is summoned. Before leaving, Ishi winks at him— and Pentandra later tells him that means Ishi intends to set up a love affair for him.

## References

1. ↑ Mancour, Terry. Shadowmage: Book Nine Of The Spellmonger Series . Kindle Edition.
2. ↑ Mancour, Terry. Spellmonger: Book One Of The Spellmonger Series (p. 552). Kindle Edition.
3. ↑ Mancour, Terry. Warmage: The Spellmonger Series Book 2.