Spellmonger (book)

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## POV Information

**Gender**
**Char Name**

Male
Minalan

## Backcover Summary

*Minalan* gave up a promising career as a professional warmage to live the quiet life of a village *spellmonger* in the remote mountain valley of *Boval*. It was a peaceful, beautiful little fief, far from the dangerous feudal petty squabbles of the *Five Duchies*, on the world of *Callidore**.* There were cows. Lots of cows. And cheese. For six months things went well: he found a quaint little shop, befriended the local lord, the village folk loved him, he found a sharp young apprentice to help out, and best yet, he met a pretty young widow with the prettiest eyes . . .

Then one night Minalan is forced to pick up his *mageblade* again to defend his adopted home from the vanguard of an army of goblins – *Gurvani**,* they call themselves – bent on a genocidal crusade against all mankind. And that was the good news. The bad news was that their shamans were armed with more magical power than has been seen since the days of the ancient *Imperial Magocracy* – and their leader, a mysterious, vengeful force of hate and dark magic, is headed directly to Boval valley. The good people of Boval and their spellmonger have only one choice, to hole up in the over-sized *Boval Castle* and hope they can endure a siege against hundreds of thousands.

When the people look to him for hope, Minalan does his best, but there are multitudes of goblins, and they want Boval Vale as a staging ground for an invasion of the whole Five Duchies, and only Minalan is standing in their way. Add a jealous rival mage, a motley band of mercenaries, a delusional liege lord who insists victory is at hand despite the hordes at his door, a mood, pregnant girlfriend and a catty *ex-girlfriend who specializes in sex magic* -- all trapped in a stinking, besieged castle with no hope of rescue, and you’ll understand why Minalan is willing to take his chances with the goblins.

All that stands between the gurvani horde and the people of the Five Duchies is one tired, overwhelmed baker’s son who wanted nothing more than to be a simple spellmonger.

### Minden’s Hall

Six months into his tenure as village Spellmonger of Minden’s Hall, Minalan is again thrown into battle when a small army of gurvani attack the village. He and his apprentice, Tyndal, gathered other men of the town and launch a desperate counterattack against the goblin hoard. Sire Koucey and Sir Cei led two dozen knights from Boval Castle into the fray. Minalan, leveraging his skills as a former warmage, spotted and defeated a gurvan shaman. The goblin sorcerer wielded a large witchstone (aka irionite) to power his spells. (See Gurvani War - Minden's Hall.)
### Alya

Wary of the witchstone, Minalan wraps it in cloth and travels north to consult the Tree Folk. On the way, Minalan and Tyndal save Alya from gurvani attacking her bother-in-law's farm. Alya held a handful of the attackers at bay as she defended the unconscious Sagal. After dispatching the goblins, Minalan exhausted himself trying to mend Sagal’s injured shoulder. Desperate, the Spellmonger tapped the power of the irionite and easily completed the healing spells. Still wary of the stone, he nevertheless was strongly attracted to its power. Alya agrees to accompany the Spellmonger on a picnic out of a sense of obligation for saving her and Sagal. They make love in the pasture and the seeds of their romance are sown.
### Amadia

Resuming their journey north, Min visits Zagor, a hedgemage near the village of Malin, and discovers that Zagor has a larger piece of irionite and had apprenticed with the storied Alka Alon, the Tree People, to learn his magic. Zagor takes Minalan and Tyndal to the Aronin of Amadia. While there, the Aronin bestows what seems to be prophesy upon the Spellmonger. (But several years later, during Necromancer when Minalan found the Aronin was still alive as a captive of Kobal, the Aronin admitted that it was a songspell with which he laid a compulsion on Minalan to do those things he'd "prophesied.") The Aronin modified Minalan's captured irionite, breaking the tainted connection to Shereul and enchanting the stone with the power to similarly cleanse other witchstones captured from gurvani shamen. Lastly, the Aronin shows Min that the gurvani invasion is underway and not only intends to wipe out all humani in Alshar and Castal, but also destroy the Alkan refuges.

### The Siege of Boval Vale

Minalan returns to Boval Castle and delivers the bad news to Koucey, then the Spellmonger travels to Tudry to recruit mercenaries funded by riches found under the Castle by Sire Koucey's forefathers. Returning with several bands of mercs to Boval Castle, the welcome additions participate in several actions against the besieging gurvani, and loyally support the Spellmonger in the siege.
Tyndal finds Alya amongst the Bovali refugees--farmers and folk from the surrounding vale sheltering in the castle's bailey. He facilitates a reunion between her and Min. After a couple of weeks, Alya tells Minalan she is pregnant. Alya and Minalan’s romance has blossomed into new love, and they promise to wed each other if they ever survive this siege.
### Urik’s Rebellion

Minalan suffers the envy and discontent of a competing spellmonger, Garkesku, but agrees to distribute witchstones to him and his apprentices. The youngest, Urik, goes mad with the power of his irionite stone and tortures the oldest apprentice in revenge for past abuse. Minalan and Tyndal fight and destroy Urik. Garkesku and the other apprentice, Rondal survive.
### Gurkarl

The Spellmonger interrogates a gurvan warrior, Gurkarl, who speaks Narasi well. Minalan learns about the abject treachery of Koucey's grandsire to the gurvani. This is what drives the gurvani to invade and slaughter the humani.
### The Tunnel Bridgehead

Gurvani sappers eventually undermine the wall with a deep and lengthy tunnel, but are held to their bridgehead. With a small force, Minalan assaults the tunnel entrance outside the castle walls, only to magically dual with a gurvani shaman possessed by Shereul, the Undead God. Just as he was overcome by the undead gurvan, Min is saved by Pentandra and nineteen warmagi that she recruited to join the Spellmonger (for witchstones). As he passes out, Minalan successfully and explosively destroys the tunnel and saves the castle.
### The Spellmonger’s Rebellion

Several days later, after capturing and distributing enough irionite to equip all the warmagi, Minalan confronts a misled and abusive Koucey, who just had Pentandra thrown into the dungeon. Garkesku poisoned Kousey's thinking and turned him against the Spellmonger. With no other options, Minalan arrests Kousey and his cadre, rebelling against the deranged lord. He looks to confront Garkesku, but the slippery mage disappears. Apprentice Rondel is abandoned by his former master, so Minalan takes him under his wing.
### The Molopar and Escape

The Spellmonger and Pentandra discover a molopar hidden beneath the castle. Gurkarl fulfills the terms of a gurvani prophesy that the first gurvan to see their holy cavern (of the molopar) would bring his race peace. Min and Pentandra contrive a way to open the molopar using spells powered by irionite and sex magic. They are able to transport all of the humans far from Boval Vale to Inarion Academy. Unfortunately, the mages that held the molopar's portal open could not travel through it. Together they confronted the Dead God, Shereul, in the castle's bailey. On the cusp of dying gloriously, the Tree Folk, led by the Aronin, intervened and held Shereul in a kind of stasis while the human mages escaped through a portal made by the Aronin.
See Spellmonger Cliff Notes.