Cormoran

### Culture

Born in southern Alshar, but retired to the northern Alshari Wilderlands, primarily Tudry.

## Physical Information

### Hair

His hair is wavy and grey, but from Warmage onward, he has a shaved head.

### Additional Desc.

In Spellmonger, Master Cormoran sported collar-length, wavy, grey hair and a neatly trimmed beard. When Minalin first met him, he dressed like a rich merchant and was semi-retired. In Warmage and beyond, however, his personal style drastically changes. When Minalin next sees him in Tudry, he has exchanged his merchant’s robes for custom armor, a weapon harness, sturdy knee-high boots— and two specially crafted mage-blades. He also shaved his head & beard, leaving only a thin mustache.

## Affiliations

### Profession

High Mage— warmage, swordsmith, enchanter

### Occupation

He is primarily a swordsmith and enchanter, but also fights in several key battles.

## Family Members

### Additions

For most of his professional career, he was a warmage (until he was injured in battle.) Instead of fully retiring, Comoran moved from southern Alshar to Tudry and began refining the arts of weapons smithing and enchanting. He went on to train several apprentices, one of whom made Minalin’s first mage-blade, Slasher.

## Book Appearances

### Books

* Spellmonger
* Warmage
* Magelord
* Necromancer
* Thaumaturge

## Overview

Warmage, high mage, blacksmith, enchanter.

Eventually he was rewarded with his own domain in Northern Alshar for services rendered to the dutchy. He chose the old keep called Meadowmont, a northern watch fortress situated near iron for his forge, which he renamed to Forgemont.

## Personality and Characteristics

Cormoran was older than the other warmagi in Minalan's orbit. His craft and his joy were creating powerful weapons, but his delight was in learning even more about his craft. Once he started working and learning with the Dradrien Alon, he was stunned with what could be achieve.

Age: In his late 50's when he gets his stone in "Warmage."

## Early years

Cormoran was a warmage for many years until an injury resulted in him being too lame to continue. Instead of taking an easy job as a court wizard or a spellmonger, he moved to Tudry to be near the famed Alshari iron mines and started crafting and enchanting mageblades.

He studied with a Sea Mage in Merwin for a few years. He has been to a village of the Alka Alon.

## Summary

### Spellmonger (book)

Cormoran made an unnamed appearance in Spellmonger. As Minalan completed his recruiting mission to Tudry before returning to Boval Vale, he bought weapons and rations.

> The last stop I made was to the only warmage in town.  He was an old gentleman, as much knight as mage, who claimed he was semi-retired.  He was part of an independent Order of enchanting specialist warmagi known as the Order of the Veolicti. - Minalan
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### Warmage

Cormoran (alternate spelling: Cormaran) was already living in Tudry when Astyral arrived there in advance of the rest of the Warmagi. Astyral made contact with him and told him about the invasion and mentioned the possibility of gaining a shard of *Irionite.*

> “I’m not twenty-five anymore – I’m not even forty-five, any more – but the man who can best me with a mageblade has yet to be born.”  He said it not as a brag, but with the utter confidence of a man who has no doubt that he could back up such a claim with steel.
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Cormoran was one of the first magi to venture near the Penumbra to investigate it. He described some of its phenomena to Minalan. In particular, the Umbra was considerably darker than before the magical dome of depression was formed; furthermore, the atmospheric pressure seemed to be lower within the dome than out and perpetual, never moving. These conditions combined to kill most importasta flora and some fauna. Animals--and people--who came out of the Umbra were a bit mad.

Cormoran provided Minalan with a new/improved Mageblade before the Battle of Timberwatch. He reminds the Spellmonger to name the blade once its blooded. Minalan names it 'Draluada', Alkan for Twilight.

### Magelord

Cormoran attended the Robinwing Conclave and volunteered to oversee the writing of the Order of Enchanters charter. He was named the provisional head of the order.

Comoran made and enchanted a Warstaff for Min.

> Unlike the civilian staff I had used as a spellmonger, which had several general enchantments on it and only one or two offensive spells, this battlestaff had been built especially for me by Master Cormaran in a blatant attempt to kiss my butt and bribe me.
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### High Mage

Cormoran created the War Hammer that Minalan gifted to Sire Cei and which he named "Thunderhead". The war hammer is meant to channel and focus Sire Cei's sport talent and it was crafted with a dragon head on either side of the head.

Cormoran created dragonhide armor especially for Minalan and Cei, which they wore at Gavard Crossing. He journeyed with them up the frozen Poros and fought during The Battle of the Red Ice.

### Necromancer

Cormoran starts to work with Master Suhi and the Dradrien learning about new metals and their ways of forging.

Just before The Battle of Olum Seheri Cormoran arrives at the staging area with the first of the mage blades that he created with Suhi's help. He gifted Azar with a new greatsword which he named "Vanguard".

> *"...And don’t be envious,” he added, with a wink.  “That was the first mageblade I’ve forged with the Dradrien guiding me.  It won’t be the last.  It’s the best one I’ve ever forged.  It won’t be the best one I ever forge.  Not after what I’ve learned in the process.”* - Cormoran to Minalan
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### Thaumaturge

Cormoran imbeds himself with the Dradrien as they redefine iron work and steal making in the Wilderlands. They establish a foundry at Yltedene a few miles north of Vanador at the base of the hills.

Minalan provided Cormoran and the Dradrien with some of the samples that he received as payment for his snowstone mountain. The one globe of something that he had no idea what it was, got Suhi excited, he called it *ainakurkas* and alloyed it with steel ...

> *It works like a dream, it takes an edge and keeps it . . . forever, like it was mage-hardened.  It takes enchantment better than weirwood,” he declared.  “It forms a kind of crystalized metallic matrix that just begs for enchantments.  High-order enchantments more than we’ve laid on any mageblade.  The spell goes directly into the metal, not the stones in the blade.  And it seems to be able to handle any kind of magic.  Perhaps even enneagrams – the crystal matrix is that durable.  I don’t know what ainakurkas is, Min, but he did things with that alloy . . .”*
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## References

1. ↑ Mancour, Terry. Warmage: Book Two Of The Spellmonger Series (p. 310). Kindle Edition.
2. ↑ Mancour, Terry. Spellmonger: Book One Of The Spellmonger Series (p. 196). Kindle Edition.
3. ↑ Mancour, Terry. Warmage: Book Two Of The Spellmonger Series (p. 310). Kindle Edition.
4. ↑ Mancour, Terry. Magelord: Book Three Of The Spellmonger Series (p. 647). Kindle Edition.
5. ↑ Mancour, Terry. Necromancer: Book Ten Of The Spellmonger Series . Kindle Edition.
6. ↑ Mancour, Terry. Thaumaturge: Book Eleven of the Spellmonger Series . Kindle Edition.