The Nuckalavee

> *"I'm a sin-collector...a secret-keeper...a guardian of power...I am a prisoner of the Droods, and the shadow men and women come to me and I look after objects that are to dangerous to be in the world."* -The Nuckalavee
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**The Nuckalavee of the Western Whirlpool** is a ancient thirteen-eyed Nuckalavee sea monster that formally resided on a island off the coast of the Beach of Shoes. The Nuckalavee was a prisoner of the Droods that also acted as the guardian of magical treasures, weapons and objects that the Droods, Wizards and Shadow Men and Women deemed to powerful to remain in the hands of women and men. Its scales are sources of great magic and makes whoever welds them a great sorcerer. During the events of the Wizards of Once: Knock Three Times, where it acts as a minor antagonist, it encountering Xar, Wish, Bodkin and their companions on their Quest to Make a Spell to Get Rid of Witches, 4 of his scales being the last ingredient of the spell, symbolizing courage. It was eventually released from the spell that bound him near the end of the book, releasing him from his guardianship of the many magical objects he guarded, where he returned to the endless icy wastes of ocean that was his ancestral home.

## History

As the bloody years of conflict that marked the First Witch War began, the King of the Wizards at that time, Indertionin, had his Droods find a safe hiding for enchanted objects to powerful to be in the world before they fell into the claws of the witches. The Droods eventually placed the enchanted treasures on a small island located south-west of the Witch Mountains. The Droods also wove a great spell around the island so that only those on a shadow quest, those who did not care whether or not they died and placed an infant Nuckalavee, who would someday grow up to become a terrible guardian. Over the centuries, Droods and Shadow Men and Women placed Staffs of Indescribable Power, Harps that Played Themselves, Arrows made of Moon, Hats with Wings, Seven-League Boots, Talking Heads, Speaking Stones, Singing Swords, Horns of Plenty that spewed out food, Golden Shields of Destiny, Magical Cups of Second Chances, Hoops of Teleportation, Wands that Harnessed Every Kind of Element, Charmed Spelling Books filled spells of such inexpressible dark magic and cursed to let loss blood-curdling screams, Coins from the future, Mirrors that allowed you to spy on the one using the mirror's twin and many more objects of vast power in the Nuckalavee's possession, although whether they could leave was another thing altogether, for the laws of the Nuckalavee consisted of two basic laws

1. Every member of the travelling party would have to take their shoes on the Beach of Shoes (hence the name) before setting for the island.
2. The Nuckalavee would only guard the treasure it's visitors would bring it if the visitor answered a riddle (the visitor could leave before the riddle was answered, but could not backup after the riddle began). The Nuckalavee would then ask another riddle to deduce if the visitor would leave the cave free. If the visitor answered correctly, they would leave free. If the visitor answered wrong, they would be transformed in one of the Nuckalavee's Nix servants and remain on the island forevermore, comforting and serving the Nuckalavee in his bitter loneliness.

Several years before the series, the Nucklavee encountered a young wizard boy shadow man named Algorquprqin (or Tor for short), who was heartsick after his lover, a warrior princess, Princess Sychorax, had abandoned him after drinking the spell of love denied in a attempt to stop a curse prophesied to fall on the Wildwoods should the wizard boy and warrior princess marry. Upon meeting the Nuckalavee, the sea beast hoped he would leave the many wondrous magical objects he had on him with it to guard, but instead Tor requested a different bargain from that usually made: if he knew the answer to the Nuckalavee's riddle, he would receive four of its scales, but if he did not, he would give the Nuckalavee his heart. The Nuckalavee accepted the deal, believing that if the wizard was unable to answer his riddle, he would walk into it, heart and all, allowing the Nuckalavee to gain all Tor's magic items into the bargain. The Nuckalavee, unaware of Tor's act of transforming his heart. The eager Nuckalavee asked his two riddles and though Tor answered the first correctly, gaining 4 of the monster's shining scales, Tor was unable to answer the second, more difficult, riddle. Upon losing, to the sea monster's fury and shock, Tor threw his stone heart down the Nuckalavee's throat, lodging it inside the creature's throat and then left taking not only four of its scales but also several items of great power, including the Magical Cup of Second Chances, a incredibly powerful spelling staff hewn out of a mix of yew and oak, and embedded with crystals each holding the power of one of the elements, the forces of a tidal at its highest, a strength of a earthquake, the rage of a inferno and the winds of storms at its strongest and. With these added to an already impressive array of magical objects, Tor was set on a path to become the greatest enchanter in the Wildwoods.

### Never and Forever

Though the Nucklavee never appears, while gloating on the failure of the Spell to Get Rid of Witches, the Kingwitch cruelly comments how they had face the Nuckalavee, among other terrors, all to make what he reveals was in fact the Spell To Undo The Spell Of Love Denied.

## Abilities and Skills

* **Magic Dampening Aura**: The Nuckalavee had an aura about it that dampened and digested the Magic of Wizards and Magical Creatures, but it worked better when they have their shoes (if shoes they had) off, as the Nuckalavee's Magic-quenching properties traveled up through their bare feet and smothered the Magic inside them most efficiently.
* **Speech**: The Nuckalavee was able to speak in both its forms and was capable of asking riddles to many a shadow man and women, people and creatures who came from many different tribes and species, this therefor means that the Nuckalavee was capable of speaking various languages, that apart from English included Dwarvish, Elvish, Trollish, Giantish, Werewolfish, Spriteish, Mermish, Dragonese, Gobbledegook, Centaurish, Gnomish, as well as many others.
* **Nix Transfiguration**: The Nuckalavee was able to transform the Shadow Men and Women who failed to answer his riddles into Nixs, nasty creatures that strangled their enemies, who remained on the island as his slaves forever.
* **Swimming**: As a creature of the sea, the Nuckalavee could naturally swim through the oceans with ease.
* **Eye Illumination**: The Nuckalavee had the ability to light up his eyes like spotlights, a trait not uncommon for creatures that dwell within caverns like the Nuckalavee.

## Trivia

* In *The Wizards of Once: Twice Magic*, the Nuckalavee was mentioned to reside in a whirlpool known as the Western Whirlpool, but, for reasons unknown, was instead placed on an island in *Wizards of Once: Knock Three Times*.