#vizeran devir

[everybodyloveshippos]

"Gromph and Vizeran Break Up'

Featuring Vizeran DeVir, his his apprentice Grin Ousstyl, and Gromph Baenre

(posting this separately from the other always sunny redraws bcus it's specifially Out of the Abyss (and i liked it best LOL))

[rukafais]

You can tell they actually cared enough to be toxic exes because they're not immediately trying to blow each other up on sight

[ssimpatico]

[lawful-evil-novelist]

Really as I finish the one-shot I realize the longfic version is really gonna be me dumping Jalynfein, Gromph, and Vizeran into a wizard thunderdome and going “fight fight fight fight”

[bijouly]

just a courtesan who got tangled up in the rage of demons ten years ago and the wizard boyfriend she MIGHT JUST keep alive this time

[lesbiansybelle]

Cant get enough of vizeran devir. Old man drow. Lives in a revenge tower. Obsession with gromph. Gay.

[wanderingcotabussurgetank]

Vizeran DeVir by BryanSyme

[faeries-fires]

In 5e Archmage is an honorary title given to wizards in certain important positions, or who are bold and powerful enough to claim such title and not get beaten up.

Currently there isn't any official skill or level requirement to become one, but it's assumed that they must be very powerful spellcasters to be able to hold their position. However, from what I've been able to find from past editions, there used to be prerequisites:

In 1e Archmages were magic users who had reached at least 18th level and therefore gained access to their first 9th level spell.

In 3.5e it became a Prestige class. Prestige classes were advanced classes that a character could only take if they met certain requirements after already choosing a base class. For an Archmage the requirements where this:

- Skills: Knowledge (arcana) 15 ranks, Spellcraft 15 ranks. - Feats: Skill Focus (Spellcraft), Spell Focus in two schools of magic. - Spellcasting: Ability to cast 7th level arcane spells, knowledge of 5th level or higher spells from at least five schools.

In 4e it was an Epic destiny for wizards. Epic destinies could be chosen at 21th level and went up to the 30th (4e didn't have the 20th level cap). They were the character's endgame, a way to leave a lasting impact on the world or even the universe.

There's also the fact that all the Archmages that got stats for 5e seen to be at least 18th level:

- Vajra Safahr, the current Blackstaff - 18th level. - Manshoon, founder of the Zentharim - 18th level. - Mordenkainen, creator of many spells - 18th level. - Vizeran DeVir, fellow student to the Archmage of Menzoberranzan Gromph Baenre - 18th level. - Halaster Blackcloak, the Mad Mage of Undermountain - 20th level.

Two of them live in Waterdeep - Vajra and Halaster - and they lead two of the city's magical academies- Blackstaff Academy and Halaster's Heirs. If we add Gale, there would be three Archmages in the city. That would be too many, but considering Waterdeep is a big, heavily academic city and a cultural hub it isn't that far-fetched.

I think that the reason why Gale isn't on that list has more to do with the wiki being written by fans and BG3 being still new, there are areas that are incomplete. WotC holds now all the rights for the characters and the story after Larian's decision to not make BG4, and they can put them in future official material like they've done in the past with Minsc.

The Archmage from the D&D Beyond is a generic 18th level spellcaster that players can encounter in some adventures. The reason why they're categorized as a monster is because they have a stat block in case they become an enemy that you have to defeat or an ally that can fight at your side. There are creatures and people of all sorts in the category. The Archmage in particular can be of any alignment.

As for how famous he would be, we can only speculate because I don't think there's any specific rule about that. The closest to that I think is this bit in the 5e Player's Handbook:

- In the 1st tier (levels 1-4), characters are effectively apprentice adventurers. They are learning the features that define them as members of particular classes, including the major choices that flavor their class features as they advance (such as a wizard’s Arcane Tradition or a fighter’s Martial Archetype). The threats they face are relatively minor, usually posing a danger to local farm steads or villages. - In the 2nd tier (levels 5-10), characters come into their own. Many spellcasters gain access to 3rd-level spells at the start of this tier, crossing a new threshold of magical power with spells such as fireball and lightning bolt. At this tier, many weapon-using classes gain the ability to make multiple attacks in one round. These characters have become important, facing dangers that threaten cities and kingdoms. - In the 3rd tier (levels 11-16), characters have reached a level of power that sets them high above the ordinary populace and makes them special even among adventurers. At 11th level, many spellcasters gain access to 6th-level spells, some of which create effects previously impossible for player characters to achieve. Other characters gain features that allow them to make more attacks or do more impressive things with those attacks. These mighty adventurers often confront threats to whole regions and continents. - At the 4th tier (levels 17-20), characters achieve the pinnacle of their class features, becoming heroic (or villainous) archetypes in their own right. The fate of the world or even the fundamental order of the multiverse might hang in the balance during their adventures.

Gale was most certainly on the 4th tier as an Archmage and Chosen of Mystra, and when you play in that league people know you. As much of a homebody as Gale is, he must have travelled to many places to fulfil his duties as Chosen, such as destroying magic that threatens the balance of the Weave

Player: Let me deal with the circle. Gale: Deal with it how? I hate to pull rank, but I was once Mystra's Chosen. Destroying magic like this was my bread and butter.

He's still quite young, so he couldn't have become as famous as much older Chosen/Archmages like Elminster or the Seven Sisters simply because he hasn't have as much time as them, but I think it would be safe to assume that he was famous in Waterdeep (and Morena must have made sure that everyone knows how wonderful her son is and how proud she is, I know it in my heart).

Outside of that, not only does Lorroakan know his name and recognize him despite being from different cities, but he also knows that he was Mystra's Chosen and that he has lost that position, which makes me think that he was also well known among scholars along the Sword Coast in the vert least. Maybe some villagers here and there that he helped during his travels know him too? He must have gotten that neck and forehead scars from somewhere and he says at some point that he has been threatened with a knife before.

And now he's returning home after saving Baldur's Gate and the Sword Coats from a Mindflayer invasion caused by the return of the Dead Three and marrying one of the other heroes? There will be the Faerûnian equivalent of paparazzi trying to sneak in that wedding, mark my words.

Gale as an archmage

I've been thinking about this for a while. If you select Gale as an origin character in the character creator and play his intro, he introduces himself as Gale of Waterdeep™ he immediately follows with "please - no need to be intimidated."

Now I think we initially brush this statement off as Gale being full of himself, but the first time you talk to him and ask him to tell you about himself, there's an option to say something like "Come on, you must have stories from your time as archmage."

And I've always wondered - how would tav know this? Gale hasn't mentioned it. Which leads me to my research question:

Is Gale famous?

Not Elminster-famous, of course, but is he THE archmage of Waterdeep, known throughout the Realms? Is Gale of Waterdeep a legitimate title, not just one he decided to use because it sounds important?

Maybe all of this is common knowledge in DnD lore, but it's a fairly new world to me. Here's what I found about archmages:

From the Forgotten Realms fandom wiki (https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Archmage):

Archmages were among the most powerful arcane spellcasters found throughout all of Faerûn. These practitioners of the Art were experts at manipulating and altering their spells, often in strange ways. Many cities across Faerûn had a single archmage who dedicated themselves to serve that settlement and its people. Some notable cities included Lyrabar in Impiltur, and the great western metropolis of Waterdeep. The term "archmage" was often used to refer to spellcasters who took on leadership roles among similarly-inclined practitioners of The Art. In the drow city of Menzoberranzan, the head of the arcane academy known as Sorcere was granted the title, Archmage of Menzoberranzan.

So, to summarize, archmages are super powerful, big cities often have a singular, dedicated archmage, and they take on leadership roles in the city, sometimes (or at least once) being deemed THE archmage of the city.

I've already seen posts about the insane amount of power held by archmages, so I'm not really going to go into that. I'm just interested in how well-known Gale would be in the Realms. One issue I'm running into while researching is that many people seem to approach the archmage in terms of DnD stats (spell levels, player levels, etc) rather than from a storytelling perspective.

I can't find much else specifically on how widely known archmages would be. There is a list of archmages on the Forgotten Realms wiki, but Gale isn't included on it. I'm assuming maybe BG3 lore is considered an off-shoot of FR lore and therefore not necessarily canon? Let me know if I'm wrong about this.

So that leaves me with message board responses. Here are some notable ones:

An old candlekeep.com forum on the differences between the titles used by magic users. Several users seem to agree with this person.

From the same thread as above.

Interestingly, DnD beyond has archmage categorized as a monster. I'm not sure if this applies only to evil-aligned mages or not, so anyone with more familiarity, feel free to chime in. Anyway, here's what DnD beyond says:

"Archmages are powerful (and usually quite old) spellcasters dedicated to the study of the arcane arts. Benevolent ones counsel kings and queens, while evil ones rule as tyrants and pursue lichdom. Those who are neither good nor evil sequester themselves in remote towers to practice their magic without interruption. An archmage typically has one or more apprentice mages, and an archmage's abode has numerous magical wards and guardians to discourage interlopers."

Gale does mention having students/apprentices at some point (he says something about being impatient with them if I remember correctly, but I can't remember when he actually says it), and, if he's Professor Gale in the epilogue, you're told that an apprentice delivered the invite to the party.

I also find it interesting that archmages typically have wards around their home to keep out intruders, implying that they're well-known enough to have people regularly trying to break into their home?? Or at least has happened enough times to warrant protection.

I also appreciate this reddit comment on a thread asking about the rarity of archmages:

This lead me to a super interesting reddit post which I really suggest you check out if you're interested. The OP breaks down the percentages of each class and level and translates that to city populations. I'm bad at math so that may be a horrible explanation. Anyway, here's a chart that they made:

I have been trying my hardest to put the alt text on the images for accessibility but I have no idea how that would work with this chart. I did include the text at the bottom for screen readers just in case. I'm sorry!

Sooooo someone in the comments asked specifically about Waterdeep and here's what someone who is good at math figured out! (They are correcting a previous comment with incorrect math, hence the first part of the comment):

Since a wizard is considered an archmage at level 18, it's safe to say that Gale would definitely be one of only a few wizards in Waterdeep with such a title. And if the above commenter's assumption about the Blackstaff being one of the only archmages in the city, Gale being of a similar level is HUGE, right? The Blackstaff is a big deal. From the Forgotten Realms wiki:

Blackstaff was the title and name given to the master of the eponymous staff and Blackstaff Tower, including Blackstaff Academy, as well as the Archmage of Waterdeep.

So if the Blackstaff is THE Archmage of Waterdeep, Gale, obviously, is not. But!!! If we can trust the math of the reddit users above, and we assume Gale was at least a level 19 wizard pre-orb/tadpole/whatever ... he would be one of two archmages in Waterdeep, second only to the Blackstaff themself.

I personally think that's enough renown to be a somewhat familiar name throughout Faerûn. So yes, Gale is a bit arrogant and, in his own words, pompous about being Gale of Waterdeep™ but perhaps it's warranted.

This has been a deep dive fueled by procrastination about writing the research papers I should actually be writing right now. Thank you for your time

[venushorned]

the vast oblivium and the eye tyrant

Deep within the Underdark, in a section famously known as the Wormwrithings, a beholder called Karazikar was fashioning itself as a god. Using its disintegration eye ray, it constructed a horrible lair and called it the Vast Oblivium: consisting of ten 30' wide, 100' deep, vertical shafts surrounding a central, 500'+ deep chasm known as "Karazikar's Maw," the Oblivium was, indeed, vast.

The Saints of the Eye were not the Saints of the Eye yet when they descended into that pit. The party was hot off their meeting with Menzoberranzan's exiled archmage who had hatched a plan to end the Rage of Demons, and this mage (Vizeran DeVir, probably Viconia's distant uncle) sent them on a hunt for a central Beholder eye. It was necessary for the ritual that would finally stop the Demon Lords.

They knew that they had to kill it. There would be no other way to take its central eye, but that begged the question of how, exactly, the party was expected to descend into a cult pit, kill their god, desecrate and steal pieces of its flesh, and then make it back out alive. It would be dishonest to say that they had a plan when they began their descent. They most certainly did not.

Now, Karazikar had discovered through a captured modron that the Maze Engine—the reality-warping machine that powers Baphomet's Labyrinth—was in the Underdark, and it was searching. It wanted to use the Engine to make itself into a God, properly, so the party was in luck. They knew where the Engine was, and so talking their way to Karazikar was as simple as a few of Gossamer's bullshit +15 persuasion checks.

There was not, at least that the Saints ever saw, a bottom to the Vast Oblivium. The battle with Karazikar occurred deep, deep within the chasm depths, but there was nothing but black void beneath them still. Karazikar floated; the party fought from rickety rope bridges and Floating Disks. It was a wonder no one died.

When Karazikar and its circle of priests fell, the other Saints harvested the eye while Gossamer devised a plan to get them out. No one could teleport, and Vizeran wasn't responding to sending requests to grab them, so it was going to have to be on foot. There would be no hiding the slaughter. They had to either stealth or lie, and they had a fully-armored paladin and cleric clanking around in their ranks.

Fortunately, delusions of godhood created a relatively elegant solution. The entire cult knew that the party had talked their way inside claiming knowledge of the Maze Engine and the Abyssal Lords, and so when they began their ascent out of the maw, the story came together easily.

Karazikar the Eye Tyrant was dead, willingly martyred by the enemies of Baphomet, so that He might ascend to lay claim to the Maze Engine. We were His Chosen, Gossamer insisted, He honored us with the glory of spilling His godly blood, His eye must remain with us as a Holy symbol on our travels into the Engine. We must plant the eye in the heart of the Engine so He can Watch everything.

These people were mostly refugees, exiled drow and lost souls from the surface. Anyone who stood a chance against Gossamer's +15 Deception died with their god.

They called her High Priestess. They called the party Saints.

[red-thorns]

Vizeran DeVir at the Council of Spiders meeting. (https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/eat-hot-chip-and-lie)

[nexis-heartstone]

When you look up "hubris" in the dictionary, there's an illustration of Archmage Vizeran DeVir, the man who thought he could make himself more appealing to follow than the fucking Demon Queen of Spiders.

The man has Nice Guy energy out the wazoo.

[tiny-huts]

I'm very excited to get to the Drizzt books where it is explained how in the hell Gromph set a bunch of demons loose on Menzoberranzan because how on earth did that even happen

[rukafais]

Clearly they reformed...just like an ooze....coincidence? I think NOT

(in all seriousness i'd be inclined to think it's just a few stray people who are super attached to their surnames still, like how Vizeran and Viconia are still bopping around in OoTA/extra material despite House DeVir being very dead, but it's also really funny to think of them having Masq'il'yr as a shell house or something. Or they're like, hosing out the compound because someone else wants to move in. It's free real estate!)

I love people just going completely conspiracy theorist about THE AUTHOR OF THE DRIZZT BOOKS MAKES THOSE POOR WOTC WRITERS CONSULT HIM EVERY TIME THEY NEED TO MAKE DROW CHANGES because 1) I have never seen anything, ever, that suggests that is happening, in fact across editions the sourcebooks have usually just been Writers Doing Their Own Shit, and 2) the guy can't even get his parent company to stop spoiling plot points in his own fucking books. He can't even get them to hire him for more than three books at a time and it's not, as far as I can tell, a renewing contract, he just has to wait and see if they'll let him write a couple more drizzt books with the characters he literally made and popularized. He's not even a regular fucking employee?? Hello???

[ssimpatico]

God I love the Maze Engine campaign so much.

Vizeran DeVir is the drow of all time.

Speaking purely with experience from playing Neverwinter online, the entirety of the Maze Engine campaign has endeared me to him.

Vizeran and Gromph were classmates and RIVALS at that. Absolutely hated each other's guts.

The latter got Vizeran disgraced and exiled from House DeVir, incidentally saving him since House Do'Urden nerfed his house shortly thereafter.

Skip forward a bit, Vizeran lives in a place he calls Araj Tower (literally Tower of Vengeance) and his whole obsession is upstaging Gromph... and Lolth (yeah sure buddy).

The first interaction you have with Vizeran is one where he openly complains about people (read: Drizzt, PC, and a hoard of demons) being on his lawn.

(Tangentially, I am curious how the Zhents knew that Vizeran is alive when even Jarlaxle was unaware.)

After Vizeran gives you his weird shopping list to get rid of Baphomet (very much including Gromph's diary grimoire) follows the funniest Neverwinter quest ever.

Firstly, Drizzt 'acting' injured and the PC disguising as a drow priestess. The former just has hand-cuffs and is pretending to limp along and look sad.

The moment you do reach the place Gromph's diary is held, Jarlaxle immediately see's past the disguise spell and Drizzt's acting.

This whole quote:

"Listen, I can give you Gromph Baenre's grimoire (I never really was his biggest fan), but only on one condition."

The MOMENT demons start attacking, Jarlaxle disappears. Straight up leaves. It's made even funnier by the fact that Drizzt is there, trying to ask him for help during the fight.

Also, also. There is a little sidequest in which you save a halfling character that has popped up before. And you free him, while disguised as a drow priestess, in front of a drider and several guards.

Credit where credit is due, Vizeran was pretty cunning and though the story did eventually hint at him being the villain, it was usually because of other NPCs skepticism, and not anything that Vizeran himself said.

I used to have screenshots of this, but when Vizeran asks you if you are in leagues with Menzo, there is a response only available if your PC is a drow.

Depending on the gender, he replies in two different ways. If male, he sympathizes with your dislike of Drow society ('I know how us males are treated, blah blah blah) and appreciates you for being honest. If female, Vizeran's reply is more surprised.

Oh of course, post bossfight (he doesn't parttake) he tries to kill you all and gets counterspelled. Get betrayed.

He isn't quite dead though. There is a cutscene in which Vizeran talks to the Elemental Evil cult leaders. I sometimes forget that he is a member of that cult.

There are a lot more moments that I enjoy from the adventure.

Minsc trying to get Boo and Guen to be friends, much to Drizzt's dismay.

Makos just being more of a loose canon.

The post party celebration scene. 'There isn't enough ale in the world to make Drizzt or Makos dance.'

In the first level, Drizzt and Bruenor's friendly banter.

Lans Thuliaga's whole side-quest. Doing a lot of extra exploration gets him a happy ending.

That one halfling whose name I cannot remember. Man, life was not kind to him. Family slaughtered by vampires then captured by drow. But hey, you get to help him.

I'm probably forgetting a lot, lmao. it's been a while

[lawful-evil-novelist]

So @thespacelizard said they’d love to get a solid list of the Despana kids in order so I figured I’d give you a rundown of them.

The Despana kids are Malavon Despana’s children by various mothers, there are actually eleven in total by 1372 DR, but during the events of A Lesson Well Learned and A Dangerous Conjuration (1368 DR), Viconia’s youngest sibling, Vizeran, hadn’t been born yet.

All eleven of the siblings share a few common traits:

They all inherited their father’s white-blond hair, though it’s not super distinctive they are all blond-haired.

They all have either blue or red eyes.  Malavon has blue eyes himself.

Malavon named all of them after drow he hated, with a general preference for wizards and priestesses.  If he didn’t want to use or didn’t know the target’s name he usually just used one of their family members.

Malavon crafted special hair ornaments for each of them.  The ornaments are wrought from white gold in the shape of an unsleeping eye–Malavon’s personal symbol–and the eye is inset with a stone that matches his child’s eye color.  The ornaments are enchanted to help the wearer focus when casting, and fortifies the caster’s hold over the spell.  I actually do have stats on these items they’re insanely powerful with the caveat that Malavon crafted them to only attune to the child he made it for.

All eleven were born on a full moon or new moon, often one of some significance.

Malavon experimented on his children, so all eleven have latent magic he has trained them to master.  The elder eight have all been formally trained and trained in their latent magic, meaning they’re all multiclassed.  Yasraena, his ninth, has only been trained in her latent magic.  The other two aren’t old enough to be trained.

So, in order, here are the Despana children as of 21 Eleint, 1372 DR (which, if my math is right, is roughly the date Dissolution begins):

Nym Despana

Namesake: Nym of the Frozenfar, a drow merchant Malavon worked with regularly.

Birthdate: 1 Flamerule, 1218 DR

Age: 154

Height: 5’3”

Class: Cleric (Trickery Domain)/Bard (College of Whispers)

Deity: Vhaeraun

Birthplace: Rilauven

Residence: Dallnothax

Sabanna “Anna” Despana

Namesake: Tsabanor Oblodra, Patron of House Oblodra and the only Oblodra Malabon thought he could get away with naming a child after.

Birthdate: 2 Hammer, 1236 DR

Age: 136

Height: 5’1”

Class: Cleric (Light Domain)/Sorcerer (Divine Soul)

Deity: Eilistraee

Birthplace: Rilauven

Residence: Waterdeep

Rai’gy “Rai” Despana

Namesake: Rai’gy Bondalek, who Malavon hates because honestly he hates most other mages that aren’t related to him and also Priest of Lolth.

Birthdate: 6 Marpenoth, 1281 DR

Age: 90

Height: 5’4”

Class: Sorcerer (Lunar)/Wizard (Conjuration)

Deity: Eilistraee/Vhaeraun (both, literally he worships both and pisses off both churches in kind)

Birthplace: Rilauven

Residence: Ust Natha

Bael’baste “Baela” Despana

Namesake: Baeloth Barrityl, AKA Baeloth the Entertainer, a sorcerer Malavon has a particular beef with and Baeloth doesn’t actually know what that beef is, all he knows is that Baela is his daughter now too.

Birthdate: Midwinter, 1297 DR

Age: 75

Height: 5’0”

Class: Sorcerer (Wild)/Wizard (Evocation)

Deity: Malyk

Birthplace: Rilauven

Residence: Baldur’s Gate

Zarafae “Zara” Despana

Namesake: Zaknafein Do’Urden, Malavon has beef with the Do’Urdens I haven’t actually figured out what it is.  He just has beef.

Birthdate: 10 Eleint, 1312 DR

Age: 60

Height: 5’5”

Class: Rogue (Assassin)/Wizard (Bladesinger/Necromancy)

Deity: Vhaeraun

Birthplace: Rilauven

Residence: Ust Natha

Viconia “Nia” Despana

Namesake: Viconia DeVir, probably actually an offshoot of Malavon’s beef with Vizeran DeVir and has nothing to do with Viconia herself.

Birthdate: 17 Uktar, 1318 DR

Age: 53

Height: 5’1”

Class: Sorcerer (Draconic-Deep)/Wizard (Illusion)

Deity: Vhaeraun

Birthplace: Rilauven

Residence: Menzoberranzan

Nalfein “Nal” Despana

Namesake: Nalfein Do’Urden, just more Do’Urden Beef.

Birthdate: 17 Nightal, 1345 DR

Age: 26

Height: 4’11”

Class: Sorcerer (Wild)/Wizard (Enchantment)

Deity: Vhaeraun

Birthplace: Ust Natha

Residence: Menzoberranzan

Maya Despana

Namesake: Maya Do’Urden, Do’Urden Beef part 3

Birthdate: 17 Nightal, 1345 DR

Age: 26

Height: 4’10”

Class: Rogue (Assassin)/Sorcerer (Shadow)

Deity: Vhaeraun

Birthplace: Ust Natha

Residence: Minauthkeep

Yasraena Despana

Namesake: One of Lichdrow Dyrr’s daughters because Malavon’s too chickenshit to call Dyrr out directly.

Birthdate: 27 Ches, 1357 DR

Age: 15

Height: 5’0”

Class: Sorcerer (Aberrant Mind)

Birthplace: Ust Natha

Residence: Ust Natha

Phaera Despana

Namesake: Yes, this is Pharaun, one of Malavon’s daughters is named after Pharaun. Did you think anyone was safe?

Birthdate: 22 Marpenoth, 1361 DR

Age: 10

Birthplace: Ust Natha

Residence: Ust Natha

Vizeran Despana

Namesake: Vizeran DeVir, Malavon really hates this guy, it’s surprising it took him this long to express it.

Birthdate: Midsummer, 1370 DR

Age: 2

Birthplace: Ust Natha

Residence: Ust Natha

If there’s interest I might make an updated list that notates their status as of 1492 DR but this is what it looks like as of the War of the Spider Queen.  Feel free to ask questions as well.

[lesbiansybelle]

Vizeran DeVir: please get me Gromphs spellbook?? I promise i'll be so normal about it please?? (Lying)