In a millennia old tradition, very little is known about Daervlan other than the titles in front of his name. However, he is one of many people in history who have held the title of Lord of the Void, and something of the nature of the station can be understood in its historical context.

The most pertinent fact that a historian can glean is that "the Lord of the Void" has no formal place among Warrior Mages. The title exists outside the guild's hierarchy, passed on from its holder to an apprentice at the time of his death. Historically, it's most accurately said that the Lord of the Void is an independent station which is often, but not always, aligned with the Warrior Mage Guild.

If the Lord of the Void chooses to seek a place among the Warrior Mages of his day, he is festooned with accolades. If the praise and titles are piled high enough, perhaps it will hide the ambivalence Elementalists hold for him. It is commonly thought that the Lord of the Void spends most of his time outside the Plane of Abiding, tending whatever interests his line has cultivated beyond the boundaries of reality. He is believed to have spells of exotic design that allow him to survive these sojourns, but what is better known and more feared is the bizarre authority the Lord of the Void has claimed over Elemental magic.

Displeasing the Lord of the Void has historically had one consequence expressed in varying ways: nullifying Elemental magic. The iconic case happened 350 years ago, when the Lord of the Void of that era answered a demand for a duel by stripping the hothead, known for his skill at electricity spells, of his access to that element altogether. For the rest of his days, the man was unable to even cause someone's hair to stand on end.

Thankfully, whether by grace or by whatever demands are placed upon the station, the Lord of the Void has had more interesting things to do than play the bully. As far as the guild is concerned, Daervlan remains an exemplary model for his station: graceful and usually absent.

-Armifer
"In our days truth is taken to result from the effacing of the living man behind the mathematical structures that think themselves out in him, rather than he be thinking them." - Emmanuel Levinas

Ambivalence... guessing lord of the void's not it's all cracked up to be. Sounds like what Power aspires to be, and I guess that'd be a better legacy than leaving a scar on the world like most (in)famous WM's. Definetly want to know more, too bad the person to ask probably isn't too fond of 100 questions.

You say, "I wanna be Lord of the Void."
Cyiarriah says, "Heh I just read that and was thinking you would."
Cyiarriah says, "Lord of the Void Powerhaus."
Cyiarriah says, "I can see it."
You say, "Sign me up."

Seriously.

Even a Void Lordling, in training, whatever.
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You pick up a worthless soul.
You take a bite of the soul. Aaaah. Sweet and juicy.
That was the last of it.

>>Ambivalence... guessing lord of the void's not it's all cracked up to be.

Theoretically, the Lord of the Void is out there in the planes doing a lot of good. I mean, we think. The only person that likely knows exactly what he's doing is his apprentice, who stands to inherit the job and its mystique. But Duty and Honor and such.

Yet for all the goodness we can theorize about, in practical terms he's known for messing up Elemental magicians. So people generally prefer to honor him from a few planes away.

-Armifer
"In our days truth is taken to result from the effacing of the living man behind the mathematical structures that think themselves out in him, rather than he be thinking them." - Emmanuel Levinas

Great new bit of lore!
Added to Elanthipedia.

Thanks Armifer


- Terra

>>That was awesome. I love these!

Moar plz.

~Hunter Hanryu
http://drplat.com/CombatEquipmentCompendium.xls
http://tinyurl.com/HanryuTanning

>>would a lord of the void necessarily be a guilded warrior mage?

He often isn't. The Lord of the Void chooses his own apprentice and will tend to train his successor himself. But the station has been around for millennia, and oddities happen once in awhile.

>>...or a 'raised by wolves' naturally talented with potential elemancer have a shot?

Magicians usually don't work like that.

>>could they have more than one apprentice?

Probably! But there's only ever been one Lord of the Void at the time. If there's ever been multiple apprentices, they've settled their accounts quietly.

>>i'm guessing the guild council has little to say against him, and have to bow to him?

Who knows? The Grovekeepers aren't big on transparency.

>>does holding the position/title come with any actual power, or is that learned in apprenticeship?

You'd have to ask him.

>>do the guardians have any power over him?

You'd have to ask them.

>>makes me wonder how his predecessor(s) died(what could kill them? fall down the stairs?)

They tend to die quietly and outside the public eye, so who knows? But a good guess is old age. No matter how powerful a Warrior Mage gets, his time will run out just like any other man.

-Armifer
"In our days truth is taken to result from the effacing of the living man behind the mathematical structures that think themselves out in him, rather than he be thinking them." - Emmanuel Levinas

...And that's why barbarians aren't allowed to play with magic, it's too complex for them to understand.

- Guardian of the Planes, Lord of the Void, High Lord of the Guild of Warrior Mages- is his full title, I'm guessing he earned it, plus he supposedly has a dragon-guardian as a pen-pal.

He kind of sounds to me like the Sorceress in He-Man, he sits around seeming to do nothing all day(from our perspective), but whatever it is is probably superimportant to our existence, and when he does get up he's got the potential to do crazy stuff, but usually doesn't appear to do much at all - cause if you do things just right, it was like you did nothing at all. So that makes new WM Tower like castle grayskull right?



* and Armifer, Thanks for answering some of those questions, pretty much the vague answers I was expecting, but it's something. Had a few more I figure I'd take a shot at asking:


What does he look Daervlan look like? part of me hopes he's human. and is his last name "eth'Riel"?

(not really related) Mind tossing us a look for grovekeeper Lathaelor too? I also hope he's human.

So the grovekeepers are our guild council in our physical reality, and he's sort of on the other side of the mirror of that, kind of like a spiritual leader? He's in the primal elemental plane(s), rather than mandating orders throughout the guild, he would just tinker if need be? He's sounds more powerful than the Grovekeepers(i'm guessing they'd be powerful too, but it almost sounds like a religious position if not for the guiding the direction of the guild.) - the grovekeepers are our council right, or at least head of it? or is that seperate from the grovekeepers?

any other minor tidbits you could throw in? or does anyone else have anythinkg to ask? hard to think of stuff when we don't know much more than his title, and a generalization of what he does.

I have the feeling those questions you said I should ask Daervlan, I feel I'd have better luck asking his apprentice. Maybe someday...



It's early, hope that was coherent.

~Power

p.s. throwing in some dates, maybe it'll perk someone's interest since the position is a millenia old, and the reference to him negating a Wm's power 350 or so years ago, the only thing I could find around taht time is Aesthene's Close.

256 AV The Mage of Storms returns to Shard, and is killed. His
stormcloud remains over Dertalriosh Endaertheal'a


All years Before Victory of Lanival.

-235/230 Crossings established - go team War mage!
-400/403 Farn's Company erects the Zaulfung Stones during the reign of Empress Merthamone
-796 A large fire breaks out in Throne City. Pretty sure we're responsible for this.
-863 The College of War Magic receives Board of Wizardry sanctioning. 7-star empire.
-1004 The S'Kra Mur Wind Clan is destroyed. Supposedly by a WM who defied the guardians.
-3897 The Council disbands before the group known as "The True Path"
-4203 Remnants of the Four form the Council - this is around when we 'discover' electricity and aether I believe.
-4203 The Citadel (Chyolvea Tayeu'a) is built
-4209/3076 Blackfire Cabal defeated by the Four
-4230/3099 Fire Clan discovers the secret of Blackfire
-4995 First Gathering of Elemental Mages



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You pick up a worthless soul.
You take a bite of the soul. Aaaah. Sweet and juicy.
That was the last of it.

heh, I missed that... thanks for mentioning it.

guessing that means the lord of the void's an elf - a void elf?

Anther Lorn - human? (he's a human right? come on, give me this)
Iluranel eth'Riel -elf
Jesram Windwhisper - elothean
Thistle Walksweaving - halfling

3 of them have cambrinth pendants in the wm shop in hvarrl
also need to run up there and see if there's a typo on one or in elanthipedia.

and for the void thing- I guess the first 2 paragraphs are important.
Treatise on the elements vol 2

"These individuals found the only way then known to extinguish the all-consuming Blackfire: the Voidspell. By removing the presence of all elemental energy, down to the smallest degree, they were able to "create" the presence of Void, which would then consume the consuming Blackfire, in addition to the mage and any nearby objects.*

* Note that part of the difficulties of the Voidspell were that it involved siphoning away not just the raw elemental mana, but also sucking out the elemental presence, entirely, from all people and objects and spell patterns in the area. The land itself beneath the Blackfire, and the rocks and stones, all needed to be drained completely of the Earth element within them, for instance.

It is unfortunate, and a true sign of how dangerous Blackfire really is, that the only way to defeat it was by employing a spell even more destructive and dangerous than the Blackfire itself was. The Four's Voidspell was, to coin a phrase, a cure more deadly than the disease.

One must understand firstly that the Void exists in a state of balance. One must next understand that Void cannot be created, for in essence Void is the polar opposite of creation; it exists in opposition to creation, and is its antithesis. Void can be neither created nor destroyed. Nor can it precisely be manipulated. Thus the Four could not "create Void" with their Voidspell. They were capable merely of establishing the conditions which mandated the presence of Void. But due to the necessity of balance and the constancy of Void, the inability to create it -- the Void needed to come from somewhere...."

It gets more complex from there.



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"like POWERHAUS said"
- GM Solomon