Volothamp Geddarm

Volothamp Geddarm, or Volo for short, is a legendary traveler and storyteller, and is most famous for his guidebooks published by Tym Waterdeep Limited. He is oft portrayed as the quintessential "go-to guy" of the Realms even if his information is, at best, half-accurate. He was a too-curious-for-his-own-good travelling scholar and minor wizard. Always on the lookout for an exposé, he all too frequently was at odds with Elminster, who preferred some things to be kept in the dark.

While Volo's reputation is well-earned and well-kept, there are others who tend to profit from it, the most well-known being Marcus Volo, as he styles himself when it suits him, also known as Marcus Wands, of the famous Wands family of wizards. A trouble-making bard, Wands gained Volothamp's moniker after he stole an artifact from a powerful wizard, and laid the blame on the far more infamous scapegoat of the real Volo. Pursued by the mad mage and his forces, and protected by adventurers hired by his father, Marco came into his own at the finale, when the artifact was revealed as containing a god from another world, who had come to Toril along with Marco's family. The Sunstaffs, as they were known then, had through the generations been destined to keep the god imprisoned and Marco awakened to his destiny with the help of the adventurers, Volothamp himself and the gods Tyr, Sune and Corellon Larethian.