Xzar

Xzar was an insane wizard and a member of the Zhentarim. He was quite unbalanced and would randomly spout gibberish at unpredictable moments. He was sent to the Baldur's Gate area during the iron crisis in 1368 DR with his "colleague" Montaron.

History
Xzar saved Abdel Adrian from a horde of gibberlings with an odd magical device or spell of his making. He and Montaron both accompanied Adrian to the "Friendly Arms" inn and from there to the Nashkel mines. Xzar repeatedly stated that Adrian was a Bhaalspawn, but that was put down to his insanity and no-one listened to him. He and his companion were killed by Sarevok after the group had cleared the mines.

Xzar, together with Montaron, whom he called "Monty", could be found lurking along the Way of the Lion east of Candlekeep, not far from the place where Gorion was killed. Xzar would offer Gorion's Ward potions of healing as a supposed token of good will, and then try to shame them into accompanying him and Montaron to Nashkel in return for the favor. Much like Jaheira and Khalid, the two were in the area to investigate the iron shortage and happenings in the Nashkel mines, which were in fact being sabotaged by kobolds led by Mulahey. Whereas Khalid and Jaheira worked for the Harpers, though, Xzar and Montaron were acting on behalf of the Zhentarim; if the two pairs guessed each other's alliances, they would start fighting.

In 1369 DR, Xzar appeared in Athkatla if Gorion's Ward was taking Renfeld to the local Harper hold. He would ask them to infiltrate the Harpers to find Montaron, who had been spying on them and taken captive. In return, he offered information about where Imoen and Irenicus had been taken by the Cowled Wizards. Meanwhile, the Harpers wanted Gorion's Ward's party to do a favor for them in exchange for the entrance to their hold, namely to enter a house that actually belonged to Xzar himself and slay the "monsters" the owner had been creating. The creatures turned out to be fairly ordinary goblins, but they had been the subject of some research, as well as two nervous apprentices. When the party gained entrance to the hold and retrieved a bird that seemed to be a polymorphed Montaron, it soon turned out that they had been duped. When Xzar reversed the transformation, the bird turned out to be a Harper, who then killed him, never giving Xzar a chance to tell his supposed information about Imoen and Irenicus.

Personality
Xzar was both intelligent and insane at the same time. His treatment of others was usually coldly disdainful or derisive. Fairly often, he also lapsed into bouts of what to everyone else was nonsense, ranging from acting like a frightened child to remarking that he ate someone's liver "with a nice chianti and some fava beans". He was partnered with Montaron against both their wills, but they would not be separated if they could help it.

Background
In both games Xzar is voiced by Frank Welker.

Appearances

 * Novels:
 * Baldur's Gate
 * Video Games:
 * Baldur's Gate
 * Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn

Connections
Xzar