Briel

Briel, known as the Archmage Briel, was a human wizard of the 14 century DR.

History
Briel was once an apprentice studying under the notorious lich Aumvor the Undying. He last trained with Aumvor in the.

He once made plans to found a school of wizardry in Baldur's Gate, at the guidance of Aumvor after previous efforts in the Brotherhood of the Black Hand in Ascalhorn and Ulcaster's School of Conjuration in Beregost. The result was Briel's School of the Arcane, but it too ultimately failed some time before 1374 DR.

Relations
He was the father of Brielbara, a wizardess of Baldur's Gate known for developing many new spells around 1358 DR.

Publications
Briel's personal memoirs were titled A Life Lived in the Shadows of Death. Notably covering his time with Aumvor, the little that was known about the Undying One after the fall of Netheril was written down in these memoirs. They were kept in Brielbara's library in Baldur's Gate by 1374 DR.

The untitled wizard's workbook known traditionally as Briel's Book of Shadows was believed to be authored by Briel, written while studying under Aumvor. Some time before 1356 DR, the sage Ubergast observed that the informal handwriting in the book matched that in a letter from Briel stating his plan to found a school of wizardry in Baldur's Gate, preserved in the city's archive.

In his writings, Briel recorded the secret of the creation of living zombies—living beings cruelly reduced to a mindless, almost undead state and favored servitors of Aumvor the Undying—but Briel never created any himself.