Kurtal

Kurtal "Old Jawbone" was the Magister between and.

Description
He was tall, thin, and had an undersized lower jaw. His scalp was largely bald, and his shoulder-length hair was oily. He had deep-sunken eyes.

Personality
Kurtal was fine with not being approached, but though he never attracted any apprentices, he still felt a need to pass along his knowledge.

Abilities
He was a potion maker who knew how to extend his longevity. He also crafted book bindings that allowed him to teleport to their location or scry on them. He had knowledge of how to construct gargoyles. At least one of the spells of his devising was a variant on Tenser's floating disk, unseen wagon, that was lined with walls of force, allowing it to carry even liquids, and was invisible to boot. This spell was considered lost by the late 14 century DR.

History
Kurtal was the third child of the local miller at Sreve, a woman of strong thews who lived with twelve aunts and never took a husband; as a child, he was seen as a freak and an idiot. Kurtal decided to get a few spells to practice the first time he met a hedge wizard; his chance came when the archmage Radellus struck at Justal Iroon, a wizard who lived in a tower on a wooded ridge east of the village. During the battle, Kurtal snuck in and stole two of Justal Iroon's spellbooks. Years later, Kurtal slew Radellus at that tower, and then cast a spell to freeze in midair the corner of the tower, which had began to fall.

Kurtal then built himself a more defensible dwelling in a cavern, with a turret, numerous wards, and over a dozen gargoyles of his own creation. In it, he began to scry on other mages, learning all he could before challenging and slaying those whose magic he wanted to take. His open challenges may have been why Mystra and Azuth counted him as Magister material. He also beheaded the mages he slew, using their heads as advisors through a complicated web of spells. He also petrified a few foes for use as furniture, in particular, Phiirornaera of Yacla.

He was the most powerful of the three reclusive mages whom his predecessor, Veldrin Daerivyn, tried to link his own mind to in order to steal their magical accomplishments. After Veldrin's death, he was offered the position and reluctantly accepted it; he employed its power to defeat rivals, and discharged its duties in many ways, by visiting people as a cloud that bore gifts such as potions of healing, spellbooks, and maybe a nearly depleted wand, enchanted dagger, or coffer of rare spell components and scrolls. The ends of the spellbooks were personally enchanted by him.

His network of heads which he used for advising was eventually taken over by the petrified Phiirornaera, who fooled him into ever more reckless attacks into the Vilhon region, until he attracted the attention of Sharglar Dulrathran, who attacked him after he fought a different mage in a duel. Though Kurtal fled from the duel by teleporting towards one of the spellbooks he'd doled out, Sharglar employed a tracer to follow him, blast him to ashes, and do the same to the mage in whose abode they'd landed.