Briel, known as the Archmage Briel, was a human wizard of the 14th century DR.[3][1]
History[]
Briel was once an apprentice studying under the notorious lich Aumvor the Undying.[3][1] He last trained with Aumvor in the Year of the Watching Cold, 1320 DR.[4]
He once made plans to found a school of wizardry in Baldur's Gate,[3][1] under the subtle guidance of Aumvor. The result was Briel's School of the Arcane, but it too ultimately failed some time before 1374 DR.[5][note 1]
Relations[]
He was the father of Brielbara, a wizardess of Baldur's Gate known for developing many new spells around 1358 DR.[2]
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.[4]
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.[3][1]
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.[6]
Appendix[]
Notes[]
- ↑ Champions of Ruins page 176 says Aumvor's plan to create schools of wizardry was "largely" a "spectacular failure", suggesting Briel's School of the Arcane failed somehow. No such school has been mentioned in sources on Baldur's Gate.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Ed Greenwood, Tim Beach (November 1995). Pages from the Mages. Edited by Jon Pickens. (TSR, Inc.), p. 26. ISBN 0-7869-0183-7.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Jeff Grubb and Ed Greenwood (1990). Forgotten Realms Adventures. (TSR, Inc), p. 76. ISBN 0-8803-8828-5.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Ed Greenwood, Jeff Grubb (August 1987). “DM's Sourcebook of the Realms”. In Karen S. Martin ed. Forgotten Realms Campaign Set (TSR, Inc.), p. 76. ISBN 0-88038-472-7.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Jeff Crook, Wil Upchurch, Eric L. Boyd (May 2005). Champions of Ruin. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 125. ISBN 0-7869-3692-4.
- ↑ Jeff Crook, Wil Upchurch, Eric L. Boyd (May 2005). Champions of Ruin. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 126. ISBN 0-7869-3692-4.
- ↑ Jeff Crook, Wil Upchurch, Eric L. Boyd (May 2005). Champions of Ruin. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 128–129. ISBN 0-7869-3692-4.