Maskyr (pronounced: /ˈmɑːskɪər/ MAH-skeer[1], later known as Maskyr the One-Eyed, Maskyr One-Eyed, or simply Maskyr One-Eye, was a human archmage who settled in the Vast in the 7th century DR.[2][3][4]
Personality[]
Maskyr was said to be an archmage of great patience, having learned to be in his many years questing for and experimenting with magic.[3][4]
Possessions[]
He possessed a staff of power.[5]
History[]
Maskyr was already a powerful archmage when he came to explore the newly opened Vast in the 7th century DR, seeking a place well beyond human affairs where he could build himself a tower.[2][3][4] At the time, the orcish kingdom of Vastar had fallen in the Year of the Spellfire, 610 DR and been replaced by the dwarven kingdom of Roldilar.[6][2][3] Dwarves ruled the Vast and orcs and goblinoids were driven out and quiet, while ogres dominated Thar beyond the Moonsea to the north. Thus, humans were few in number north of the Sea of Fallen Stars, bar a few bold and cautious folk who came to explore and settle, as Maskyr did.[2][3][4]
One morning in the Year of the Costly Gift, 645 DR, in the very northern end of the Vast, Maskyr came upon a wooded vale that he found quite beautiful, veiled in mountain mists and most serene. He decided to make his home there, and nowhere else.[2][3][4]
Maskyr pays King Tuir's price.
But it was already claimed by the kingdom of Roldilar. Maskyr therefore went to Mount Grimmerfang to seek audience with Deep King Tuir Stonebeard and asked his price for the vale. The Roldilarren Court fell silent but Maskyr waited patiently, quietly leaning on his staff and meeting the king's gaze, as Tuir thought it over. Tuir did not want to yield any land to any human, particular wizards whom he distrusted, but he feared the archmage's power. At last, he made his offer: "The vale is yours, from rim to rim and beneath the grass as deep as four men stand upon each other's shoulders, so long as ye dig so as to remain within the valley's borders, upon one condition only. Pluck out thy right eye and give it to me, here and now, and the vale is thine." To the shock of all present, without hesitation, Maskyr did just that.[2][3][4][7] Tuir respected Maskyr for that deed, having thought that no-one would ever do it. He kept the bargain and granted him the land. He also ordered that no dwarf trespass in the vale nor disturb the archmage. Maskyr then went and dwelled there,[2][3][4][7] erecting Maskyr's Tower for his home.[4]
Others followed, and this marked the beginning of permanent human settlement in the Vast.[6][4][8] A small settlement soon arose in the vale, and was the site of the one of the last skirmishes of the fall of Roldilar in the Year of the Bloody Crown, 649 DR.[9]
A woodcut of Maskyr the One-Eyed later in life.
Maskyr, meanwhile, lived peacefully and alone in his tower in his vale for several centuries. Finally, he went on a journey to the planes and disappeared, and was presumed to have been slain.[2][3][4] However, some sages theorized that Maskyr had eventually moved out as people settled in his vale, leaving his old tower as a trap while he moved into the Mage's Tower on the other side of the Flooded Forest.[10][11] Elminster declared this to be false, however.[11]
Legacy[]
In time, adventurers who'd heard of Maskyr and his deal with Tuir, and of his supposed absence, came to Maskyr's Tower to explore or plunder. Yet its wards proved impenetrable, so they left with nothing. Eventually, one retired adventurer of Maskyr's Eye named Gathen Swiftsword hired a crew to simply tunnel through the walls. They succeeded, sighted many oddities, Gathen was never seen again, and the tower exploded as a dragon burst out of it and flew away.[4][5] That was all anyone knew, except for the thief Khonduil Ammargath, who was part of Gathen's expedition, knew the truth of what happened within the tower, and escaped alive with Maskyr's staff of power.[5] The mage Loathren of Phlan planned to build a new tower on the site, but was killed when rocks rose up and fell on his camp, and a fear of a curse on the place spread.[4]
By the mid-to-late 14th century DR, Maskyr and his tower were long gone with only his name and legend surviving. His name lived on in Maskyr's Eye, the name given to the vale and the village there; in The Wizard's Hand inn in the village;[2][3][1][4][12] and in Maskyr's Trail.[13]
Rumors & Legends[]
Despite the destruction of his tower, local tales maintained Maskyr had had much treasure and mighty magic and that it could still be concealed somewhere nearby. Yet there was also a warning, that Maskyr the One-Eyed would someday return and hunt down all those who had taken from him, even a single copper piece.[4]
Appendix[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Ed Greenwood, Jeff Grubb (August 1987). “Cyclopedia of the Realms”. In Karen S. Martin ed. Forgotten Realms Campaign Set (TSR, Inc.), p. 60. ISBN 0-88038-472-7.
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 Ed Greenwood, Julia Martin, Jeff Grubb (1993). Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting 2nd edition (revised), A Grand Tour of the Realms. (TSR, Inc), pp. 71, 74. ISBN 1-5607-6617-4.
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 Ed Greenwood (October 1998). The City of Ravens Bluff. Edited by John D. Rateliff. (TSR, Inc.), p. 144. ISBN 0-7869-1195-6.
- ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 4.14 4.15 Ed Greenwood (July 1990). “The Everwinking Eye: Elminster's Guide to the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting”. In Jean Rabe ed. Polyhedron #54 (TSR, Inc.), pp. 16–17.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Ed Greenwood (November 1990). “The Everwinking Eye: Adventures in Maskyr's Eye”. In Jean Rabe ed. Polyhedron #56 (TSR, Inc.), p. 27.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Steven E. Schend and Kevin Melka (1998). Cormanthyr: Empire of the Elves. (TSR, Inc), p. 42. ISBN 0-7069-0761-4.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Ed Greenwood (October 1990). Dwarves Deep. (TSR, Inc.), pp. 61–62. ISBN 0-88038-880-3.
- ↑ Jean Rabe, et al. (August 1990). Inside Ravens Bluff, the Living City. Edited by Jean Rabe, Skip Williams. (TSR, Inc.), p. 52. ISBN 1-56076-048-6.
- ↑ Ed Greenwood (October 1998). The City of Ravens Bluff. Edited by John D. Rateliff. (TSR, Inc.), p. 147. ISBN 0-7869-1195-6.
- ↑ Ed Greenwood (October 1998). The City of Ravens Bluff. Edited by John D. Rateliff. (TSR, Inc.), p. 153–154. ISBN 0-7869-1195-6.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Ed Greenwood (November 1990). “The Everwinking Eye: Adventures in Maskyr's Eye”. In Jean Rabe ed. Polyhedron #56 (TSR, Inc.), p. 26.
- ↑ Jean Rabe, et al. (August 1990). Inside Ravens Bluff, the Living City. Edited by Jean Rabe, Skip Williams. (TSR, Inc.), p. 54. ISBN 1-56076-048-6.
- ↑ Map included in John Terra (January 1995). The Moonsea. Edited by Allison Lassieur. (TSR, Inc.). ISBN 978-0786900923.