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The Grand Elemenstor of Magic
By Gordy Baron, 2006
Dust Jacket
What is the foundation of all Magic and Elemenstation on Battal? Why do Elemanifestations look and act the way they do? What makes Elemenstors so much more powerful than sorcerers? Join Plabin Arcanum as he journeys to become the Grand Elemenstor of Magic and discovers the answers to these questions and more.
Characters
Plot
The book takes place in the years leading up to the creation of the Magic Wand in 26,250 by Plabin Arcanum who becomes the first Grand Elemenstor of Magic. The story follows Plabin Arcanum, who is a young and talented Magimenstor, as he travels through Battal. Plabin knows that there are Grand Elemenstors for many Elements but not for his own and in fact there are not many Elemenstors who even practice Magic as their primary talent. So Plabin decides that he will become the Grand Elemenstor of Magic and using his considerable talent summons the ghost of Howt Standey to help him create a wand. Howt informs Plabin that he must gather 9 different items that are aligned with the chief elements in order to forge the Magic Wand. Plabin then begins his quest to seek out the required elements for his wand.
- Earth: During this quest Plabin meets up with Hallorang, a Brownie, who serves as comic relief and as Plabin's companion for the rest of the book. Plabin figures out that he needs to acquire some gold ore in order to represent Earth. This ends up requiring Plabin to become a gold miner and learn of the perils of mining.
- Air: Plabin meets up with Gabrielle the Marvelously Quick-Witted, a Massifier, during this quest who serves as Plabin's romantic intrest for the remainder of the book. Plabin and Gabrielle figure out that they need a feather from an Eagle to represent Air. During this quest they rescue a Centaur Warrior by the name of Unterkindsroil who was being held captive by the Eagles. Unterkindsroil joins the party as he feels that he owes a life debt to them. While they are acquiring the feather they over hear a debate among members of the Eagle's Magi Council about the differences between Elemenstation and Sorcery
- Water: For the Water Element Hallorang suggests that they gather some water from the Unnamed Sea. During their trek across Battal their lips become chapped as they journey through the blasted wasteland around the Chasm of Eternal Sorrow. Only the timely application of lip balm staves off the potentially quest ending threat. During this time there is a flashback to Princess Flaming Lips describing how she invented lip balm.
- Fire: Plabin concludes that the Fire Element should be the spit of a Wyrm. After witnessing a fight between two Hotbloods in which they both summon Afrit a discussion occurs about Elemanifestations and their homeland Khalm. As the discussion continues they wander into a shoestore because Plabin's shoes are worn out and the owner joins into the discussion. When the discussion finishes and Plabin buys his shoes he notices that the owner has a Wyrm familiar. The owner tells them that its name is Tyr the Wurm and gives them the spit they need.
- Life: Life is the next Element required and Hallorang relates a tale about Xmas Trees that leads Gabrielle to suggest that the fruit is the what is needed for the Life Element. This requires a trip to Chilly Willy Peak on Zonardia where the Xmas Trees grow. Upon reaching Chilly Willy Peak they find that it really is a hotsprings resort and that the Xmas Trees had been all cut down except for a lone tree at the summit of the mountain. What follows is a hilarious romp through the 10 levels of Chilly Willy Peak culminating at the Shrine of Ibli'Grega. A discussion also occurs about the sexual behaviors of different races.
- Death: The party is stumped as to what to get for the Death Element. After bumbling around the Shield for a while they come across a dark and dreadful place where nothing grows and undead hands reach from the ground. After fending off numerous attacks they discover what look like the remains of several large ribs, what they had stumbled into was the place of the final destruction of the Charnel Wyrm. They chip off part of the bones then flee the area. During their travels across the Shield Unterkindsroil regales the party with tales of his people and homeland.
- Stream: The party is now set to obtain the Stream Element. As they are thinking about what to get they come across Orwin Gernal and T'rok Ironfist. Orwin has hired T'rok Ironfist to capture one of the Bright Moons so he can study it up close. T'rok tries to use Nigh-Infinite Pocket to grab it but the moon is just too big to take. After a lengthy discussion about Astrolonomy, T'rok suggests that they get some rubian. The party hunts for the rubian only to find out that another person is on a similar quest to them and has heard of what they have acquired. They eventually find some rubian shards but not with out becoming paranoid about everything.
- Carry: A representative for Carry is needed and Gabrielle is hard at work thinking of a material. Suddenly an odd looking person appears demanding all the materials they had gathered. He reveals himself as B'ndib'ndicot Bogyn and he wishes to place all of their findings in Rim Park Zoo. They get into a discussion about whether thing should be kept in captivity and it is revealed that B'ndib'ndicot holds a vial containing Wood Rot the Element needed for Carry. A fight breaks out and B'ndib'ndicot is vanquished through a rather ingeneous use of Repaint Object by Gabrielle, after having a lengthy solioquy.
- Heart?: The party returns to Howt presenting their findings but Howt brings up the fact that they need to have 9 materials not 8. A discussion breaks out about whether Heart is an element and eventually ends up involving Gonsuave Giovelli who is possibly the only Heart Elemenstor. After discussion of the legend which involves a flashback, Plabin comes up with a solution. He kisses Gabrielle who, never having been kissed before, cries with joy. This completes the materials needed for the Wand and the Wand is crafted.
Reactions
Fans who were waiting with anticipation for this book were not disappointed. While the book did reveal alot of secrets, it also failed to settle several on going debates in the fan community. There is a subset of the fanbase though who sees this as a perversion of Tycho Brahe's original works and work to discredit it.
The book recieved mostly good reviews, with the LA Times noting that: "The framework of episodical fantasy adventures being a framework for a number of smaller tales told by the characters within create a unique experience best described as a cross between Lord of the Rings and The Canterbury Tales and the Arabian Nights - but in a good way."