Magical objects in the Lone Wolf series
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[edit] Book of the Magnakai
It is a fictional tome from the gamebook series Lone Wolf by Joe Dever.
The book itself contains a magical presence that writes its own history as it is transported and its story is told. Lone Wolf himself noted that it was writing his story as he underwent the quest to recover the Lorestones of Nyxator. Sun Eagle wrote the book detailing his quest for the Lorestones and the wisdom he gained from his experiences. Kai Masters used the Book of the Magnakai as a basis for their students' training, and contains all the information needed for a Kai master to become a Kai Grand Master, which at that time was the most a Kai could aspire to be. It was later stolen by agents of the lord of Vassagonia, although its teachings lived on in the training of the Kai monks.
In the book Shadow on the Sand, Darklord Haakon and Lone Wolf engaged in a race to discover the Book of the Magnakai, one to recover its secrets and the other to destroy it. Lone Wolf engaged the Archlord in combat and killed him, and recovered the book. Lone Wolf used the book to track down the Lorestones, which just happened to be where Sun Eagle had found them.
[edit] Deathstaff
It is a fictional magical weapon from the gamebook series Lone Wolf by Joe Dever.
After "long and hard labor by the Dark God Naar, the Deathstaff was given great power and the ability to raise the imprisoned spirits of Darklord Vashna and his army from the grave to revenge themselves upon Sommerlund. It is a staff of "twisted black metal", only two meters in length. In the book The Legacy of Vashna, it was to be brought from the Plane of Darkness and utilized by Shamath, a being of great evil into the world of Magnamund and bring about the rebirth of Vashna Cadak, Archdruid of the Cener Druids tobut Lone Wolf succeeded in killing his long time opponent and destroying the shadowgate before the ceremony could be completed.[1]
In the seventeenth Lone Wolf book, The Deathlord of Ixia, it is revealed that the deathstaff somehow was transported to Ixia, the frozen undead realm of the entombed Deathlord.[2] After the defeat of the Deathlord and the destruction of Ixia, Lone Wolf discovered that while he was away, Naar had opened a shadow gate in the Durncrag mountains and had led hordes of Lavos, or dragon creatures, attack the Kai Monastery in hopes of wiping out the Second Order Kai.[3]
[edit] Doomstones
The Doomstones were fictional artifacts created by Agarash the Damned in the fantasy book series Lone Wolf by Joe Dever. They were created to be a mockery of the Lorestones of Nyxator and to contain the powers that Agarash was given by the dark god Naar.
After Agarashs death, the stones were hidden, only to be rediscovered by Darklord Zagarna who used their power to become archlord of the Darklands. Since then they have appeared in the hands of various followers of evil.
One was found in the frozen city of Ikaya, another used by Zahda in Castle Death, and the greatest of them all, the Doomstone of Darke, dominated The Darke Crusade against the Drakkarum of Nyras. Lone Wolf destroyed the Doomstones of Zahda and in combat with Warlord Magnaarn destroyed him and the doomstone. The locations of the other stones since the fall of the Darklords is unknown.
In mockery of Nyxator's Lorestones, Agarash the Damned created the Doomstones to encapsulate the great power the dark god Naar had given him. Each crystal "glows darkly with black fire" and has the power to attack with fire and energy, though they are physically fragile objects[4] Using these powers, he created vaste hordes of monsters called Agarashi. Before his final defeat by the Elder Magi, he hid the doomstones and for an age they were lost.[5]
After the death of Darklord Vashna, there was a struggle for control of the Darklands, with each darklord questing to find the lost Doomstones.[6] Darklord Zagarna discovered the doomstones in the body of a dying man, and with his enhanced powers become archlord of the Darklands.[5] Since that time their whereabouts is unknown, though a few of them have been discovered on Lone Wolfs journeys.
One of the lesser Darklords known as the Xaghash stole one of Zagarna's doomstones and traveled to the arctic realm of Kalte, where he hoped to free the ice demons imprisoned there and then conquer Sommerlunds ally Durenor and become its ruler. The Xaghash was killed by the freed Ice Demons and the Doomstone remained hidden in the Temple of the Ancients by the Ice Demons.[7] In the game book The Caverns of Kalte, Lone Wolf can find it and if he takes it with him, it can kill him with its evil power, or if he dies it can be given to Vonotar who is then killed by it.[8]
Drawing on the power of the Doomstone of Herdos, also known as the Green Eye of Agarash, an evil man named Zahda turned the Isle of Khor into Kazan-Oud (Castle Death) filled with monsters and evil men. He had also coupled it with the Lorestone of Herdos above his throne to draw even more power to himself. When Lone Wolf recovered the Lorestone, he also destroyed the Doomstone of Herdos and caused the death of Zahda and the destruction of Kazan-Oud.[9]
The Doomstone of Darke was the most powerful of all the doomstones created by Agarash the Damned during the Age of Eternal Night. It is a large black gem, with scarlet veins that glow deep in the stone that swirl and undulate.[10] It somehow was given to Darklord Dakushna of Kagorst and was wielded in a silver scepter called the Nyras Scepter. In the wake of the Darklords fall, rumors circulated that the scepter had fallen into the hands of the Nadziranim, and months later it appeared without the doomstone in the hands of Warlord Magnaarn who was leading a campaign against the human kingdom of Lencia. Magnaarn quested to find the doomstone to help defeat The Darke Crusade to reclaim the realm of Nyras for mankind. Despite Lone Wolfs attempts to find the Doomstone first, Magnaarn reached the ancient Temple of Antah first, trapped Lone Wolf, and used the power of the stone and scepter to subjugate Darklord cities Akagazad and Kagorst. Leading this new army against the Lencians, Magnaarn continued to hold off the siege of Darke. The siege succeeded when Lone Wolf, escaped incarceration at Antah and confronted Magnaarn, who was nearing undeath due to the power of Doomstone. Lone Wolf destroyed not only the warlord but also the scepter and the doomstone, ending thousands of years of war in the favor of men.[10]
[edit] Lorestones
Also known as the Lorestones of Nyxator, are fictional magical objects created by Nyxator in the gamebooks series Lone Wolf by Joe Dever. They are gems of power containing the wisdom and powers given to Nyxator by the great god Kai. They were created in the year 12,209 MS. With the coming of Agarash the Damned and the death of Nyxator, the Lorestones were lost.
Sun Eagle quested to find the Lorestones to use them to unlock his inner powers given to him by the God Kai. It is with these stones that he became the first Kai Grand Master and founded the Order of the Kai. Lone Wolf, with the aid of the Book of the Magnakai, quested in Sun Eagle's footsteps to find the Lorestones and become a Kai Grand Master. They exist in the vault of the Second Order Monastery with Lone Wolf, where he basks in their glow to meditate.
[edit] Moonstone
The Moonstone is a fictional magical artifact created by the Shianti in the game book series Lone Wolf. It was the sum of all their power and knowledge, and so significant was its creation that all time on Magnamund is reckoned from its creation. So disruptive was its influence on the planet that it was sent into the Daziarn realm.
The Moonstone was twice used since, once by Greystar the Wizard to free the people of Southern Magnamund from Shasarak, and the other was when agents of the dark God Naar stole the stone and gave to him to dominate the planet with. Naar used it to create shadow gates on Magnamund and seal off the gods of good Ishir and Kai from sending reinforcements. Protagonist Kai Grand Master Lone Wolf discovered this and stole the artifact away from the dark god.
Despite Lone Wolfs hopes that it could remain in Sommerlund which was then experiencing "The Blessing of the Moonstone", he was then forced to give it to one of his Grandmasters, who journeyed thousands of miles through Southern Magnamund, returning the Moonstone to the Shianti, who promised to deliver it into the hands of Ishir herself.
"By chance" in the year 1600 MS[6] a shadow gate opened between the Daziarn and Magnamund and through it came a race of lesser gods, the Shianti.[11] They had wandered nomatically through the Daziarn plane, looking for a place to call their home, and when they saw Magnamunds "unnamed lands", they decided they had arrived.[12] The Shianti, having at first remained near the shadow gate they had emerged from, began to explore Magnamund and learn of its peoples all they could. After several centuries, they created an object out of the essence of the Daziarn, the sum of all of their knowledge and power, the Moonstone. So significant was its creation that all time on Magnamund is counted from its creation. The Moonstone was so powerful that the Goddess Ishir feared that humankind would remain forever in their shadow, unable to fend off the forces of evil. In 3004 MS[6] she convinced them to return the Moonstone to the Daziarn, and that they could stay on the Isle of Lorn as long as they promised not to interfer with mankind's fate.[5]
Greystar the wizard, a baby raised by the Shianti in the ways and given their knowledge, was sent in the year MS 5050[6] to recover the Moonstone and use it to defeat the ruler of the Shadaki, Shasarak. After battling an evil spirit made in mockery of himself, Greystar took up the Moonstone and returned to Magnamund.[12] Shasarak was confronted and revealed as a renegade Shianti and was destroyed by Greystar, who presumably returned the Moonstone to its place in the Daziarn.[13]
At some point, the Dark God Naar's agents stole the sacred object from its place with the Daziarn and brought it to the Plane of Darkness that he rules. Using this magical object, he had, since the fall of the darklords, been transporting his creations to Magnamund using shadow gates the moonstone created. He also prevented the good Goddess Ishir and the God Kai from providing reinforcements. Lone Wolf and his New Order Kai were the only reason that Magnamund was not yet overrun by Naar.[14]
After Lone Wolf defeated Wolf's Bane, Naar's creation to imitate him, he was accidentally summoned to appear before Naar, and ended up in his throne room. Ayliss, the spirit entity, seized the Moonstone and created a forcefield around it, and then created a shadow gate for Lone Wolf to escape through. Lone Wolf swore he would return, and reclaim the Moonstone from the Dark God.[14]
Lone Wolfs wizard advisers told him that in the hands of the dark god, he could use the Moonstone to destroy all life on Magnamund. With the help of Magnamunds most powerful wizards, a shadow gate was created by which Lone Wolf entered the Plane of Darkness. He trekked into Naars fortress with the aid of a mysterious guide book, and in Naars throne room Lone Wolf defeated Kekataag the Avenger. Lone Wolf then broke the prison around Ayliss and they jumped through a moonstone-created shadow gate to freedom.[15]
For two years, the Moonstone resided with now Supreme Master Lone Wolf, and that time was called "The Blessing of the Moonstone", for in that time there was great health among the people, and the weather became more beautiful, until soon there was an unending spring. In MS 5083, Lone Wolf, in council with his mage friends, decided it could not remain in Somerlund since it was attracting the attention of Naar's agents and it was distorting the natural balance of the world. So he entrusted the Moonstone to the new protagonist, one of his five grandmasters, and he set off to bring it to the Shianti at the Isle of Lorn.[16]
The new protagonist, a New Order Kai Grand Master, then took the Moonstone south through the magiocracy of Dessi and arrived thousands of miles later at the Isle of Lorn, where the Shianti promised to deliver it into the hands of the Goddess Ishir herself.[17]
[edit] Sommerswerd
It is a fictional holy weapon that helps Lone Wolf in the gamebook series Lone Wolf by Joe Dever. It is a golden broadsword, but can be wielded as a sword, short sword or broadsword.
Its supernatural powers increase the bearer's CS by 8 (with weapon skill bonuses applying) and increase the sensitivity of his Sixth Sense. It also is doubly damaging to undead foes and absorbs hostile magic. Perhaps the greatest power is its ability to kill Darklords. It's possible, as stated in Curse of Naar, that it might be able to kill Naar himself. Only members of the royal house of Sommerlund or a Kai Lord can wield it. If anyone else uses it in battle, it will slowly and irrevocably lose its powers.
It was created by the God Kai and was sent with the Sommlending people to destroy the Darklords and keep the King of Darkness, the dark god Naar from taking over the world of Magnamund. It was used by Ulnar I to kill Archlord Vashna. Later, it was given to Durenor as a symbol of the mutual trust between the countries. In return, the Durenese gave Sommerlund the Seal of Hammerdal with a promise that the Sommerswerd would be returned on demand to the bearer of the Seal. Lone Wolf recovered the sword in the aftermath of the Massacre of the Kai, and used it to destroy the Darklord Zagarna. He kept it, and has used it since to conquer his many foes.
The Sommerswerd is noted as one of the more controversial special items in Lone Wolf, in that some fans believe it had a negative effect on the overall difficulty of the gamebooks. However, beginning in the Magnakai series, some battles turn out to be more difficult if the Sommerswerd is used, which is reasoned either by its divine presence alerting Lone Wolf's foes or them using high-powered weapons which cancel out the advantages the sword offers.
It can be noted that the actual name of the sword is likely derived from an elderly variant of Swedish, in which Sommerswerd (spelled "sommarsvärd" in contemporary Swedish) translates as "summer sword".
[edit] References
- ^ Dever, Joe (1991). Lone Wolf: The Legacy of Vashna. New York: Berkley Books. ISBN 0-425-13813-5.
- ^ Dever, Joe (1992). Lone Wolf: The Deathlord of Ixia. New York: Berkley Books. ISBN 0-425-14459-3.
- ^ Dever, Joe (1992). Lone Wolf: Dawn of the Dragons. New York: Berkley Books. ISBN 0-425-14568-9.
- ^ Dever, Joe (1986). Lone Wolf: Castle Death. New York: Berkley Books. ISBN 0-425-10014-6.
- ^ a b c Dever, Joe (1989). Legends of Lone Wolf:Eclipse of the Kai. New York: Berkley Books. ISBN 0-425-12314-6.
- ^ a b c d Dever, Joe (1988). The Magnamund Companion. New York: Berkley Books. ISBN 0-425-10759-0.
- ^ Dever, Joe (1986). Joe Dever Interview (PDF). Lone Wolf Club Newsletter #5. Project Aon. Retrieved on 2006-07-01.
- ^ Dever, Joe (1985). Lone Wolf: The Caverns of Kalte. New York: Berkley Books. ISBN 0-425-09357-3.
- ^ Dever, Joe (1986). Lone Wolf: Castle Death. New York: Berkley Books. ISBN 0-425-10014-6.
- ^ a b Dever, Joe (1991). Lone Wolf: The Darke Crusade. New York: Berkley Books. ISBN 0-425-13798-8.
- ^ Dever, Joe (1989). Legends of Lone Wolf:The Dark Door Opens. New York: Berkley Books. ISBN 0-425-12439-8.
- ^ a b Dever, Joe (1985). The World of Lone Wolf: Grey Star the Wizard. New York: Berkley Books. ISBN 0-425-09590-8.
- ^ Dever, Joe (1987). The World of Lone Wolf:War of the Wizards. New York: Berkley Books. ISBN 0-425-10539-3.
- ^ a b Dever, Joe (1993). Lone Wolf: Wolf's Bane. New York: Berkley. ISBN 0-425-14976-5.
- ^ Dever, Joe (1993). Lone Wolf: The Curse of Naar. New York: Berkley Books. ISBN 0-425-15193-X.
- ^ Dever, Joe (1994). Lone Wolf:Voyage of the Moonstone. London: Red Fox. ISBN 0-09-925271-6.
- ^ Dever, Joe (1995). Lone Wolf:Mydnight's Hero. London: Red Fox. ISBN 0-09-925291-0.
