The Elminster Series is a series of fantasy novels by author Ed Greenwood. The novels are set in the Forgotten Realms setting created by Greenwood for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. The series focuses on the titular character Elminster who was a key figure in several of Greenwood's other novels set in the Forgotten Realms setting. Elminster was known as a powerful wizard or mage in previous books. This series seeks to present the backstory of Elminster's life as well as provide a history of other events in this particular fantasy setting.
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As a young boy, Elminster has his first encounter with magic. After a tragic childhood, he takes up thievery. Eventually Elminster sneaks into a temple of Mystra, leading to a face-to-face confrontation with the goddess. Mystra instructs Elminster in the ways of magic and he becomes a powerful mage. Mystra offers him the choice to become one of Mystra's chosen, and he accepts her request.
Mystra commands Elminster to journey by foot to the elvish realm of Cormanthor. On his way, Elminster encounters a dying elf and makes it a promise. Elminster performs the promise, taking him into the city of Cormanthor. By performing this task, the king of Cormanthor makes Elminster an armathor---a knight of Cormanthor. However, many elves decide that they want to kill Elminster simply because he is human. Elminster eventually finds himself as a forced apprentice to an elf. Finally, Eliminster is involved in the casting of the Mythal, a shield to help protect Cormanthor from outsiders. At the end of the novel, Cormanthor is renamed Myth Drannor.
When the goddess of magic was murdered, Elminster’s world shattered. Once the most powerful wizard in the world, immortal, beloved of the goddess of magic, and the bane of villainy, he is now a tired old man. He is powerful but mortal, and with all the enemies a man who makes a habit of saving the world tends to accumulate.
To make matters worse, Elminster has needs—feeding powerful magic items to the Simbul, his lover, is the only thing that keeps her sane—but their increasingly risky collection leads his enemies right to him.