Bognor’s Folly

Bognor of Barth was one of the greatest, and undoubtedly one of the most eccentric, Fyvrian mages of the last century. Legend tells that Bognor had been an alchemist and herbalist in his youth prior to his being taken into the Wizards’ Guild by a wandering mage in the 670's. Bognor had a deep knowledge of Fyvrian lore and an almost uncanny knowledge of plants and animals. One of the youngest mages in recent memory to achieve the rank of Viran, in his twenties, Bognor was considered by some to be a leading light of his profession, a mage of enormous talent and awesome power.

Alas Bognor had a terrible temper and stubborn pride. After a long series of personal conflicts with other mages of his ilk, he stormed from his chancery, vowing never to return, and disappeared for five years. Rumor suggests that Bognor traveled widely during this period, perhaps even to the furthest reaches of eastern Lythia. In any event, he returned to Hârn in 690, a changed man. His hair had become long and unkempt, his garments ragged and torn, and his eyes held the gleam of a visionary (or a fanatic). After a brief appearance in Cherafir, Bognor soon vanished again, this time to the north of Hârn.

Bognor settled in the Anoth delta and lived in a small abandoned tower on an isolated tidewater island. There, he was free to conduct research and live free of the disputes that had so marred his career. His servants were few and Bognor, with the aid of powerful enchantments, discouraged visitors from disturbing his peace.

Bognor was a master in all aspects of Fyvrian lore, but he seemed to delight most in enchantments that dealt with plants, and particularly with accelerating their growth to monstrous sizes. Unrestrained by his peers, he begun to dabble in powerful arts far beyond his capacity to understand, much less control.

In 696, one of Bognor’s servants appeared at the gates of Lorkin castle; he was raving, almost incoherent, and in a deep state of shock. Although he was eventually nursed back to health, if questioned about his master, his eyes would flash with fear, and he would ramble on about “horrific plants”, “putrid doom”, and “wretched death”. Obviously, something momentous had happened to Bognor and his household.

In 702, and again in 705, parties of adventurers set across the marshes in search of Bognor’s famed tower. The first apparently could not find it, while the second disappeared, possibly as a result of bandits and brigands hiding in the bogs during the time of the Jarin Rebellion. To this date, neither Bognor’s fate, nor the exact location of his tower, have been discovered.

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