Banedon

Banedon is the Guildmaster of the Brotherhood of the Crystal Star, the magician's guild in Toran, a Sommerlending port north of Holmgard. When he first appeared (in Flight from the Dark), he was a novice, but he quickly advanced in rank throughout the series and eventually became Guildmaster. He later becomes Lone Wolf's as well as Grand Master's teacher in the use of left-hand magic as well (in the Kai Grandmaster and the New Order series).

Lone Wolf can meet Banedon in Flight from the Dark, saving him from some Giaks in the process. They soon become fast friends, and end up aiding each other considerably during Lone Wolf's adventures. He saved Lone Wolf from pursuit in Shadow on the Sand and accompanied him to the Tomb of the Majhan, although he did not take part in the fight against Darklord Haakon. He next shows up in The Cauldron of Fear as a travelling companion, and one of the strategists defending Tahou against Darklord invasion. After Lone Wolf returned from the Daziarn in The Masters of Darkness, he was one of the first to welcome Lone Wolf back to Magnamund, as well as an architect of the plan to sneak Lone Wolf to Helgedad to end the Darklord threat forever.

Banedon continued to feature prominently in the Grand Master series. If Lone Wolf selects the Kai-alchemy discipline, Banedon is listed as his teacher of left-handed magic. With the Darklords defeated, he helped the Elder Magi and the Herbwardens in the long and ardous process of reclaiming the Darklands, during which he was kidnapped by Darkland agents acting on the behest of Archdruid Cadak in The Captives of Kaag. The main aim of the book is to rescue him. Afterwards, he makes much briefer appearances in The Deathlord of Ixia, where he can impart the Dessi gem to Lone Wolf; Dawn of the Dragons, where he helps to defend the Kai Monastery while Lone Wolf was away, and the final two adventures in the series, Wolf's Bane and The Curse of Naar, where he acts as a counselor.

In the New Order series, Banedon is less prominent. Although he is also Grand Master's teacher in left-handed magic if Grand Master chooses Kai-alchemy, he did not join Grand Master in any of his adventures in Southern Magnamund. He makes brief apparances in Rune War and Trail of the Wolf: in the midst of Lord Vandyan's conquests, he traveled to Palmyrion to assist its leader, Elector Manatine, to resist the Eldenorans. After Grand Master's mission, he retrieves Grand Master from Duadon using his skyship Cloud Dancer. In Trail of the Wolf, Banedon transports Grand Master to Gazad Helkona on his mission. During the trip, he expressed gratitude for the chance to pay Lone Wolf back for rescuing him in The Captives of Kaag. He did not accompany Grand Master into Gazad Helkona, but he rescues Grand Master and Lone Wolf when they were trapped in inner Gazad Helkona at the end of the adventure.

Skyship

Banedon's most well-known resource is his skyship - first the Skyrider, later the Cloud Dancer - with which he can transport Lone Wolf to the scene of a crisis faster than conventional transportation would allow. His skyship is crewed by a company of dwarves led by bo'sun Nolrim of Bor, who are fiercely loyal to him.

Banedon acquired Skyrider after a drunken card game where his opponent bet the ship and crew against the "favours" of Banedon's raven-haired friend Jenara. The statistics of the game indicated he could be forced to fight his opponent physically for the pot. He realized he was bound to lose such a fight, so he cheated (i.e. used magic) to win, something he was almost incapable of doing given his drunken state.

Skyrider was destroyed in Dawn of the Dragons. Banedon had used the skyship to transport Lone Wolf to Lencia in The Deathlord of Ixia, but Naar mounted an attack on the Kai Monastery while Lone Wolf was away. The attack resulted in a siege. Banedon, Lord Rimoah and ten of the most senior magicians of the Brotherhood of Crystal Star attempted to break through the siege aboard the Skyrider, but Naar's Lavas brought the Skyrider down. It crashed afire, killing three of the Brotherhood's magicians, although Banedon and Lord Rimoah survived the landing. When Lone Wolf made it back to the monastery, he gifted Banedon with a new skyship, the Cloud Dancer.

Legends of Lone Wolf

The Legends of Lone Wolf series fleshed out Banedon's history considerably. At the time of Zagarna's attack on the Kai monastery, he was a humble initiate in the Brotherhood of the Crystal Star, so humble that the Guildmaster had doubts about entrusting him with the mission to warn the Kai. He first met the demi-goddess Alyss on this mission, and she acted to protect him the same way she protected Lone Wolf. After his failure to warn the Kai, he returned to Toran, where Alyss drew on his magic to revive Lone Wolf when the latter was murdered by pirates on the way to Durenor (during the events of Fire on the Water). This feat sent Alyss into magical limbo. Banedon entered the tapestry world, where Alyss had preserved a fragment of herself, and freed Alyss. This happened around the time of The Caverns of Kalte. After Loi-Kymar was rescued by Lone Wolf, Banedon learned the art of second-level left-handed magic from him, becoming an accomplished magician of the Brotherhood of the Crystal Star in the process.

Slightly before Shadow on the Sand, the Guildmaster sent Banedon to Vassagonia on a scouting mission: there had been reports of darkland agents in the region. Here he met fellow second-level magician Jenara. For a long time, the two were inactive, keeping watch and sending reports back to Toran, but not permitted to challenge the darkland agents directly. This led to boredom. Jenara proposed that Banedon visit Dessi and the Elder Magi as a result, reasoning that they were probably the closest left-handed magicians to Dessi. It was during this trip that Banedon acquired the Skyrider, and also during this trip that he "slew" the Gagadoth in the Chasm of Gorgoron at the Elder Magi's behest.

After Banedon returned to Vassagonia, he befriended the barbarian warrior Thog the Mighty. The two were present when Lone Wolf arrived in Barrakeesh at the beginning of Shadow on the Sand, and intervened when Maouk attempted to arrest Lone Wolf, saving Lone Wolf's life in the process. Maouk had seriously wounded the Vassagonian ambassador Allani; Banedon worked together with Jenara to save Allani, and create a fake corpse as well. Maouk had Thog and Banedon arrested, but they broke out of the prison. Banedon later returned to Barrakeesh to help Lone Wolf escape from the palace, and went with Lone Wolf to the Tomb of the Mahjan where Lone Wolf retrieved the Book of the Magnakai.

Banedon became guildmaster of the Brotherhood of the Crystal Star during the events of The Jungle of Horrors. Although he was still young, the previous guildmaster judged him more knowledgeable about left-handed magic than all the other Elders of the brotherhood (since he had been to Dessi), and further had the protection of Alyss. As guildmaster, he intervened once more to save Lone Wolf's life after the latter was afflicted by Kezoor's sorcery.

According to Alyss, the map of the future as laid out by the gods indicated she and Banedon would fall in love with each other at some point in time.

See also

• How to Meet Banedon in Flight from the Dark