"Long have I waited for the chance to enact my revenge on you, Lone Wolf," he hisses, his loathsome voice filling the hall with sibilant echoes, "and now my time has come. Kill him!" he screams, maniacally, and the five spring forward, eager to obey his command.
— Lone Wolf meets Vonotar in the Daziarn[1]
Vonotar (died MS 5062-5070[note 1]) was a wizard who was originally a member of the Brotherhood of the Crystal Star. He betrayed Sommerlund to the Darklord Zagarna in a bid for magical power, causing the massacre of the Kai order, where all but one Kai Lord, Lone Wolf, survived; he was thenceforth dubbed as Vonotar the Traitor. Lone Wolf sought the Sommerswerd in Durenor to turn the tide against Zagarna and Vonotar, which Vonotar failed to prevent, allowing Lone Wolf to use the Sommerswerd to destroy Zagarna.
Vonotar was forced to flee to Kalte, where he tricked and dethroned Brumalmarc. After the news reached Sommerlund, Lone Wolf travelled to Kalte to bring Vonotar to justice, and was successful in this quest. For his crimes, Vonotar was cast into the Shadow Gate of Toran leading to the Daziarn, which was believed to be a death sentence, as nobody had ever returned. However, Vonotar managed to survive, carving out a power base, uniting a group of Sommerlund criminals also cast into the Daziarn. He was also able to obtain one of the Lorestones cast into the Daziarn, after Archlord Gnaag cast Lone Wolf and the remaining Lorestones into a different Shadow Gate in Torgar. Using the Lorestone's power, he plotted his return, and was able to open a Shadow Gate back to Magnamund. Just as he was about to enter, he was confronted and slain by Lone Wolf.
Appearance[]
It is unknown what age Vonotar was exactly.
By the time Vonotar left the Brotherhood, he was young and handsome. However, by the time of the siege of Holmgard, he was aged, with a hump,[2] caused by a battle with Alyss, who was unable to kill him but able to age him. This was depicted in book 2 of the Lone Wolf novels.
Biography[]
Becoming The Traitor[]
Vonotar was a member of the Brotherhood of the Crystal Star, a left-handed magician's guild in Toran, where he advocated the idea of using right-handed, or evil Nadziranim magic, in combination with goodly magic to gain more power. Generating some support, but unable to sway the Guild as a whole, he set out to ally himself with the Darklords, believing that he and Darklord Zagarna were the fulfillment of a prophecy where a warrior and a mage would would protect Sommerlund. Vonotar killed Loren and Storm Hawk on the way to Kaag, gaining two servants on the way: the Giak Carag and the horse Allia.
Once at Kaag, Vonotar told Zagarna about the Feast of Fehmarn in exchange for knowledge of right-handed magic. Armed with this knowledge, in MS 5050, during the events of Flight from the Dark, Zagarna razed Toran, massacred the Kai Lords, and besieged Holmgard. Vonotar himself gained almost god-like power because of his knowledge of both left-hand magic and Nadziranim right-hand magic. This would prove to be Vonotar's high point. He did not, however, kill the last of the Kai, Lone Wolf. During the events of Fire on the Water, Vonotar learned early that Lone Wolf was heading to Durenor, and sent his personal assassins (identifiable by the tattoo of a serpent on their wrist) to intercept him, but they all failed. Lone Wolf reached Durenor and successfully claimed the Sommerswerd.
Vonotar made one more attempt to stop Lone Wolf and the Durenese fleet as they sailed to relieve the siege of Holmgard. Using his newly-gained dark powers, Vonotar took control of battleships that had sunk throughout the ages in the Holmgulf, along with their crews. Known collectively as the Death-Hulks, the fleet engaged Lone Wolf and the Durenese fleet in battle, but his undead sailors were no match for the power of the Sommerswerd, and the Death-Hulks were sunk. Vonotar managed to escape capture,[3] but Lone Wolf was able to arrive in Holmgard and destroy Zagarna, Archlord of the Darklands.
Flight to Kalte[]
Realizing that the other Darklords would blame him for Zagarna's death and hold him accountable for his failures, Vonotar sought out Loi-Kymar, blackmailing the latter to use his Guildstaff to teleport them to the icy wastes of Kalte.[4] There he became the personal advisor and sorceror of the Brumalmarc, lord of the Ice Barbarians. Vonotar sapped the ruler of his mental and physical strength and eventually killed him, setting himself as lord Brumalmarc and controlling the Barbarians through magical collars and bracelets that forced them to obey him without question. Hiding in the massive ice fortress of Ikaya, he plotted his next move.[5]
Though he believed himself safe in his new fortress, in MS 5051, Lone Wolf, along with several guides, mounted an expedition to capture Vonotar. This expedition proved successful, and Lone Wolf brought Vonotar back to Sommerlund where, for his crimes, he was banished through the Shadow Gate of Toran to the Daziarn, a place where no one had ever returned from.[6]
Exile in the Daziarn and death[]
Vonotar survived the journey to the Daziarn. For his failure, Naar tortured Vonotar by slowing time down, solely for him.[7][note 2] Naar, however, recognised that Vonotar still had potential, and gave him a second chance.[7]
Separately, Lone Wolf was attempting to retrieve the remaining Lorestones, suspended over a Shadow Gate, from Torgar Fortress. However, as Lone Wolf drew closer, Darklord Gnaag cast Lone Wolf and the Lorestones into the Shadow Gate, falling into the Daziarn.[8] Naar gave Vonotar knowledge of where the Lorestones were, and deposited him in Haagadar,[7] where he established a power base, and gathered a number of evil creatures to his cause.
Vonotar realised that other exiles may have survived the journey to the Daziarn, and he needed allies. He encountered Aieta Nematah and a group of villains, and Vonotar overpowered her personally and took control.[7] This group became known as the Villains of Sommerlund, six of the most nefarious Sommerlund criminals who had, at one time or another, been cast into the Shadow Gate by the Brotherhood. Using the knowledge from Naar, he obtained one of the Lorestones, and began planning his return to Magnamund. Vonotar successfully discovered and opened a Shadow Gate in Haagadar using the power of the Lorestone; however before he and his fellow exiles were able to return to Magnamund, Lone Wolf arrived. Lone Wolf first fought and defeated Vonotar's henchmen,[1] and then did the same to Vonotar.[9]
In the gamebooks[]
Vonotar is a major background antagonist throughout the series, and a nemesis of Lone Wolf. Lone Wolf only meets him face-to-face during Fire on the Water (in specific circumstances: see How to Meet Vonotar in Fire on the Water), The Caverns of Kalte and The Prisoners of Time.
He is only fought once, in The Prisoners of Time, as the final encounter in the book. He wields a Power Ring, which deals 5 Endurance points of damage to Lone Wolf before the battle starts.
- Vonotar the Traitor (with Power Ring)
Combat Skill 30, Endurance 21
Immune to: Mindblast, Psi-surge
↪The Prisoners of Time: §120
Possible return?[]
Fans have speculated for many years that Vonotar may have cheated death in the Daziarn. August Hahn, in the Journeys Through Magnamund podcast, hinted that this may be the case.[10]
In MS 5102, during the events of Dead in the Deep, Gwynian the Sage made one final prophecy, which was read by Grand Master, speaking of a "Warrior" and "Magician" who were fated to be opposed, where one was a selfless protector of his kin, whereas the other was damned and banished for his sin, and the two would eventually reconcile.[11] It has been speculated that the "Warrior" refers to Lone Wolf and the "Magician" is Vonotar.
In the epilogue of The Dusk of Eternal Night, a young magician, Fayliel, who similarly favoured adapting Right-handed Magic in conjunction with Left-handed Magic like Vonotar, found his beliefs rejected, and was unable to put his theory into practice. A mysterious voice began to guide Fayliel in his studies, encouraging his skills. One day, while calling upon this voice for help, the voice asked him to go to the Shadow Gate in Toran, for the time had come for him to return to the Daziarn, and he could not linger much longer. Carrying a number copies of forbidden papers, Fayliel sneaked past the guards and reached the Shadow Gate. Here, a whip of living flame reduced him to ashes, and the papers were sucked into the Shadow Gate, amidst the sound of a thin laugh. This has also been speculated to be Vonotar.
Design[]
In the first publication of Flight from the Dark, Vonotar was spelt "Vonatar".[12]
Notes[]
- ↑ Vonotar died in the Daziarn, whose passage of time is different than that of Magnamund. In Magnamund terms, he died some time between Lone Wolf's arrival in the Daziarn (MS 5062) and his return (MS 5070).
- ↑ Later in the story, Lone Wolf spends a few days in the Daziarn, which was equivalent to about 8 years on Magnamund. Lone Wolf later encountered Vonotar, and extrapolating to the date of his banishment, August Hahn states (51:42) that Vonotar would have been in the Daziarn for 15 days (in Daziarn terms). However, Naar's punishment made it feel much longer.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Prisoners of Time: §84
- ↑ Fire on the Water: §328 > §113
- ↑ Fire on the Water: §336
- ↑ The Caverns of Kalte: §56
- ↑ The Caverns of Kalte: The Story So Far...
- ↑ The Caverns of Kalte: §350
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Jonathan Stark and August Hahn (2024-02-01). Episode 15: Prisoners of Time (Book 6 of Magnakai). Journeys Through Magnamund. Holmgard Press. Timestamp: 51:51
- ↑ The Dungeons of Torgar: §350
- ↑ The Prisoners of Time: §120
- ↑ Jonathan Stark and August Hahn (2024-02-01). Episode 15: Prisoners of Time (Book 6 of Magnakai). Journeys Through Magnamund. Holmgard Press. Timestamp: 55:34
- ↑ Dead in the Deep: §192
- ↑ Flight from the Dark: Errata. "‘Vonatar,’ from the seventh paragraph, is spelled ‘Vonotar’ in later Lone Wolf books."