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    Andrui, Apprentice of Bigby
    Posted on Wed, May 19, 2004 by Farcluun
    Wavescrest writes "The character Andrui originally appeared briefly in Bigby's Most Home a short scenario from WGR2 Treasures of Greyhawk that served as a sequel to WGA4 Vecna Lives!. Now the character is updated to 594 CY, and we learn more of his history, and of the involvement of Franzier of Halmarn, the Onnwalon nom-de-plum of one Bigby.

    Andrui, Apprentice of Bigby
    By: Wavescrest
    Used with Permission. Do not repost without obtaining prior permission from the author.

    Andrui, male human Wiz10: AL N.

    A man in his early thirties who is both tall and thin, Andrui is striking with long black hair which shows only the subtlest hews of greys, and is impeccably clean-shaven. He dresses in colourful but impeccably chosen loose-fitting clothes, preferring the colour purple and green.

    Andrui was born in the Free City of Greyhawk, where his father was but a humble cartographer. At the age of eighteen he bade farewell to the dismal River Quarter as his father accepted a commission from Szek Elwerd Destron to create a map chart the unexplored regions of the Headlands. During the voyage to Scant, Andrui obtained a spellbook, claiming that he had swapped a set of marbles that the spellbook’s owner desperately needed to complete a thaumaturgical incantation*.

    Beginning his new life in Halmarn, the outskirts of Scant, Andrui was frequently left by his father. He took to teaching himself magic from his spellbook. Shortly after he turned eighteen the young Andrui inadvertently started a fire within the family household of Halmarn (the outskirts of Scant). None of the family were killed in the fire, though seven years of his father’s work went up in flames**. He was thrown out by his angry father.

    Forced to work on the docks of Halmarn, loading barrels for transport to Scant, Andrui met Fraznier of Halmarn (Bigby) and impressed the mage sufficiently to be taken on as an apprentice. He tended Bigby’s affairs as best he could during the mage’s death in 581 CY, but he has been his apprentice for only one month so many of the master’s traps and escaped experiments caused him problems. He gained a pathological hatred of stirges.

    During the Fall of Scant, Andrui was on business in Furyondy for Bigby, he joined his master in Veluna City, but now a puissant mage in his own right he has transcended from apprentice to a respected agent of the Circle of Eight.

    * To the astute reader it may seem unlikely that any mage worth his salt would trade an entire spellbook for a pouch of marbles. In fact it was a disguised Bigby who gave the aspiring child mage his first spellbook.
    ** Perhaps a little too convenient. Bigby was always interested in what uncharted mysteries lay within the Headlands. As Aza'mut of the Muddled Tongue, envoy to Rary pointed out to Andrui during a brief confrontation (which ended with Andrui injured and forced to teleport to Mitrik) was it that Bigby was behind Andrui's accident which caused him to lose contact with his father? His father is now believed to be lost within Scant as a thrall. Assuming these are no lies of Aza'mut - what lies in the Headlands of Onnwal that Bigby wished to remain 'uncharted'?

    "
     
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    Votes: 13


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    Re: Andrui, Apprentice of Bigby (Score: 1)
    by Abysslin (abyss@canonfire.com) on Wed, May 19, 2004
    (User Info | Send a Message | Journal) http://www.canonfire.com
    heh, you got me digging out WGR2 to check it out!



    Re: Andrui, Apprentice of Bigby (Score: 1)
    by Yabusama on Wed, May 19, 2004
    (User Info | Send a Message)
    Nice work, its good see a minor figure fleshed out more, I have always has a liking of Bigby and this just adds to it.



    Re: Andrui, Apprentice of Bigby (Score: 1)
    by mortellan on Wed, May 19, 2004
    (User Info | Send a Message)
    What an intriguing topic for an article! Heck, it now makes me rethink alot of those minor-NPCs and how they could be updated. You could have a run of them here.



    Re: Andrui, Apprentice of Bigby (Score: 1)
    by Tzelios (b_steelio@hotmail.com) on Thu, May 20, 2004
    (User Info | Send a Message)
    It is good to see that the development is not arbitrary. I would prefer, though, to be written in character.



    Re: Andrui, Apprentice of Bigby (Score: 1)
    by Zephirum on Thu, May 20, 2004
    (User Info | Send a Message)
    I'm curious about your treatment of this character. Why deviate from the canon material instead of filing in the blank spaces of his life? His experience level improvement seems acceptable, yet we do not see any 3.5 game mechanics. More "new" information would have enhanced this article.

    I agree that a 1st person style would have helped.

    Thanks for sparking my interest in this character.



    Re: Andrui, Apprentice of Bigby (Score: 1)
    by cwslyclgh on Tue, May 25, 2004
    (User Info | Send a Message)
    cool, I enjoy the fleshing out of minor characters, and you did a good job with Andrui... it is nice to see that he is finaly capable of casting his Baneful Backfire spell ;)



    Re: Andrui, Apprentice of Bigby (Score: 1)
    by TheocratIssak (no@no.com) on Wed, May 26, 2004
    (User Info | Send a Message) http://www.GreyhawkOnline.com
    Hi all-
    First off, there is no way that this article could be written if first person. As is, this is a report on a person and is set as a biography, although minor. A first person article would make it seem more like a story, than as a piece to give us a background on an almost unknown.

    Next, what I would have liked is dates. When was Andrui born. Although this information can be gleamed in learning that he is in his early 30's, or is something that may be in WGR 2, but it something that then should be mentioned or re-printed. Again, it would be nice to know that he and his father left GHC somewhere around 579. Who is Szek Elwerd (is he from a canon source), and what country does he represent. Why would Andrui's dad be selected to travel so far away from GHC, espically if his dad was only humble and had megear earnings (as gleaned by the location of their home in GHC).
    Next, what ship were they on that went from GHC to Scant...did they have to travel to Hardby first or did they travel some other way? Also, you state that it is Bigby himself that trades the marbles for the spellbook. Why? Was Andrui showing some promise, is he the subject of a phophesy (sorry, dictionary.com is down, can't get the right spelling)? The next line about his father and Bigby and Rary is all very confusing as well as not compelely explained. I think that this should be further develeoped and not merely a footnote to the article.
    Further, if Bigby, Rary and another other person with whom Andrui met, they should have already been impressed with him. Bigby meets Andrui on the docks, yet possibly already gave him a spell book and unwittingly caused a fire in his house. Thus, Bigby had already planned for him to be his apprentice.

    What was Andrui doing during the "Great Signing" in which Bigby was killed? What business was he on when Scant fell? Why did he call Scant home, if his father had previously kicked him out, and he had been the apprentice of Bigby? What did Andrui do that was enough to get out from under the shadow of Bigby and allow him to become an agent of the Circle?

    These "holes" and possible/potential discrepencies do not make this a complete article. I would love to see both 2nd and 3/3.5 stats on the fellow, but don't believe that to be an outright requirement to make this a better article. I think that fleshing Andrui out further would provide us with more information as well as the hidden gem that is Andrui. Thus, furthering the potential neat and historical information that can be gleamed about Bigby.

    As such, I rate this article a 2 of 5 stars. I would love to give it more, but feel that too much is taken for granted. I would love to post another comment on this article after a bit more information.




    Re: Andrui, Apprentice of Bigby (Score: 1)
    by TheocratIssak (no@no.com) on Wed, May 26, 2004
    (User Info | Send a Message) http://www.GreyhawkOnline.com
    Hi all-
    First off, there is no way that this article could be written if first person. As is, this is a report on a person and is set as a biography, although minor. A first person article would make it seem more like a story, than as a piece to give us a background on an almost unknown.

    Next, what I would have liked is dates. When was Andrui born. Although this information can be gleamed in learning that he is in his early 30's, or is something that may be in WGR 2, but it something that then should be mentioned or re-printed. Again, it would be nice to know that he and his father left GHC somewhere around 579. Who is Szek Elwerd (is he from a canon source), and what country does he represent. Why would Andrui's dad be selected to travel so far away from GHC, espically if his dad was only humble and had megear earnings (as gleaned by the location of their home in GHC).
    Next, what ship were they on that went from GHC to Scant...did they have to travel to Hardby first or did they travel some other way? Also, you state that it is Bigby himself that trades the marbles for the spellbook. Why? Was Andrui showing some promise, is he the subject of a phophesy (sorry, dictionary.com is down, can't get the right spelling)? The next line about his father and Bigby and Rary is all very confusing as well as not compelely explained. I think that this should be further develeoped and not merely a footnote to the article.
    Further, if Bigby, Rary and another other person with whom Andrui met, they should have already been impressed with him. Bigby meets Andrui on the docks, yet possibly already gave him a spell book and unwittingly caused a fire in his house. Thus, Bigby had already planned for him to be his apprentice.

    What was Andrui doing during the "Great Signing" in which Bigby was killed? What business was he on when Scant fell? Why did he call Scant home, if his father had previously kicked him out, and he had been the apprentice of Bigby? What did Andrui do that was enough to get out from under the shadow of Bigby and allow him to become an agent of the Circle?

    These "holes" and possible/potential discrepencies do not make this a complete article. I would love to see both 2nd and 3/3.5 stats on the fellow, but don't believe that to be an outright requirement to make this a better article. I think that fleshing Andrui out further would provide us with more information as well as the hidden gem that is Andrui. Thus, furthering the potential neat and historical information that can be gleamed about Bigby.

    As such, I rate this article a 2 of 5 stars. I would love to give it more, but feel that too much is taken for granted. I would love to post another comment on this article after a bit more information.





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