Showing results by author "Terry Mancour" in All Categories

When Minalan summoned humanity's gods to support him in his negotiations with the aquatic Vundel, it was an impressive feat... but the gods did not merely fade away afterwards. The various manifestations of divine power, filtered through the collective subconscious of humanity, came to Callidore with a host of ideals, agendas, and interests that often conflict with their own priesthoods. The land is now filled with capricious gods, half-mad and sociopathic, some of them new to earthly manifestation—and that brings god-sized problems that only Minalan the Spellmonger can solve.

Minalan gave up a promising career as a professional warmage to live the quiet life of a village spellmonger in the remote mountain valley of Boval. It was a peaceful, beautiful little fief, far from the dangerous feudal petty squabbles of the Five Duchies, on the world of Callidore. There were cows. Lots of cows. And cheese. For six months things went well: He found a quaint little shop, he befriended the local lord, the village folk loved him, he found a sharp young apprentice to help out, and, best yet, he met a comely young widow with the prettiest eyes.

Just when Baron Minalan the Spellmonger figured out there was a slim chance to restore his mind-shattered wife Alya (if he's willing to journey to the undercaverns of Olum Seheri, the lair of Korbal the Necromancer), things start to go awry: not only does Prince Tavard, his unloved liege lord, decide to conduct an official state visit to Sevendor on pilgrimage to the Everfire on the Briga's feast day, but a mysterious seamage appears at his door with an intriguing offer from the Sea Folk who rule Callidore: They want to buy snowstone. An entire mountain of it.

Minalan the Spellmonger, in his guise as Mirkandar the Magnificent, Doge of Farise, is in a bind: the Duke of Merwyn has sent an armada of seventy ships to conquer his newly-independent realm...and Minalan has never fought a battle at sea. Thankfully, the legendary warmage Durgan Jole has a plan, and with the help of his fellow wizards from Sevendor, Minalan feels confident that Farise can survive the invasion. He doesn't want to kill that many people, but Merwyn has left him little choice.

The goblin invasion is on...and a wizard's work is never done! After facing a hopeless siege, an implacable foe, and an impossible escape, you would think that Minalan the Spellmonger would be able to rest—but the armies of the undead goblin shaman Shereul (known as the Dead God to his human victims) are rolling over the Western reaches of the rustic Duchy of Alshar and is headed toward the heart of the Duchy of Castal. Thousands are fleeing for their lives as hordes of goblins pour out of Boval Vale and devastate the rugged fiefs of the Alshari Wilderlands.

Minalan gets medieval! When you defeat the invading goblin army, get knighted on the field of battle, gifted with lands and gold, usually your happily-ever-after is...happy. But now that Minalan the Spellmonger has been ennobled and enfiefed, Sire Minalan has a task cut out for him that makes defeating goblins seem like child’s play: Moving his very pregnant bride and a few thousand refugees from Boval Vale into the remote, sparsely peopled Domain of Sevendor. But when he arrives, he finds the land withered from neglect, filled with superstition and suspicion.

After defending his fledgling realm against the undead lord Gaja Katar all winter long, Count Minalan of the Magelaw faces a new threat in the spring: the Nemovort Shakathet, favored of Korbal, leading the mighty hordes out of the Penumbra. This time, Minalan faces a real strategist; one who drives his armies with purpose and efficiency. The road to war leads through Megelin Castle and the vulnerable lands to the south of Vanado. Old enemies will become allies, and old friends will become valuable assets.

"Lilastien is missing." That's how Master Minalan the Spellmonger, the greatest wizard of the age, began the mission for his two former apprentices, Tyndal and Rondal. Both were men of means now, recently married and enjoying high positions as a reward for their past service in the war. But service does not end with an armistice; now that the war is over, the Spellmonger recruits them to track down the missing Alka Alon sorceress, Lilastien, whose knowledge of Callidore's ancient past has proven invaluable in recovering the crafts of the Ancients.

Minalan the Spellmonger has a problem: Mycin Amana, the undead consort of Korbal the Necromancer, is not only occupying one of the largest castles in the kingdom; she’s also occupying the recently-dead body of his former lover, rapist, and mother of his children, Isily of Greenflower. As the crises in the heart of the kingdom grows, Minalan is tasked to force the so-called Witch Queen of Darkfaller from her new stronghold using any means necessary. Unfortunately, the castle belongs to his rival in the royal court and future monarch Prince Tavard, whose ideas are doomed to failure.

After winning two wars against the Nemovorti, Minalan plans an expedition to The Lost Valley of Anghysbel, in the far north of his realm. It's there, in the caldera of a supervolcano at the edge of the tundra, he suspects many of the answers he so desperately needs might be hidden. The only problem is that thanks to the anti-magical properties of the jevolar, his spells won’t work; he’ll be without magic for the first time since he came into his Talent.

With the south in full rebellion, the goblins stirring on the northern frontier, and the summer capital being run by a corrupt baron and a gang of thugs, things could be better. But those aren’t the worst of her problems: Pentandra is learning how to live with her new husband, Arborn, while the town is driven to distraction by an incarnate Sex Goddess who is organizing all of the whores, a mopey Spellmonger, a nun addicted to gambling, a prude sent by the Queen, undead skulking through the shadows, and a mysterious blind girl shows up in her office claiming to be her new apprentice!

Things were starting to look up for Magelord Minalan the Spellmonger—the magic mountain in his domain not only made him a wealthy man and the most powerful mage in history, it also produced a lode of magical gemstones with unique properties—properties the Alka Alon, the masters of magic on Callidore, are fascinated by. When Minalan gets his chance to trade some of his magic rocks for irionite, he finds himself in a position to raise hundreds more magi with the stones … making them High Magi.

What does the most powerful wizard in the world do after the war is over? Despite the hordes of goblins still ready to ravage human lands, King Rard has signed a treaty with them, so Minalan is forbidden from taking advantage of their weakened state. Most would take a well-deserved rest over the summer … but Minalan and his household are busy repaying a favor owed to the tribal Kasari for their help in the war, and the Spellmonger pays his debts.

Dara of Westwood, known as the Hawkmaiden, has always been caught between two worlds. Born to a humble clan of woodsmen, her unexpected magical talents had seen her apprenticed to Minalan the Spellmonger, the greatest wizard in the world, to fight for years against the goblin invasion that threatened all of humanity. She had been a war hero before her first kiss, riding giant hawks into battle in defense of her people. But the war is over, now, and Dara finds herself ennobled, wealthy, respected, admired... and completely alone.

When Tyndal and Rondal, journeymen wizards and knights errant, travel to southern Alshar to rescue a helpless boy and his mother, it sets in motion a series of events that will shake the foundations of the Five Duchies! While they are beginning their quest against the vast criminal gang known as the Brotherhood of the Rat, the two knights encounter the Cats of Enultramar, a family of shadowmagi and high-class thieves who help them discover a plot to attack the rich lands and prosperous people of Alshar, from the Wilderlands to the Great Bay...and only Rondal and Tyndal can stop them.

Setting out into exile is never much fun, but Minalan wants to publicly comply with Prince Tavard's order to leave Sevendor for three years to spare his home any retribution. Instead of using magic to transport himself to his new lands, Minalan decides to leave cross-country in a wagon with his father. Down the Bontal River, Min and his dad make a stop at Robinwing, get snowed in at Barrowbell, and enjoy a few days as guests of Baron Astyral.

After Alshari Court Wizard Pentandra survives her third assassination attempt in the Tower of Sorcery, she sends her deputy, Sir Rondal, to investigate the mysterious origins of the attempt while she contends with Alshari court politics. Matters come to a head when he and Kitten rescue an old woman and her grandson from certain death...only to discover she is the lost hedgewitch who gave Pentandra a book of secret prophecies about the future.

Minalan the Spellmonger faces the boredom of house arrest after being confined to his lands by Prince Tavard for his defiance with the Wilderlands refugees. The Alka Alon have returned to their seclusion, dealing with their own crisis, the Dead God is being quiet within the Umbra, and Min’s plans toward re-establishing a functional Duchy of Alshar are progressing. Min sees his punishment as a unique opportunity to indulge in thaumaturgical research.

When Minalan the Spellmonger was exiled from his beloved mageland of Sevendor by Prince Tavard, his friend Duke Anguin made him Count Palatine of the Magelaw, a vast realm in the Alshari Wilderlands that Minalan is all too familiar with. After the goblin invasion, the province is devastated, ruined, and peopled almost only by freed slaves. But Minalan has brought his recovering wife and family into exile with him, and he views their impoverished fief as an opportunity to build a new City of Magi in the wilderness.

Minalan the Spellmonger has come a long way since he woke up to a goblin invasion almost a decade ago. Since then, he has built cities and mighty armies, invented new enchantments, and pioneered entirely new fields of magic. Now that the Witch Queen of Darkfaller has taken over one of the most powerful castles in the center of the kingdom, he has to marshal all his resources—political, military, and arcane—to try to drive her from the strategic and symbolically important stronghold.