# ✧ Volothamp Geddarm | ![[Volothamp_Geddarm_idle_animation.webp]] | ![[Volothamp_Geddarm_pirate.webp]] | ![[Volothamp_portrait.jpg]] | | ------------------------------------------ | ---------------------------------- | --------------------------- | ### Locations: - Famed explorer of [[Waterdeep]] ___ **Volothamp Geddarm** (pronounced: / _VOH-loh-thamp geh-DARM , or more often **Volo** for short, was a widely traveled  "Human" "Wizard" and sage of Faerûn in the mid-to-late 14th century. He was a legendary traveler, explorer, and rogueish mage, and was most famous, or infamous, for his guidebooks including the controversial and notorious [Volo's Guide to All Things Magical](https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Volo%27s_Guide_to_Waterdeep). “ This guidebook is the next in my ongoing tour of the Realms—I assure thee all, gentles, that you'll find no more diligent guide than your humble servant, Volothamp Geddarm. These last few seasons I've trudged, ridden, swum, sailed, and even flown from the icy wastes north of the Spine of the World to the hot, steaming jungles of the Shining South—and beyond—all in thy service, gentle traveler. ” — Excerpt from Volo's introduction to Volo's Guide to the Sword Coast ___ ### Personality Volo is known as an impetuous and engaging rogue, though often pompous and pretentious. He has a reputation for embellishing the truth, bragging, and having an overly high opinion of himself. Despite these flaws, he possesses an acid tongue and is quite verbose, even bombastic, yet remains overly honest to a fault. His mocking nature and ability to hang himself with his own tongue are legendary. Beneath his flaws, Volo is soft-hearted and deeply cares for his friends, doing anything he can to aid them. He claims to have restless feet and a love of travel, though he much prefers the comfort of pleasant taverns and festhalls to trekking through jungles or dungeons. Known for his ability to drink incredible quantities of alcohol without becoming drunk, he uses this to let rivals underestimate him. ### Description Volo is considered extraordinarily handsome, sporting a neatly trimmed moustache and beard. He habitually wears a tatty but stylish floppy velvet beret, sometimes adorned with a drooping feather, along with a once-white loose shirt, leather vest, and breeches, occasionally adding a scarf. ### Skills & Abilities As a wizard of modest ability, Volo is knowledgeable in rare and unusual spells of low to moderate power. He invented several noteworthy minor spells focused on finding and documenting information. As a sage, his primary expertise lies in the spells and activities of human wizards, with secondary knowledge in Realms geography, lore, and ancient history. He is skilled in writing, dancing, singing, brewing, cooking, etiquette, heraldry, horse-riding, and tailoring. Unknown to Volo himself, he is a Weave anchor—imbued by Mystra with divine fire to prevent the Weave's collapse. This secret is known only to Mystra and Elminster, kept from Volo lest he boast about it. The power has kept him alive on numerous occasions when he should have died. ### Relationships **Friendships**: Volothamp and Elminster Aumar eventually became friends, with Elminster editing and annotating Volo's guidebooks despite their contentious start. **Romances**: From a brief affair with Ravithara Silmerhelve of Waterdeep's noble Silmerhelve family, Volo has one son, Emmeros Silmerhelve. He became infatuated with the steel dragon Jalanvaloss (disguised as the "Dark-Eyed Lady"), the merchant wizard Sa'Sani (who performed a blood magic ritual binding them together), and Nanthé Ryddorn, a War Wizard he rescued and became occasional lovers with. **Professional**: His books are published by Tym Waterdeep Limited, run by Justin Tym. Volo is an honorary member of the Brotherhood of the Cloak of Mulmaster and has established an extensive network of contacts across Faerûn. ### Activities Volo's research methods are often reckless, involving spying, poking around, and documenting potentially dangerous knowledge through assorted notes, gossip, and stolen glances at mages' spellbooks. He travels far and wide across Faerûn and beyond, rarely staying in one place due to inevitable frictions with local mages, merchants, innkeepers, law enforcement, and jealous husbands. His most profitable ventures include writing and selling erotic romance chapbooks under the penname Valhalaeria the Vaunted, and buying and selling urban real estate in Sword Coast cities. ### Notable Works Volo is best known for his controversial *Volo's Guide to All Things Magical* (1358 DR), which angered many of Faerûn's mages by revealing long-forgotten spells and magical secrets. The book was suppressed and nearly all copies were destroyed by Elminster and other mages. Following this disaster, Volo switched focus to travel guides, producing works including: - *Volo's Guide to Waterdeep* (1363-1365 DR) - *Volo's Guide to the North* (1365-1366 DR) - *Volo's Guide to the Sword Coast* (1366-1367 DR) - *Volo's Guide to Cormyr* (1367-1368 DR) - *Volo's Guide to the Dalelands* (1368-1369 DR) ### History Summary Born in a bog and named after the Calishite city of Volothamp where he was conceived, Volo rose from inauspicious beginnings to become Faerûn's most famous (or infamous) travel writer. His career nearly ended when *Volo's Guide to All Things Magical* exposed wizard secrets in 1358 DR, resulting in threats from numerous mages. The Simbul transformed him into a bird and made him fly into a wall as punishment, while Elminster rescued him from worse fates. The book was completely suppressed. Switching to travel guides, Volo experienced mixed success—several works were suppressed by the Zhentarim or destroyed by Calishite pashas. He notably exposed the Hanging Lantern festhall as a doppelganger kidnapping operation, putting him on the Unseen's hit list. In 1367 DR, Volo was framed for stealing the Dragonking's Eye artifact by Marcus Wands, a thief who used the alias "Marco Volo." This led to bounties and assassination attempts until Volo tracked down Marcus and helped shut down the crystalline fortress created by the artifact. Throughout his adventures, Volo has been subjected to numerous curses preventing him from exposing magical secrets again, forced to hide his identity from vengeful wizards, and has survived countless near-death experiences thanks to his secret status as a Weave anchor. ___ ## ⚡︎ Tags - #dnd - #storyline - #npc - #character - #dragonheist - #npc-relationships