Wilhelm Bhes

Master of Divination at the Great School of Magic

Dracologist of the First Circle

Member of the Scholars' Fraternity

Leader of the Sages' League

AC 1016

"Maybe I know, maybe I don't. The question is, what are you going to do about it?"

Appearance

The years have not been kind with Master Wilhelm Bhes. At the age of 77, he suffers from rheumatism, and seems to be much shorter than he really is. Wilhelm cannot walk or even stand properly without using a cane. This cane, unlike the stylish and often magical instruments used by many Glantrian wizards, is a simple piece of wood with many bulges and cracks. It is a wonder that it even supports his wait.

Wilhelm has long but thin gray hair. It is sometimes tied back with a simple knot, but still some hair tends to cover parts of his face. While talking, he constantly tries to blow the renegade strands from his mouth. Wilhelm also has hair in other awkward places on his body. Hair often sprouts from the top of his collar and from the bottom of his sleeves, and students at the Great School often claim he is a werewolf. (He is not.) Wilhelm has a long eagle like nose and small blue eyes.

Wilhelm dresses in gray and brown old robes. In winter, he also adds a fur of some unknown creature from the north. If one would only judge Wilhelm Bhes with one's eyes, one might think that this man is an over-ambitious peasant. But in Glantri, judging someone by his or her appearance is a serious mistake.

Background

Born in AC 939 in the village of Ritterburg, Wilhelm was the only son to his widowed mother Helga Bhes, herbalist for Prince Albrecht von Drachenfels. The Bhes family hails originally from Vorstadt and is of mixed Aalbanese and Flaemish descent. By the time young Wilhelm turned ten, it was obvious to his mother that the boy was far too curious and bright for his own good. The boy asked endless questions and when his mother could not asked them he used to harass neighbors and strangers till he got an answer to his questions. But by then he had a couple of new questions popping to his head. These questions were usually about how things work, who people are, where are they going and why. Although Helga suspected it and dearly wished it so, she could not afford to have the boy tested if he had magical ability or not.

One day, Wilhelm started asking questions about Schloß Ritterburg: "Who lives there? Is it true that he is the mightiest wizard in the land? How can you tell he is the mightiest wizard in the land? Is he stronger than that Étienne d'Ambreville uncle Rupert told me about? Why do we bring him herbs? What does he need them for?" and so on.

Helga had no time for the boy's inquiries as she was preparing some delicate leaves of the dragonslumber plant for the ruling prince. Sending the boy to play outside, she rushed to the prince's road and onward to the tower. But the boy followed her and hid in a heap of straw that was positioned right beyond the tower's gate. He realized that while it was easy to get into the heap unnoticed, guards and retainers where now very busy in the front square of Schloß Ritterburg. He was trapped! Seeing his mother leave an hour later, he decided waiting till dark and then figure out what to do. He entertained himself by memorizing the moves of the dogmatic Aalbanese guards and inventing stories about the people working near his hiding place.

When the day died out into a cold night, the people left square and only a few guards remained. By that time, Wilhelm was too fascinated at seeing the inside of the tower. The guards were not a problem since Wilhelm had figured out a gap in the patrols and understood who was the guard that was least observant and most likely not notice his passage.

Inside Schloß Ritterburg, things were a bit harder. Wilhelm had to deal with a few magical wards that needed a password to be bypassed, but surprisingly Wilhelm only needed a few tries to figure what the passwords were. (The von Drachenfels were quite obvious that a simple look at the castle's interior gave obvious hints to what the possible passwords were. Many went along the line of "dragon," "griffon," or "Rad.")

Soon enough, Wilhelm felt a huge firm hand clamped on his shoulder. It was no other than the Prince's brother, Herr Georg von Drachenfels. The boy was brought before Prinz Johann von Drachenfels. At first, Herr Georg wanted to sentence the boy to imprisonment, but later decided to ask the boy how on Mystara did he manage to penetrate the tower. After the boy explained himself and the innocent reasons for breaking in the seemingly impregnable magical tower, the two princely brothers were amused and quite impressed.

Prinz Johann stated that such a clever boy must have the spark of magic in him. Running a quick test, he figured that the boy indeed had the gift of the arcaner. Summoning the boy's mother, Prinz Johann gently scolded her for not having the boy tested earlier in his life. (Poor Helga did not dare mention the fact that if taxes weren't so high she might have afforded to do so.) Taking a liking to the boy, Prinz Johann decided to add the boy to his group of apprentices, and Wilhelm's training given to the senior apprentice.

Wilhelm turned to be a very good young wizard. When Prinz Johann became Grand Master of the Great School of Magic, he took Wilhelm with him to be trained in that great institution. Prinz Johann even introduced young Wilhelm to the Secret Craft of Dracology, but Wilhelm was not all that interested in the use of Dracology or in battle magic in general. Wilhelm studied only up to the First Circle of Power, then decided to focus on the magic that he truly cared about: magic that could grant him more knowledge.

Wilhelm graduated with high marks from the Great School, and decided that life within the Principalities was not enough for his hunger for knowledge. At the age of 26, he packed his belongings and joined an adventuring party to the Heldannic Freeholds. In the following years, Wilhelm's group, "Thor's Hammers," was involved in trying to stop the Heldannic Knights from taking over the land. The leader of the group, a young paladin called Katja became Wilhelm's loved one. Wilhelm's powerful divinations helped the group locating the Knight's strongholds and relieving them of their treasure, but of little use when they were ambushed by a mercenary orc tribe and brought before the High Priest of the Heldannic Knights. Guilty of theft, Thor's Hammers were sentenced to exile in the wild lands of Denagoth. Without survival knowledge in this harsh plateau, the group was sure to die.

It was in Denagoth that Thor's Hammers encountered a powerful lich that nearly annihilated the party, killing many of the members, including Wilhelm's beloved Katja. Without their leader, the group disbanded and Wilhelm decided to make the journey south, back to his homeland.

Soon enough, Bhes was lost in the cold woodlands of Wendar. He was nearly starving and dieing of exposure when he came a cross a small hut, surrounded by a wooden fence with human skulls skewered on its poles. Staggering inside, he intruded on one of the worlds most feared and unknown creatures, Baba Yaga the Ogress. Not a match for her, Wilhelm begged for a swift death, but the ancient hag had other things in mind. She offered Wilhelm his life and transport back to Glantri, in exchange for receiving a powerful geas. Wilhelm agreed and the spell was cast.

Back in Glantri, Wilhelm returned to the Great School of Magic initially receiving a position as a minor instructor of divination magic and a teacher of languages. In AC 997, the old Master of Divination at the Great School succumbed to a horrible illness (allegedly acquired from some Sisters of the Private Houses), Master Wilhelm was the most reasonable choice for the position. He has since done a good job as Master of Divination. Now that his age has caught up with him, Master Wilhelm still refuses to magically enhance his youth, despite offers from the Grand Master himself, Prince Harald Haaskinz. (In truth, Master Wilhelm senses something wrong with Prince Harald's youth-restoring enchantments…)

Personality & Quirks

Wilhelm Bhes does not engage too much in conversation, especially when asked about his past or personal life. As a teacher he encourages his students to be always inquisitive—only not about himself!

While students may find him odd (like most of the faculty), they enjoy his teaching and value his knowledge. He does not suffer from excess pride and does not enjoy the sound of his own voice. The students know that if they desire, Master Wilhelm can make them excellent diviners, and most students (especially those of noble families) understand that the school of divination is the most important school for their survival as wizards. Wilhelm has a deep resentments to know-it-alls. Years as a diviner have taught him that nothing is as it seems and that knowing a lot only makes you want to know more.

Those who are very observant and get close enough to Wilhelm may find that he is always in a state of inner struggle. It looks as if the old diviner is battling some force within him, or reflecting on a moral issue of some sort. Of course discussing this with him will only make him angry and uncooperative.

Wilhelm Bhes spends all of his spare time magically scrying Glantri for various tidbits of knowledge, and sometime focuses on important nobles and their plots. He is always very careful not to be noticed when doing so. Living in the Great School of Magic is making this dangerous job a bit easier, as he can always find excuses for locking himself in laboratories or libraries to go about his business while important nobles are visiting.

Web of Intrigue

Master Wilhelm's darkest secret is his ties with the mysterious Ogre-Lich Baba Yaga. He was magically bound to her with a greater geas, which compels him to on various nobles of Glantri. He regularly reports to Baba Yaga through a magical blackened skull of an elf that located in his study.

Baba Yaga has directed him into discovering the secrets of various nobles (such as Prince Malachie du Marais as the White Wolf of Morlay) and the hidden agendas and true powers behind the noble Houses (such as Princesa Carnelia's sponsorship of a secret organization of undead slayers, which probably employs illegal clerics!). Baba Yaga also wishes to learn about something called "the Radiance."

Wilhelm does not know Baba Yaga's ultimate plans, but he knows that his acts are treason to his homeland. He has tried to resist or sabotage the geas in subtle ways, without triggering the all too lethal side effects. Wilhelm has realized that his most successful effort at this is to cease all high-level research in the field of divination at the Great School. He knows that most of the Princes use high-powered forms of defense against scrying, and without high-level divinations, he can never break such defenses, and learn information for Baba Yaga.

By the will of the Ogre-Witch, Master Wilhelm has discovered dangerous secrets of the House Igorov: In his various scrying attempts, Wilhelm learned about Boldavian vampirism. While Prince Morphail is all too careful about his actions, it was his brother Sir Boris Gorevitch-Woszlany who was careless enough to be discovered by Wilhelm. Prince Morphail himself has learned the identity of the meddlesome spy and has set into motion a plan to eliminate the Master of Divination, through his various minions at the Great School.

The most recent focus on Master Wilhelm's spying is Princess Dolores Hillsbury of Fenswick. He has discovered that she is a terrible force of Entropy, whose exact nature he still does not understand. Wilhelm is truly worried that Dolores will destroy Glantri, and on his own has thought of leaking some of his information to a concerned higher power, such as Prince Harald Haaskinz. Baba Yaga herself has been strangely quiet about her opinion on the mysterious Princess Dolores.

And despite his personal turmoil, Master Wilhelm has managed to get involved with the academic intrigues within the Great School of Magic. He is a supporter of the ultra-conservative Mistress Rhogene Zelipieti but hates the intellectually inept Bernabie Thrum, Master of Planar Magic. He maintains a cordial professional relationship with other instructors, and considers very few his friends.

Master Wilhelm is a high-ranking member of Scholars' Fraternity and the leader of the Sages' League.

Style of Magic & Combat

Statistics: 15th-level diviner, Dracologist of the 1st Circle (gold); Str 7, Int 20, Wis 15, Dex 9, Con 8, Cha 12; AL NG.

Languages: Thyatian (Glantrian and Aalbanese dialects, very fluently), Flaemish, Elvish (Erewan and Norwold dialects), Heldann, Denagoth, Orc (Northern dialect).

Weapon Proficiencies: Wilhelm Bhes was once pretty useful with a quarterstaff, but it has been ages since he wielded any kind of weapon. For game statistics he is not proficient with any weapon.

Skills: alchemy, agriculture, ancient history (Glantri, +3), local history (Glantrian nobles, +3), spellcraft, geography (Glantri, Denagoth, Norworld), herbalism, heraldry (+2), teaching.

Master Wilhelm always carries an array of divination spells, and spells which help him learn, gather, or exchange knowledge and information, such as comprehend languages and tongues. He rarely uses magic for anything else. Wilhelm will avoid combat at all costs, as he is pretty much useless on the battlefield. He does however prepare lots of abjuration spells that protect him from other wizards who would love to end the scrying by this inquisitive wizard.

"Some people know too much for their own good."

(Sir Boris Gorevitch-Woszlany)

References: Wilhelm Bhes' Spells