Volo Rides Again (Patreon)

“That scamp Volo,” as Storm once referred to him, is not just a wizard of at least 9th level; he’s an irrepressible, always optimistic, and upbeat “Type A” go-getter.

In Volo’s case, he’s not ambitious about making money or acquiring power (in the form of rank, authority, and paid jobs), but every moment he’s awake, he’s driven to be “in the know,” at the center of where things are happening, a witness not just to the deeds of the powerful, but to their moments of being human (revealing their true emotions, views, and personalities) and their interactions with others, from lovers and family to detested rivals and out-and-out foes. Volo absolutely has to know not just the gossip and the facts, but the behind-the-scenes, skeletons-in-closets stuff. He also aches to know more about magic, mainly so he can impress more powerful wizards like Elminster.

Volo, the Chosen?
Elminster and the Chosen humor him. For one thing, Volothamp Geddarm is an unwitting Chosen himself; that is, a living repository of Mystra’s divine essence, which also makes him a (mobile) Weave anchor. Unlike Manshoon, he’s never rejected this role—he’s simply oblivious to it, as Mystra has never judged him sane or shrewd enough to be informed and trained as to what he can do. Instead, she and Volo’s guardian angels (the other Chosen, primarily Elminster and the Seven) just help keep Volo alive and relatively undamaged, so he can wander through life traveling, writing his infamous Guides, and poking his nose into affairs Faerûnian (which are not the same as “Faerûnian affairs,” although Volo aches to know all about those, too).

Volo is usually polite in his speech but overbold in what he asks and reveals (a modern real-world North American might say he “has no boundaries”), and completely oblivious to the concept that anyone might have any rights to privacy (as opposed to mere preferences he can and will try to brush aside). Over the years, he’s become aware of cues of verbal intonation and facial expressions, so he now notices when someone is becoming angry, fearful, or ill at ease when conversing with him—but his need to know all too often overrides all else.

As a result of years of this, Volo’s mind is crammed with odd facts, often devoid of context or coherent connections with other facts, even when the connection should be obvious. As Elminster once put it, “He’s a fool, but not a fool ye’d want to play a game of Trivial Pursuit against.” When queried by yours truly, Elminster explained his use of the term “fool” for Volo as follows: “An idiot is one incapable of full understanding or of consistent reasoning. Volo is not an idiot. Volo is a fool: one who has almost no judgment—and what he has is faulty; he makes rash decisions in the face of guidance that should be clear enough.”

Long-lived and long-winded.
Despite this foolheadedness, Volo has survived to an astonishing age, partly due to innate luck and a certain charm—which has led some persons who might otherwise have slain or maimed him stay their hands just to see whatever incredible thing Volo will say or do next, or to aim him, like some sort of destructive missile, into the midst of rivals or situations (such as feasts, or business negotiations) to watch the ensuing fun—and partly due to the vigilance of his guardian angels.

His longevity was also augmented, during the later 1300s DR and more than the first half of the 1400s DR, by his being trapped in magical stasis (a story told elsewhere and elsewhen) so that he both escaped the ravages of the Spellplague, that scorched the minds of many wizards, and didn’t age for about a century.

Volo has always been short and sported a moustache and beard, but his build has shifted back and forth between “burly” and “thin” over the years, largely due to his frequent need to flee far and fast on the one hand, and his love of food and drink on the other.

Volo is proud of his accomplishments as a writer and dispenser of useful advice to fellow travelers, and dismisses criticism of his reviews and of his own conduct as the result of envy and other failings of his many “unenlightened” critics.

Important friends.
He is a friend of Mirt and of Elminster, who both tend to tolerate him, and regard him as a likeable dolt who needs endless instruction that Mystra would expect them to give (and so they do). Volo is frankly afraid of the Seven Sisters, who tend to be sharper with him than Mirt and Elminster because they prefer his prompt obedience to his endless questions and “But surely, [insert relevant fact here] will lead to…” arguments as to why he shouldn’t do whatever they suggest. So they have learned to use Volo’s fear to make him jump promptly when they say “Frog.”

One of the Chosen is always watching over Volo from nearby, whether he knows it or not, and his career as the scribe of Guides to cities (and even individual wards of the larger cities) continues apace as the 1400s DR rush to give way to the 1500s DR.

A new Volo's Guide?
Volo’s Guide to Ormpur (a port city on the Shining Sea not far south of the Border Kingdoms, but often overlooked in the shadow of its larger neighbor, the city of Sheirtalar) is expected soon, and Mirt and Elminster have both informed me that Volo is nosing around Castle Ward in Waterdeep, with an eye to publishing something in the future.

Volo is to be regarded as dangerous, as his pryings often stir up both emotions and trouble—and if violence ensues, he has a knack of avoiding consequences that inevitably fall upon someone else, or several someone elses. He fondly believes himself to “have a way with the ladies,” which was likely more true in his younger days than it is now, and not only do his Mystra-appointed guardians and his own unconscious but increasing local manipulations of the Weave (ripples of unseen force that spoil the aims of magical and physical attacks, or bring things Volo desires to grasp within timely reach) come to his aid in any dispute, but down the years he’s been gifted several small protective keepsakes that he wears or carries:

• Bracers of Defense
• Brooch of Shielding
• Cape of the Mountebank
• Ioun Stone of Greater Absorption (marbled lavender and green ellipsoid; kept in a behind-belt-buckle armored pouch)
• Ring of Regeneration (Volo wears this on the middle toe of his left foot, and it functions just fine when worn there)
• Shimrestra’s Anklet (has powers equal to a combined Amulet of Health, Amulet of Proof against Detection and Location, Cap of Water Breathing, and Helm of Comprehending Languages)
• Volo also carries, in a belt pouch, three jars of Keoghtom’s Ointment (individually wrapped in cloth and woven bamboo containers, against breakage)