Mordenkainen

Mordenkainen is a fictional wizard from the World of Greyhawk campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. He was created by Gary Gygax as a player character, only months after the start of Gygax's Greyhawk campaign, and is therefore one of the oldest characters continuously associated with D&D.

Once Gygax was forced out of TSR, Inc., he lost creative control of Mordenkainen. TSR then made Mordenkainen a powerful wizard with strong convictions against moral absolutes, and the leader of the Circle of Eight, a cabal of eight powerful wizards. In fiction associated with the World of Greyhawk, he has played diverse roles as both protagonist and antagonist.

Official publications for the World of Greyhawk sometimes contradict each other regarding Mordenkainen. It is clear, however, that he is an important figure in the fictional history of the Flanaess.

Creative origins
In late 1972, Gary Gygax created Castle Greyhawk and the dungeons beneath it. After a few months of almost non-stop play as the Dungeon Master, Gygax asked one of the players, Rob Kuntz, to become co-Dungeon Master, which would allow Gygax an opportunity to experience the game as a player. Gygax subsequently created several characters, including a 1st-level wizard in early 1973. Gygax was interested in Finnish mythology, and named the wizard Mordenkainen, a portmanteau of the mythical heroes Mordecai and Lemminkäinen. Robert J. Kuntz started running a role-playing campaign set in his world of Kalibruhn in 1973, in which Gary Gygax was the main player and his famous characters Mordenkainen and Yrag originated upon that world.

He was to become Gygax's most famous character, and also his favorite to play. Over several years of gameplay, mainly from 1973 to 1985, Gygax developed the character traits and adventures with which Mordenkainen would become associated, as well as raising the wizard to "twenty-something levels." During this period, Gygax united Mordenkainen with seven of his other characters to form the Circle of Eight. During his lifetime, Gygax never disclosed any of Mordenkainen's original game statistics.

When Gygax was forced out of TSR in 1985, he lost the rights to most of the characters he had mentioned in TSR publications, including Mordenkainen. TSR subsequently changed Mordenkainen in ways unforeseen by his creator. When the Greyhawk campaign world was reset in 1991's From the Ashes, Mordenkainen was refashioned as the world's most powerful wizard. The Circle of Eight was now described as a cabal of eight wizards supervised by Mordenkainen, who together sought to balance the forces of good and evil.

Mordenkainen is one of the famous mages whose spells were included in the 1988 Greyhawk Adventures hardbound. Mordenkainen's name has been used to describe various spells published in the Dungeons & Dragons system of magic.

Publishing history
Mordenkainen's AD&D statistics were first published in The Rogues Gallery (1980), although Gary Gygax was later emphatic that he never gave author Brian Blume any information about the wizard, and insisted that Blume had been forced to make up the published statistics. Variations on Mordenkainen's AD&D statistics were also published in Mordenkainen's Fantastic Adventure (1984), The City of Greyhawk (1989) and Epic Level Handbook (2002).

He was also mentioned in the following publications:


 * Expedition to the Ruins of Greyhawk (2007)
 * "The Wizards Three" series of articles from Dragon Magazine
 * Mordenkainen's Magnificent Emporium (2011)
 * Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes (2018)

Mordenkainen also figured prominently in the parody adventure Castle Greyhawk (1988), in which he runs a film studio, possibly a reference to Gary Gygax's work at the time as TSR's liaison to Hollywood while he was developing the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon and other projects.

Mordenkainen appears in material for the fifth edition of D&D, including Curse of Strahd (2016), and Baldur's Gate: Descent Into Avernus (2019).

Mordenkainen's name appeared in certain spells core rulebooks of the game's 3rd edition's as one of the few elements from Greyhawk, even though that was designated as the core setting. Spells named after Mordenkainen also appear in D&D-based computer games like Neverwinter Nights.

Description
Mordenkainen is described as tall, with a greyly streaked Van Dyke beard, wearing long boots and carrying a staff.

He keeps his own council and does not tolerate fools. He operates according to a theory based on power balance and Neutrality, trying to keep neither Good nor Evil from getting the upper hand; he operates very much from the shadows.

Reception
Mordenkainen was #9 on Game Rant 's 2020 "10 Must-Have NPCs In Dungeons & Dragons Lore To Make Your Campaigns Awesome" list — the article states that "As an NPC, players might search for Mordenkainen for his expertise in the magical arts. After all, Mordenkainen heads the Circle of Eight, a group of Wizards and prolific spell inventors. Campaigns planning on adapting Curse of Strahd may also include Mordenkainen as an NPC they need to save– or face, depending on the circumstances."

Writer Aubrey Sherman called Mordenkainen one "of Dungeons & Dragons's most famous wizards" and compared him to both Elminster and Gandalf with respect to appearance, demeanor, outlook, and importance in their respective worlds.

Character biography
Greyhawk authors Carl Sargent, Erik Mona, and Gary Holian imply that Mordenkainen was born 509 CY. His birthplace is unknown, but before coming to prominence in the early 560s, he is thought to have resided on the Wild Coast. He also resided for a time in the City of Greyhawk, as well as Highfolk. He is rumored to be of Oeridian blood, possibly Aerdi. Some claim that he is a descendant of Ganz Yragerne, first Landgraf of the Selintan, which would mean he's also related to Zagig and Heward. According to some sources, he is distantly related to House Cranden, one of the royal houses of the Great Kingdom of Aerdy.

About 561 CY, with his young apprentice Bigby, the warriors Robilar and Yrag, the clerics Riggby and Serten, the ranger Otis, and fellow mage Tenser, Mordenkainen formed the Citadel of Eight. The group was named for the Obsidian Citadel, Mordenkainen's stronghold in the Yatil Mountains. The Citadel disbanded after the Battle of Emridy Meadows in 569 CY, where Citadel member Serten lost his life.

Two years later, Mordenkainen formed the Circle of Eight, a cabal of eight wizards with himself acting as the ninth "shadow member" and leader. Mordenkainen felt that the failure of the Citadel was due to its composition. He felt that such a group as he envisioned could only succeed if its members were "men of intellect and sorcerous skill, whose primary interests were more than material."

Role and philosophy
Mordenkainen's role in the Greyhawk setting has been described as a form of one-man peacekeeping force. He operates according to a theory based on power balance and Neutrality, trying to keep neither Good nor Evil from getting the upper hand. His methods are manipulative; he operates very much from the shadows.

The Living Greyhawk Gazetteer (2000) says the following about Mordenkainen:

"Mordenkainen the Archmage formed the Circle of Eight as a tool to manipulate political factions of the Flanaess, preserving the delicate balance of power in hopes of maintaining stability and sanity in the region. Mordenkainen's view of "enforced neutrality" is not a tit-for-tat equality but rather a detailed theoretical philosophy derived from decades of arcane research. He has fought ardently for the forces of Good, most recently during the Greyhawk Wars, but just as often has worked on darker plots to achieve his ends."

Description
Mordenkainen appears much younger than his years, perhaps in his mid-forties. He is tall, of medium build and often depicted wearing black, blue, or grey. He wears a Van Dyke beard with two prominent grey streaks. Its shape has changed over the years, and in recent art is narrow and pointed, but was originally broad, covering the whole chin. He once wore his graying black hair at medium length, but since 591 CY has been shaving his head bald, as well as trimming his goatee to a fine point. He speaks with a deep, melodic voice.

When traveling, Mordenkainen often disguises himself as a poor, elderly merchant.

Mordenkainen can be stubborn and difficult, and does not tolerate fools. He normally spends much more time listening than talking, but when he does speak, his pronouncements are authoritative and rarely questioned.

Related characters
As a major character in the World of Greyhawk, Mordenkainen has had dealings with nearly every other character in the setting. His enemies include Evard, Iuz, Rary, Terik, and Sir Robilar. His allies include Heward, Murlynd, Zagyg, Jallarzi Sallavarian, Otto, Ravel Dasinder, and the lesser deity Dalt.

He is distantly related to Heward, Zagyg, and Bigby. The latter was at one point Mordenkainen's apprentice.

The "Wizards Three" articles mention that Mordenkainen is an associate of Elminster of the Forgotten Realms setting and Dalamar of the Dragonlance setting, who all meet on Earth to swap news and magic. He is also stated to have an apprentice named Rautheene.

Mordenkainen's citadel is defended by humans, dwarves, and gnomes. The wizard is also allied with various giants.

Powers and abilities
Mordenkainen is a powerful wizard and a potent political manipulator. He has many allies in the Free City of Greyhawk and his influence is far reaching.

He is responsible for developing a number of spells, among them the commonly known spells Mordenkainen's Magnificent Mansion, Mordenkainen's Faithful Hound, and Mordenkainen's Disjunction.

Mordenkainen is known to have authored or co-authored the following diegetic works:


 * Architecture (with Leomund)
 * The Codex of Mordenkainen
 * Cosmogony of Magnetic Fluids
 * Dark Sides of the Memory
 * Epic Saga of the Great Conjurers
 * On the Rise of Magecraft and Modernity
 * Weapons of the Ether (with Melf)