Drawmij

In the World of Greyhawk campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, Drawmij is an archmage. A founding member of the sorcerous conclave known as the Circle of Eight, Drawmij is reputed to live in an underwater fortress beneath the Azure Sea. The name "Drawmij" is one of Gary Gygax's homages to a real-world person, Jim Ward.

Creative origins

The name "Drawmij" entered Dungeons & Dragons canon through the spell Drawmij's Instant Summons, and was formed by reversing "Jim Ward," the name of one of Gary Gygax's players. By Ward's own account, the spell originated during a session in Gygax's original Greyhawk campaign during which the players were stranded in a dungeon; Ward's character owned a magical item which would have rescued the party, but had left it in an inn before setting out. Ward remarked to Gygax that wizards should have access to a spell which allowed them to recall any item in their possession to their hand; Gygax promptly devised instant summons, which did exactly that.

There has been some confusion over whether Gygax created the name in homage to Ward or Ward's character; though it is known that Ward played a character named Drawmij at one time, some sources claim the name of the wizard he was playing at the time instant summons was created was "Bombidell," not Drawmij. This leaves two theories as to how the name got started:

• Ward named his wizard character "Drawmij" from the outset, and the spell simply used the name of Ward's character.
• Gygax devised the name for publication purposes, as the name "Bombidell" was derivative of the Tolkien character Tom Bombadil, and Ward subsequently created a new character, Drawmij.

Description

Drawmij is 63 years old in 591 CY, although he appears to be a young man in his late twenties or early thirties. His hair is sandy blond and his eyes are so blue that they're nearly purple. He stands six feet tall and weighs 172 pounds. His features possess an undefinable unsettling quality, and more than a few of those who know him have perceived something subtly different about him each time they meet - the shade of his eyes, his height, even the thickness and curl of his hair. Rary calls these his "troubling inconsistencies."

Drawmij wears magical robes of cool colors, favoring elven designs.

For the last decade or so, Drawmij has focused on the theories of chronomancy, magic involving the manipulation of time. He has grown increasingly eccentric of late.

Relationships

Drawmij is a member of the Circle of Eight. He has a close connection to Duke Luschan of Gradsul, who may be a relative of his. Drawmij also spends time with the Hierophant Sverdras Meno, a druid of the Old Faith who oversees the Azure Sea.

Drawmij has many contacts among the minstrels and bards of Celene, though few in the capital of Enstad admit to knowing him. Drawmij has few known agents, but he knows much more about Keoland and its client states than it seems like he should.

Drawmij has an enduring hatred of Jaran Krimeeah, the Mage of the Valley of the Mage, and is forever trying to persuade other members of the Circle of Eight to help him kill the wily archmage once and for all. Jallarzi Sallavarian has suggested to Otto that Drawmij's true enmity is for Tysiln San, Jaran's mistress, though the reasons for this are unknown.

Drawmij only grudgingly accepted the addition of Warnes Starcoat and Alhamazed to the Circle of Eight, and argued against the inclusion of Theodain Eriason. Since losing that fight, however, he has treated Theodain's presence with bland acceptance.

Home

Drawmij is reputed to live in a cavernous underwater fortress beneath the Azure Sea, 150 miles south of Gradsul in Keoland, where he deals with merfolk, whales, dolphins, and many other denizens of the ocean. This fastness was once the dwelling of the druid Sverdras Meno. He visits the Free City of Greyhawk as little as possible, finding it stifling and distasteful, but visits Gradsul regularly. Drawmij possesses a magical metal boat he can pilot underwater.

Spells

Drawmij is responsible for developing the commonly known spell Drawmij's instant summons.

Drawmij has also developed the following additional spells:

• Drawmij's adventurer's luck
• Drawmij's beast of burden
• Drawmij's beneficent polymorph
• Drawmij's breath of life
• Drawmij's flying feat
• Drawmij's handy timepiece
• Drawmij's instant exit
• Drawmij's iron sack
• Drawmij's light step
• Drawmij's marvelous shield
• Drawmij's merciful metamorphosis
• Drawmij's protection from nonmagical gas
• Drawmij's scent mask
• Drawmij's swift mount
• Drawmij's tool box

Magic items

Drawmij is credited with the development of the following magic items:

• Drawmij's undersea apparatus (Dungeon #77)

Writings

Drawmij is known to have authored the following works:

• Repertoire of Illustrious Conjurations

Trivia

A parody spell, Drawmij's instant death, appeared in Dragon #144, in the article "Still More Outrages from the Mages." The spell description reads in part, "When this spell is cast, Drawmij, whoever he is and wherever he is, dies. [...] As this spell has been around for some time, it is safe to assume that Drawmij is getting pretty sick and tired of it."

Other uses

• An elven prince called Drawmij Koehlanna appears as a character in an elvish version of the Snow White story in The Complete Book of Elves, page 58.
• A storyteller named Drawmij appears in the introduction to "A Tale Within a Tale," a short story by James M. Ward that appears in the Forgotten Realms accessory Gateway to Ravens Bluff, The Living City.

Other media

Drawmij's Instant Summons appears on the scroll given to Vaarsuvius in the Order of the Stick webcomic #678 by Rich Burlew.

References

• Cook, David. "History of the Greyhawk Wars." Wars (TSR, 1991). Available Online: [1]
  • Cook, David. Vecna Lives! (TSR, 1990).
• Gygax, Gary. Players Handbook (TSR, 1978).
• Heard, Bruce. "Spells Between the Covers." Dragon #82 (TSR, 1984).
• Holian, Gary. "Silent Sorcery: The Silent Ones of Keoland." Living Greyhawk Journal #4 (Paizo Publishing 2001).
• Holian, Gary, Erik Mona, Sean K Reynolds, and Frederick Weining. Living Greyhawk Gazetteer (Wizards of the Coast, 2000).
• Mona, Erik, and Gary Holian. "Wheels within Wheels: Greyhawk's Circle of Eight." Living Greyhawk Journal #0 (Paizo Publishing, 2000). Available online: [2]
• Moore, Roger E. Greyhawk: The Adventure Begins (TSR, 1998).
  • Moore, Roger. Return of the Eight (TSR, 1998).
• Niles, Douglas, and Carl Sargent. The City of Greyhawk. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1989.
• Peck, W. Jason. "To Walk Beneath the Waves." Dungeon #77. Renton, WA: TSR, 1999.
• Pryor, Anthony. Rary the Traitor (TSR, 1992).
  • Sargent, Carl. From the Ashes (TSR, 1993).
• Ward, James M. Greyhawk Adventures (TSR, 1988).
• Wood, Sam. "Window on the World." Dragon # 290. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2001.

External links

• Forum thread Q&A with Jim Ward