Drawmij

Template:Greyhawk character Drawmij is an archmage, and a member of the wizardly conclave known as the Circle of Eight.

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Drawmij is reputed to live in an underwater fortress beneath the Azure Sea.

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 beneficient 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

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 J.R.R. Tolkien character Tom Bombadil, and Ward subsequently created a new character, Drawmij.

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.

Bibliography

• Cook, David. "History of the Greyhawk Wars." Wars. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1991. Available online:[1]
• -----. Vecna Lives!. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1990.

• Gygax, Gary. Players Handbook. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1978.

• Heard, Bruce. "Spells Between the Covers." Dragon #82. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1984.

• Holian, Gary. "Silent Sorcery: The Silent Ones of Keoland." Living Greyhawk Journal #4. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2001.

• Holian, Gary, Erik Mona, Sean K. Reynolds, and Frederick Weining. Living Greyhawk Gazetteer. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2000.

• Maxstadt, John M. "Still More Outrages from the Mages." Dragon #144. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1989.

• McComb, Colin. The Complete Book of Elves. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1992.

• Mona, Erik, and Gary Holian. "Wheels within Wheels: Greyhawk's Circle of Eight." Living Greyhawk Journal #0. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2000. Available online:[2]

• Moore, Roger E. Greyhawk: The Adventure Begins. Renton, WA: TSR, 1998.
• -----. Return of the Eight. Renton, WA: 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. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1992.

• Sargent, Carl. From the Ashes. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1993.

• Ward, James M. Greyhawk Adventures. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1988.

• Williams, Skip and Ed Sollers. Gateway to RAVENS BLUFF, the Living City. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1989.

External links

• Dragonsfoot Forum thread Q&A with Jim Ward.