NPC: Alzador

Alzador is a wizard of moderate level who will provide training to lower level magicians and offer magical assistance when needed, for a price. He lives in the tower on the uppermost level, along with whatever student he is currently tutoring.

Alzador has quite a few powerful magical items, one of which is his enchanted crown--but no one knows what the enchantments are. He likes to wear it while walking on the roof of his tower, but never wears it outside the building. The locals refer to him as the King of Bug Tussle, and Alzador actually thinks this is a complimentary remark!

Alzador joined the Hopeful Seven after Shandar was cast out from the group when it was still operating out of Epping, in the Kindom of Ool, on the far side of the Anauroch desert.

This miniature is another one that I got from that hobby store in San Francisco. It is stamped Ral Partha 1977 on the bottom. I bought it because it reminded me of a character I played in a play in High School, which was written (I think) by my High School speech teacher, Harvey Green. The play was Alzador and the Enchanted Crown. I had a blue robe and a big staff and a long grey beard. This miniature looked pretty close to what I imagined the character to be like. I see him pop up in hobby stores and on eBay a lot, and in almost every case the top of the staff is broken off and missing...just like what happened to mine some years back. I took a staff from the Reaper Warlord accessories and cut it to size and glued it on the hand. I think this is a nicer staff than the original, which was just a long cudgel. I just finished painting him yesterday...he's been in my collection for nearly two decades and I never finished painting him because I didn't want to paint it without fixing the staff and I just couldn't find the right piece until recently when I went through my Reaper spare parts.

And now, ladies and gentlemen, the Ringo Starr who made Shandar the Pete Best of the Hopeful Seven.

I decided that I will photograph the mini the first time before I put the varnish on it, that should be a fair compromise.