Bigby

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Greyhawk Character
Bigby
Bigby, as depicted in Living Greyhawk Journal #0 (2000).
Homeland Veluna (formerly Onnwal)
Gender Male
Race Human
Age Born circa 534 CY
Class Wizard 19
Alignment Neutral

Bigby is an archmage. Before the Greyhawk Wars, Bigby made his home in Scant, capital of Onnwal. Nowadays, he can often be found in Mitrik, Veluna. His personal symbol is an open palm behind a large, stylized bumblebee.

Description

In 591 CY, Bigby is nearly 58 years old. He stands 5'11" tall and weighs 149 pounds. His hair is light brown, and his eyes are dark brown. He has Oeridian facial features, although his skin is pale and he is extremely gaunt. He is quiet, introverted, soft-spoken, and appears perpetually nervous and overly cautious about everything. "I think we should be very careful about what we're about to do" is his pet phrase. He is puritanical and ascetic, eschewing pleasures of the flesh.

Relationships

Bigby is a scion of the Aerdi House Cranden. The death knight Sir Oslan Knarren is one of his ancestors.

The former apprentice of Mordenkainen, Bigby is part of the Circle of Eight, and is a former member of the Citadel of Eight. He helped found both groups. Bigby is an ally of Cobb Darg and Elayne Mystica of Irongate. He opposes the Scarlet Brotherhood, which occupies his adopted home of Scant.

Bigby considers himself the enemy of the lich Xaene and the former Circle of Eight member Rary.

History

Yrag, Mordenkainen, Bigby, and Riggby, as depicted in Mordenkainen's Fantastic Adventure (1984).

Bigby was born in the town of Oldridge in approximately 534 CY. He traveled to the Wild Coast early in life and became an apprentice of Mordenkainen. Together, the two founded the Citadel of Eight in 561 CY.

In 570 CY, Bigby ventured beneath Castle Greyhawk with Tenser and Neb Retnar in an attempt to stop Robilar's scheme to release the demigod Iuz from Zagyg's Godtrap. They arrived too late to prevent the release, but acted to help Robilar finish the weakened cambion off. Although Bigby nearly succeeded in destroying Iuz's physical body with his Crushing Hand spell, Iuz managed to teleport away at the last minute.

In 571 CY, Mordenkainen and Bigby founded the Circle of Eight. Bigby was forced to leave his tower in Oldridge in 573 thanks to intrigue with Xaene, then court wizard to Ivid V, causing him to relocate to Scant. There, he posed as a merchant of rare goods and built an alliance within the Iron League.

At some point, a large statue of Bigby was constructed in the otherworldly city of Sigil, although it is far from clear how this came to be.

In 581 CY, Tenser accompanied Bigby, Drawmij, Jallarzi Sallavarian, Nystul, Otiluke, Otto, and Rary to the tomb of Halmadar the Cruel. Every member of the party died that day, though they were brought back to life later through the agency of clone spells.

The Circle was betrayed in 584 CY, when Tenser, Bigby, and Otiluke discovered a plan by the Circle's own Rary to slay a number of diplomats assembled in Greyhawk to sign the treaty ending the Greyhawk Wars. Unfortunately, Rary witnessed their discovery, and a great magical battle ensued, resulting in the deaths of Otiluke and Tenser, and severely wounding Bigby, who was unable to pursue Rary as he escaped.

Of late, Bigby has abandoned some of his earlier caution, although he is still thoughtful and conservative in temperament.

Spells

Bigby, as depicted in Mordenkainen's Fantastic Adventure (1984).

Bigby is responsible for developing such commonly known spells as:

  • Bigby's Clenched Fist
  • Bigby's Crushing Hand
  • Bigby's Forceful Hand
  • Bigby's Grasping Hand
  • Bigby's Interposing Hand

Bigby has also developed the following additional spells:

  • Bigby's Battering Gauntlet
  • Bigby's Besieging Bolt
  • Bigby's Bookworm Bane
  • Bigby's Construction Crew
  • Bigby's Dextrous Digits
  • Bigby's Fantastic Fencers
  • Bigby's Feeling Fingers
  • Bigby's Force Sculpture
  • Bigby's Helpful Hand
  • Bigby's Most Excellent Force Sculpture
  • Bigby's Pugnacious Pugilist
  • Bigby's Silencing Hand
  • Bigby's Slapping Hand
  • Bigby's Strangling Grip
  • Bigby's Striking Fist
  • Bigby's Superior Force Sculpture
  • Bigby's Tripping Hand
  • Bigby's Warding Hand

Writings

Bigby is known to have authored the following works:

  • Manual Powers Beyond Life

Bigby in other media

In the computer game Planescape:Torment, some text found within the game's files (but not within the game itself) indicates that Bigby was an incarnation of the The Nameless One. [1]

In the book Passage To Dawn by R.A. Salvatore, when Harkle Harpell enters into an unorthodox contest of wizardry with the Sea Sprite's wizard Robillard (no relation to Robilar), Harkle boasts that he had "improved on Bigby" with his spell Bigby's Snapping Digits.

Jones Soda Company has released a limited edition D&D soda set; one of the sodas is Bigby's Crushing Thirst Destroyer. Jones Soda Co. Dungeons & Dragons Limited Edition Soda

Creative origins

Bigby was originally a character played by Gary Gygax.

Bibliography