 Althea, Radnor, and Frobwit  Althea and her husband   
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Althea had once been a carefree beauty, with many handsome lovers and a gift for magic inherited from a Zizbit ancestor along with one of their spellbooks. She graduated from the Borphee Magic School, where she had flirted with all the boys. Her favorite had been a bold young magician named Radnor, who was always teasing a homely but likeable fellow named Frobwit. He wooed her, but she chose Radnor.
But life swept her along on its strange, twisting path. She married a sea captain and settled down. But her marriage did not last long. Her husband was reported missing after a treacherous gale. As a widow, she no longer practiced magic. Her strength and beauty deteriorated along with her spirit.
Living in her lonely house on a knoll overlooking the harbor on the outskirts of Accardi-by-the-Sea, she became an ailing old woman. A terribly ugly woman named Moog became her nurse originally for the intention of earning money to pay for magic school, but right from the start knew that Althea was hiding something, as the old woman would not leave her alone for a second.
As Althea grew so old that it was likely that she might soon pass away (c. 957-966 GUE), Moog used tricks learned in one of her magic courses to plot a dastardly crime. She stole Althea’s spellbook right from under her nose, hoping to use it to break the magic circle around the ruins of Pheebor to obtain the Zizbit treasure. Althea had awoken that night to find the intruder in her room, but her already perilous health prevented her from taking action. After the theft, her nurse Moog was not to be found.
In the meantime, Acia, who was the favorite granddaughter of Althea from the Northlands, had heard that she was soon to pass away. The granddaughter was sent to Accardi-by-the-Sea to make sure that Althea left her inheritance to Acia’s branch of the family. Acia found passage to the village on a caravan driven by Gurthark the Stout, and was accompanied by both Ryker and Frobwit the Fair.
After Acia underwent many calamities, including the entrapment of Radnor into a crystal ball, Ryker dropped left the young woman off at Althea’s home. In her aged state, Althea was unable to recognize Acia, and even when she strained to hear her granddaughter, could not properly discern her words. While Althea wearily faded into slumber, Acia rummaged the home, but was unable to turn up either her will or fortune.
Just as Althea was finally able to recognize that Acia was her granddaughter, one of the seven bursts of evil emanated from the crystal ball which Acia still carried with her. An electric sensation coursed through Althea’s body. Without warning, she miraculously regained all the loveliness and vigor of her youth, while her granddaughter Acia became as weak, withered, stooped and wrinkled as a woman many times her age! Acia did not only lost her beauty and strength, but also her spirit. She was fading fast. Acia seemed to feel as weak as she looked.
Althea persuaded Acia to lie down while she sought after her Zizbit spellbook, but found that it had been stolen from its hiding place in the corner of her room. An alternative solution presented itself—she left at once to find help at the annual Convention of Enchanters and Sorcerers. While walking the streets of Accardi-by-the-Sea, Althea unknowingly ran into Ryker, who had been transformed into an immense half-naked creature. He had slammed right into her, knocking her to the ground. She wanted to help him, but the determined villagers, who sought to destroy the beast, drove him away.
It had been a long time since she had attended the Convention of Enchanters and Sorcerers. Her youthful joy in her magic skills flooded back. She was determined to never again lose touch with her Zizbit ancestry. She recognized Frobwit, a fellow student at magic school so many years ago. He was recognizable even with his long white beard. Frobwit recognized Althea, and she explained the mysterious circumstances around her newly acquired youth and the aging of her granddaughter. Frobwit offered his assistance.
Before any effort could be made to break Acia’s enchantment, the Triax was completed and a black pall settled over the Guild Hall. A thin wind whistled in through unseen cracks in the old walls as an ominous thunderclap proclaimed the onset of a new reign of darkness. Little details survive of this dark period of history, and thus the fate of Althea and Frobwit is unknown.
ALTHEA'S HOUSE NEAR ACCARDI-BY-THE-SEA
