Varve is a character that appears in Might and Magic: The Dreamwright and Might and Magic: The Shadowsmith. He was one of the soldiers that accompanied Diligence's caravan when it left The Wheel. He was a short, stout, friendly man with a poor imagination.
In The Dreamwright[]
Varve accompanied Shevoss and Diligence when the caravan explored a nearby lake after Huben and Tarler were killed, and was one of the first people to meet Hitch and the unconscious Jassad Attqua. Unlike Shevoss, he didn't immediately assume that Hitch was responsible for the death of their friends, but he was wary of the boy.
Later, the group was about to travel through a basin near the Aulmad, when the scouts Brevny and Dopple reported that a great battle was taking place there. Shevoss and Varve were later sent to see if the battle was now over, but reported that there were no signs of combat. Dopple accused them of lying, and tried to pick a fight with either of them, but neither took the bait, and Welleck soon sent the two pairs of guards to opposite sides of the camp. The battle later turned out to be a recording of the Rout of Red Harra that Pomponderant was watching.
The caravan was ambushed after leaving Paddifraw's Repose, and many of the travelers were slain. Varve disappeared, and the others assumed he had also been killed.
In The Shadowsmith[]
During the battle, Varve had hit his head and fallen into a ravine. When he woke up, he started to wander southward, hoping to meet up with other survivors, and eventually stumbled across the broken remains of their supply wagon. The wagon was heavily damaged, but enough of the solar panels remained on the roof to keep it moving. Believing that he was the only survivor, and not seeing much of a point of going to the Unseen Wall when he couldn't fulfil any of Amonwelle's demands, he set a course back to the Wheel and got the wagon rolling.
Weeks later, he encountered Hitch and Jassad in the Blasted Lands. As they had all just passed through a group of trammelers, both Hitch and Varve thought the other was an illusion, but luckily, Jassad was immune to illusions and convinced them they were wrong. As they were heading in the same direction, they decided to travel on together in Varve's wagon.
Tinderboy[]
A short time later, they found what remained of a tribe of candlemen that had been massacred. As they searched through the burned remains of the camp, they found a young boy hidden in a hastily excavated hollow, carrying a wooden strongbox shut with iron bands. Varve had several times been assigned as a guard at the northeastern gate of The Wheel, the location closest to the home of the candlemen. As such, he had grown somewhat familiar with candleman lore. He said that judging by the way he'd been hidden and protected, the child almost seemed like a tinderboy, but he didn't think there had been a true tinderboy for more than 500 years. He become very protective of the poor little boy, and they became good friends.
Not wanting to leave a young child alone in the desert, they brought him along, planning on leaving him with the first tribe of candlemen they came across. A few days later, they spotted another tribe wandering through the desert. Deciding not to announce their presence until the morning, they were woken in the night to find a flying craft attacking the candlemen's camp. Fire swept the ground as the ship flew back and forth, reducing the camp to ash. Changing direction, the ship then flew straight towards Hitch's group, but was struck by a building thunderstorm, and became disoriented. The others prepared the wagon while Hitch picked up the tinderboy, and they fled as the thunderstorm died.
Portals[]
The group eventually headed to the nearby impery known as Tustable to find supplies, but the place was deserted. Hitch soon remembered a warning they'd been given, that the place had been overrun by a coalition of rockrasps and little winding men. That night, a group of rockrasps caused a wall to fall on the wagon, but the travelers woke up in time to evade it. They fled into the tunnels, where they discovered the ancient ruins of a very advanced civilization. Here, Hitch managed to activate an ancient statue that called itself Carverax. Bowing before him, it pledged to serve him for eternity. Jassad fell through a magic portal, and when the others were suddenly attacked by a group of yeofolk, they followed him through.
They emerged in a strange, red-skied world. Due to the heat and the occasional earthquakes, Varve concluded that they had ended up far to the south, in the Restless Lands, despite the fact that it was obvious to everyone else that they were no longer in the same world. They befriended the headman of a tribe of red-skinned people, who gave them food and shelter. The peace was broken when Dubiel's army came through the portal, but the group was aided by the villagers, and the enemy soldiers were soon defeated.
Dubiel[]
Returning to their own world, the group traveled to the lake where Jassad's golden ship had sunk. While Jassad retrieved his spacecraft, the others spotted a dark creature sneaking up on him. Hitch rushed forward and hit it with the Staff of Blue Light, causing a flash of light that disintegrated the man. Hitch somehow knew that he had faced Dubiel himself.
Carverax discovered a short creature spying on them. Interrogating him, they learned that his name was Nobbon Half-hob, and he claimed to be the "lieutenant and valued confidant of Lord Dubiel". Varve took an instant dislike to the smelly little creature, and the feeling was mutual.
When his vessel had been raised from the lake, Jassad seemed to go insane, talking about destroying the Unseen Wall and eradicating the yeofolk and the candlemen. The others fled as the ship took off. Carverax tried to hold the ship down, but was lifted into the air. Nobbon offered to let the group follow the craft in his car, but in the middle of the night, he attempted to take their supplies and leave. Hitch woke up in time to stop him. They kept a close watch on him after this.
When the group drove into the Blasted Lands, the tinderboy started to become agitated, and eventually managed to run away. Hitch and Varve tied up Nobbon and followed the boy. He led them to the hearthstone, where the candlemen were about to sacrifice Diligence and her fellow caravan members to the sky by causing lightning to strike them. Using his strange powers, the tinderboy gathered the lightning in his strongbox, and the candlemen gathered around their new leader.
Hitch and Varve freed their friends. Shevoss was shocked to see Varve, and barely recognized the thinner, sunburned man as her former comrade-in-arms. Their celebration was cut short when they learned that Nobbon had managed to escape with the staff, and that Jassad's golden ship was coming to attack them. Eil do Mer, one of Diligence's new friends, revealed that she had a ship of her own, one that had come under Dubiel's control. She could summon it with her amulet, and with the aid of the tinderboy's lightning, she regained control of it. Hitch and Varve were shocked when they recognized the vessel that had slaughtered the candlemen.
Eil do Mer managed to defeat Jassad, and the vessel fell to the ground. Carverax was still hanging on to the outside, and hadn't had any problems with the journey. Eventually, Jassad was freed from Dubiel's control.
When the group decided to head back to the Unseen Wall, Carverax chose to stay behind with the tinderboy. The tinderboy gave Varve a small doll carved out of wormbone, and the soldier had a tear in his eye as they left the camp.
Personality[]
Varve wasn't particularly bright, nor was he as brave as many of the other members of the caravan. He rarely thought before he spoke, which caused him to be somewhat undiplomatic. But despite his directness, he did his best to avoid conflict. He was also friendly and kind, and extremely loyal to his friends and allies.