A sorcerer from Yurasiu
Bricabrac was the name of the unlucky sorcerer who traveled through the land of Chinayindu in search of magic. He arrived from the distant land of Yurasiu, following the powerful sorcerer Alastar Lupin.
While Alastar adopted a new name upon arriving in Chinayindu and resorted to considerable cunning, Bricabrac didn’t even bother changing his name. Needless to say, luck was not on Bricabrac’s side.
His robe quickly fell into disrepair, and his short stature and disproportionate width gave the sorcerer an even more unworthy appearance. His face, resembling a rat’s snout, did nothing to improve his looks.
During his travels, Bricabrac faced numerous misfortunes, yet occasionally luck smiled upon him. For instance, he encountered the familiar Takuan and discovered one of his secrets. Then, through an entirely uncharacteristic trickery, Bricabrac obtained several magical items, which brought him immense joy.
To learn about the nature of these items and the secret Bricabrac learned about Takuan, read the second book of ‘Takuan from Koto’ titled ‘Hunters of Weredemons.’
He was of low stature and of a thickness inconsistent with his height. On short legs, he minced along the road, and had difficulty keeping up with the caravan. His puffy-cheeked rat-face was wet with sweat. A hexagonal skullcap covered uneven bald patches, and a shabby robe hung from his shoulders. Once this robe could have been called lavish, but now it was greasy and tattered. Still, Takuan noticed that the robe was covered with foreign symbols from top to bottom.
The man was a wandering sorcerer travelling with the convoy. His name was Bricabrac, and he came from a distant land on the other side of the Everlasting Ocean. Truth be told, as a sorcerer he was very mediocre. Any wizard of any skill could beat Bricabrac in a magical duel, though Bricabrac himself had a different opinion about himself. He attributed his failures to circumstance, and waited for the right opportunity to prove himself. Surprisingly, this was combined with the fact that Bricabrac was fainthearted. At the sight of any danger, his legs trembled and carried him away all by themselves.
“Let me finish my supper first,” said Bricabrac. “And bring more wine! To all of us!”
He hoped that wine would give him courage, or drive away the farmers’ thoughts from hunting demons. But his hopes were destined not to come true.
Lupin and Bricabrac were sorcerers who got their magicks from ancient spell books. Bricabrac read only a few and, having memorised a dozen spells, began to boast of them right and left.
Yet, at the moment when Bricabrac had just begun his journey, he did not know anything about his fate. His thoughts were occupied only by dreams of how he would get ahead of Lupin and get hold of the magical implements that the Dark Lord demanded.
In his dreams, the unfortunate-to-be sorcerer saw himself rich and ennobled. He began to turn his nose up and boast of made-up successes in front of everyone who got in his way.
“Dark Lord!” he cried, making his voice as threatening as possible – which wasn’t very. “Hear my command! Let the heavenly light come to me!”
Bricabrac was much comforted by the fact that he had asked the Dark Lord of demons for light that belonged to the Heavens. He knew that the Dark Lord would not hear his words anyway, because true spells were never spoken aloud.