Volothamp Geddarm, or Volo for short, was a legendary traveler and storyteller and was most famous for his guidebook published by Tym Waterdeep Limited. He was oft portrayed as the quintessential "go-to guy" of the Realms even if his information was, at best, half-accurate. He was too curious for his own good. As traveling scholar and minor wizard, Volo was always on the lookout for an exposé. He all too frequently was at odds with Elminster, who preferred some things to be kept in the dark. While Volo's reputation was well-earned and well-kept, there were others who tended to profit from it, the most well-known being Marco Volo, as he styled himself when it suits him, also known as Marcus Wands, of the famous Wands family of wizards. A trouble-making bard, Wands gained Volothamp's moniker after he stole an artifact from a powerful wizard, and laid the blame on the far more infamous scapegoat of the real Volo. Pursued by the mad mage and his forces, and protected by adventurers hired by his father, Marco came into his own at the finale, when the artifact was revealed as containing a god from another world, who had come to Toril along with Marco's family. The Sunstaffs, as they were known then, had, through the generations, been destined to keep the god imprisoned. Marco awakened to his destiny with the help of the adventurers, his own intuition, and the gods Tyr, Sune, and Corellon Larethian. Though only being a very minor mage, Volo apparently invented a spell, known as Volo's snatch.
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