Raymond

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Raymond (Zuo Si)
Alias(es)	Soth; Leftovers; “Young Master Hardman” (cover identity) 2 37 76
Species/Race	Human; later recorded as Human/Devil 2 584
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Formerly Astar’s Floating City Tower; later an ally of Calimport’s Thieves’ Guild and a leading power in the West Coast Empire 6 47 516
Occupation/Role	Planeswalker, Creator, wizard, magical inventor, political strategist
Status	Active 757
First Appearance	Chapter 1

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Planeswalker Lv. 2; Creator Lv. 5	2	Initial recorded status. Possesses a Level 2 Spark, 100 mana capacity, and twelve cards.
Land Card creation unlocked	4	Creates a Land Card for the Floating City Tower, binding its energy to his Creator profession and gaining a stable mana source beyond his original world.
Planeswalker Lv. 3	30	Absorbs residual magical energy after defeating pirates and bandits; mana capacity rises from 100 to 150, and he gains access to Level 3 cards.
Wizard Lv. 2	55	Absorbs life energy from dying ratfolk; gains an additional first-ring spell slot.
Creator Lv. 9; Mage Lv. 5; Planeswalker Lv. 4; Spark Lv. 4	96	Recorded with a 200-point mana pool, one active Land Card, and access to Refinement, Shaping, Awaken Creation, and Enhancement.
Planeswalker Lv. 7	175	Seals the dracolich Balithrisyat and its phylactery into a Creature Card; gains the ability to create Barrier Cards.
Rainbow Apprentice	350	Receives the prestige-class knowledge from Oghma, choosing a path focused on rainbow-based defensive and offensive barriers.
Planeswalker Lv. 31; Creator Lv. 28	584	Later recorded with major multiclass advancement, including Wizard Lv. 20, Cleric Lv. 25, Sorcerer Lv. 45, Great Mage Lv. 5, Rainbow Apprentice Lv. 7, and Arcane King Lv. 15.

Background

Raymond is an Earth transmigrator who entered the Aelir magical civilization and became the favored apprentice of the necromancer archmage Astar. To survive within Aelir’s slave-owning mage society and conceal his outsider origin, he deliberately abandoned much of his former morality, becoming desensitized to dissection, necromancy, and the use of living beings as materials. Astar’s training gave him extensive experience in autopsies, undead construction, and magical experimentation. 1 2

During an illness brought on by exhaustion and cold, Raymond unknowingly released Earth bacteria and viruses that mutated after interacting with magical energy. His sneeze initiated a rapidly evolving plague that devastated Aelir, killed countless people, and caused the dead to rise as undead. Raymond later concluded that his body normally maintained a balance with the pathogens, but illness allowed them to multiply uncontrollably. Astar’s failure to isolate him and his reckless pursuit of magical advancement also contributed to the catastrophe. 1 4 382

After the plague trapped him in the Floating City Tower, Raymond turned the tower into a Land Card, prepared supplies, and sought to escape through Astar’s portal to Faerûn. His immediate plan depended on negotiating with Vermees, an imprisoned Adult Red Dragon whose strength could overcome the tower’s remaining defenses. 4 6 8

In Faerûn, he built power through magical research, card creation, mercenary alliances, commerce, necromancy, and political influence. His later activities expand from Calimport’s criminal conflicts to the Cult of the Dragon, the West Coast Empire, Hogwarts, and other worlds reached through his Planeswalker abilities. 47 175 229 516

Appearance

Raymond is a small human male standing roughly 1.3 meters tall. He is routinely mistaken for a child under ten, an impression he deliberately preserves because it grants him social advantages. 1 4

• Appears to be around ten years old, despite being older than he looks. 4
• Had baby teeth falling out during the Floating City plague. 4
• Often relies on his harmless-looking appearance to make enemies underestimate him. 7 91
• Later possesses a Human/Devil racial status. 584

Personality

Raymond is intensely analytical, methodical, and knowledge-driven. During the collapse of Aelir, he performed autopsies, tested infection routes, and documented the plague rather than surrendering to panic. He considers knowledge a source of wealth, power, and security, and prefers prolonged study to social activity. 1 2 41

His morality is highly pragmatic. Raymond will cooperate with criminals, exploit enemies, use poison, enslave hostile supernatural beings, or turn defeated opponents into cards if doing so advances his goals. He nevertheless places great value on preparation, information, and maintaining leverage over allies. 25 66 175 382

He is also distrustful of unexpected generosity or opportunities, instinctively suspecting hidden schemes. This paranoia makes him cautious in negotiations, but it also reinforces his tendency to seek control over every relationship. 47 48 91

Abilities & Skills

Planeswalker Spark

Raymond’s Spark allows him to travel between worlds and develop cards, Land Cards, Creature Cards, and later Barrier Cards. His ability to locate other worlds was originally exploited by Astar to establish a portal to Faerûn. 2 6 175

• Performs unstable interplanar, interplanar, and interuniversal teleportation. 96
• Creates Land Cards that provide recurring mana and preserve access to linked resources across worlds. 4
• Seals living beings, undead, and other creatures into controllable Creature Cards. 78 175
• Captured Balithrisyat, an ancient Green Dragon dracolich, together with its phylactery. 175

Creator Arts

As a Creator, Raymond specializes in alchemy, magical items, artificial life, refinement, and altering matter. He cannot initially cast conventional spells through the class, so he compensates through items, cards, scrolls, and inventions. 2 5

• Refinement — Destroys magical items, potions, and other resources to recover universal mana. 5 6
• Shaping — Seamlessly alters and fuses matter without incantations, gestures, or spell components. 41
• Awaken Creation — Grants intelligence or animation to artificial creations. 2 96
• Enhancement — Improves crafted items and magical equipment. 96
• Crafts energy-storage devices with a level of stability other spellcasters cannot reproduce through ordinary methods. 41 58

Mind Library

Mind Library creates a categorized mental archive for knowledge and memories, allowing Raymond to remember anything he sees at a glance. 2

• Memorizes large quantities of magical theory and written knowledge rapidly. 2 58
• Cannot use mere memorization to replace the abstract study and practice required for learning spells. 58

Arcane Magic

After reaching Faerûn, Raymond studies the Weave and adapts quickly to its spellcasting principles. He views its diverse spell system as a way to overcome the limitations of the Creator class. 41 43

• Learned numerous cantrips within hours, including Detect Poison, Detect Magic, Mage Hand, Ray of Frost, Shocking Grasp, and Magic Missile. 43
• Uses practical spellcraft for food safety, communication, combat, infiltration, and weapon enhancement. 43
• Developed a compound spell by combining enlargement and shattering effects, killing a troll after immobilizing it with Grease. 235
• Created magical scroll technology and wand rings that can store spells for thought-activated use. 229 234

Necromancy and Mental Control

Raymond uses undead as labor, weapons, scouts, and sources of negative energy. He also employs the Oddity, a Mind Flayer-derived creation capable of mind-reading and controlling living creatures. 5 66 174

• Built an undead-powered generator using tireless undead labor. 5
• Turned the assassin Yelinya into a shadow servant under his command. 66
• Commands a Shadow Legion that can grow through mass killing, though it remains vulnerable to positive energy and large-scale evocation. 173
• Uses the Oddity to read memories, gather intelligence, and control Vermees’s body. 174

Magical Engineering

Raymond combines scientific principles with magic to create weapons and infrastructure unavailable through conventional Faerûnian craftsmanship. 5 162 237

• Lightning Emitter — Portable crystal-powered weapon capable of firing thirty ordinary lightning bolts or one exceptionally powerful blast. 5
• Energy-storage devices — Seamlessly shaped crystalline batteries charged with magical electricity. 41 58
• Beast-shaped Iron Golem — Designed a quadrupedal golem from twenty tons of high-manganese steel, mithral reinforcement, transmutation runes, and high-level magic. 162
• Black Lightning brooms — Designed supersonic broomsticks with acceleration boosters, sharp-turning mechanisms, protective enchantments, and automatic shielding. 237

Divine and High-Level Powers

Raymond later acquires divine, druidic, arcane, and infernal power through artifacts, class advancement, and alliances with gods. 350 584

• While wielding Talona’s Favor, gains Angel Poisonheart’s druidic transformations, nature communication, divine spell slots, and Wrath of Nature. 350
• Uses Talona’s Favor’s Soul Worms curse to inflict soul-deep pain that disrupts concentration, judgment, reflexes, and spellcasting. 350
• Developed Spark Resonance, proving that a weakened or extinguished Spark may be restored through resonance with another Spark. 296
• Acquired Speed Force abilities through an Earth Land Card, including super speed, accelerated thought, time travel, molecular control, and Speed Force shielding. 757

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Legacy — Inherited card legacy containing a limited pool of cards and long-term potential. 2 4
• Floating City Tower Land Card — Generates generic and black mana while binding the tower’s energy to Raymond’s Creator profession. 4
• Lightning Emitter — Belt-mounted electrical weapon powered by a charged magical crystal. 5
• Spell Storage Ring — Enhanced with a black diamond and mana-regenerating pearls; stores up to six spell levels and grants additional first- through fourth-level spell slots. 91
• Holy Grail — Produces three daily doses of healing holy water. 40
• Talona’s Favor — Divine weapon enhanced with Angel Poisonheart’s Soul Gem and the Soul Worms curse. 350
• Black Philosopher’s Stone — Hybrid alchemical artifact containing Quicksilver; can generate more Quicksilver, transmute metals, protect against instant-death magic, and create potent healing or resurrection potions. 286

Relationships

• Astar — Former mentor and necromantic collaborator. Astar trained Raymond in dissection and undead construction, used his Planeswalker talent to reach Faerûn, and later became a subordinate under Raymond’s control. 2 6 382
• Vermees — Imprisoned Adult Red Dragon initially approached as a necessary escape ally. Their relationship develops into a tense partnership shaped by her greed, pride, and Raymond’s control through the Oddity. 6 8 174
• Bernard — Merchant ally whose commercial ambitions Raymond encourages and expands into political and economic influence. 30 174 212
• Fangus — Werewolf clan leader who seeks Raymond’s protection after her clan is massacred; becomes part of his dependent circle. 45 48 91
• Yelinya — Former Shadow Thief assassin killed and transformed into Raymond’s unwilling shadow servant. 66 67
• Isadora — Overmind and deeply trusted ally. Raymond promises to help her become a Planeswalker, strengthening her devotion to him. 382
• Hermione Granger — Hogwarts associate who becomes romantically involved with Raymond; he entrusts her with the secret of his Sorcerer’s Stone and gives her magical companions. 296 287
• Talona — Goddess of disease and plague; Raymond’s major divine patron and political ally against Cyric. 175 350
• Aisha — Chosen by Xiaen VII as Raymond’s future bride and political partner in a planned imperial dynasty. 358

Story Role / Major Arcs

• Aelir Plague and Escape — Accidentally unleashes the magical plague that destroys Aelir civilization, then uses scientific investigation, card creation, and preparation to escape the Floating City Tower. 1 4 6
• Calimport Underworld — Uses poison, summoned soldiers, magical research, and conditional alliances with the Thieves’ Guild to establish himself in Calimport. 25 47 48
• Rise Through Cards and Necromancy — Builds an expanding force of shadow servants, summoned creatures, controlled prisoners, and magical constructs. 66 78 173
• Cult of the Dragon Campaign — Orchestrates the defeat of the Cult of the Dragon and Zhentarim forces, captures Balithrisyat, and reaches Planeswalker Level 7. 174 175
• Hogwarts Arc — Enters Hogwarts, develops spell-scroll technology, challenges conventional magical theory, and becomes a target of Voldemort’s interest. 229 235
• Imperial Expansion — Supports Xiaen VII’s centralization of Caledon, advocates ruthless anti-slavery reforms, and helps build the West Coast Empire through magical force and political control. 358 382 516
• Earth and Dimensional Conflict — Extends his influence to Earth through technology-for-souls contracts, magical intervention, and preparations for dimensional warfare. 699 700 755

Notable Quotes

“Long-term benefits are what matter most. Never let short-term gains blind you.” 174

“I was better prepared than the enemy, so wasn't victory only natural?” 175