Garvin

Biodata

Feature	Information
Name	Garvin (加尔文)
Alias(es)	Dio Mingshi; Garvin the Great; Great Horned Rat
Species/Race	Human; later manifested as the Great Horned Rat through accumulated faith 562
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Hogg Mining; Zelandia Free City-State; Jade God Toy Development Co. 157 166
Occupation/Role	Former Cavens Rat Farm manager; acting chairman of Jade God Toy Development Co.; head of Publicity and Distribution; Water-Drawing City regional manager for Hogg Mining; Abyss Branch Office General Manager 166 440 442
Status	Alive; divine office and powers stripped by Yeg 685
First Appearance	Chapter 27

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Level 1 Psionics; Level 7 Illusionist / Level 3 Evoker	27	Entered the Underdark seeking psionic knowledge and traveled under the guise of a mage with rudimentary psionics.
Level 7 Psionics	65	Reached this level during five years managing the Cavens Rat Farm; expected to regain his mage combat capability upon reaching the upper Weave zone.
Level 9 Psionics	166	Broke through after surviving a Spider Drow's [Mind Melt]; subsequently used [Mass Psychic Illusion] to force dozens of monsters from city walls.
Level 11 Psionics	168	Continued advancing at an abnormal rate after crossing this threshold.
Level 17 Psionics	168	Reached high-level psionics after roughly eight years of near-annual advancement; his nightly connection to Cavens Rat prayers and his growing horns raised concern.
Legendary Psionics	498	Entered his Legendary Destiny after separating Darwin and ceasing to suppress his own power.
Level 30 Legendary Psion	555	Regarded as a comparatively overlooked Level 30 Legendary psion beside Darwin's immense faith power.
Godhood / Great Horned Rat	562	Ignited divine fire and ascended through the faith of the Cavens Ratmen, becoming the first known being to achieve godhood by his own power.
Divine office stripped	685	Yeg, the primordial God of Death, removed Garvin's divine office and powers during the battle against Orcus.

Background / History

Garvin studied at Water-Drawing City Magic Academy under Meikailong Rodriguez. His advancement as a mage stalled at Level 7 Illusionist and Level 3 Evoker, and he left both the academy and his fiancée, Vina, without warning to seek psionic knowledge in the Underdark. His expedition ended in Drow captivity and roughly ten years as a miner. 27 195 231

Huozi recruited the starving, Level 1 psion into Hogg Mining rather than accepting him as a miner. Garvin was assigned to the Cavens Rat Farm, where he hypnotized traumatized rats into resuming reproduction. Although he initially considered the work humiliating, he developed a breeding system that made the farm a major industry and gradually earned the rats' reverence. 29 65 166

The Cavens Rats' prayers became an uncontrolled source of faith. Their collective emotions accelerated Garvin's psionic growth, caused horns to emerge from his head, and threatened to assimilate his personality into the Great Horned Rat they believed him to be. 166 168 169 442

Appearance

Garvin is a handsome, middle-aged human mage with a heavily built physique developed through years of black-iron mining. His appearance became increasingly unstable as Cavens Rat faith accumulated within him. 167 272

• Developed multiple prominent horns as the physical “antennae” of the Cavens Ratmen's faith. 168 173 438
• Can assume convincing identities through psionic illusion, including the vampire-like form used as Dio Mingshi. 288
• His faith-driven transformation ultimately covered him in black fur and produced the form of the Great Horned Rat. 562

Personality

Garvin began as an ambitious but desperate mage whose pursuit of psionic power cost him his home, family, and relationship with Vina. He remains deeply ashamed of leaving without warning and considers himself selfish and utilitarian, even after attaining wealth and influence. 195 495

He is highly adaptable and willing to endure humiliation for a result, whether managing a rat farm or conducting Drow market research. His commercial success and rapid cultivation never erase his anxiety over losing control of himself. 167 168 440

Despite his violent impulses, Garvin can be restrained when power is offered to him. When asked whether he wanted godhood, his first concern was its price rather than its promise. 170 His compassion is most evident in his protection of Luo Jiali and his determination to rebuild a family after returning to Water-Drawing City. 195 198

Abilities & Skills

Psionics

Garvin is an exceptionally powerful psionic spellcaster whose advancement far exceeds normal training rates.

• Uses [Read Thoughts], [Mind Thrust], [Mass Domination], [Mind Marks], and other mental techniques for interrogation, surveillance, and combat. 179 195
• Can cast [Time Stop], accelerating his local time long enough to reposition and prepare multiple attacks before opponents can react. 180 196
• Used [Greater Teleportation] to board a slave ship and employed mass domination against its Zhentarim crew. 179
• His attacks can fail catastrophically against superior opponents; an attempted spell barrage against a Legend was reflected back upon him. 180

Psionic Illusions

Garvin specializes in layered, reality-like mental illusions.

• Memory crystals can store and stabilize his illusion power. 167
• His Unlimited Heaven can imprison targets in elaborate illusionary worlds and repeatedly reconstruct their memories to extract information. 277 438
• Faith-mutated illusion mastery lets him flawlessly assume roles and identities unless opposed by a deity, Chosen, or an actively resisting higher power. 288
• Prolonged illusion battles place immense strain on his mind and worsen the danger of faith-induced loss of control. 438 440

Arcane Magic and Transformation

Garvin retains training as a Level 7 Illusionist and Level 3 Evoker, though the Dark Magic Web once suppressed his mage abilities. 65 166

• Casts utility and combat magic alongside psionics, including [Detect Evil], [Air Dance], and [Tansen Transformation Spell]. 179 231 277
• [Tansen Transformation Spell] can shift him from a mage into an equivalently capable warrior or monk. 277
• His faith-enhanced disguises can physically imitate forms such as a vampire spawn. 288

Faith and Divinity

The Cavens Ratmen's worship grants Garvin immense power but endangers his identity.

• Their prayers fueled his rapid psionic advancement and the growth of his horns. 166 168
• Kaka's slime cognitive hub was used to distribute the burden of incoming prayers, with Garvin serving as the faith “antenna” and valve. 173
• He created Darwin by separating his destructive personality into a construct, reducing the influence of negative ratman faith on his primary self. 498 500
• Ascended as the Great Horned Rat and deployed his Divine Kingdom in war against the Dead Three. 562 567
• Yeg later stripped him of his divine office and powers. 685

Breeding, Industry, and Management

Garvin combines psionics, illusion theory, and commercial instincts.

• Developed a Cavens Rat breeding method based on hypnosis and belief, transforming the farm into a pillar industry. 65 348
• Led Jade God Toy Development Co. and helped make Zelandia's tertiary sector more profitable than mineral exports. 166
• Gathered more than two hundred Drow fantasy samples, sorted them into 249 channels, and developed the Garvin's Paradise Set with Igg. 167
• Later received Water-Drawing City's distribution rights and managed Hogg Mining operations in the city. 291 440

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Memory Crystal — Carries and stabilizes psionic illusions; used to record and organize fantasy scenes for the Paradise Set. 167
• Karsus's notebook and a Nether Scroll fragment — Given by Li Wei to support Garvin's product-development work. 157
• Stone mask — Worn when assuming the Dio Mingshi persona; accompanied by a dramatic faith-driven transformation. 287 288
• Expedition Type II Power Armor — Prototype armor that preserves limited casting capability while enhancing strength, mobility, and resistance to some low-level magic and psionics; includes restrictions intended to contain Garvin if he loses control. 496 497
• Platinum Heart construct — Mechanical construct entrusted to Garvin before his Abyss expedition. 496
• Eight-legged alchemical bicycle — Zelandian vehicle used during his return to Water-Drawing City and later introduced to his father. 231 233

Relationships

• Li Wei / Levis Sextus — Employer, benefactor, and trusted superior. Li Wei recruited Garvin's talents, entrusted him with major commercial and Abyssal responsibilities, and devised plans to prevent his assimilation by ratman faith. 65 157 442 496
• Vina Lannade — Former fiancée and later wife. Garvin left her without warning for the Underdark, reunited with her after twenty-three years, and later entered the Abyss with her. 195 232 348 496
• Luo Jiali — Elf child placed under Garvin's care after she comforted him during a mental breakdown. He protects her and accepts responsibility for her future. 195 196 198
• Huozi — Gnoll manager who recruited Garvin into Hogg Mining and assigned him to the Cavens Rat Farm. 27 29
• Igg — Arcanist colleague and adviser. Helped Garvin understand the risks of faith, provided technical help for the Paradise Set, and assisted with memory-crystal applications. 167 170 171
• Darwin — Garvin's separated evil personality, given a humanoid construct body. Garvin remains the primary controller but must continually suppress Darwin's unstable impulses. 498 500
• Cavens Ratmen — Garvin's worshippers. Their faith empowered him but also threatened to overwrite his humanity and transform him into their Great Horned Rat. 166 442
• Old George — Garvin's father and later business partner in Water-Drawing City's bicycle trade; Garvin inherited the George Carriage Company from him. 233 496
• Silvia — Garvin's adopted younger sister. Her initial resentment softened as Garvin worked to prove that his return would not displace her within the family. 232 233
• Meikailong Rodriguez — Garvin's mentor at Water-Drawing City Magic Academy, killed eighteen years before Garvin's return during the Orc defense campaign. 231

Story Role / Major Arcs

Cavens Rat Farm

Garvin's recruitment into Hogg Mining turns an apparent demotion into his first major opportunity. He uses psionics to restore Cavens Rat reproduction, develops a self-sustaining breeding system, and unknowingly becomes the focus of their religious faith. 29 65 166

Jade God Toy Development Co.

After being formally fired from Hogg Mining to conceal the new venture's connection to the company, Garvin becomes the acting chairman of Jade God Toy Development Co. His market research and illusion-based product design produce the Garvin's Paradise Set, rescuing Zelandia during a financial crisis. 157 167 348

Return to Water-Drawing City

While guarding rescued refugees, Garvin nearly suffers a psionic collapse over memories of Vina and his lost family. Luo Jiali helps him recover, prompting his return home after twenty-three years. He reunites with Vina and his parents, learns of his mentor's death, and begins repairing his relationship with Silvia and Old George. 195 231 232 233

Dio Mingshi and the Unlimited Heaven

Under the identity of Dio Mingshi, Garvin infiltrates criminal and cultist groups. He reads the memories of Loviatar's followers, defeats their leader Glaoya, and imprisons the cultists within an illusionary “heaven” of endless punishment. 272 277 279

Abyss Branch and Legendary Destiny

As ratman faith increasingly endangers his sanity, Garvin accepts Li Wei's plan to establish Hogg Mining's Abyss Branch Office. He travels with Vina, oversees a Cavens Ratman outpost in the Great Abyss, splits off Darwin, and enters the Legendary realm. 442 496 498

Ascension and Divine War

After Vina transforms herself into a silver ratman for him, Garvin ascends as the Great Horned Rat and launches his Divine Kingdom against the Dead Three. Driven by vengeance, he slays Milko, the God of the Dead, before Yeg later strips away his divine office during the conflict with Orcus. 562 567 685

Notable Quotes

“In that case, what price would I have to pay?” 170

“I’ll make every one of you pay for this!” 562

“So this is a god? Such weak gods.” 562

Trivia

• Garvin gained the public titles “Married-Woman Predator” and “Eunuch Mage” while conducting Drow fantasy surveys for the Paradise Set. 167
• His success story was later recorded in the widely circulated workplace text Garvin's Promotion Record—The Man Behind the Dragon. 348
• He was eventually celebrated by Zelandian employees as “Garvin the Great.” 348
• The Paradise Set remained so notorious that it continued to define his public reputation decades later, despite his attempts to distance himself from it. 359 440