kigmatzomat
Hero
Pseudonym said:Who is this Pug person that keeps being mentioned?
One of the prime characters in Raymond E. Feist Rift War/Midkemia series.
At age 13 he was passed up for military service and was apprenticed to a wizard out of pity. Pug could work magical devices well but sucked at spell preparation. Under stress he managed to cast a fireball with no prep (in game terms, he's a sorceror trying to learn from a wizard who's never heard of sorcerors). Then an interdimensional war breaks out and he's taken as a slave to another world. There he is inducted into their style of magic which is more sorcery.
He spends a few years there where he is widely considered to be one of their greatest, if strangest, mages. Only the fact he has so thoroughly adoped the rules of their society keeps them from killing him out of fear. Then the emperor defies the rules of their society in a very blatant way, enraging Pug. He summons a storm, earthquake, elementals, fireballs, et al to decimate the royal colliseum. The other mages are unable to dispel his magics indicating that not only did he have initiative but was also of higher level.
On a side note, Pug's childhood friend Tomas who did get accepted to the guard ended up inheriting a sizable portion of a godling's power. (Celestial template). After several years of very personal, vengeful war he gained the talent and skills to be named War Leader of the elven people. He was, if not level 20, then at least level+ECL=20.