Vidalio Blackwater is a young sorcerer of time in Caldero, heir of a double lineage of the Blue House of Vala and the eighth member of La Jabalina (“the Javelin”), who travels the uchronic Blackwater River on a raft.
| Type | Character |
| Group | La Jabalina |
| Era | Present cycle (1824 AE) |
| Spanish entry | Vidalio Blackwater — el Hechicero del Río Blackwater |
Mascor Blancarba’s Gacetilla de Caldero describes him as newly joined, from “another region where magical currents and the trade in exotic spices, like black pepper, are common currency”, with a talent for storms of arcane daggers, occasional control of the flow of time, and the habit of ordering frozen drinks from his summoned manes; his past is tied to the saga of Talia Cristalia.
Description
He is called “the Sorcerer of the Blackwater River” in common speech, “the Sorcerer of Time” in high-society papers, and simply “Vidalio” among his companions. He is young and charismatic, of noble lineage, and comes from another region of the gem-world.
His name echoes Vitalis without being the same person, and recalls Lotario / Oratiol. He is a late branch of the Taylor line, not a central figure. The surname Blackwater records his tie to the dark river on which he steers his chronomantic raft.
Lineage
Vidalio comes from the Blue House of ancient Vala. His blood is double:
- of Taylor / Oratiol / Lotario, the triple father of the extended cosmos and senior branch of the Blue House;
- of the legendary paladin Thalia Cristalia, hidden identity of Swedenborg, mother of Vitalis and crystalline agent of the Blue House.
He is not Vitalis, who belongs to another branch, but a parallel branch, possibly younger or of a later generation, active in Caldero where Vitalis has not appeared. According to the Chronicler of the Plata, he is a late manifestation of the Blue House in Caldero, after the Lord Burdock-Basileon branch settled in Ardis Vala; the lineage is spread out, with Vitalis in one region, Vidalio in another and Lady Alexia in a third.
Powers and abilities
His magic comes by lineage, not by doctrinal study.
- Storms of arcane daggers: a rain of magical blades of pure energy covering a wide area.
- Manipulation of time, occasionally: brief chronomantic jumps, accelerations and slowdowns of critical moments. This ties him to Pablo the Chronomancer and the greater chronomantic line.
- Frozen drinks: summoned servant spirits prepare drinks with cryogenic effect.
- Arcane mixtures in the workshop of the Bastard Cromas with Tony Malatesta: experimental industrial-magical alchemy.
History
Titti Frame’s matinee
Titti Frame Rhivadi, lady of the Twin Towers, held a morning reception and, having heard of the young sorcerer of time, hired him to tend the reception pavilion as a barman. She meant to observe him and size up a new group of Caldero heroes; he meant to watch high society from within. The matinee ended in an incident, a “looting” or a “just claim” depending on the side, when Vidalio joined the invited adventurers demanding fairer treatment for the people. The spoils: forbidden arms and armor, collectible erotic novels, portraits of Frame Rhivadi ancestors and silver candelabra.
The next morning, while helping sweep broken glass and dispel a botched levitation spell, he received a dismissal telegram: “No toleraré subversiones en mi casa. Adiós.” (“I will not tolerate subversion in my house. Goodbye.”). Unoffended, he joined the seven others.
The raft
Vidalio carries or steers (or both) a raft on the Blackwater River, the uchronic river, a manifestation of the River Ucronos in Caldero and a specific temporal tributary tied to his Blackwater blood. The raft serves as an arcane vehicle between chronomantic regions, possibly as a family heirloom of the Blue House–Taylor branch, and as a store of the secrets he “drags” and uncovers day by day. It may become a major object of the next cycle.
The spices of time
In his home region black pepper is common currency. The spices act as the material vehicle of his gift: volatile substances that catalyze the opening of time. In the Bastard Cromas workshop he and Tony combine spices, powders and divinations into potions and spells for the group’s chronomantic line; what they are making has not been fully revealed.
Relationships
- Vala Cristalis: the gem-world of his lineage; the Platforms of Vala-Ely are its cosmological infrastructure.
- Paulus of Alexandria: cosmological consolidation of the Pablo line, with which he has a major tie.
- The Arian Line: a parallel line, adjacent to him without his belonging to it.
Open questions
- Why he moved to Caldero, and the circumstances of his arrival, are unknown.
- His relationship with Vitalis is unknown.
- Whether he knows he is a branch of the Blue House is unknown.
- Whether his gift connects with Caldero’s Dark Chapel and with Pablo the Chronomancer is unknown.
- What the powders and spices he mixes with Tony contain is unknown.