Belshezan

Belshezan is a solitary sorcerer in the woods east of the settlements, a shapeshifter whose power serves as a practical answer to the Wights’ threat. When Ragnar Stormbringer reaches him bearing an amulet from Dvar, Belshezan recognizes the peril behind the message, treats Ragnar’s Wight bite, and summons the forest’s animals to aid the besieged defenders. The alliance that follows is not uncomplicated: the sorcerer responsible for summoning the Wights was Belshezan’s brother, whom Ragnar had killed before finding him.

Identity and Introduction

Belshezan is first introduced indirectly, through Dvar’s explanation of the amulet he gave Ragnar. Dvar had received it from someone he once helped, a sorcerer living alone in the depths of the woods to the east. He believed the man remained there, and described him as someone who kept to himself and had never quarrelled with the people of the land. This account distinguishes Belshezan from the hostile sorcerer who raised the Wights: his powers are formidable, but he is not initially presented as an enemy of the settlements.

Ragnar arrives at Belshezan’s cave exhausted and increasingly ill, but makes his purpose clear: Dvar sent him to find the sorcerer in a time of need. Belshezan answers from within the cave and identifies himself, then invites Ragnar closer and asks him to explain what has happened. Their meeting begins not with a test of strength but with recognition and a willingness to hear the danger described. The amulet serves as the tangible link between Dvar’s earlier act of help and the alliance Ragnar now needs.

Sorcery, Transformation, and Healing

The amulet persuades Belshezan that the crisis is urgent. He tells Ragnar that the wound must be treated before they go to help the others, and that a ritual is also necessary. He returns from the cave carrying a birch-bark basket and a clay jar, then examines Ragnar’s bite. By then the wound has become visibly infected: its skin is discolored, pus has appeared beneath the binding, and narrow red streaks extend up the arm. The physical evidence makes the danger immediate, while Belshezan’s quick decision to treat it establishes his sorcery as protective as well as spectacular.

He leads Ragnar to a clearing near the cave, where carved symbols cover several tree trunks and objects of bone and wood hang from the branches. There Belshezan warns Ragnar not to fear what he is about to see and says he must take another form to summon the needed aid. After speaking in a strange language, he enters a trance. His fur clothing appears to merge with his body as his shape enlarges and changes; the ritual ends with a massive brown bear standing in the clearing, far larger than any bear Ragnar has seen in his homeland. The transformation is extraordinary, but the recognition in the bear’s eyes reassures Ragnar that this is still Belshezan, not a wild animal.

Belshezan’s treatment also eases Ragnar’s illness. As they leave the clearing, Ragnar’s dizziness and feverish heat gradually fade, and the wound’s throbbing subsides to a dull ache. The recovery matters to the mission as well as to Ragnar: Belshezan is preparing to lead help toward the people threatened by the Wights, and he restores the wounded man sufficiently for him to travel with the bear.

The Forest’s Answer to the Siege

Belshezan’s summons turns the surrounding forest into a force acting against the Wights. Howls and roars rise across the woodland after his transformation, including sounds from far beyond the nearby clearing. When Belshezan moves away, he looks back and growls until Ragnar understands that he is meant to follow. At the approach to the besieged fortress, Ragnar sees sleek animals racing through the trees, followed by larger, powerful shapes: wolves, bears, and Snow tigers moving together toward the Wights surrounding Jarl Thryggvi's Hill-Fort.

The scene gives Belshezan’s power a collective consequence. He does not merely change his own shape or fight as an exceptionally large bear; he brings many animals into the conflict, making their arrival a turning point in the defenders’ prospects. Ragnar wants to continue into battle, insisting that he does not avoid fights. Belshezan answers by stamping his forepaws and roaring, making clear that Ragnar should not go forward. Ragnar eventually puts Raven Caller back into his belt and steps away. Belshezan’s intervention thus includes restraint: he directs his ally away from a danger he does not want him to face, rather than treating courage as a reason to ignore the wound or the sorcerer’s judgment.

Family Revelation and Alliance

After the immediate conflict, Belshezan reveals that the shapeshifting sorcerer Ragnar killed—the one who summoned the Wights—was his brother. The admission reframes the aid Belshezan has given. He has helped the man responsible for his brother’s death, and Ragnar recognizes the weight of the disclosure even though he finds himself less surprised than he expected. The evidence does not describe Belshezan’s private grief or explain the brothers’ history, but it makes the alliance more than a simple arrangement between a sorcerer and a warrior: it joins two men whose actions have placed them on opposite sides of the same family tragedy.

Belshezan does not let that revelation close the relationship. He and Ragnar agree that each will remain an ally to the other, and Belshezan promises that Ragnar will have an ally if he ever returns to those lands. Their exchange follows a shared outlook on uncertainty: rather than worrying over what may happen tomorrow, they will decide how to act when events arrive. Ragnar then resumes his journey, with a full day’s march still ahead. Belshezan’s role ends not in permanent companionship but in a bond that outlasts their immediate cooperation—a healing, a summoned host, and a promise of future assistance.