#5 'Sourcery': Men of Magic Trivia Quiz

Answer: They were the eighth son of a wizard.

Wizards were powerful in that they could use magic, but sourcerers were much more powerful than that: a sourcerer was a source of magic. According to "Casplock's Compleet Lexicon of Majik with Precepts for the Wise", a sourcerer was a "doorway through which new majik may enterr the world".

The definition also mentioned that if sourcerery returned to the Disc, the end of the world would follow.

Answer: Coin

On the Disc (where eight was a magical number), the eighth son of an eighth son would usually become a wizard. Wizards were not allowed to marry or have children because the eighth son of a wizard would be a sourcerer. Although the thought of absolute power was appealing to most wizards, the arrival of a sourcerer would also mean the end of the world.

One wizard, however, ran away from Unseen University. Ipslore got married and had children - eight sons to be precise. His eighth son was a wizard squared: a sourcerer named Coin. While Coin was still a baby, Death came for Ipslore. Ipslore cheated Death by putting his own soul inside his son's staff. Death couldn't damage the staff without harming Coin and altering the boy's destiny. Isplore was safe inside it and could influence his son from beyond the grave (or at least, from within the staff).

Answer: An orang-utan

During a magical accident in "The Light Fantastic", the Librarian was turned from a wizard into an orang-utan. Being an orang-utan actually had benefits when working in a library (such as long arms to reach higher shelves), so the Librarian had refused to be changed back.

He had a very special relationship with the University library and the books inside it. When a group of wizards under the authority of sourcery arrived to burn the building and the books it held, the Librarian hid all of the books in the Tower of Art.

Answer: He was tall, thin, and incredibly bad at magic.

In the story, Rincewind was described as tall and thin with a scrubby beard and tatty wizard robes. Throughout the Discworld series, he was notoriously bad at magic. According to "Sourcery", he was "incapable even of achieving level zero, which most people are born at". Although he was incompetent at magic, he owned an incredibly rare magical object. The Luggage looked like any other suitcase until it sprouted hundreds of legs and swallowed anyone who tried to attack it.

"Sourcery" was dedicated to an American tourist who visited Bath in England. She was "towing a huge tartan suitcase very fast on little rattly wheels which caught the pavement cracks and generally gave it a life of its own". Her quirky bag gave Pratchett the idea for the Luggage.

Answer: Small God's Eve

As a general rule, wizards were attracted to power and would always keep an eye open for opportunities to move up the career ladder. It was forbidden for wizards to settle their differences using magic, but knives, poisons, and booby traps were not out of the question. In the Disc's distant past, during the Mage Wars, wizards built towers and fought each other. History did not say how the Mage Wars ended, but the return of sourcery brought about a similar Disc-wide catastrophe.

Small God's Eve was a kind of feast day for wizards - like most other days really. It was generally accepted, however, that wizards wouldn't attempt to promote themselves up the ranks on that day.

Answer: Archchancellor

The Archchancellor's hat was an important symbol of wizardry on the Discworld. The Archchancellor was the top position in the magical career path and the hat that came with the position had a mind of its own. The hat knew a sourcerer was headed for the University so it made sure it was taken away. The hat told Conina (daughter of Cohen the Barbarian) to steal it and find a wizard. To his dismay, the wizard she found was Rincewind.

The hat used Conina and Rincewind to get to Al Khali but then it negotiated with Abrim, the Grand Vizier. Abrim claimed to have a talent for magic but his application to Unseen University was rejected due to his mental instability.

Answer: Ankh-Morpork

Ankh-Morpork was the largest city on the Discworld. It was home to the Unseen University and the Tower of Art, a huge 800 foot structure with 8,888 steps spiraling up inside it. When the sourcerer arrived in the city, the wizards made some improvements. They upgraded the buildings with white marble and red tiles, and replaced the sludge in the River Ankh with crystal clear water.

Answer: Conina and Nijel

Conina stole the Archchancellor's hat because it asked her to. She found a wizard as it had asked, though it probably wasn't expecting to be entrusted to a wizard as incompetent as Rincewind. The hat wanted to go to Klatch, but when they arrived there, it was stolen by pirates.

The hat fell into Abrim's hands and Rincewind was pushed into a snake pit. He met Nijel, a wannabe barbarian hero, in the pit. Together, they managed to escape and find Conina. The two barbarians agreed to help the wizard reclaim the Archchancellor's hat.

Answer: A magic carpet

Under the influence of the hat, Abrim began to build his own tower. The problem was, he was using the bricks that were holding up Creosote's palace. Rincewind, Nijel, Conina, and Creosote were trapped inside the crumbling residence. Luckily, Creosote knew of a secret passage. At the end of the tunnel, there were three magical items: a ring, a lamp, and a carpet.

The group struggled to make the carpet work at first. After they had finished shouting numerous synonyms for "up", Rincewind finally said "down". The carpet rose into the air; the rug had been placed upside down.

Answer: A genie

When Nijel rubbed the lamp, there was a small pop and a bit of smoke. Then the genie emerged out of the sand a few feet away from the smoke that was supposed to conceal his entrance. The genie had a number of lamps on the go and seemed incredibly busy. Creosote was irritated because he didn't say stereotypical genie phrases like "Your wish is my command".

The genie helped the group on their way to Ankh-Morpork (to follow Rincewind, who had stolen the magic carpet and flown away).