Darryn Polve and Arbora Anders are two of the major villains in The Magic Council: The Fight for Home. I wondered for a while how to approach this post, but I think I finally figured it out.

What gave me pause is that as villains, they don’t rival Zalski Forzythe at all. But I realized that’s totally ok, because The Magic Council is Vane’s story. And Darryn and Arbora don’t hold the place in Vane’s story that Zalski does in Kora’s story (The Crimson League.)

I imagine Darryn and Arbora as the anti-Zacry and anti-Kora, if you’re familiar with the Porteg siblings from book one.

Arbora’s a bit older than Kora is. Whereas Kora was active in the old, magical civil war, Arbora never committed to a side. Darryn, meanwhile, is a great rival to Zac–politically and magically.

Honestly, I find both Arbora and Darryn weak and detestable in different ways. They are not nearly as smart or clever as they think. Their priorities are all wrong–especially Darryn, who has a family.

They have moments of doubt, but for the most part, they are driven with one goal in mind–getting a magic council from the king. They have one thought how to achieve it, and they aren’t effective at adjusting to changing circumstances. Sometimes they try to adjust. But they quickly fall back into their old patterns of thought and reacting.

In that, I guess they are typically human. As sorcerers, they are at least worthy antagonists in an action-packed subplot as Vane returns to Herezoth to rescue the king’s kidnapped sons.

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