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In the sixth episode of Dota Lore Spotlight, we touched upon the nature of magic in Dota 2, and how it’s primarily rooted in memory. We mentioned how most mages possess the memory capabilities to cast a spell or too, with more adept sorcerers being able to remember more spells, usually totalling three of four incantations, with a few special cases sprinkled within the ranks of the arcane masters. We examine the first special case in our article focusing on Rubick. The second case however, lies with the Invoker.

Much like our world, the world of Dota 2 is not devoid of prodigies, individuals blessed with extraordinary abilities within their respective fields. In Dota, we know of a few prodigies within the field of magic, a field in which most practitioners are held back by how much material one is required to remember in order to cast an incantation. Rubick is one of these prodigies, who famously circumvented the issue of memory by being able to instantly replicate any spell he sees cast before him, enabling him to turn the spell on its caster in a matter of seconds.

Another arcane prodigy was born uncounted centuries ago, as a mortal man named Carl. Yes, you read that correctly, his name was Carl – we will touch on this in a different installation of the column. Carl was gifted with an immense memory and a truly vast intellect, a true intellectual from birth. His natural inclination with the academical led him to pursue the path of magic, and he quickly found himself surpassing even the most gifted mages in the land. Their feeble memories could not enable them to hold half a dozen spells, while he himself was able to store information at an unparalleled pace.

His gifts were such that, in time, he found himself learning complex spells only to purposely forget them shortly after if they were not to his liking. One of the spells he did away with after using it just once was the Sempiternal Cantrap – an extremely potent spell granting the caster long life to the extent where someone casting it at the beginning of time would still be amongst us (unless an unfortunate fate has befallen them since those days). Thus, Carl managed to cheat death, and grew ancient while his peers would inevitably succumb to the passage of time. Aurel, the Gyrocopter, notes that Carl is one hundred times his age (but still a fool).

As the centuries passed, Carl was left to himself with little other than time to practice new incantations, cycling through spell after spell. This diverse arcanery inspired him to adopt the moniker of the Arsenal Magus, for a time, as noted by Rubick. It is so far unclear when exactly he took this name, when he discarded it, and why he chose to do so.

In the end, he settled on the name Invoker, as a testament to his ability to conjure forth a spell for any situation. But while his power may have been great, his personality stood in stark contrast to his abilities. He came to develop a caustic personality, and his ego eclipses any sense of manners he might possess. His personality is in fact so abrasive that Strygwyr, the Bloodseeker, claims that the blood of Invoker tastes sour. Sour or not, he has at least been known to have acquaintances in the past, if not even friends. Undying remembers Invoker from a long forgotten age, when he was still known as Carl.

Abrasive or not, Invoker still holds immense power. With some luck, he might even learn the power of not being such a jerk to everyone