Balthasar Gelt is the Supreme patriarch of the Colleges of Magic in the Warhammer fantasy game setting. Balthasar made his first appearance in the busy port of Marienburg, having bought passage on a merchant ship coming from his native Black Gulf. As he paid for the journey with gold which he had transmuted himself, Balthasar left for Altdorf quickly before the effects wore off. The Colleges of Magic were his destination. Since his early years, Balthasar had always been fascinated by alchemy, inspired by the science of the transmutation of metal, and especially by the mystic search for the Philosopher's Stone. To turn vile metals into the noblest of all, pure gold, has always been an obsession for Balthasar.
Driven by this powerful force, and sustained by a natural talent for manipulating the energies of the Winds of Magic, Balthasar soon rose in the ranks of the Gold Order of Magic. In Altdorf he spent many years studying and experimenting on how to combine the art of alchemy with the magic of Metals. His inquisitive intelligence and open-minded approach made Balthasar quite popular with the Alchemists' Guild, and even among the Engineers, who benefited from his research into new types of blackpowder.
One day a freak accident in his laboratory almost killed him and from that day he always appears in public completely covered in elegant robes and wearing a golden mask. Rumors abound concerning the reason for this unusual habit. Some say that he entire skin turned to gold and others swear he is horribly disfigured, but nobody knows for sure exactly what happened to him. One thing is for sure, the accident did not reduce his will to succeed in his research nor did it hamper his powers. On the contrary, he has risen to the position of Supreme Patriarch of the the Colleges of Magic, defeating Thyrus Gormann in the ritual duel and replacing the prominence of the Bright Order with his beloved Gold.
From that day on, the winds of power have blown strong for the magic of the Metals and a New Supreme Patriarch, riding a pegasus and surrounded by a golden halo,has appeared on many a battlefield where the Emperor's troops are fighting. In battle, Balthasar bears the Staff of Volans, that belonged to the greatest human wizard of all time, the Gleaming Robe, a garment that dazzles his enemies in a dazzling whirlwind of iridescent colors, and the Amulet of Sea Gold, a potent Elven heirloom found by Balthasar in the abandoned colonies on the Estalian coast.
The name Balthasar Gelt is a reference to gold twice over. In Christianity the Magi who bestowed Jesus with gold was named Balthasar and Gelt is the Yiddish word for gold.
References
Alessio Cavatore, "The Empire", 2000, Games Workshop, Glen Burnie Maryland.