Richard Knaak: Legends of the Dragonrealm, Vol. III

The dragonrealm is a place of myriad domains and fantastic creatures, and a careful traveler should know much of the land if he wishes to travel it safely. Here, then, are some of the places that you will come across. . . .

The Legar Peninsula thrusts out of the southwest edge of the continent. This is where the burrowing Quel-once masters of the Dragonrealm-live. This mountainous domain is inundated with gleaming crystal formations. Here is the domain of the most reclusive of the Dragon Kings, the Crystal Dragon.

The Sea of Andramacus: The violent waters west of the Dragonrealm. Little is known of them, but legend has it that they were named for a demon. . . .

Land of the Hill Dwarves: There is no true name for this region, but the hill dwarves are said to live in the eastern part of the region and the ambitious Iron Dragon rules without mercy.

Esedi lies southwest of the Iron Dragon’s realm. This is where the Bronze Dragon holds sway and the human kingdom of Gordag-Ai is situated.

The Kingdom of Zuu: This other human kingdom is located southwest of Esedi and deep in a valley that is bound to the edge of the vast, magical Dagora Forest, situated in the center of the continent. The people of Zuu are famed for their horses. . . .

The Dagora Forest: This far-stretching forest is where most elves are said to live and where the more benevolent Green Dragon rules.

Mito Pica: A human kingdom lying east of the Dagora Forest and at the edge of the Hell Plains, Mito Pica holds a secret that will change the history of the Dragonrealm. . . .

The Hell Plains: To the northeast lies the volcanic Hell Plains, ruled by the Red Dragon. Here, it is rumored, also lies the castle of the foul sorcerer Azran Bedlam. It is guarded by the Seekers, an avian race once masters, but now slaves.

The Silver Dragon rules the unnamed land to the north of the Dagora Forest. He serves also as confidant of the Dragon Emperor, but covets his position.

The Tyber Mountains are situated north of that and include the mountain citadel of the Gold Dragon, also known as the Dragon Emperor. The mountains are riddled with deep caverns.

The Kingdom of Talak lies at the base of the Tyber Mountains. Though somewhat independent, it is supposed to show fealty to the Gold Dragon. Its ruler is Rennek IV, but his son, Melicard, is already taking much of the reins.

The Northern Wastes may be found far north of the Tyber Mountains. They are home to many great burrowing creatures and are the domain of the Ice Dragon.

The Barren Lands lie south and southeast of the Dagora Forest. Once lush, they were destroyed in a magical upheaval during the Turning War. What remains is ruled by the bitter Brown Dragon.

The Kingdom of Penacles , east of the Barren Lands, is no longer ruled by a Dragon King. Instead, during the Turning War, it was liberated by forces led by the Gryphon, a unique creature who resembles the mythic beast. He now rules, but must constantly be on guard against the Dragon Kings. The Serkadian River runs north to south next to Penacles.

The mist-enshrouded land of Lochivar , east of Penacles, is ruled by the Black Dragon. It is said he has dealings with the Wolf Raiders, who come from a land across the eastern sea.

Wenslis is a rain-drenched kingdom under the rule of the Storm Dragon, whose domain is north of both Penacles and Lochivar. The most vain of the Dragon Kings, the Storm Dragon thinks himself a god.

Irillian by the Sea , ruled by the Blue Dragon, is northeast of the Storm Dragon’s lands. An aquatic being, the Blue Dragon is not as benevolent as his counterpart in the Dagora Forest, but sees use in humans and has allowed them to be an almost-equal part of his kingdom. He has, of recent times, had dealings with the Gryphon, much to the frustration of many of his kind.

These are but some of the fantastic places a traveler will discover. The Dragonrealm is a place in flux, and new and ancient wonders are revealing themselves. . . .

INTRODUCTION

I am happy to welcome you to this third collection of the Dragonrealm saga! It has been with great pleasure that I have watched the response to the reprinting of the novels and novellas written about such characters as the wizard Cabe Bedlam, his wife, Gwen-the enchantress known as the Lady of the Amber, the Gryphon-the part-avian, part-leonine ruler of Penacles, the great shadowy stallion called Darkhorse, and the enigmatic, accursed sorcerer, Shade. We have met the Dragon Kings, Cabe’s mad father Azran, the Lords of the Dead, and other creatures and even delved into the secrets of the Dragonrealm’s long and surprising history.

With this volume, we come back to the present. These stories are combined with some specific reason in mind and I think they read well together. There are long-arching plot lines brought to conclusion while new ones arise. Most important, we are going to learn something-but not everything -about one character in particular.

The Crystal Dragon brings Cabe to the forefront again, along with Darkhorse. It also features the return to the Dragonrealm of the Gryphon and his new family. However, the dread war across the sea has followed him to the Dragonrealm’s shores and, to all places, the land of the most mysterious of the Dragon Kings. However, in the kingdom of the Crystal Dragon, there are things more deadly than even a force of renegade Wolf Raiders. . . .

Time does pass in the Dragonrealm and even children must grow . . . including the heir to the Dragon Emperor. With a possible peace at last between the two races, the choices of the young successor will be of the utmost importance. Will he be a champion of that peace or the one to crush all hope of it? That may all depend upon Duke Toma, back at last to claim the power and heritage of which the drake feels that he has been cheated, even if all the Dragonrealm must fall into chaos . . .

In “Past Dances,” Valea Bedlam learns that the ghosts of the Manor are not necessarily merely memories of the past, but portents of the future . . . and that souls may be intertwined with one another for centuries, even if one of those souls happens to be that of the faceless sorcerer, Shade . . .

Love leads to foolhardy mistakes in “Storm Lord,” as Aurim Bedlam, Cabe’s son, learns when choosing as a place of rendezvous with the half-human daughter of the Green Dragon the edge of Wenslis-the realm of the Storm Dragon. Worse, it is also where the absolute proof that Shade still lives comes in a form putting a new twist on the multiple personality aspect of the hooded spellcaster’s curse . . .

But Shade’s return in “Storm Lord” only presages the catastrophic nature of his curse’s new direction, a direction the necromancers known as the Lords of the Dead seek to use to not only control their wayward kin-Shade-but also draw the Bedlams into “The Still Lands.” There, in a place between life and death, even the shadows of evil may kill . . .

I hope you enjoy this collection as much as the previous ones, the more so as it leads into the latest Dragonrealm novel, focusing on Shade and the clue that may either at last redeem him . . . or lay waste to the entire Dragonrealm.

Thanks for reading!

Richard A. Knaak

He woke to find his world invaded. A shadowy plague in human form swarmed over the glittering, rocky landscape, tainting it by merely existing. He concentrated, allowing the crystalline chamber to show him more. A myriad collection of images related to his request filled the walls. He saw the three great ships, black as pitch, anchored off the shore and wondered how they could have come so far without him noting them. It was a troubling sign, an indication that he had slept deeper than he had desired.