Sentinelspire
Authors: Mark Sehestedt
We are about to see the birth
of a glorious new world
.
“Or what?” said Lewan, and he was proud that his voice didn’t tremble, for his heart was beating double-time under Talieth’s imperious gaze.
Instead she looked at him and said, “Or I’ll see that you’re given the best traveling clothes we have, as many supplies as you can carry, weapons of your choosing, and I’ll have you taken out the gates and down the mountain. You can go wherever you like.
“And in a few days’ time, or a tenday, or perhaps even a month if the gods smile upon us, when Sentinelspire explodes and shatters the land for a hundred miles; when a cloud of dust and ash and fire covers half the known world, choking babes in their sleep, killing wild beasts and livestock, and strangling sunlight from this season’s crops—and very likely next season’s as well—if you’re far enough away to escape that … well, then, I suppose you can live the rest of your life knowing that you could have helped prevent it.
“Once the fires have died, the earth cooled, and the ash blown away, you can even come to the great hole in the ground where once we lived, and you can dance on the place where we died. Is that what you want, Lewan?”
I have not sat idle these years
.
THE CITADELS
Neversfall
Ed Gentry
Obsidian Ridge
Jess Lebow
The Shield of Weeping Ghosts
James P. Davis
Sentinelspire
Mark Sehestedt
SENTINELSPIRE
The Citadels
©2008 Wizards of the Coast LLC.
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represented by Hasbro Europe, Stockley Park, UB11 1AZ. UK
.
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ORGOTTEN
R
EALMS
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v3.1
First, many thanks to Mr. Ed Greenwood, for creating this vast world for us to play in.
Thanks to the editors at Wizards of the Coast—Phil Athans and Susan Morris—for helping me to get on the
Forgotten Realms
®
horse and leading me to the gate. And mostest especialliest to Erin Evans, for helping to whip this book to the finish line. Her many suggestions, research assistance, and never-ceasing encouragement were an indispensable help in crafting this story. Didn’t Stephen King once say that the editor is always right? I don’t know about all editors, but Erin certainly was!
I utilized many books in researching
Sentinelspire
. My thanks to their authors, especially:
The Horde
Boxed Set by David “Zeb” Cook and Steve Winter
The
Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting
by Ed Greenwood, Sean K. Reynolds, Skip Williams, and Rob Heinsoo
The Unapproachable East
by Richard Baker, Matt Forbeck, and Sean K. Reynolds
Faiths and Pantheons
by Eric L. Boyd and Erik Mona
Special thanks to Gary Larson for “Cow Poetry.”
The wise men know all evil things
Under the twisted trees
,
Where the perverse in pleasure pine
And men are weary of green wine
And sick of crimson seas
.
—G.K. Chesterton,
“The Ballad of the White Horse”
I
n the following story, characters appear who do not speak the Common tongue of Faerûn—and sometimes even those who speak Common choose not to do so. Most of the time, the meaning will be clear or explained in context. If not—or if you’re like me and love lists of strange words—the following guide will prove useful. Please note that the Orcish phrases are of the dialect of the Stone Tooth clan of Vaasa.
Ash sissaan
—“Enter” or (more loosely) “come inside.” (Killoren)
Anukh
—“Attack!” (Orcish)
Arumwon
—“Beast brother,” a sort of animal friend given to the sacred rangers of the Stone Tooth Clan of orcs, native to Vaasa. (Orcish)
Berun Kharn kienelleth
—“Hope must become vengeance.” (Aglarondan)
Dam ul dam
—“Blood for blood.” (Orcish)
Drassit
—Imperative verb, meaning “(you) harass” or “(you) trouble.” (Aglarondan)
Drekhe
—Literally, “Flee!” or more loosely, “Get away!” (Aglarondan)
Dukhal
—An insult, meaning “bastard.” (Orcish)
Jankhota saalthua
—“The time has arrived.” (Killoren)
Kumash damun!
—“Taste the blood!” (Orcish)
Lur’ashai
—“Little lord” or “little master.” (Killoren)
Malwun
—Literally “oathbrother.” The term for a blood brother among the
zuwar
. (Orcish)
Mal karash!
—“Oathbreaker.” (Orcish)
Neyë
—“Come here!” (Orcish)
Ragh ala
—“Calm down.” (Orcish)
Toch gan neth
—Imperative verb, meaning “(you) lead her away.” (Aglarondan)
Zuwar
—A sacred hunter among the Stone Tooth clan of orcs, native to Vaasa. The
zuwar
are hunters sworn to the service of Malar the Beastlord.