"02 - Black Wizards - Douglas Niles" - читать интересную книгу автора (Moonshae)

BLACK
WIZARDS
Douglas Niles
WHAT HAS GONE BEFORE. . . .
KING KENDRICK OF Corwell was one of the four
kings of the Ffolk who dwelled upon the Moonshae
Islands. Corwell, along with the Kingdoms of
Moray and Snowdown, owed fealty to Callidyrr, for
Callidyrr was home to the king of Callidyrr, who was
the titular High King of all the Ffolk.
Tristan Kendrick, Prince of Corwell, had studied
some of the arts of kingship very diligently, swordfighting
and military science in particular. However,
he was less interested in the more mundane aspects
of rulership, such as economics and agriculture.
Robyn, the kingТs ward, had been raised as his own
daughter, but her interests lay beyond the castle. She
showed a proclivity toward the woodlands and all
things natural.
In the twentieth year of the princeТs life, Kazgoroth
the Beast rose from its fetid bog to threaten the kingdom
of Corwell. Walking the land in a number of
guises, it recruited allies and sought its one goal: the
disruption of the Balance so crucial to the FfolkЧ
and the very isles themselves.
Forced into battle, Robyn found herself wielding
potent druidic magicЧearthmagic that was the
legacy of the mother she had never known. Tristan
fought the Beast and created an army to defeat KazgorothТs
minions. In the process, he found the Sword
1
PRELUDE
THE PLANE OF Gehenna was a bleak and oppressive
realm, hostile to mortal life. It was a world built
upon a vast, unending mountainside, sloping steeply
always, never reaching a bottom or a summit. Gouts
of steam erupted from the mountainside, and rivers
of lava flowed across it, sizzling through long
cataracts, collecting in bubbling pools.
Such was the domain of Bhaal, murderous god of
death.
A seething, angry god, Bhaal thrived on bloody, violent
acts. He grew in strength as his worshippers
spread across the worlds, slaying in his horrible
name.
Bhaal sought vengeance.
A minion of the god had been killed nearly one
mortal year ago, but an eyeblink to the god. Kazgoroth
was neither BhaalТs most powerful servant,
nor his most favored. But he was slain by a mortal,