The Amber Enchantress

264 Pages·1992·1.31 MB·English

by  Denning Troy

P P
RISM ENTAD
THE VERDANT PASSAGE
THE CRIMSON LEGION
THE AMBER ENCHANTRESS
THE OBSIDIAN ORACLE
THE CERULEAN STORM

Prism Pentad • Book 3
The Amber Enchantress
©1992 TSR, Inc.
©2008 Wizards of the Coast LLC
©2011 Wizards of the Coast LLC
All characters in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead is
purely coincidental.
This book is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any
reproduction or unauthorized use of the material or artwork contained herein is prohibited
without the express written permission of Wizards of the Coast LLC.
Published by Wizards of the Coast LLC.
DARK SUN, D&D, Wizards of the Coast, and their respective logos are trademarks of Wizards of the
Coast LLC in the U.S.A. and other countries. Hasbro SA, Represented by Hasbro Europe, Stockley
Park, UB11 1AZ. UK. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
All Wizards of the Coast characters and their distinctive likenesses are property of Wizards of the
Coast LLC.
Cover art by Brom
Map by Robert Lazzaretti
eISBN: 978-0-78696116-0
U.S., Canada, Asia, Pacific, & Latin America, Wizards of the Coast LLC, P.O. Box 707, Renton,
WA 98057-0707, [phone], www.wizards.com/customerservice
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Visit our websites at www.wizards.com
www.DungeonsandDragons.com
v3.1
v3.1
DEDICATION
To Bill, Anne, Matt, and Josh
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Map
Prologue
One - The Closed Gates
Two - Separate Ways
Three - Caravan Dancers
Four - The Ancient Bridge
Five - A Bargain
Six - Silver Spring Oasis
Seven - The Dancing Gate
Eight - Prince of Nibenay
Nine - The Bard’s Quarter
Ten - Sweet Wine
Eleven - Sudden Departure
Twelve - Tile Emporium
Thirteen - The Dead Grove
Fourteen - A New Chief
Fifteen - Cleft Rock
Sixteen - The Wild Lands
Seventeen - The Pristine Tower
Eighteen - Song of the Lirrs
Nineteen - Borys
Epilogue
Acknowledgements
About the Author

PROLOGUE
THE GAUNT FIGURE OF KING TITHIAN I CREPT ACROSS his antechamber on all
fours, his limbs splayed to the sides and moving in the disjointed rhythm
of an insect. The lower mandible of his jaw worked constantly, as if
gnawing a stalk of thornstem, and his glazed eyes remained fixed on the
stones of the floor. The king reached the corner, then clawed his way up
the wall until he stood more or less upright. He spent a few moments
trying to pull himself higher, then abruptly fell back to the floor and
continued his journey in a new direction.
Two disembodied heads followed the king across the room, hovering a
yard off the ground and studying his actions with worried frowns. One
was shriveled and ashen-skinned, with sunken features and cracked,
leathery lips. The other was bloated and gross, with puffy cheeks, eyes
swollen to narrow dark slits, and a mouthful of gray, broken teeth. Both
wore their coarse hair in topknots. The bottoms of their necks had been
stitched shut with thread.
The beast’s mind has overpowered Tithian’s, surmised the bloated head,
using the Way to mentally broadcast his thoughts. I told you he wasn’t
ready for something so dangerous, Wyan.
Liar. You said nothing, countered Wyan. But it hardly matters, Sacha. If
Tithian can’t escape the kank’s mind, he would be no good to us anyway.
Though he realized the heads were conversing, Tithian did not
understand the meaning of their words. Ten days ago, he had used the
Way of the Unseen to establish a mental link with a kank, intending to
spy on an adversary who would be riding it out of the city. When he had
expanded the contact, the beast’s bizarre senses had disoriented him,
allowing the creature’s natural essence to overpower his mind. Now, the
most primitive part of Tithian’s intellect believed him to be the kank: an
insect twice the size of a man, with six canelike legs, a jacket of
chitinous black armor, and a pair of bristly antennae on its head.
Tithian felt a strange rumble beneath his armpits, where, on a kank, a
pair of drumlike membranes served as ears. The sounds rolled through
his torso in muted tones that he dimly recognized as the voice of Sadira,
one of the three people upon whom he was spying. As with Sacha and
Wyan, the words seemed a meaningless garble.
The rational part of Tithian’s mind, the tiny spark of intelligence that
knew him to be a monarch instead of a kank, wanted to comprehend
what was being said. It was for that reason that he had originally joined
his mind to the beast’s, and, despite his setback, the king remained
determined to see his plan through.
Tithian focused his rational mind on the core of his being, that space
where the three energies of the Way—spiritual, mental, and physical—
converged in a tempest of mystical force. He visualized a cord of golden
fire running from the nexus into his mind. An instant later, he felt an
eerie tingle rise through his body. Though he knew it would fatigue him,
the king continued to draw until even his fingers and his toes burned
with energy. If he wished to overpower the beast’s instincts, he would
need all the power he could marshal.
When he felt as though he would explode, Tithian used the energy to
picture himself inside his own head: a gaunt, sharp-featured man with a
hawkish nose, his long auburn hair encircled by the golden diadem of
Tyr.
The insect immediately countered the maneuver, raising the image of
a kank from the mucky gray terrain of the king’s mind. The beast struck
quickly, opening its mandibles and darting forward to seize its prey.
Tithian leaped away and hit the ground rolling. By the time he returned
to his feet, the creature was turning to attack again.
The king visualized a pair of wings growing from his back. His body
tingled as more energy rose from his nexus, then the appendages
appeared. The kank lunged, and Tithian flipped his new wings wildly.
He rose off the murky ground, barely avoiding its pincers as they clacked
shut beneath his feet.
Before the dim-witted creature realized where he had gone, the king
lowered himself onto its back and grasped its antennae. The kank sprang
into the air, trying to throw off its unwelcome rider. Tithian held tight,
pulling hard on the bristly tendrils in his hands.
The beast returned to the ground squealing in agony and alarm. Its
antennae were attached directly to the nerves in its head, and any attack
against the crucial appendages was a devastating one. The kank tucked