The first D&D Anthology - Dragontales edited by Kim Mohan

If you have stuck around for awhile, you may remember I reviewed the first novel for Dungeons & Dragons, Quag Keep, some years ago. Before Quag Keep there was only one other story officially tied to D&D, The Gnome Cache by Garrison Ernst (a nom de plume for Gary Gygax). It was serialized in the first issues of The Dragon, and released to the point it was a novella. In reality, it was a complete novel but never fully published. I'm not sure why. That was 1976. In 1978 Quag Keep released, and in 1980 the world received the third piece of D&D fiction.

That is Dragontales, ten stories not attached to any official settings, edited by Kim Mohan, who was working for Dragon Magazine but was not quite Editor-in-Chief yet. I recently read this and spoke about it on my Liam's Lyceum channel, so can watch/listen here if you would like.

The dimensions of this anthology are not like the mass market paperbacks of the lines for Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms that would come in later years. It actually is a magazine, though of heftier paper than most.

Here are the stories.

“The Wizards are Dying” by John L. Jenkins. This has an exciting start, a wizard faces haywire magic and warns his servant Grimsley the gnome of such danger who then barely escapes. We then meet fellows in a tavern discussing this immolation. These are Deihm, a cleric of the Brotherhood, R’kan a dwarf, and Faendril an elf wizard from Llum. It feels very D&D. Maybe an early stab at the success of things like The Sword of Shannara.

The story is rather straightforward: fight into a lich’s lair. It’s also one of the longest. There is a scholar, a girl with the generic fantasy name of Arya, manticores, and a classic party of adventurers. The worldbuilding feels like many a generic D&D world, but isn’t one I’m familiar with.

“Dragon’s Fosterling” by Ruby S. W. Jung. This one is pretty interesting. Asgara is the daughter of a count and one day she gets taken by a dragon. They have an interesting relationship, he teaches her some useful things but he’s pretty wicked still, killing the men that come to rescue her. It’s kinda boring to start, besides that Asgara speaks more like a teenage girl from the 80s with colloquialisms and slang. The end really amps up and I quite liked it. While a bit silly it’s pretty feminist. This one feels less strictly tied to game mechanics of DnD, Jung like the author before her doesn’t seem to have published anything else. A nice reference to the Saga of the Volsungs and the legend of Sigurd.

The third story is “Out of the Eons” by Gardner F. Fox, known for his comics and Kothar and Kyrik sword & sorcery stories. This is a story of Niall of the Far Travels who appeared in several issues of Dragon Magazine. Niall in this one is expanding his wine cellar when he goes through his wall he finds another wall and breaks through that as well. This inadvertently unleashes a sealed green spirit thing known as Adonair. The power of a goddess that is his lover protects him. A good clip, with godly things. Feels prettygeneric but not bad. 

Fourth is “Sir George” by Carl Parlagreco. I thought this might be somehow about a dragon slaying Saint George. Instead, George is the dragon and this is comic. Like Shrek or Myth Adventures. When a knight comes calling for George’s head to win a maiden in matrimony, things go a different route. It’s rather short too and my favorite of the first four. 

Fifth is “Black Lotus Moon” by Tom Moldvay, before his famous Moldvay Basic was released in 1981. In Biaazan, Tamara awakes with the man she spent the night with. She makes a swift acrobatic escape as the city watch bangs on the door, presumably looking for her, as the naked man feigns sleep. She finds out from her fellow thief Saris that the thieves guild and mayor have had enough to her, and instead to trap her and see her hang. We also are introduced to a Conan like Barbarian fur diaper man, Arngrim. And the sorcerer Gorilon, who dreams once a month under the haze of black lotus. Essentially, we’re gathering typical sword & sorcery protagonists to form a D&D party. A longer story, and nicer than the first story which also has a party of characters. While not great literature, I enjoyed it, and the ending was nice. It is another of my favorites in the anthology.

“Honor Among Thieves” by Roger Moore is about two thieves who make a short-lived pact. Pretty short and straightforward, I appreciated that. 

“Ice Dream” by David F. Nalle is 7th and shortest. It’s about a young shepherd being inspired by a traveling skald and it not quite going as we like to think adventure will. Similar to the beginning of Spellfire by Ed Greenwood.

“In the Darkness, Hunting” by Janrae Frank. This follows a woman who lives as a warrior and man among the nomads. She is an exile from her own people who have some inherent power that seems magical. The story starts with a chief for which she acts as war-leader, he wants to make her his woman, even though they’re sworn brothers in arms. She refuses, as among the nomads she would have quite a different life if they knew she was a woman. He then tries to force himself upon her. Easily the most interesting of the batch! This character also appeared in other anthologies, the first being in Amazons! from 1979.

“Just Call Me Albert” by Martin Mundt is another humous one, though told in first person. I don't have much to say on this one.

And last and tenth is “Birth of a Wizard” by Marie Desjardin. This is about a great wizard from a village returning home and the lack of welcome he receives. It really gets into thought-provoking aspects of power and manhood that I was not expecting. Another of the standouts!

Throughout there are also illustrations by James Holloway, M. Kay, Peter Laird, etc. Each story has several by a new artist for each. Some are not credited so blatantly so I'm unsure who all ten were, but the art is quite good!

Overall, the anthology has some good and mediocre stories, as I have come to expect from magazines and anthologies. But as a piece of history, it is very important. We have no orcs; it feels like a mix of the sword & sorcery that dominated fantasy fiction in the 1970s and the heroic fantasy flavor D&D established with later fiction. It is the third publication, and with ten stories increased the fiction of 2 stories to 12! Maybe find a copy and enjoy it yourself?

--

You can track my current progress here.

The Unimpressive Fictional Legacy of Dragon+

 Dragon Magazine from its start was a magazine of variety. At its inception this included fiction. The first issue even he part 1 of 6 of the novella “The Gnome Cache” by Garrison Ernst, a pen name for Gary Gygax. Other famous writers would even appear in the early pages, Harry Otto Fischer, Fritz Leiber, Andre Norton, Fletcher Pratt, L. Sprague de Camp, and Gardner Fox worth noting.

Dragon+ was a short lived, mediocre, sequel. Only half the heart was put into it, and there is no excuse because it was digital only—the last 71 issues of Dragon were also digital only. After six years of digital only content, the magazine was sunsetted in December 2013. 

But like a Phoenix it survived. In April 2015 Dragon+ was born as a successor to both Dragon and Dungeon magazines. While this gave hope for free content compatible for your fifth editions table, it was a sickly Phoenix. Issues came out bimonthly, making six a year. It lasted 7 years itself, the 41st and last issue releasing in March/April 2022 before being quietly shut down in July.

I failed to cover this when it happened, as my blog was on hiatus. I can’t say I know how the business was ran, but I feel there was much more fiction that could have been. Dragon+ was a wan light when the novel line ended. In 14 issues fiction appeared, all being somewhat connected to the Forgotten Realms as the flagship setting of the current product. The last piece came in October 2020 when “Ice Out” was released as a tie-in to Rime of the Frostmaiden. 

Apparently it tied into Candlekeep Mysteries too, and beyond that there has been very little attention given to the Realms from the sorcerers who live on the shore. 

While the recent movie tie-ins provide some light, the novel lines death accompanied with the death of short fiction in Dragon magazine marks a disdapointingdissapointing state. While fiction did decrease after the 1990s in Dragon Magazine, the venue still saw the likes of George R. R. Martin and others. When I think of Dragon’s legacy I can see much worthwhile fiction in the thousands of pages. I can’t say I see the same in Dragon+. 

I did see Ed Greenwood was part of a Spin a Yarn panel at GenCon and I had hoped it would be set in the Realms. Alas, even that hope was futile. We’ll see what happens from here.

--

You can track my current progress here.

Review: Reunification (Body & Soul) by Jeff Grubb

 Jeff Grubb is known for many contributions to Dungeons & Dragons, among the plethora of products he wrote was the Forgotten Realms comic line of the late 80s and early 90s. Years after finishing the comic series he wrote a short story that ties into it, that is Reunification (Body & Soul) from Dragon Magazine issue 247 of May 1998. It can be found on pages 63-71. If you want a glimpse of the characters as they appear in the comic line I reviewed the first story arc here. 

There is another short story that also ties into Dragon Magazine 260 from June 1999. The story there, The Honor of Two Swords, was written by Grubb’s wife, and ofttimes writing companion, Kate Novak. I will be reviewing this later. 

Story art by Rags Morales

Vartan hai Sylvar, gold elf cleric of Labelas Enoreth, is in his god’s palace in Arvandor. He is acting like a sneak-thief to gain access a magical item so he can check on his old friends from the Halruaan caravel, Realms Master. Their old leader, the magic-user, Omen, is withering with disease brought in by a curse. He hopes to avoid his demise by magical means.

The party is on some unnamed island in the Sea of Fallen Stars, where an extravagant setup is being tested, to see if Omen can transfer his soul to a brass golem. He has tried every other option available to him. This goal takes them on a psychic journey. 

This is after Jeff Grubb left TSR, but he had been going contract work still, mostly on Jakandor. It was great seeing a story in classic First Edition style (released in late 2e times), where gods interact with the people of Toril. While not a super meaningful story to me, since I haven’t read all the comics, it does leave some possibilities open. I’ll see what the next story holds, but maybe some crew of the Realms Master will appear in my own Games. The story is Good.

--

You can track my current progress here.

Summer Haul: Forgotten Realms and Other Settings

A sweet evening breeze cools the Flamerule heat lingering from the day's shining. Eldath blessed serenity fills a grove home to an ancient storyteller, wrinkled with age and wisdom. She shares tales of times long past, of worlds now forgotten. She invites you to sit with her and get lost in the timeless fables.

Oloré! Since I have not done a haul since February I thought I would share some of my recent acquisitions pertaining to Dungeons & Dragons fiction.

Pertatining to my recent review of Elminseter: The Making of a Mage, I was able to get my hand on The Annotated Elminster which is an omnibus of the first three novels in the series with added with sections about the writing of the story and specific Realms Lore pertinent to each story after the respective section. I believe the paperback Elminster Ascending has the same content, but I am not 100% sure as I don't yet have a copy.

After finishing the first book in the Elminster series I got my hands on The Best of the Realms II, an anthology of stories by Ed Greenwood. One story in particular is from the point of view of a young Elminster before the events of the first book. I'm hoping to get to this one soonish.

 

Untold Adventures is an anthology I originally thought was available digitally only. I have reviewed all stories found in it from the Forgotten Realms, but there more stories from other D&D settings. This copy is in pristine shape.

This next book is not completely a Forgotten Realms novel, but it is close. Into the Void, while a Spelljammer novel, takes place on the mysterious island of Nimbral. Because of this, it even has the Forgotten Realms logo on the back.

As you may have noticed, I recently read the first of the Dragonlance Chronicles, Dragons of Autumn Twilight (thoughts here). I found the sequel, Dragons of Winter Night, at my local bookstore and grabbed it for a measly $2.

My first Eberron novels are Storm Dragon and Dragon Forge, respectively the first and second books in the Draconic Prophecies trilogy. I grabbed both in a bundle for $4 on eBay. I heard these are good, and I'm interested to explore the world of Eberron for the first time.

Similarly, the Penhaligon Trilogy is the first series to be released for the campaign setting of Mystara, which was the default setting for Basic D&D back in the 80s and 90s. These mass market paperbacks are surprisingly really nice, with colored illustrations and maps in all three.

Dark Sun has been a setting I have been fascinated with for a couple years, in fact a good portion of my homebrew world is heavily inspired by it. That being said, while I have some official game supplements, I have never played in it or read anything in it. I will change that with the first book in the Prism Pentad, The Verdant Passage. I found it at my local Goodwill.

As published a few days ago, I recently read the first book in the Gord the Rogue series. Along with the first book, I also purchased the six sequels. You may notice that only two have the Greyhawk Adventures logo, this is because Gary Gygax left TSR in 1986 and was able to retain the rights to Gord while losing the rights to the World of Greyhawk. The later stories are essentially in the same world, just proper nouns are changed for legal reasons.

To accompany the above series, Gord appears in two short stories in Dragon Magazine issues 100 and 344, the former being the first ever piece of fiction featuring the thief from Greyhawk, while the latter being the last new piece of fiction before Gygax's passing in 2008.

Have you received anything of interest late, be it game supplements, magazines, novels, or other ttrpg material? Thanks for reading, amarast, and until next time!

--

You can track my current progress here.

Review: Haunted: A Tale of Sembia by Dave Gross

 Haunted: A Tale of Sembia is a short story by Dave Gross that can be found in Dragon Magazine issue 304, published February 2003. The story is on pages 68-77. This is the last Sembia tie-in short story, both to be read by me and it is also the last published, as this was a month before the release of  The Lord of Stormweather. You can check out my thoughts on other tie-in stories to Sembia through these links: And All the Sinners, Saints, Memories, Shamur's Wager, Another Name for Dawn, and Garden of Souls. 

The story takes place mostly over a two day period in the month of Flamerule 1374 DR, The Year of Wild Magic. There is also flashbacks to Flamerule and Uktar in the Year of the Crown, 1351 DR. This story is a good story to read if you are a fan of the hideous aquatic vampire, Stannis Malveen, and his formidable brother, Radu, from Gross's Sembian novel, Black Wolf. 

story art by Marc Sasso

The tale starts in Selgaunt, unsurprisingly, but our characters are not on the bustling streets or in an opulent manse, but instead are in the fetid sewers beneath the port city. The characters, the shade Chaney and cursed Radu soon come across  "Nightcarter[s]", another term for dungsweepers. I forgot how much I enjoyed their odd companionship.

There are a few flashbacks in this story, bringing up to Radu's youth when his mother was accused of piracy and the family stripped of holdings by the high probiter and held with extreme prejudice by the Old Chauncel. This story is the origin of the odd relationship that Radu has with his aquatic vampire elder brother: seeing the story art really shows just how hideous of a mephitic, nocturnal creature these are. 

This story is Exceptional, and largely because the contrast between Radu and Stannis. Radu is human, though maybe a little tainted at this point, but is largely a monster with how terrible he acts and murders. Stannis is somewhat of a fop, and seems more human than his younger brother even though on the outside he is a grotesque creature with a monstrous appetite for feeding on living beings. Package this with the comedic relief of the shade of the Dandy Chaney Foxmantle, and we have a fun story on our hands.

--

You can track my current progress here.

Review: Memories: The Year of the Wave by Lisa Smedman

Memories: The Year of the Wave is a Sembia tie-in short story by Lisa Smedman about Larajin, half-elf maid in service to House Uskevren of Selgaunt. The story can be found in Dragon magazine issue #299 from September 2002, pages 84-94. It takes place in , the Year of the Wave, 1364 DR, eight years before the events of Heirs of Prophecy, which means Larajin is seventeen years old.

We find Larajin going about her daily duties and being a klutz during those duties. She encounters Talbot and Brocklin, a stable boy she fancies, sparring. From there, it seems that there is a potent and maybe magical liqueur, magic moss, and memory lost all around a sacred Revel to Sune, goddess of love and beauty.

This is a fun story, one to decipher. The story seems to be going one direction before swiftly changing to another. It shows Larajin become friends with the dwarf, Kemlar. We alos see the start of her relationship with Sune, which is a nice glimpse. I would recommend reading this after Heirs of Prophecy, but it would not hurt too bad to read it before. It was great seeing Larajin again, as she was one of my favorite characters from Sembia.

Larajin by Jeff Laubenstein

This story is swift and not a pain in the slightest to read. It's about a good character that is already established in the books in a similarly established place. Lisa Smedman keeps on showing that her works are nothing if not Exceptional.

--

You can track my current progress here.

Review: Garden of Souls by Richard Lee Byers

 Garden of Souls is a short story that ties into the Sembia novel series by Richard Lee Byers, just like Shamur's Wager. It can be found in Dragon Magazine issue 283 from May 2001. The story can be found on pages 72-80.

This story takes place well before the Sembia books, as Shamur Uskevren has more recently married Thamalon Uskeveren, and her first child Tamlin is but an infant. Shamur finds herself with an apparition of her grand-niece, who she has been impersonating, appearing in the home of the Karn family. From there she finds herself in otherworldly circumstances, held captive by a fiend.

story arty by Mark Zug

While it was fun to watch a quick situation which Shamur unsurprisingly dominates, it was a tad confusing at first and lacked great entertainment. The conversation at the end made the story worth it, but overall its not Byers best work. I would say it is Acceptable; Fans of Shamur should read this.

--

You can track my current progress here.

February Haul: Magazines and More

Oloré readers and adventurers! This month's book haul is a little different than the last one, in fact it hardly contains books. I recently acquired some more Forgotten Realms related magazines. Also, my first piece of fan mail, as it were, came from Niko over at Niko's Book Reviews!

So as you could probably tell from many recent reviews, I enjoy Dragon Magazine, mostly for the Forgotten Realms short stories found therein. I recently acquired issues 283, 299, and 304. These all have fiction pieces relating to the Sembia book series, such as the recently reviewed Another Name For Dawn, Shamur's Wager, plus And All the Sinners, Saints.

I also got issues 74 and 94 of Polyhedron, another old TSR magazine. While these do not have fiction they do have Realms related content. I mostly acquired them for the column The Everwinking Eye, which is about Elminster's various tours of the Vast, the Border Kingdoms, etc.

Last, but not least, I received The Spine of the World (book 2 of Paths of Darkness, sequel series to Legacy of the Drow) and Servant of the Shard (book 3, and also the first book of The Sellwswords) by R.A. Salvatore. Niko knew about my quest to read all Forgotten Realms novels and decided to help me out. I actually currently had book one of the series, The Silent Blade, so this worked out perfectly! 

Have you gotten any Realms material of late? Thanks for reading!

--

You can track my current progress here.

Review: Lord of the Darkways by Ed Greenwood

 Lord of the Darkways is a short story from the digital Dragon Magazine issue 390 from August 2010; it can be found on pages 55-77. It can also be found in the anthology Untold Adventures from 2011, but for your pleasure you can read it from the Internet Archive here.

the cover for issue 390

The tale is about Manshoon, vampire of Greenwood fame. He often appears in Elminster novels, and this is  a sequel of sorts to the story "So High A Price" from 1994's Realms of Infamy but also a prequel to Elminster Must Die. It takes place in 1334 DR, the Year of the Blazing Brand. Manshoon moves to block control of the Darkways, portals in Zhentil Keep in the hands of wealthy merchants that allow quick movement of people and goods to mansions in Sembia.

After the prelude of Manshoon's master plan is enacted we are then brought to Elminster who is in Innarlith on the Lake of Steam. He is in a funny situation that actually had me chuckling. 

story art by Kekai Kotaki

This short story is not all of over the place and hard to follow like some of Greenwood's writing. The Yavarla thread was a nice addition, and from it we get to see Storm Silverhand for a moment. The story is about double the length of most short stories I've read so far, and that gives it a good sense of round completeness.

Not surprsingly, Greenwood's story is full of tiny bits of Realms Lore you won't really find any information on; are Darklash and Painclaw official positions in the Church of Loviatar? Who is Tanthar of Selgaunt? Does this painting of the Spaerenza and Lord Wizard Uldimar Bronneth still exist? What happened to the Sembian cabal, the Vigilant Ravens, who opposed Manshoon's rise to power?

Overall this is a fine tale with good meat and lore. It is Good.

--

You can track my current progress here.

Review: And All the Sinners, Saints by Paul Kemp

From Dragon Magazine issue 297 from July 2002 we have another Erevis Cale story from Paul Kemp: And All the Sinners, Saints. This story takes place after Shadow's Witness, of the Sembia series, and before The Erevis Cale Trilogy. If you have read the latter you may remember references to this short tale in the trilogy. It can be found on pages 68-77.

Erevis Cale is the butler at the Halls of Stormweather, the home of the noble house Uskevren of Selgaunt, Sembia. He was a former assassin of the Night Masks who escaped (the story of which is told in Another Name for Dawn) and later worked for the Night Knives. He is awoken in the night after receiving dreams from the god Mask.

Riven is an assassin who was an associate of Cale's in the Night Knives. He also is getting unsettling dreams from Mask.

Cale attend's with his master, Thamalon Uskevren, to the Hulorn's Palace with a meeting with the Hulorn, the ruler of Selgaunt whom plans to announce a new Proxy. We learn of a handy Sembian word: wolmoner, literally "vigil man" and over time a term that denoted a bodyguard, advisor, spy, or servant. I'll probably add it to my Sembian word usage article.

story art by Greg Staples

An unlikely partnership is stuck temporarily has Mask has need of a certain servant of the rival god, Cyric, out of the picture. In the story political intrigue intersects with street toughs, and evil gods and magical items: ideal Dungeons & Dragons.  This story is peak Kemp writing, it is Exceptional.

"We work well together, Cale."

--

You can track my current progress here.

Review: Dreaming of Waterdeep by Rosemary Jones

 Dreaming of Waterdeep is a short story from Dragon Magazine issue 393 published digitally in November of 2010 and acts as a prequel for the character Gustin Bone of Jone's 2009 novel, City of the Dead, book 4 of the Ed Greenwood Presents Waterdeep series (my thoughts on the whole series can be found here). The tale can be found on pages 49-56. The story can also be found in Untold Adventures, an anthology with short stories from multiple settings from 2011.

the cover of issue 393

We are introduced to ten year old Gustin Bone who is an orphan and living with his Uncle in a small village. When trio of adventurers stop in the village looking for respite, Gustin asks a litany of questions but his hopes of adventuring and seeing Waterdeep are quashed by his uncle. 

story art by Warren Mahy

Gustin has a little bit of illusory magic, not very effective in combat. This small adventure involves searching ruins for treasure and a magical monster that has made the ruins its lair.

Likely this story takes place in Cormyr, as that is where Gustin grew up, but the village and area remain unnamed. It is an exciting story, and I plan to get Untold Adventures soon so I can have a physical copy. There is something oddly realistic (in a magical world) that 4e era books have that many earlier works are lacking, and Jones writes phenomenally, displaying such life. This story is Exceptional, and I recommend you read it; it can be found here.

--

You can track my current progress here.

Review: Shamur's Wager by Richard Lee Byers

 Shamur's Wager is a short story by Richard Lee Byers from Dragon Magazine issue 273 published in July 2000. The story follows Shamur Uskevren lady and rogue of Sembia fame and protagonist of The Shattered Mask published June of the following year (my review of the whole series can be found here). The story can be found from pages 56 to 63.

The story is not given a proper place on the timeline but it likely takes place before the Sembia book series. Shamur has a fierce competition with Chenna Talendar, a lady of a rival house, to gain a brooch that belonged to Shamur's old trainer in the roguish arts, Errendar Spillwine; it also may include an exhilarating griffon race over Selgaunt.

story art by Therese Nielsen

It's a fun read with a surprising outcome. There is something special about this story I found common among the tales from Sembia that bring out the joyful magic present in the Forgotten Realms. This story is somehow Amazing as Byers is able to squeeze in meat and juice into this exciting short tale.

--

You can track my current progress here.

Review: Another Name for Dawn by Paul Kemp

Another Name for Dawn is the origin story for Erevis Cale, and a good read for fans after reading The Erevis Cale Trilogy. The story can be found on pages 72-80 of Dragon Magazine issue #277 from November 2000, the same time that Shadow's Witness, the book of  Sembia series starring Cale was released.

The story follows Vasen Coriver as he seeks to escape Westgate, a city on the Sea of Fallen Stars coast, and the Night Masks guild of cut-throats, assassins, and thieves. This is a great read for those who are fans of Westgate, Sembia, the Dragon Coast region, or anyone reading the novel Night Masks (book 3 of the Cleric Quintet by Salvatore) which is me on all accounts.

story art by Carlo Arellano

The story takes place in The Year of the Serpent, 1359 DR. It's a quick read that gives a good glimpse of the character of Vasen as he makes his swift escape during the night. Though it is short it's Exceptional glimpse into the world of the Forgotten Realms and I recommend it for those who can't get enough of the premier setting for the worlds greatest role-playing game.

--

You can track my current progress here.

Review: The Great Hunt by Elaine Cunningham

While I am currently reading trying to finish the last books in the series' I had already started when I made a commitment to read every Forgotten Realms novel I thought I would give you this short review of a short story from Elaine Cunningham. At the time of this writing I have only read her novel EverQuest: The Blood Red Harp. Since the tale is so short my summary will have spoilers.

Cover art by Michael Sutfin

The Great Hunt is located from pages 62-68 in the April 1998 issue. It follows primarily a half-orc youth named Drom somewhere in The North. He and his two companions are Talons of Malar. These servants of the Beastlord had massacred the citizens of an elven village and are now hunting the two survivors.

We learn that these elves are actually the half-elf Arilyn Moonblade and the Moon elf Elaith Craulnober. These are both characters from Cunningham's Song & Swords series which I have not yet gotten too. Arilyn who is injured can not outrun the hunting party, and so they devise a plan to best their adversaries. The build a cairn and make it seem that Arilyn has bled out and was buried and that Elaith continued on alone.

A mysterious wolf seems to confirm this for Talons of Malar by digging into the cairn and eating something so its face comes away bloody. They are then surprised when they meat Arilyn alone in a field later on. Arilyn fights briefly with Drom's companions, Badger and Grimlish, dispatching both, with the aid of a thrown knife from Elaith who was the mysterious snowy wolf. They had buried a doe in the cairn, successfully tricking the hunters. Outsmarted, Drom is at their mercy and Elaith maims him, though Arilyn leaves a suture kit so Drom can sew himself up.

Story art by Stephen Schwartz

The story ends with Drom deciding to change, as he howls to the Snow Wolf, seemingly turning his back on Malar and returning to the spirit he worshipped since his childhood.

Since it is such a short story I am not leaving a rating, but I will say that I find fiction like this very much to my liking. I only have a few copies of Dragon magazine issues but I love finding stories from fiction and adventures in them, especially about the Forgotten Realms. For those that don't know, Ed Greenwood (the creator of the Forgotten Realms) started putting tidbits about the Forgotten Realms in Dragon back in 1979. In 1986 when TSR was looking for any setting to expand into beyond Greyhawk with Gary Gygax's departure in '85, everything about The Realms in Dragon were retroactively made canon before the release of the first official supplement, the Grey Box, in 1987. An example would be the reference to deities from the Forgotten Realms in June of '86's issue #110 adventure "The House in the Frozen Lands" by James Adams.

Have you read any good fiction or ran any adventures from the old magazines? If so let me know, I'd love to experience them for myself.

--

You can track my current progress here.