Transitions (novel series)
Encyclopedia
The Transitions Series is a series of fantasy novels by R. A. Salvatore, the famous science fiction
and fantasy
author, consisting of three novels: The Orc King, The Pirate King, and The Ghost King. The Orc King was published in September 2007, The Pirate King in October 2008, and The Ghost King in October 2009. This series will be Salvatore's latest work in the long saga of the companions of Mithril Hall. It continues the tale of the famous renegade drow (dark elf) Drizzt Do'Urden
and his friends. This series is a follow-up to The Hunter's Blades Trilogy
. Like the rest of the saga, it is set in the Forgotten Realms
, a popular Dungeons & Dragons
role-playing setting.
can't talk him out of it, he'll be forced to help.
The story begins with Captain Deudermont and the Sea Sprite crew still fighting pirates. One of the captured pirates raises questions of the effectiveness of Deudermont's actions, suggesting that Deudermont is allowed to capture pirates purely as a show and then stating that the Arklem Greeth, a lich
who controls the Hosttower in the city of Luskan, supports the pirate trade. On Deudermont's return to Waterdeep
, he meets with Lord Brambleberry of Waterdeep, and the two of them decide to stop Arklem Greeth and his pirate crews.
Meanwhile Drizzt and Regis
decide to travel to Icewind Dale to learn the fate of Wulfgar
. Their path leads them Longsaddle, home of the Harpell family. During their visit, a philosophical debate ensues about crime and whether the 'greater good' justifies the use of severe punishment. Drizzt and Regis leave Longsaddle and head for Luskan, where they meet with captain Deudermont and learn of his plan. They decide to help in the fight.
The task of saving Luskan is presented as moral conflict between trying to better the city at the risk of destroying it or accepting stability under less morally pure rule. After a few battles that tears the city apart, Arklem Greeth blows up the Hosttower, killing a large percentage of Luskan's population.
With the war apparently over, Drizzt and Regis continue on their path to Icewind Dale. There they find Wulfgar living in a cave invaded by a carefree Drizzt and Wulfgar many years ago, testing himself against the harsh seasons before he plans to return to his people.
Back in Luskan, while Deudermont tries to rebuild the city and keep the people of Luskan safe and fed, the High Captains work against Deudermont, hoping to turn the people of Luskan against him and assume the position of rulers. Eventually, civil war breaks out in Luskan. Drizzt and Regis return to help. The final battle sees the death of Deudermont, the sinking of the Sea Sprite, and the return of the rule of the High Captains in Luskan. Drizzt and Regis leave the city with the rest of Deudermont's crew.
In The Ghost King, when the Spellplague ravages Faerûn, old friends and foes alike are caught in the chaos. The blinding light released from the destruction of Crenshinibon burned out the eyes of the mighty Hephaestus, leaving him angry, sullen and defeated. A strand of Mystra's falling Weave released the necromancy of the ruined shard, reviving as apparitions the seven original liches that created it and giving sentience to the dead mind flayer Yharaskrik. Yharaskrik tricks Hephaestus into breathing onto Crenshinibon again, which transforms the dragon into a dracolich. Yharaskrik compels Hephaestus to smash Crenshinibon into his skull, binding them together. Yharaskrik's sentience then binds with Hephaestus/Crenshinibon, the three becoming the Ghost King.
The three minds, with no privacy and never alone in the one body, had a great shared power: the dracolich's flight, strength, breath and an aura of death and disease, the militant and strategic mind - as well as psionic powers - of the mind-flayer, and the Crystal Shard's necromantic powers and patience combined. Seeking revenge on those responsible for his blindness, the mind of Hephaestus immediately set his sights on Jarlaxle.
Traveling with the silly, but undeniably dangerous, dwarf Athrogate, the latter rhyming the whole way, Jarlaxle snapped out of Reverie one night at the intrusion of the dracolich threatening to find him. Not unintelligent, Jarlaxle had not missed the Spellplague beginning around him as Mystra's Weave itself collapsed. And after being attacked - first by the undead and second by one of Crenshinibon's liches, who he inadvertently destroyed when he threw his pocket hole dimension over the top of the lich, which collided with the dimensional gate the lich contained - they caused a rift and the lich disappeared. He knew the only way to survive and perhaps stop this horrid monstrosity of a foe was to enlist the help of the mighty drow Drizzt, as well as the holy Deneirrath priest Cadderly. He also knew, due to the last encounter with Cadderly - ending in a threat should Jarlaxle ever return to Spirit Soaring - that the only way to get Cadderly was to get Drizzt, and the only way to Drizzt was Cadderly. As he journeyed to Mithral Hall, attempting to discern a way to get the drow on his side, he learned of a terrible side effect of Mystra's falling Weave touching Drizzt's wife Catti-brie. He then decides his only chance - maybe Faerûn's only chance - was to convince Drizzt that Cadderly was her only chance and to let him go with him as well. After using a disguised Athrogate to convince Bruenor and Drizzt that Cadderly was Catti-brie's best hope, Jarlaxle meets up with Drizzt, Bruenor and Pwent, explains to him their plight and how their problems may be connected.
Meanwhile, Spirit Soaring is filled with priests, mages, sages and scholars of all sorts, all gathered to discuss the recent failures in magic, the failure of some gods to answer but not others and other effects of the Spellplague. Shortly after Cadderly's children and the druidic dwarf Pikel arrive at Carradoon, the town starts being assaulted by the Ghost King's undead which, despite their great martial prowess, drives them and the town's people deep into caves under the mountain. At the same time creatures of the Shadow Plane begin assaulting Spirit Soaring but the combined might of the remaining empowered priests and wizards, led by Cadderly, hold them off until sunrise, when they retreat. Shortly after, as the remaining people at Spirit Soaring equip themselves with magical weapons of the cathedral's collection, their patrols begin to report heavier losses as magic begins to fail completely. Cadderly attempts to find Deneir and finds his god weaving the Metatext and therefore himself into the broken Weave to fix the damage and stabilize it. Soon after, a group of priests and mages who have lost faith sally forth against Cadderly's advice to escape and return a few minutes later as zombies at the forefront of an army of shadow creatures, who had returned even during the day.
Drizzt and company run into Danica, Cadderly's wife, who had been out searching for their missing children when she stumbled across what appeared to be the death of Ivan Bouldershoulder at the Ghost King's foot. Barely escaping alive and with Jarlaxle's help, she recovers in time for them to reach the battle at Spirit Soaring. They attempt to press through with the unconscious Catti-brie on a wagon but not even a fierce charge by the dwarven heroes followed by the speed of the drow could break through the unstoppable tide. Seeing his wife and some friends in danger, his need to act called out and something answered. Reciting off unknown spells, he creates a flying horse and carriage out of a cloud and rides down to rescue the fighters below displaying godlike power in the form of potent and great unknown spells.
The Ghost King is defeated but escapes to the Shadowfell, where he recovers rapidly. He returns and is defeated a second time, disappearing to the Shadowfell again. Cadderly uses Catti-brie as a conduit to enter the Shadowfell to finish off the Ghost King. In the end, Cadderly defeats the Ghost King at the cost of his life and becomes the new Ghost King, forever reinforcing and guarding the ward containing the rift left by the old Ghost King. The rift is in the shattered remains of Spirit Soaring. Catti-brie is allowed one last night with Drizzt, before she and Regis both die from the Spellplague and are taken by Mielikki as a reward partly to Drizzt. The goddess puts them into a pocket paradise plane for all time.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
and fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
author, consisting of three novels: The Orc King, The Pirate King, and The Ghost King. The Orc King was published in September 2007, The Pirate King in October 2008, and The Ghost King in October 2009. This series will be Salvatore's latest work in the long saga of the companions of Mithril Hall. It continues the tale of the famous renegade drow (dark elf) Drizzt Do'Urden
Drizzt Do'Urden
Drizzt Do'Urden is a fictional character in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. Drizzt was created by author R. A. Salvatore as a supporting character in the Icewind Dale Trilogy. Salvatore created him on a whim when his publisher needed to...
and his friends. This series is a follow-up to The Hunter's Blades Trilogy
The Hunter's Blades Trilogy
The Hunter's Blades Trilogy is a New York Times best-selling trilogy written by science fiction and fantasy author R.A. Salvatore. It follows on from the previous book, The Servant of the Shard and the other books of the Paths of Darkness series. It contains three books, The Thousand Orcs, The Lone...
. Like the rest of the saga, it is set in the Forgotten Realms
Forgotten Realms
The Forgotten Realms is a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. Commonly referred to by players and game designers alike as "The Realms", it was created by game designer Ed Greenwood around 1967 as a setting for his childhood stories...
, a popular Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...
role-playing setting.
Plot summary
The Arcane Brotherhood has long held the city of Luskan in their power, but when corruption eats away at their ranks, Captain Deudermont comes to the rescue of a city that has become a safe haven for the Sword Coast's most dangerous pirates. But rescuing a city from itself may not be as easy as Deudermont thinks, and when DrizztDrizzt Do'Urden
Drizzt Do'Urden is a fictional character in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. Drizzt was created by author R. A. Salvatore as a supporting character in the Icewind Dale Trilogy. Salvatore created him on a whim when his publisher needed to...
can't talk him out of it, he'll be forced to help.
The story begins with Captain Deudermont and the Sea Sprite crew still fighting pirates. One of the captured pirates raises questions of the effectiveness of Deudermont's actions, suggesting that Deudermont is allowed to capture pirates purely as a show and then stating that the Arklem Greeth, a lich
Lich (Dungeons & Dragons)
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, the lich is an undead creature; a spellcaster who seeks to defy death by magical means.-Dungeons & Dragons :...
who controls the Hosttower in the city of Luskan, supports the pirate trade. On Deudermont's return to Waterdeep
Waterdeep (city)
Waterdeep is a fictional city-state that forms part of a popular Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game campaign setting called the Forgotten Realms. It is a port city that is located along the western coast of the Faerûn sub-continent...
, he meets with Lord Brambleberry of Waterdeep, and the two of them decide to stop Arklem Greeth and his pirate crews.
Meanwhile Drizzt and Regis
ReGIS
ReGIS, short for "Remote Graphic Instruction Set", was a vector graphics markup language developed by Digital Equipment Corporation for later models of their famous VT series of computer terminals. ReGIS supported rudimentary vector graphics consisting of lines, circular arcs, and text...
decide to travel to Icewind Dale to learn the fate of Wulfgar
Wulfgar
Wulfgar can refer to:*Wulfgar, the herald of Hroðgar, a character in Beowulf*Wulfgar, the villain in the 1981 Sylvester Stallone film Nighthawks*Wulfgar, one of the Companions of the Hall from the Icewind Dale Trilogy...
. Their path leads them Longsaddle, home of the Harpell family. During their visit, a philosophical debate ensues about crime and whether the 'greater good' justifies the use of severe punishment. Drizzt and Regis leave Longsaddle and head for Luskan, where they meet with captain Deudermont and learn of his plan. They decide to help in the fight.
The task of saving Luskan is presented as moral conflict between trying to better the city at the risk of destroying it or accepting stability under less morally pure rule. After a few battles that tears the city apart, Arklem Greeth blows up the Hosttower, killing a large percentage of Luskan's population.
With the war apparently over, Drizzt and Regis continue on their path to Icewind Dale. There they find Wulfgar living in a cave invaded by a carefree Drizzt and Wulfgar many years ago, testing himself against the harsh seasons before he plans to return to his people.
Back in Luskan, while Deudermont tries to rebuild the city and keep the people of Luskan safe and fed, the High Captains work against Deudermont, hoping to turn the people of Luskan against him and assume the position of rulers. Eventually, civil war breaks out in Luskan. Drizzt and Regis return to help. The final battle sees the death of Deudermont, the sinking of the Sea Sprite, and the return of the rule of the High Captains in Luskan. Drizzt and Regis leave the city with the rest of Deudermont's crew.
The Ghost King
Released October 6, 2009.In The Ghost King, when the Spellplague ravages Faerûn, old friends and foes alike are caught in the chaos. The blinding light released from the destruction of Crenshinibon burned out the eyes of the mighty Hephaestus, leaving him angry, sullen and defeated. A strand of Mystra's falling Weave released the necromancy of the ruined shard, reviving as apparitions the seven original liches that created it and giving sentience to the dead mind flayer Yharaskrik. Yharaskrik tricks Hephaestus into breathing onto Crenshinibon again, which transforms the dragon into a dracolich. Yharaskrik compels Hephaestus to smash Crenshinibon into his skull, binding them together. Yharaskrik's sentience then binds with Hephaestus/Crenshinibon, the three becoming the Ghost King.
The three minds, with no privacy and never alone in the one body, had a great shared power: the dracolich's flight, strength, breath and an aura of death and disease, the militant and strategic mind - as well as psionic powers - of the mind-flayer, and the Crystal Shard's necromantic powers and patience combined. Seeking revenge on those responsible for his blindness, the mind of Hephaestus immediately set his sights on Jarlaxle.
Traveling with the silly, but undeniably dangerous, dwarf Athrogate, the latter rhyming the whole way, Jarlaxle snapped out of Reverie one night at the intrusion of the dracolich threatening to find him. Not unintelligent, Jarlaxle had not missed the Spellplague beginning around him as Mystra's Weave itself collapsed. And after being attacked - first by the undead and second by one of Crenshinibon's liches, who he inadvertently destroyed when he threw his pocket hole dimension over the top of the lich, which collided with the dimensional gate the lich contained - they caused a rift and the lich disappeared. He knew the only way to survive and perhaps stop this horrid monstrosity of a foe was to enlist the help of the mighty drow Drizzt, as well as the holy Deneirrath priest Cadderly. He also knew, due to the last encounter with Cadderly - ending in a threat should Jarlaxle ever return to Spirit Soaring - that the only way to get Cadderly was to get Drizzt, and the only way to Drizzt was Cadderly. As he journeyed to Mithral Hall, attempting to discern a way to get the drow on his side, he learned of a terrible side effect of Mystra's falling Weave touching Drizzt's wife Catti-brie. He then decides his only chance - maybe Faerûn's only chance - was to convince Drizzt that Cadderly was her only chance and to let him go with him as well. After using a disguised Athrogate to convince Bruenor and Drizzt that Cadderly was Catti-brie's best hope, Jarlaxle meets up with Drizzt, Bruenor and Pwent, explains to him their plight and how their problems may be connected.
Meanwhile, Spirit Soaring is filled with priests, mages, sages and scholars of all sorts, all gathered to discuss the recent failures in magic, the failure of some gods to answer but not others and other effects of the Spellplague. Shortly after Cadderly's children and the druidic dwarf Pikel arrive at Carradoon, the town starts being assaulted by the Ghost King's undead which, despite their great martial prowess, drives them and the town's people deep into caves under the mountain. At the same time creatures of the Shadow Plane begin assaulting Spirit Soaring but the combined might of the remaining empowered priests and wizards, led by Cadderly, hold them off until sunrise, when they retreat. Shortly after, as the remaining people at Spirit Soaring equip themselves with magical weapons of the cathedral's collection, their patrols begin to report heavier losses as magic begins to fail completely. Cadderly attempts to find Deneir and finds his god weaving the Metatext and therefore himself into the broken Weave to fix the damage and stabilize it. Soon after, a group of priests and mages who have lost faith sally forth against Cadderly's advice to escape and return a few minutes later as zombies at the forefront of an army of shadow creatures, who had returned even during the day.
Drizzt and company run into Danica, Cadderly's wife, who had been out searching for their missing children when she stumbled across what appeared to be the death of Ivan Bouldershoulder at the Ghost King's foot. Barely escaping alive and with Jarlaxle's help, she recovers in time for them to reach the battle at Spirit Soaring. They attempt to press through with the unconscious Catti-brie on a wagon but not even a fierce charge by the dwarven heroes followed by the speed of the drow could break through the unstoppable tide. Seeing his wife and some friends in danger, his need to act called out and something answered. Reciting off unknown spells, he creates a flying horse and carriage out of a cloud and rides down to rescue the fighters below displaying godlike power in the form of potent and great unknown spells.
The Ghost King is defeated but escapes to the Shadowfell, where he recovers rapidly. He returns and is defeated a second time, disappearing to the Shadowfell again. Cadderly uses Catti-brie as a conduit to enter the Shadowfell to finish off the Ghost King. In the end, Cadderly defeats the Ghost King at the cost of his life and becomes the new Ghost King, forever reinforcing and guarding the ward containing the rift left by the old Ghost King. The rift is in the shattered remains of Spirit Soaring. Catti-brie is allowed one last night with Drizzt, before she and Regis both die from the Spellplague and are taken by Mielikki as a reward partly to Drizzt. The goddess puts them into a pocket paradise plane for all time.