persuade the Emperor that much of the campaign had
passed according to her “plan.”
It is true that her life was spared, but my own
suspicion is that this is due more to her “friend,” the
Death Knight Lord Soth, than to any lapse in Ariakus’s
judgment. It is hard to imagine the campaign being
viewed by the Emperor as anything but a monstrously
disastrous defeat.
In retrospect, Grand Master Gunthar Uth Wistan’s
appointment of Laurana as the army’s commander stands
clearly vindicated. The Golden General proved capable of
initiative and audacity far beyond what any Knight of
Solamnia could have mustered. In fact, her use of dragon
breath for strategic purposes (damming the river) clearly
shows how she managed to outwit even her battle-
seasoned opponents – no Highlord used the dragons for
any purpose other than a tactical application on the
battlefield.
In conclusion, Lauralanthalasa of Qualinesti must
clearly stand alongside Kith-Kanan, Vinas Solamnus, and
Huma himself as one of the greatest generals of Krynn.
In gratitude, I shall remain heretofore,
Foryth Teel, Senior Scribe of Astinus
The Story That Tasslehoff Promised He Would Never, Ever, Ever Tell
Margaret Weis AND Tracy Hickman
CHAPTER ONE
So I guess you’re wondering why I’m telling you
this, since I promised not to. I’m sure Tanis wouldn’t mind,
seeing that it’s you. I mean, you’ve heard the other stories,
all about the War of the Lance and the Heroes of the
Lance (of which I, Tasslehoff Burrfoot, am one) and how
ten years ago we defeated the Dark Queen and her
dragons. This is just one more story, one that never was
told. As to why it was never told, you’ll find that out when
I get around to the part about promising Fizban.
It all began about a month ago. I was traveling up the
Vingaard River, heading for Dargaard Keep. You’ve heard
the stories about Dargaard Keep, how it’s cursed and Lord
Soth is supposed to haunt it. I hadn’t seen Lord Soth in a
while – he’s a death knight and while we’re not exactly
friends, he is what you might call a close personal
acquaintance. I was thinking about him one night and how
he very nearly killed me once. (I don’t harbor a grudge;
death knights have to do these things, you see.) And it
occurred to me that he might be bored, what with having
nothing to do for the past ten years, ever since we defeated
the Dark Queen, except haunt people.
Anyway, I thought I’d go find Lord Soth and fill him in
on Recent Events and maybe he’d glare at me with his
fiery eyes, and make me go all wonderfully cold and
shivery inside.
I was on my way to Dargaard Keep when I stopped
over in a little town that I can show you on my map,
though I can’t remember the name. They have a very nice
jail there. I know, because I was spending the night in it,
having become involved in an argument with a butcher
over a string of sausages that had followed me out of his
shop.
I tried to point out to the butcher that they must be
magical sausages, because I couldn’t think of any other
way they would have ended up trailing after me like that.
I thought he’d be pleased, you know, to realize he had the
power to make magical sausages. And if I did eat two of
them, it was just to find out if they did anything magical
in the stomach. (They did, but I don’t think that counts as
magic. I’ll have to ask Dalamar.) To make a long story
short, he was not pleased to hear he had magical sausages
and I was taken away to jail.
Things have a way of working out, though, as my
grandmother Burrfoot used to say. There were a whole lot
of other kender in the jail. (Quite a remarkable
coincidence, don’t you think?) We had a very agreeable
time together, and I caught up on all the news of
Kendermore.
And I found out that someone had been looking for
me!
He was a friend of a friend of a friend and he had an