story, so I’ll tell you about it, in case you’ve forgotten from
the last time I was there.1 The Hot Springs mixing with the
water of the Cool Lake makes fog so thick that it’s hard to
see your topknot in front of your nose. No one used to
know where this Vale was, a long time ago, except Silvara
and the other silver dragons, who guarded Huma’s Tomb,
the final resting place of a truly great knight from long,
long ago. His tomb is there, only he isn’t.
At the north end of Foghaven Vale stands Silver
Dragon Mountain. You can get into the mountain through
a secret tunnel inside Huma’s Tomb. I know, because I
accidentally fell into it and got sucked up the statue
dragon’s windpipe. That’s where I found Fizban after he
was dead, only he wasn’t.
And it was in this mountain that Theros Ironfeld
forged the dragonlances. And that’s why it’s a Monument.
Every year at Yuletime the knights come to the Silver
1 Dragons OF WINTER NIGHT, Dragonlance Chronicles, Volume 2. Available in the Library
at Palanthas, which is a very nice city to visit, especially since they’ve cleaned up after the
dragons. The library is one block south and two east of the jail. You can’t miss it.
Dragon Mountain and Huma’s Tomb and they sing songs of Huma
and of Sturm Brightblade – a very good friend of mine!
They “tell tales of glory by day, and spend the night on
their knees in prayer before Huma’s stone bier.” Those
quotes are from Tanis.
I knew about this, but I’d never been invited to come
before, probably because I’m not a knight. (Though I
would really like to be, someday. I know a story about a
half-kender who was almost a knight. Have you heard it?
Oh, all right.) I guess I was invited this year because this
year was special, being the tenth anniversary of Something
that I couldn’t read for the blot. But I didn’t care what it
was, as long as there was to be a big party in honor of it.
I was traipsing through the fog of Foghaven Vale,
wondering where I was (I had wandered off the path),
when I heard voices. Naturally, I stopped to listen and
while stopping to listen I may have sneaked behind a tree.
(This is not snooping. It is called “caution” and caution is
conducive to a long life. Something Tanis is very big on.
I’ll explain later.)
This is what I heard the voice say.
“‘The tenth anniversary is to be a reverent, solemn,
holy time of rededication for all good and righteous people
of Krynn.'” It was Tanis! I was sure it was his voice, only
he was talking in a Lord Gunthar-kind of tone. Then Tanis
said in his own voice, “Crap. It’s all a lot of crap.”
“What? – ” said another voice, and I knew that voice
was Caramon’s, and he sounded the same dear old
confused Caramon as always. I couldn’t believe my luck.
‘Tanis, my dear,” came a woman’s voice and it was
Laurana! I knew that because she’s the only one who ever
calls Tanis my DEAR. “Don’t talk so loudly.”
“But what? – ” That was Caramon again.
“No one can hear me,” said Tanis, interrupting. He
sounded really irritated and in a Bad Mood. “This damn
fog muffles everything. The truth is that the knights are
having political problems at home. That draconian raid on
Throtl touched off a riot in Palanthas. People think the
knights should go into the mountains and wipe out the
draconians and the goblins and anything else that doesn’t
wipe them out first. It’s all the fault of this new group of
boneheads who say we should go back to the golden days
of the Kingpriest!”
“But doesn’t Lady Crysania – ” Caramon tried again.
“Oh, she reminds people of the truth,” Tanis told him.
“And I think most understand. But the fanatics are gaining
converts, especially when the refugees come forward and
tell their tales of Throtl in flames and goblins killing
babies. What no one seems to realize is that the knights
couldn’t possibly raise an army large enough to go into the