The City of Towers: The Dreaming Dark - Book I (55 page)

Test of Siberys
: Members of dragonmarked houses are not born with their marks. Anyone who possesses the blood of a house
has a chance to manifest a dragonmark, but typically a mark only appears under stressful conditions, when its power is truly needed. The Test of Siberys is a formal ritual administered by the house. In theory it will force a dormant mark to the surface, though there have been those who failed the test but still developed a mark late in life. The precise nature of the test varies from house to house. In some cases, the test can be quite dangerous. See
dragonmark, dragonmark houses
.

Tharashk, House
: A dragonmarked house bearing the Mark of Finding. In Sharn, House Tharashk serves as a clearinghouse for the services of monstrous mercenaries from Droaam, including gargoyle couriers and ogre laborers.

Thrane
: One of the original Five Nations of Galifar, Thrane is the seat of power for the Church of the Silver Flame. During the Last War, the people of Thrane chose to give the church power above that of the throne. Queen Diani ir’Wyrnarn serves as a figurehead, but true power rests in the hands of the Church, which is governed by the council of cardinals and Jaela Daeran, the young Keeper of the Flame.

Three Stones
: A popular gambling game played with a deck of cards sporting an elemental theme. The three stones of the title represent the three dragons that are said to make up the world.

Tsash
: A common greeting in the Goblin tongue.

Traveler, the
: Loosely aligned with the Dark Six, this deity is the embodiment of intrigue and artifice.

Xoriat
: Another plane of existence, known as the Realm of Madness.

War of the Mark
: Five hundred years before the creation of Galifar, the dragonmarked families joined forces to eliminate those who possessed aberrant marks. Ultimately the aberrants joined forces and formed an army of their own, under the leadership of Lord Halas Tarkanan and his lover, the Lady of the Plague. Despite Tarkanan’s skill and personal power, his troops were few in number and poorly
organized, and he could not stand against the dragonmarked. In the aftermath of the war, the families formally established the first dragonmarked houses. See
aberrant dragonmarks, dragonmarks, dragonmarked houses, House Tarkanan
.

Warforged
: A race of humanoid constructs crafted from wood, leather, metal, and stone, and given life and sentience through magic. The warforged were created by House Cannith, which sought to produce tireless, expendable soldiers capable of adapting to any tactical situation. Cannith developed a wide range of military automatons, but the spark of true sentience eluded them until 965 YK, when
Aaren d’Cannith
perfected the first of the modern warforged. A warforged soldier is roughly the same shape as an adult male human, though typically slightly taller and heavier. There are many different styles of warforged, each crafted for a specific military function—heavily-armored infantry troops, faster scouts and skirmishers, and many more. While warforged are brought into existence with the knowledge required to fulfill their function, they have the capacity to learn, and with the war coming to a close, many are searching their souls—and questioning whether they have souls—and wondering what place they might have in a world at peace.

Windchasing
: A popular sport in Sharn. Windchasing is a form of aerial racing, in which riders mounted on flying beasts follow a dangerous course in and around the towers of Sharn.

Windguard
: The organizers of the Race of Eight Winds.

YK
: Most of the nations of Khorvaire make use of the calendar of Galifar. The current date is reckoned from the birth of the Kingdom of Galifar, in the Year since the founding of the Kingdom, or more simply, YK.

Zae
: This halfling is one of the youngest members of House Tarkanan. She seems to be able to mystically communicate with vermin and influence their actions. This is not an aberrant ability that has been seen in recent history, but it is reminiscent of the powers of the legendary Lady of the Plague—if on a far smaller scale.

Zilargo
: Located on the southern coast of Khorvaire, Zilargo is the homeland of the gnomes. Known for its vast universities and libraries, Zilargo also possesses considerable mineral wealth in the form of gemstones and Khyber dragonshards. The gnomes themselves are masterful diplomats, shipwrights, and alchemists, renowned for their cunning and inquisitive nature.

Keith Baker discovered the D
UNGEONS
& D
RAGONS
® world in elementary school, and this was the beginning of a lifelong interest in games of all sorts. In 2002 he quit his day job to become a full-time freelance writer. Much to his surprise, in 2003 his world E
BERRON™
was selected as the finalist in the Wizards of the Coast® Fantasy Setting Search. Keith currently lives in Boulder, Colorado with his lovely wife Ellen and a very bossy cow.

The City of Towers
is his first novel.

CITY OF TOWERS
The Dreaming Dark • Book One

©2005 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.

E
BERRON
, W
IZARDS OF THE
C
OAST,
and their respective logos are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast LLC, in the U.S.A. and other countries.

All Wizards of the Coast characters, and the distinctive likenesses thereof are property of Wizards of the Coast LLC.

Map by Dennis Kauth and Rob Lazzaretti
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2004113599

eISBN: 978-0-7869-5659-3

Visit our web site at
www.wizards.com

v3.0