Realms of the Dragons/Penitential Rites

"Penitential Rites" is a short story by Keith Francis Strohm included in the 2004 anthology Realms of the Dragons.

Summary
Brother Arranoth Fen of Ilmater's Monastery of the White Willow is murdered. His friend, the half-dragon warlord-turned-monk Drakken Thaal, suspects that he himself murdered Arranoth in his sleep. Drakken investigates the murder and discovers it to be a plot engineered by the Cult of the Dragon agent Valerix, who sought to enrage Drakken enough to awaken the Rage of Dragons within him. The Monastery is overrun by orc and goblin marauders fleeing the depredations of the dragon Foilsunder in the nearby Winterwood. Drakken kills the cultist and succumbs to the Rage, but his faith in Ilmater keeps him from losing control of his faculties. He dies defending his fellow monks.

Index

 * Characters
 * Arranoth Fen • Drakken Thaal • Valerix
 * Foilsunder
 * Foilsunder


 * Creatures
 * half-dragon • human


 * Locations
 * Monastery of the White Willow
 * Winterwood
 * Winterwood


 * Organizations
 * Cult of the Dragon


 * Religion
 * Ilmater


 * Miscellaneous
 * Rage of Dragons