The Abduction

The Abduction is the first novella of the Double Diamond Triangle Saga and one of only two books out of the nine that have a set place in the reading order. The main character is Piergeiron the Paladinson, a Lord of Waterdeep.

"It's the most important wedding of the decade—and someone has kidnapped the bride! As the nobility of Faerûn gather in Waterdeep for the marriage of Piergeiron the Paladinson, Open Lord of the city, dark and mysterious forces are at work, threatening his happiness. But be careful; for in this world, nothing is ever quite what it seems."

Summary
Nobles and other persons of consequence gathered in the Palace of Waterdeep to celebrate the wedding of Piergeiron Paladinson, the Open Lord of Waterdeep, and Eidola of Neverwinter, of the Boarskyr clan. Few knew much of Eidola, including seemingly Piergeiron himself, whose greatest attraction to his bride appeared to be based on his lingering attachment to his previous and now lost love, Shaleen. Nonetheless, many took interest in the union, both good and bad, for it would finalize the proposal for a new trade route to Kara-Tur. While greedy nobles and crooked guild representatives conspired, young Kastonoph "Noph" Nesher, son of Laskar Nesher, an unscrupulous capitalist, sought excitement and truths amidst the dangerous environment that the plotting of his elders created.

Hardly before the festivities had begun, the bride was set upon by a mysterious shapeshifter, who had taken on the guise of one of her maids. Piergeiron made quick work of the creature and guessed it to be a Malaugrym. He tasked his bodyguard, Madeiron Sunderstone to guard the shapeshifter's corpse, but Madeiron was deceived by two more shapeshifters who had taken on the guise of palace guards, to leave the scene. Only Noph witnessed the shapeshifters take on their true forms to dispose of their kin by eating it in entirety.

As the celebration progressed, Piergeiron's misgivings mounted. The Open Lord's anxiety reached fever-pitch during the masquerade ball, so utterly befuddling him that the entire scene seemed a nightmare, and he could no longer identify his bride. Finally, when she seemed to have found him, "Eidola" took the bemasked Piergeiron to a clandestine meeting with seven others. "Eidola" wasn't Eidola after all, but one of the conspirators against the union, and they, in turn mistook the disguised Piergeiron for one of their own. Piergeiron's attempt to draw out their plan was cut short when the conspirators presented Noph, whom they'd caught eavesdropping, and revealed that they planned to kill the young noble. Piergeiron broke his disguise to save Noph, managing to slay one of the conspirators while the others fled, and unmasked the dead man to reveal a prominent member of the Master Mariner's Guild.

With circumstances becoming more dire, Piergeiron assembled a small force of his most trusted confidants to aid in keeping watch in the upcoming wedding ceremony. The team was comprised of the Blackstaff Khelben Arunsun, Madeiron Sunderstone, second-in-command of the city watch Captain Rulathon, and Noph, who had proven his worth to stand alongside the others with the information that he'd bravely gathered.

However, despite the formidable assembly, its members were unable to prevent chaos from erupting in the ceremony. Noph caught sight of a bolt aimed at Eidola from on high, but his efforts to disable the contraption that was rigged to fire automatically were only partially successful. While the bolt only hit one of the wedding guests non-fatally, the automated contraption self-destructed, destroying all evidence at the scene and framing Noph as the assassin. As Noph was thrown into the dungeons beneath the palace, Khelben uncovered yet more shapeshifters, who had replaced the bridesmaids. After a spell-slinging battle in which Blackstaff look-alikes vaporized each other, the real Khelben uncovered the shapeshifters as dopplegangers

Barely had Khelben restored peace and commanded the ceremony to resume, mysterious warriors materialized from the heightened flame of candles and descended into the crowd alongside a preternatural darkness. Khelben was disabled by powerful ancient magic while Piergeiron fought desperately without sight. Meanwhile, Noph escaped from his dungeon cell. Rather than run for freedom, Noph made his way back to the party, where he heroically pulled frantic guests from the darkness and guided them outside. During his efforts, he found and captured one of the conspirators that he'd come to recognize by a distinctive accent.

Just as suddenly as the chaos had descended onto the wedding, it lifted, and with it, the shadow warriors were gone, as was Eidola. In the aftermath, Khelben was able to determine that the warriors were a product of a Bloodforge, an artifact originating from the Utter East. Furthermore, Noph's efforts were instrumental in determining that the dopplegangers and the assassins from the mariner's guild were two separate forces. By Khelben's suggestion, Piergeiron agreed to assemble a team of paladins to rescue Eidola rather than going himself, a group that the redeemed Noph was asked to aid.