War in Tethyr

War in Tethyr by Victor Milán is the second book in the loosely related The Nobles series. "The Business of War&hellip;

Zaranda Star never intended to bring the incessant Tethyrian Civil War to a head. All she wanted to do was take a caravan of goods into the war-torn capital. But then ambitious would-be king, Baron Hardly, confiscated her shipment.

Little did he reckon with Zaranda, retired warrior&hellip; and wizard.

Marshaling a motley company of angry peasants, an adolescent mage named Scab, and an orcish paladin, Zaranda declares her own private war.

But Zaranda must reckon with the machinations of the mysterious wizard Nyadnar&hellip; and the unearthly evil that lurks deep within the city of Zazesspur."

Prologue
A young stable hand nicknamed Scab has a dream about flying that turns into a nightmare about falling into a pit with a tentacled, many-eyed monster. She is woken up by a kick from her master and sets to work on the horses, making plans to seek out a wizard for training later in the day in the city of Zazesspur.

Part I
Crossing a hidden pass in the Snowflake Mountains in hopes of avoiding bandits, Countess Zaranda Star returns to Tethyr with a caravan of goods, intending ultimately to sell them in the city of Zazesspur, so that she can pay off her debts and retire. She travels astride her talking horse, Golden Dawn, and is accompanied by Father Pelletyr, a priest of Ilmater, and Vander Stillhawk, a mute human ranger raised by elves. Her caravan is stopped by halfling bandits, demanding a toll, but she and her companions distract them in conversation long enough for the bard Farlorn Half-Elven to harmlessly incapacitate the halflings lying in ambush in the cliffs above them.

A few days after Greengrass, they arrive at Morninggold Keep. Zaranda's companions are shocked to be greeted at the door by a bugbear. The guests are surprised to learn that the "monster" is Zaranda's long-time chamberlain, Gisbertus, but he fills Zaranda and the others in on the happenings in Tethyr during their absence, primarily the increase in banditry. Zaranda then returns to her bedchambers and converses with the brazen head that she had recovered from her adventures in Thay before going to sleep.

The next day, now on their journey west, the band of travelers come upon a farmstead that has been set ablaze. Zaranda does not hesitate to attack the bandits. The skirmish goes well, until the bandits take Father Pelletyr captive. In exchange for his life, Zaranda challenges the leader of the group, a half-ogre calling himself Togrev the Magnificent, to single combat, and Zaranda is victorious.

Zaranda continues through Ithmong and the villages west of that city, hearing of a new strong government in Zazesspur. A day and a half later, they encounter yet another sign of conflict, a group of peasants surrounding an orog. The orog claims to be a paladin of Torm, renamed Shield of Innocence by the god and sent on a holy quest. After Zaranda talks down the mob and listens to the orc's tale, he kneels before her and claims that she has been sent by Torm for him to serve. The other members of the group have strong apprehensions about this, but Zaranda refuses to judge someone on his race alone and welcomes Shield into her party.

When they arrive outside the city of Zazesspur, Zaranda chooses to take her goods through an old breach in the wall rather than through one of the main gates. No sooner do they enter the city, than they are surrounded by city guards, and it is declared that all their goods are to be impounded by order of the city council. She is told that&mdash;even if she were to leave a bribe&mdash;the earliest her case could be heard would be three months.

Frustrated, Zaranda decides to visit a tavern, where she argues with a former adventuring companion about local politics. A potential bar fight is averted when Father Pelletyr dies of heartstop before Shield is revealed to the tavern patrons as an orog.

Errata

 * The blurb on the back of the book refers to the villain as Baron Hardly, which is a misspelling of the actual character's name, Baron Hardisty.
 * Worgs are referred to as "wargs" in the novel.
 * On p. 57, it describes lands east of Morninggold as being flatter, even though the characters are clearly west of that county at the time.

Trivia
The title of Part I of the book, "Astronomy Domine" is the name of a song by British rock band Pink Floyd.