Lady of Poison

Lady of Poison by Bruce R. Cordell is the first novel in The Priests series.

""I shall burn thee with hunger, devour thee with blistering heat and with bitter destruction. I will send the teeth of beasts upon thee, with the poison of serpents of the dust.""

Summary
In, the Rotting Man, a Chosen of Talona, prepares a trap which captures the light and energy of an aspect of Lurue. A small fragment escapes, however, and takes the form of a baby, which is found by the farmer Hemish. The Rotting Man eventually suspects he did not capture all of the energy.

In, investigating his own diminishing connection with his goddess Lurue and an omen from her, the cleric Marrec travels to Fullpoint in Thesk, joined by Gunggari Ulmarra, an Osslander. There, he saves the town from rot fiends, blightspawned volodni, and learns that he must seek Hemish, a farmer, who might be related to the Child of Light in his omen. After meeting Hemish, he discovers the rot fiends have taken his adopted daughter; he rescues her with the aid of a newly arrived Elowen. Together, they decide to have Ash travel with them, as she is still sought by the fiends, and consult with Briartan of the Mucklestones.

Joining with Elowen, they travel to Two Stars, where they are joined by Ususi Manaallin on the way to Briartan. On the way to Briartan, they ascertain he's in danger; an uthraki tricks Marrec into letting him into their camp, where Ash slays him with a mysterious power. The group finds Briartan, realizing that the druid has been caught and tortured by Gameliel, a talontar blightlord. They defeat the blightlord and release Briartan, who implores before his death that they report to the Nentyarch in Yeshelmaar, currently pushed out of Dun-Tharos by the Rotting Man. He renders his keystone upon Ususi.

Ususi insists they use the Celestial Nadir, accessible through the Mucklestones, to travel more swiftly. The Nadir offers them a quick path, where they are only briefly attacked by a stray astral construct. In Yeshelmaar, the Nentyarch grants them gifts and tasks them with reuniting Ash, actually an aspect of Araluen, with the rest of her power, captured by the Rotting Man. A turncoat elf in his service, Fallon, steals away Ash and the keystsone, using the paths of the Nadir to reach the Arches of Xenosi, where a second blightlord, Anammelech, prepares an ambush. Ususi, Elowen, Gunggarri, and Marrec pursue quickly on their own, finding a different path in the Nadir, one that leads them into the ambush.

Marrec manages to survive the ambush thanks to his medusa heritage, which he had swore never to call upon again, but which slays Anammelech. Fallon becomes controlled by the Rotting Man, who sends his last blightlord, a vampire named Damanda, to meet him; Ash breaks the control and allows Fallon to prepare an ambush for her, which slays one of her vampires. Meanwhile, the party hunting after him is pressed into service by the Queen Abiding, who asks them to recover her binding talisman. They pry her talisman from a vault guarded by a fiend, Eschar, which she handily defeats once freed. She agrees to perform only one more service for them, and even then, only in furtherance of her own revenge against the Rotting Man.

Damanda loses another vampire to Ash's touch, and lets Fallon live so long as he helps keep the aspect walking. The vampires hunker down in a building for the day, and lose another of their number after Fallon turns on them during a combat. However, Fallon is himself killed in the process. After one more skirmish, the group slays Damanda's last vampire, and she regroups with the Rotting Man, who waits at the center of Dun-Tharos. His forces there are massed so greatly that Marrec is forced to call upon the Queen Abiding to make his way into the Rotting Man's presence.

Once they make it to the Rotting Man, the latter sends forth Talona's Step-Daughter, a corrupted aspect of Lurue, and the greater part of Araluen. The aspect finally absorbs Ash, but Marrec manages to talk her into forgiving herself for her failure and fight off the Rotting Man's influence. Talona's Step-daughter is destroyed, and out emerges a pure, clean aspect of Lurue, which fights the Rotting Man, ultimately making him flee the forest.

Index

 * Characters
 * Absalme • Anammelech • Araluen • Bonehammer • Briartan • Celia • Damanda • Elowen • Emmon • Eschar • Euryale • Ezekial • Fallon • Gameliel • Gunggari Ulmarra • Harmon • Hemish • Korven • Lex • Marrec • Mausa • Molkai • Nentyarch • Queen Abiding • Rimmard • Rotting Man • Shira (wolf) • Sthenno • Tansia • Thanial Selwander • Ususi Manaallin • The Victorious Slayer of Compassion


 * Anom • Asmodeus • Baalzebul • Bel • Cirid • Dispater • Fierna • Belial • Golden Master • Malagard • Levistus • Lurker in the Middle • Mammon • Mephistopheles • Yolatir Gallidy
 * Anom • Asmodeus • Baalzebul • Bel • Cirid • Dispater • Fierna • Belial • Golden Master • Malagard • Levistus • Lurker in the Middle • Mammon • Mephistopheles • Yolatir Gallidy


 * Creatures
 * astral construct • blight (twig blight) • blightspawned creature • demon • devil • dryad • dwarf • dire lion • half-elf • medusa • monstrous insect • nixie • ogre • ooze mephit • satyr • unicorn • uthraki • vampire • volodni
 * drow • giant • gnoll • orc • treant • yugoloth
 * drow • giant • gnoll • orc • treant • yugoloth


 * Magical Items
 * Dymondheart • Gloomgate • Justlance • Keystone • Thieving Ash • Wand of Citrine Force


 * Spells
 * aganazzar's scorcher • bless weapon • bull's strength • burning hands • chamber • claws of darkness • cure disease • deep slumber • disintegrate • feather fall • fireball • hold monster • hold person, mass • invisibility • legend lore • light • legend lore • lightning bolt • magic missile • shield of faith • shocking grasp • sunray • symbol • wall of force


 * Locations
 * Arches of Xenosi • Barrow of the Queen Abiding • Celestial Nadir • Cold Road • Culdorn • Dun-Tharos • Fullpoint • Forest of Lethyr • Mucklestones • Nar • Phent • Phsant • Rawlinswood • Sighing Vault • Tammar • The Close • Thesk • Two Stars • Under-Tharos • Yeshelmaar
 * Golden Way • Great Dale • Great Sea • Hidden Delve • Kara-Tur • Mulhorand • Osse • Rashemen • Sea of Fallen Stars • Telflamm • Unapproachable East • Underdark • Unther • Uthmere • Waterdeep
 * Golden Way • Great Dale • Great Sea • Hidden Delve • Kara-Tur • Mulhorand • Osse • Rashemen • Sea of Fallen Stars • Telflamm • Unapproachable East • Underdark • Unther • Uthmere • Waterdeep


 * Religions
 * • Lurue • Talona •


 * Organizations
 * Blightlord • Tattooed Soldier • Nentyar hunter • Circle of Leth


 * Ethnicities
 * Deep Imaskari • Dalesfolk • Durang • elf • Osslander
 * Imaskari
 * Imaskari


 * Fauna
 * bear • cave fish • crow • fox • horse • owl • rabbit • squirrel • wolf
 * coyote • deer • oyster
 * coyote • deer • oyster


 * Flora
 * aspen • crabapple • fir • holly • maple • oak • pine • tulip-tree
 * cinnamon • citrus
 * cinnamon • citrus


 * Transportation
 * wagon
 * wagon


 * Weapons
 * bow • cudgel • dizheri • spear • sword


 * Armor and Clothing
 * breech-clout • greatcoat • leather armor • plate mail • shield


 * Food and drink
 * hard rolls • tea


 * Languages
 * Abyssal • Common • Dark Speech • Elvish


 * Miscellaneous
 * adamantine • rattle • totem (Osslander) • waterskin