The Ruin

The Ruin is the third book in The Year of Rogue Dragons by Richard Lee Byers.

"Rogue dragons become heroes when a millennia-old curse is revealed. But knowing the cause of a disease and curing it are two very different things.

And when most of the victims of the curse would rather not be cured of it at all, it gets a whole lot harder.

Far up in the frozen wastelands of the bitter north, a ruined citadel holds the key to the Rage, and dragons alive and undead, sane and mad, good and evil, converge there to decide the fate of their mighty race. For a half-golem dragonslayer ending the curse has become less a mission of duty than of love, and that only makes it more vital that he succeed.

It's been a difficult year for Dorn and the allies but before it's over more blood will be spilled. The Year of Rogue Dragons draws to a close."

Summary
The adventurers led by Dorn Graybrook and Karasendrieth explore Narfell looking for clues as to how to stop Sammaster and his unending Rage of Dragons. They are joined by Brimstone, a vampiric dragon form of a smoke drake and an ally of theirs, as they learn from the Far Quey tribe that a hermit may have the information they seek. They confront the hermit, a corpse tearer linnorm, and after a fight, they learn that the elves created a citadel in the Novularond mountains aeons ago.

On their way to the citadel, they come across Raryn Snowstealer's tribe in the Great Glacier, and are captured after realizing that the tribesmen have been pressed into service by Iyraclea. Pavel Shemov learns that she has allied herself with Sammaster, and intends to kill them; he convinces her instead to allow them to continue their search for the Heart of the Rage. The adventurers are led to a citadel atop a peak; there, Zethrindor a dracolich previously allied with her on behalf of Sammaster turns on her for not slaying the adventurers. Kara, Raryn, Brimstone and Taegan Nightwind manage to activate a gate right before the duel between Zethrindor and Iyraclea destroys it; Dorn, Pavel, Will Turnstone and Jivex manage to escape in the confusion.

The escaping adventurers make contact with the Sossrim, and join their efforts to fight off Iyraclea's forces. After a long, pitched battle, they defeat Zethrindor and break his forces by revealing that he slew Iyraclea. Afterwards, they depart for Thentia. Meanwhile, the adventurers that fled through the gate are greeted by a dragonbone golem, and find that the dracorage mythal is protected by numerous wards, not the least of which are a half-dozen tarterian dragons. Failing to make a dent in the wards, they decide to wait until help arrives.

Once in Thentia, they are joined by Firefingers, Nexus, Tamarand and a host of metallic dragons. They attempt a divination, finding themselves thwarted by an epic ward put forth by Sammaster's sorcery. Pavel suggests attempting a gate towards Brimstone, using his hoard near Lyrabar as a sympathetic focus; they do so, and create a gate leading to the Heart of the Rage. There they rescue Karasendrieth and Brimstone, who are nearly mad with the Rage and thirst for blood.

The metallic host led by Tamarand makes short work of the guards, then breaches Sammaster's ward. This alerts Sammaster, who teleports back to the citadel and summons a score of planar dragons to defend it. A force of nondragons heads into the citadel itself, finding that Sammaster has joined his phylactery with the mythal in order to control it. The wizards of Thentia, Taegan, Jivex and Will fight off the last guards, an ironwyrm golem and a drakestone golem, while Pavel attempts to destroy the phylactery with Lathander's power. Sammaster feels the attempt and attempts to teleport out, being thwarted at great cost by Brimstone, Raryn and Dorn, whose iron body has been nearly destroyed by a rust dragon. Brimstone is destroyed in the fight.

Pavel finally succeeds at destroying Sammaster's phylactery, which slays Sammaster once and for all, but only at the cost of his own life. The wizards of Thentia flee the citadel, their work complete, and Nexus banishes the last of the enemy dragons with a spell. The Rage ends, and the last wyrms waiting for their transformation into dracolichdom soon turn against the Cult of the Dragon.

Index

 * Characters


 * Spells


 * Creatures


 * Magical Items


 * Locations


 * Races


 * Ethnicities


 * Religions


 * Organizations


 * Clothing and Armor


 * Weapons


 * Food and Drink


 * Fauna


 * Flora


 * Materials


 * Instruments


 * Miscellaneous


 * Events
 * Rage of Dragons


 * Food and Drink