Realms of the Dragons

Realms of the Dragons, edited by Philip Athans, is the ninth anthology of stories from the Forgotten Realms. All the short stories relate in some way to the Year of Rogue Dragons.

"Raging dragons threaten to destroy civilization on Faerûn, but that hasn't always been the case. There have even been times when humans and dragons have worked together to preserve life and combat evil.

Of course, that doesn't happen very often. Most of the time, they just try to kill each other and steal as much treasure as they can in the process.

This collection of all new stories by Forgotten Realms creator Ed Greenwood; New York Times best-selling authors Elaine Cunningham, Richard Baker, Lisa Smedman, and R. A. Salvatore; The Year of Rogue Dragons author Richard Lee Byers; and many more, bring the myriad sides of the dragons of Faerûn to life.

The Year of Rogue Dragons has only just begun, but the history of that powerful race of enchanted creatures is long, frightening, and beautiful indeed."

Contents
Realms of the Dragons contains the following short stories:
 * "Soulbound" by Paul S. Kemp, in which Kesson Rel, Chosen of Mask, transports the Hall of Shadows to the Plane of Shadow.
 * "First Flight" by Edward Bolme
 * "Gorlist's Dragon" by Elaine Cunningham
 * "The Keeper of Secrets" by Ed Greenwood
 * "The Topaz Dragon" by Jess Lebow
 * "Wickless in the Nether" by R.A. Salvatore
 * "Serpestrillvyth" by Richard Baker
 * "Waylaid" by Thomas M. Reid
 * "Standard Delving Procedure" by Lisa Smedman
 * "An Icy Heart" by Voronica Whitney-Robinson
 * "Penitential Rites" by Keith Francis Strohm
 * "How Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth" by Dave Gross
 * "Beer with a Fat Dragon" by Don Bassingthwaite
 * "The Prisoner of Hulburg" by Richard Lee Byers

First Flight
By Edward Bolme

Date:

Bolme describes the story of Serreg, an archwizard under Lady Polaris in Delia, who studied a blight which seemed to hit all the land the floating city passes above. After deducting that the blight is a magical spell coming from under the earth, Serreg goes to investigate, but is no match for the phaerimm he finds there. While fleeing for his life, his prayers are heard by Targus, who grants him a dagger of polymorphing, with which he slays the phaerimm, polymorphing randomly several times. Finally, he polymorphed into a dragon, and with his superior intellect understood that each time he used the dagger it would polymorph him into something random. As a dragon, he was now unconcerned with mortal matters such as the plague, so he tore the dagger (which was morphed into a claw) from his body and used it as a start of his treasure stash.

Gorlist's Dragon
By Elaine Cunningham

Date: 1301 DR

The Keeper of Secrets
By Ed Greenwood

Date: 1339 DR

In Waterdeep Mirt the Moneylender and Durnan the Wanderer go to collect debts from a mysterious "Keeper of Secrets" and find secrets of in the city they knew nothing about from a cryptic woman named Taraunramorlamurla.

The Topaz Dragon
By Jess Lebow

Date: 1360 DR

Wickless in the Nether
By R. A. Salvatore

Date: 1368 DR

In the short story, Salvatore describes the first encounter between Artemis Entreri and Jarlaxle and the famed dragon sisters Tazmikella and Ilnezhara of Heliogabalus, Damara in Year of the Banner, 1368 DR. This event is referred to in Road of the Patriarch, when Entreri reminds Jarlaxle that the dragons sisters played them for fools. In the story, Tazmikella, appearing as a plain shopkeeper, tells of how an item of great sentimental value is in the possession of Ilnezhara. Tazmikella hires Entreri and Jarlaxle to steal this item, but soon they find out their foe's power is beyond their comprehension when they find out she is an ancient and powerful copper dragon. Ilnezhara then commands the two to go and kill Tazmikella for her in return for allowing them to live. After this encounter, they journey to kill Tazmikella and find out not only is Tazmikella Ilnezhara's sister, but also a copper dragon of great power. Jarlaxle and Entreri agree to work for the two dragon sisters.

Serpestrillvyth
By Richard Baker

Date: The month of Flamerule in 1368 DR

Waylaid
By Thomas M. Reid

Date: The month of Marpenoth in 1371 DR

Standard Delving Procedure
By Lisa Smedman

Date: 7 Eleint in 1372 DR

An Icy Heart
By Voronica Whitney-Robinson

Date: 16 Alturiak in 1373 DR

Penitential Rites
By Keith Francis Strohm

Date: 6 Ches in 1373 DR

How Sharper than a Serpent's Tooth
By Dave Gross

Date: 25 Ches in 1373 DR

Beer with a Fat Dragon
By Don Bassingthwaite

Date: Late Tarsakh in 1373 DR

The Prisoner of Hulburg
By Richard Lee Byers

Date: 1st and 2nd of Mirtul in 1373 DR