Realms of the Deep, edited by Philip Athans, is the seventh anthology of stories from the Forgotten Realms. The stories involve The Threat from the Sea trilogy.
In a war that rages across every sea and onto every coast, there is more than one hero, more than one villain, and countless innocent victims. A young mage battles at the side of Khelben Arunsun to defend the city of Waterdeep from the invading forces. A merman struggles to fulfill his desperate mission to reach the Sea of Fallen Stars. And amid the horrors of war, a reef giant seeks to protect a fragile coral forest from destruction.
Set against the backdrop of the epic struggle of The Threat from the Sea series are thirteen all-new stories by such Forgotten Realms stars as Ed Greenwood, Elaine Cunningham, Mel Odom, Troy Denning, Lynn Abbey, and Clayton Emery.Contents[]
Hard Choices[]
By Lynn Abbey
Shemsen, a malenti, is the last survivor of a sahuagin attack on a sentry beacon in Deepwater Harbor. Shemsen came to Waterdeep after both the sea elf community he was infiltrating and the sahuagin community he came from were destroyed by an unknown force. He is spared by the sahuagin, who recognize him as a malenti and ask for his help attacking the city during Fleetswake, but his experiences have left him conflicted. He seeks out Umberlee's cache, where the goddess gives him a conch shell, which he uses to lure many of the creatures Iakhovas controlled away from the attack.
Fire is Fire[]
Sydon, an apprentice at Blackstaff Tower, helps Khelben Arunsun and the other battle mages during the Fleetswake attack. He is originally brash and overconfident as the wizards protect the West Gate, but flees when the sahuagin breach from the north and his friend Hughmont is killed. He survives the battle badly burned and focuses the rest of his life on healing magic
Messenger to Serôs[]
By Peter Archer
Narros sends Thraxos, another merman, to Serôs to warn of Iakhovas. He stumbles across Ariella, a girl whose parents were killed by bandits. They travel together using a wand that summons creatures, flying some of the way on a pegasus, but the magic wears off and he is stuck in a pool, forced to rely on Ariella to carry the message for her.
The Place Where Guards Snore at their Posts[]
By Ed Greenwood
The tako Sardinakh leads a group of sahuagin assigned by Iakhovas to blockade Mintarn. Mintarn is defended by the Black Buckler Band of mercenaries, so Sardinakh’s subordinate Mlavverlath suggest smuggling in bullywugs in oyster barrels. The plan is inadvertently discovered and thwarted by Brandor, an apprentice wizard of the Black Bucklers, who kills the bullywugs with a spell he was planning to use to cook the oysters in order to impress Shalara, daughter of Tarnheel Embuirhan, Tyrant of Mintarn.
Lost Cause[]
Hylas of Elturel, an arrogant knight of Torm’s fury, which is an order of cavaliers that serve the Lords' Alliance, arrives in Port Llast to help command the militia against a group of crab folk, replacing the slain First Captain. Sergeant Kendrack is the local leader. Hylas’s overconfidence leads to several failures, but he eventually learns to take more care. With help from a local sage, they discover the crab men have been enslaved by magic. Most of the militia distract the crab men while Kendrack and Hylas lead a small team into their caves, finding and killing the sahuagin controlling the crab men. Freed, the crab men are no longer hostile. Hylas departs and, based on his recommendation, Kendrack is promoted to the new First Captain.
Forged in Fire[]
Heart-of-a-Lion, captain of the pirate ship Shark's Fang, attacks a Calimshan vessel which is returning from a voyage to Kozakura. They take the ship and discover an unknown substance before both ships are attacked by merrow and a giant squid. Belinda Destine, a Calishite navy officer who killed two pirates, fights alongside the pirates as they defeat the attackers, using the substance, which is toxic to underwater creatures, to help repel the attack.
One who Swims with Sekolah[]
By Mel Odom
Iakhovas and Laaqueel, as well as Maartaaugh, a prince of the Sea of Fallen Stars sahuagin, sail the Tarjana through the Sharksbane Wall and proceed to Coryselmar. Although Laaqueel is badly injured by a vodyanoi, Iakhovas saves her and retrieves an artifact which he uses to destroy the Sharksbane Wall.
The Crystal Reef[]
By Troy Denning
Tanetoa and Kali, reef giant caretakers of a beautiful natural crystal formation called the Crystal Reef, are confronted by human ships and locathah seeking to occupy the island. Tanetoa helps the locathah attack the humans when they insist on occupying the island, but Kani dies in the battle.
The Patrol[]
By Larry Hobbs
Riordan, guardsman for Cimbar, is injured fighting off a raid from Soorenar. Bashar, an acquaintance of Evarn Marsh, Riordan’s father, helps him recover and trains him. They are sent out together on patrol after sea attacks increase, and discover a spy, who Bashar thinks is a malenti, but is really just a sea elf posing as one. Riordan and the elf defeat sahuagin trying to burn the docks, but the sea elf escapes when Riordan tries to arrest him. Riordan is offered a place in the Society of Swords but turns it down.
The Star of Tethyr[]
Merrick, a sailor in the navy of Tethyr, witnesses a sahuagin attack on the docks at Thordentor. Thanks to his help replacing a slain ballista operator, several ships survive, including the Star of Tethyr, a newly constructed flagship named for Zaranda Star.
Persana's Blade[]
Keros, a triton, witnesses a morkoth attack on Abydos. The morkoth are seeking the Armory of Xynakt, magic items used by a defeated morkoth long kept sealed, including the Claw of Xynakt, a mummified arm. Naran, Karos's mother, sends him to take a sunsword and his sister Charan to find Nalos, Keros’s brother, who joined the triton military. Keros gets his sister and the sword to safety but goes back for his parents. During the battle, Keros reclaims his family's blessed tapal and uses it to recover the Claw from Axar Xyrl, the morkoth leader, although his mother is slain. The magic of the tapan and claw merge inside Keros and allow him to defeat the morkoth, although Axar escapes. Mora's, Keros’s father, says he has become Persana's Blade.
And the Dark Tide Rises[]
Morgan Kevlynson, a fisherman from Mourktar, follows a strange calling to meet Avadrieliaenvorulandral, a sea elf. Avadriel claims he is needed and tries to give him a message, but she is wounded and passes out before she can speak more. T’lakk, a sahuagin, hunts for Avadriel. When Avadriel recovers, she tells Morgan to leave her and go to Firestorm Isle, telling the wizard Dhavrim that Avarnoth has fallen. Morgan does so and he and Dhavrim return to save Avadriel. They are successful, but sahuagin attack and Dhavrim gives his life to protect Avadriel.
Appendix[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 Eric L. Boyd, Ed Greenwood, Steven E. Schend (2000). Presenting...Seven Millennia of Realms Fiction. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2003-06-21. Retrieved on 2015-08-12.