The Rose of Sarifal is a novel set in the Moonshae Isles written by Paulina Claiborne.[1]
High Lady Ordalf wanted her niece, the princess known as the Rose of Sarifal, dead. Instead, the young regent was secreted away by the high lady's opponents. For years the eladrin queen of Gwynneth Isle has searched for evidence of her niece's death, and word has finally come in the form of a castaway's tale. The princess lives on the island of Moray - a mad beauty who leads a nation of lycanthropes.
As long as her niece is alive, Lady Ordalf cannot rest secure in her claim to the throne. Enlisting a band of adventurers to seek out the princess is the first step toward stemming the Rose of Sarifal and her tide of wolves. Will those heroes see the same threat the queen sees in the beautiful young maiden?Summary[]
One Midsummer night, a nine-year old princess of Sarifal named Amaranth is spirited out from the capital city of Karador by Valeanne and five dragonborn guards. The group plans to escape the realm by hippogriff and take the princess to the court of Erliza Daressin, but they are intercepted by an army of drow. Amaranth escapes on a wounded hippogriff while the rest are slain.[2]
Ten years later, during the Spring, the crew of the Sphinx—Captain Lukas, a human ranger; Suka, a gnome; a golden elf swordmage known only as The Savage; Marikke, a priestess of Chauntea; Kip, a cat-shifter; and Gaspar-shen, a watersoul genasi—are coerced by Lord Aldon Kendrick to travel to the ruins of Caer Corwell in the forbidden fey realm of Sarifal to meet with a human rebel named Captain Rurik. Instead, they encounter High Lady Ordalf, the leShay queen of Sarifal, who kills Lord Aldon and hires the adventurers to find and kill her half-sister, Amaranth, who disappeared a decade prior. After having captured a wereboar with a distinctive rose tattoo, Ordalf now believes Amaranth is alive on the island of Moray. She pays the crew for their service, but also imprisons Suka alongside the captured wereboar and a fomorian, whom she threatens to unleash on the gnome if the adventurers do not return within 15 days.[3]
- Quest to Moray Island
Four days later, the Sphinx is destroyed by fire nagas while approaching Moray. Lukas and Gaspar-shen swim to the island while the Savage, Marikke, and Kip all arrive ashore in a skiff, where they are ambushed, captured, and carried off by lycanthropes of the Black Blood tribe led by an angel of vengeance named Argon Bael. Lukas and Gaspar-shen set out in pursuit of their captured comrades.[4][5]
After three days of being carried through Moray, the Savage escapes the lycanthropes and begins to shadow them. Argon Bael informs Marikke and Kip that they are to participate in a sacrifice to restore the power of Malar, the Beastlord. As Marikke and Kip are led into a tomb where the body of Malar lies, the Savage meets and allies with Eleuthra Davos and Einar Stormsson, two human druids trying to disrupt the ritual. Argon Bael reveals that both a priestess of the Earthmother and a person with Kip's unique power to dive into creatures' psyches are required to revive the Beastlord, and that the High Lady Ordalf had let him know that the two of them were coming. Marikke is subjected to torture to compel Kip to begin reviving Malar, and Marikke receives a vision from her godess indicating that she wishes for the Beastlord to be restored.[5] The Savage and the two druids attempt to interrupt the ritual, but the lycanthropes quickly subdue Eleuthra and slay Einar, leaving the Savage to duel with Argon Bael. The battle reveals the Savage's true nature as a daemonfey, leading Marikke to decide that she cannot trust him, however she unwittingly helps him to slay the angel.[6] This serves as a worthy sacrifice to revive Malar, who possesses Kip and uses him as his vessel. The Savage and Eleuthra are imprisoned in an ancient king's tomb by the lycanthropes and by Marikke, who distrusts the Savage and hopes that Kip can be reminded of his old self.[7]
Meanwhile, Lukas and Gaspar-shen set up camp as they realize that they have tracked the wrong group of lycanthropes and have lost their friends' trail. They are interrupted by a band of orcs with human captives, who make their own camp nearby. Lukas makes the decision to ambush the orcs to rescue the captives, but he and Gaspar-shen are injured in the fighting and only survive when Lady Amaranth arrives at the last moment.[8] Two days later, they are recuperating in Caer Moray, where they learn that Lady Amaranth leads a group of mostly female lycanthropes and encourages them to be as human and as industrious as possible. Lukas feels indebted to Amaranth while also grappling with his concern for Suka and his guilt over losing track of the rest of his crew. He determines that he cannot bring himself to kill the young and innocent Amaranth, who leads the lycanthropes because they seem to love her and will not allow her to leave. Lukas finds himself sympathizing with her after it becomes clear that she is starved for connection with folk more sophisticated than the lycanthropes.[9][10]
Meanwhile, "Kip" commands Marikke to kill the Savage and Eleuthra. She is in the midst of a crisis of faith after her goddess had sanctioned the revival of the evil Malar, and she is ultimately unable to bring herself to kill them, instead allowing them to escape. On his way out, the Savage steals a cache of ancient magical treasure, including a loregem.[7] "Kip" then orders his lycanthropes to kill Marikke before using his power to marshal the Black Blood lycanthropes of Moray to war. By the next day, refugees begin to flood into Caer Moray, and the lycanthropes lay siege to the city that night led by a different embodiment of Malar. In the darkest hour of the battle, Lukas and Amaranth share a kiss. Amaranth is then visited by a vision of Chauntea, who tells her that she must return to Gwynneth. The goddess summons a tsunami that scatters the attackers and topples the walls of Caer Moray.[10]
- Suka's Imprisonment
After five days of her imprisonment, Suka is singing a song from her childhood in her cell when she finally begins to converse with her fellow prisoners. The fomorian, Marabaldia, had been a princess in the Underdark prior to her betrayal by the High Lady Ordalf's son, Prince Araithe, ten years prior. The wereboar, Poke, had been sent by Lady Amaranth to make contact with her sister, High Lady Ordalf, in hopes that she could arrange to bring Amaranth home (not realizing that Ordalf wishes her dead).[11][12] Suka begins to devise a plan to undo the restraints that prevent Marabaldia from using the hypnotic powers of her fomorian "evil eye", and after another five days, the three prisoners overpower their captors and escape their cells. However, they are intercepted by Prince Araithe, who is seeking Poke to find out what she knows about Lady Amaranth. Although Araithe's illusions are too strong for Suka or Marabaldia to overcome, his magic fails to account for Poke's less sophisticated mind when in her pig form, and she overpowers him and breaks his arm.[12] Despite Suka's protests, Marabaldia and Poke choose to leave him alive. The three of them are then ambushed by Araithe's loyal drow troops, and are rescued by Captain Rurik and his allies. They learn that an unlikely alliance of humans slaves, the Llewyrr elves, and fomorians are meeting to overthrow the leShay, and that while High Lady Ordalf wants Lady Amaranth dead, Prince Araithe instead wishes to sire a child with her. The group is then once again attacked by drow, who fatally wound Poke.[13][14] The group escapes to the rebel meeting place of Harrowfast in the mountains above Synnoria, where Suka and Marabaldia mourn the death of their friend. Marabaldia is also reunited with her fomorian followers and her long-lost lover, Ughoth. It soon becomes clear to Suka that the humans, the elves, and the fomorians will not be able to work together.[14][15]
- Return to Gwynneth
Two days after the battle at Caer Moray, Lukas, Gaspar-shen, Lady Amaranth, and one of her lycanthrope followers, Coal, set out to follow Chauntea's signs that will lead them to a portal back to Gwynneth Island. Lukas attempts to steer the group in the direction where he last knew that his missing crewmates had been taken, but Chauntea sends signs to admonish him, including a vision of an old man who reveals the Savage's true nature and true name, Bishtek Dlardrageth of House Dlardrageth. Meanwhile, the loregem leads the Savage toward the same portal, and he and Eleuthra find themselves suddenly falling in love. The two of them arrive first, and the Savage realizes that lycanthrope blood is needed to open the portal. As Lukas and his party approach, Coal is the first to arrive, and the Savage slays him to activate the gateway. In the ensuing chaos, Malar arrives (having discarded what remained of Kip), and the Savage faces him alone as Lukas, Eleuthra, Gaspar-shen, and Lady Amaranth disappear into the portal.[16] To their shock, they arrive in a temple to Lolth, and are greeted by drow priestesses led by Amaka, who informs them that they are in Prince Araithe's home of Citadel Umbra. The group encounters Araithe, who invites Amaranth to stay with him, and she seems to accept. High Lady Ordalf then arrives and attempts to humiliate both of them, leading to a confrontation between Araithe and Ordalf that allows Amaranth to flee with Lukas, Eleuthra, and Gaspar-shen. They are rescued from the fey and undead of the Winterglen forest by the drow, who offer to help Amaranth flee to Synnoria through the Underdark where she can rally the Llewyrr to overthrow the leShay.[17]
Meanwhile in Synnoria, negotiations are going nowhere between the humans, elves, and fomorians. The overly proud Llewyrr wish to overthrow Ordalf and Araithe to replace them with Amaranth, while the humans (all former slaves of the fey) oppose any leShay on the throne. Suka and Captain Rurik accidentally stumble into a forbidden part of the Synnorian forest and kill the three condescending elven guardians who try to punish and imprison them.[15] Captain Rurik takes his men and flees while Suka tries to convince Marabaldia to leave before anyone discovers what she and Rurik did. However, the elves blame the fomorians for harboring Suka, forcing them into a battle. The fomorians flee into the Underdark and Ughoth is fatally injured, for which Suka feels responsible.[18]
Back in the Underdark, Amaka leads Lukas and the party into a trap.[19] She reveals that the drow intend to sacrifice Lady Amaranth and use her powerful blood to summon their goddess, whom they refer to as Araushnee rather than Lolth. Eleuthra is killed while injuring the drow hierophant, and believes that she goes to join the Savage in death. Lukas, Amaranth, and Gaspar-shen are captured, but Lukas escapes with the surprise help of Amaka, who disapproves of the drow plan and may in fact be Araushnee herself. She whispers words of advice to Amaranth, solidifying a realization that she is an immortal leShay and cannot be held to the same standards as mortals. As they escape, Amaranth decides to abandon the group and pursue her destiny as a ruler, but she stops to kiss Lukas once more. At this moment, Gaspar-shen discovers that Prince Araithe is approaching with a formidable army just as Suka and the fomorians arrive. Amaranth says she will go speak to Araithe to allow them safe passage, and disappears. At some point in the future, Suka, Lukas, and Gaspar-shen leave the island in a ship.[20]
Index[]
Characters[]
Referenced only
Blau • Callia • Cymon • Derid Kendrick • Deucala • Erliza Daressin • Esmerella • Garmos Saernclaws • Sarya Dlardrageth • Seiveril Miritar • Tarkhaan Dlardrageth • Tiana
Creatures[]
Referenced only
alligator • ape (chimpanzee, gorilla) • basilisk • bat • bear • camel • caterpillar • cattle • chicken • demon • devil • displacer beast • djinni • dog • duck • dwarf (shield dwarf) • eel • efreeti • fiend (half-fiend) • fish • flea • frog • fruit fly • ghost • giant • goose • griffon • half-orc • herring • langoustine • maggot • monkey • mouse • ortolan • ostrich • rainbow crane • seahorse • shadow hound • slug • snail • weasel • wererat • worm • zombie
Items[]
Referenced only
blackberry • brandy • butter • cake • carrot • cherry • cookie • cream • creamed cheese • custard • egg • flour • grain • honey • icing • lemon • liquor • maize sirop • marzipan • meringue • milk • mushroom • nut • onion • orange • pastry (custard pastry, mille-feuille, puff pastry) • pistachio • potato • pudding • radish • sausage • soup • spice • sugar • tuber • vanilla • chocolate (white chocolate)
Referenced only
book (spellbook) • camera obscura • cheesecloth • ink • lamp • mannequin • scarecrow
Locations[]
Referenced only
Kingsbay • Lake Myr • Llewellyn Harbor • Sea of Fallen Stars • Sea of Swords • Shining Sea • Strait of Alaron • Strait of Oman • Trackless Sea
Referenced only
Ascalhorn • The Delve • Shrine of Araushnee's Virginity
Referenced only
Alaron • Flamsterd • Korinn Archipelago • Norland • Oman's Isle • Ruathym • Snowdown
Referenced only
Black Giant • Cambro Ridge • Fairheight Range
Abyss • Astral Sea • Deep Wilds • Demonweb Pits • Elemental Chaos • Feywild (Feydark) • Nine Hells
Referenced only
Al Qahara • Baldur's Gate • Borth • Caer Callidyrr • Caer Westphal • Caervu • Calimpest • Cambro • Chasolné • Chrysalis • Iron Keep • Karador (High Karador) • Kingsbay • Loudwater • Rogarsheim • Uzbeg • Xxiphu
Magic[]
Organizations[]
Referenced only
House Dlardrageth • House of Kendrick
Religions[]
Referenced only
Asmodeus • Bane • Corellon Larethian • Deities of Fury • Seldarine • Talos
Miscellaneous[]
Referenced only
alchemist • king • knight • mage • procurator
Referenced only
Feast of the Moon • Feast of Stags • Leaffall • Pact of Eschatos • Spellplague • Year of Risen Elfkin
Referenced only
chalk • porcelain • sapphire • spider silk
Appendix[]
Notes[]
- ↑ Canon material does not provide a year for the events described in The Rose of Sarifal, although the novel indicates that it takes place "more than a hundred years" after the return of High Lady Ordalf to Gwynneth in 1375 DR (ch. 1) and "nearly a hundred years" after the Spellplague in 1385 DR (ch. 3). While this fits the usual assumption that all 4th edition material is set in 1479 DR, the novel contradicts a number of other sources set during that year: at the start of the novel, Caer Moray is held by lycanthropes rather than by soldiers loyal to House Kendrick (as stated in Backdrop: Moonshae Isles), Citadel Umbra has been home to Prince Araithe for at least 12 years rather than being the base of his enemies (as stated in Backdrop: Moonshae Isles, the Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide, and Realmslore: Sarifal), and Malar is stated to be "dead" rather than an active exarch of Silvanus (as stated in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide). These contradictions are largely resolved by the end of the narrative, meaning that the novel is best assumed to be set prior to 1479 DR. Unless a canon source contradicts this assertion, this wiki will thus assume that the events of the novel take place after 1475 DR but before 1479 DR.
External Links[]
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- The Rose of Sarifal on the Forgotten Realms Wiki store on Bookshop.org (US/UK; affiliate link)
References[]
- ↑ Paulina Claiborne (May 2012). The Rose of Sarifal (Kindle ed.). (Wizards of the Coast). ASIN B006NPFFHY.
- ↑ Paulina Claiborne (May 2012). The Rose of Sarifal (Kindle ed.). (Wizards of the Coast), chap. 0. ASIN B006NPFFHY.
- ↑ Paulina Claiborne (May 2012). The Rose of Sarifal (Kindle ed.). (Wizards of the Coast), chap. 1. ASIN B006NPFFHY.
- ↑ Paulina Claiborne (May 2012). The Rose of Sarifal (Kindle ed.). (Wizards of the Coast), chap. 2. ASIN B006NPFFHY.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Paulina Claiborne (May 2012). The Rose of Sarifal (Kindle ed.). (Wizards of the Coast), chap. 3. ASIN B006NPFFHY.
- ↑ Paulina Claiborne (May 2012). The Rose of Sarifal (Kindle ed.). (Wizards of the Coast), chap. 6. ASIN B006NPFFHY.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Paulina Claiborne (May 2012). The Rose of Sarifal (Kindle ed.). (Wizards of the Coast), chap. 9. ASIN B006NPFFHY.
- ↑ Paulina Claiborne (May 2012). The Rose of Sarifal (Kindle ed.). (Wizards of the Coast), chap. 5. ASIN B006NPFFHY.
- ↑ Paulina Claiborne (May 2012). The Rose of Sarifal (Kindle ed.). (Wizards of the Coast), chap. 7. ASIN B006NPFFHY.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Paulina Claiborne (May 2012). The Rose of Sarifal (Kindle ed.). (Wizards of the Coast), chap. 10. ASIN B006NPFFHY.
- ↑ Paulina Claiborne (May 2012). The Rose of Sarifal (Kindle ed.). (Wizards of the Coast), chap. 4. ASIN B006NPFFHY.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Paulina Claiborne (May 2012). The Rose of Sarifal (Kindle ed.). (Wizards of the Coast), chap. 8. ASIN B006NPFFHY.
- ↑ Paulina Claiborne (May 2012). The Rose of Sarifal (Kindle ed.). (Wizards of the Coast), chap. 11. ASIN B006NPFFHY.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Paulina Claiborne (May 2012). The Rose of Sarifal (Kindle ed.). (Wizards of the Coast), chap. 13. ASIN B006NPFFHY.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Paulina Claiborne (May 2012). The Rose of Sarifal (Kindle ed.). (Wizards of the Coast), chap. 15. ASIN B006NPFFHY.
- ↑ Paulina Claiborne (May 2012). The Rose of Sarifal (Kindle ed.). (Wizards of the Coast), chap. 12. ASIN B006NPFFHY.
- ↑ Paulina Claiborne (May 2012). The Rose of Sarifal (Kindle ed.). (Wizards of the Coast), chap. 14. ASIN B006NPFFHY.
- ↑ Paulina Claiborne (May 2012). The Rose of Sarifal (Kindle ed.). (Wizards of the Coast), chap. 17. ASIN B006NPFFHY.
- ↑ Paulina Claiborne (May 2012). The Rose of Sarifal (Kindle ed.). (Wizards of the Coast), chap. 16. ASIN B006NPFFHY.
- ↑ Paulina Claiborne (May 2012). The Rose of Sarifal (Kindle ed.). (Wizards of the Coast), chap. 18. ASIN B006NPFFHY.