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Автор Эд Гринвуд
Elaine Cunningham, Ed Greenwood, Troy Denning, Christie Golden, William W. Connors, Monte Cook, Douglas Niles, J. Robert King, Jeff Grubb, Jean Rabe, Kate Novak-Grubb, Jess Lebow, Keith Francis Strohm, R. A. Salvatore
RITE OF BLOOD
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
ELMINSTER AT THE MAGEFAIR
WARNINGS
DARKSWORD
BLOOD SPORT
SIX OF SWORDS
I
II
III
IV
V
VI
THE ROSE WINDOW
THE FIRST MOONWELL
THE GREATEST HERO WHO EVER DIED
TERTIUS AND THE ARTIFACT
RED AMBITION
THE COMMON SPELL
ASSASSIN'S SHADOW
AND THE DARK TIDE RISES
EMPTY JOYS
Elaine Cunningham, Ed Greenwood, Troy Denning, Christie Golden, William W. Connors, Monte Cook, Douglas Niles, J. Robert King, Jeff Grubb, Jean Rabe, Kate Novak-Grubb, Jess Lebow, Keith Francis Strohm, R. A. Salvatore
The Best of the Realms, Book I
RITE OF BLOOD
Elaine Cunningham
CHAPTER 1
There were in the lands of Toril powerful men whosenames were seldom heard, and whose deeds were spoken only in furtive whispers. Among these were the Twilight Traders, a coalition of merchant captains whodid business with the mysterious peoples of the Underdark.
There were perhaps six in that exclusive brotherhood,all canny, fearless souls who possessed far more ambition than morals. Membership in the clandestine group was carefully guarded, achieved onlythrough a long and difficult process monitored not only by the members, but bymysterious forces from Below. Those who survived the initiation were granted arare window into the hidden realms: the right to enter the underground tradecity known as Mantol-Derith.
An enormous cavern hidden some three miles below thesurface, Mantol-Derith was shrouded with more layers of magic and might than a wizard'sstronghold. Secrecy was its first line of defense: even in the Underdark, notmany knew of the marketplace's existence.
Its exact location was known only toa few. Even many of the merchants who regularly did business there would havebeen hard pressed to place the cavern on a map. So convoluted were the routesleading to Mantol-Derith that even duergar and deep gnomes could not hold theirrelative bearings along the way. Between the market and any nearby settlementlay labyrinths of monster-infested tunnels complicated by secret doors,portals of teleportation, and magical traps.No one "stumbled upon" Mantol-Derith; amerchant either knew the route intimately or died along the way.
Nor could the marketplace be located by magical means. The strange radiations of the Underdark were strong in the thick, solid stonesurrounding the cavern. No tendril of magic could pass through-all spells wereeither diffused or reflected back to the sender, sometimes dangerously mutated.
Even the drow, the undisputed masters of theUnderdark, did not have easy access to the market. In the nearest dark elvensettlement, the great city of Menzoberranzan, no more than eight merchantcompanies at any one time knew the secret paths. That knowledge was the key toimmense wealth and power, and its possession the highest mark of statusattainable by members of the merchant class. Accordingly, it was pursued withan avid ferocity, with complex levels of intrigue and bloody battles ofweaponry and magic, all of which would probably earn nods of approval from thecity's ruling matrons-if indeed the priestesses of Lolth were inclined tonotice the doings of mere commoners.
