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i_read_whatOne thing I didn't note from the Prelude is that when it describes where Creshnibon, or the Crystal Shard ended up, it finishes with an ominous "And waited". Implying that maybe, just maybe, this massively powerful device may be self-aware. And probably evil. That's always good to know.
So Book One of the Crystal Shard is "Ten-Towns", which is, per the map, a place name. The title of Chapter One is "The Stooge". So this should be interesting.
We start with a wizards' caravan traveling from the "Hosttower of the Arcane" in Luskan, which I dimly remember from Neverwinter Nights as kind of an unsavory kind of place in general, to Ten-Towns, a location in the Icewind Dale.
We're told that they've been traveling more than three weeks, and that while the first week hadn't been difficult, actually entering Icewind Dale was another story. We're told that Icewind Dale is "a thousand square miles of barren, broken tundra" and "one of the most unwelcoming lands in all the Realms". Only very hardy merchants can make it through the pass at the Spine of the World to get there.
All of these place names really make me wish that the map in the book was better. As I mentioned, I could easily look up a map in one of the Forgotten Realms setting books, but I feel like they could just as easily have included one of those maps here and it would be very helpful in showing exactly how remote the Icewind Dale really is in relation to other places in the setting.
"Like everyone else" the wizards have come for Ten-Towns' scrimshaw, though it's not really clear why a wizard would be interested in such a thing, but okay, at least they have a reason to be there.
We go then to one of the wizards in particular, a bumbling apprentice named Akar Kessell , who has just murdered his mentor, Morkai the Red. Interestingly, Morkai doesn't seem surprised to be betrayed, just that it came from someone like Kessell who doesn't seem to gain very much from the death of the only person who had ever shown him more than polite consideration.
We soon see that Akar Kessell was manipulated into it by other wizards in the caravan. Apparently they promised him that he would be appointed to the Wizard's Guild in Luskan in Morkai's place, though it's pretty obvious that they have no intention of actually allowing that to happen. (One of the wizards even winks at the other behind the man's head).
Kessell is a moron and the other two wizards (Eldelac and the entertainingly named "Dendybar the Mottled") are very openly and obviously manipulating him. It's hard to feel too bad for Kessell as the first thing he does when he starts heading back to the stables is try to cast a "deadly" spell at a poor innocent alleycat. He fails, because he's incompetent. But fuck you, dude.
I wonder if we'll ever find out why Morkai had such a soft spot for Kessell (as mentioned by one of the others). Thus far, there doesn't seem to be anything about Kessell that actually warrants it. It's also not really clear what role the wizards will have in the ongoing story. I'm assuming they're antagonists, given their general aura of manipulative asshole (also, they're from Luskan, which is like Ye Olde Home of Evil Wizards), but at this point they seem motivated only by a desire to go home. And Kessell himself seems well, less than impressive.
So Book One of the Crystal Shard is "Ten-Towns", which is, per the map, a place name. The title of Chapter One is "The Stooge". So this should be interesting.
We start with a wizards' caravan traveling from the "Hosttower of the Arcane" in Luskan, which I dimly remember from Neverwinter Nights as kind of an unsavory kind of place in general, to Ten-Towns, a location in the Icewind Dale.
We're told that they've been traveling more than three weeks, and that while the first week hadn't been difficult, actually entering Icewind Dale was another story. We're told that Icewind Dale is "a thousand square miles of barren, broken tundra" and "one of the most unwelcoming lands in all the Realms". Only very hardy merchants can make it through the pass at the Spine of the World to get there.
All of these place names really make me wish that the map in the book was better. As I mentioned, I could easily look up a map in one of the Forgotten Realms setting books, but I feel like they could just as easily have included one of those maps here and it would be very helpful in showing exactly how remote the Icewind Dale really is in relation to other places in the setting.
"Like everyone else" the wizards have come for Ten-Towns' scrimshaw, though it's not really clear why a wizard would be interested in such a thing, but okay, at least they have a reason to be there.
We go then to one of the wizards in particular, a bumbling apprentice named Akar Kessell , who has just murdered his mentor, Morkai the Red. Interestingly, Morkai doesn't seem surprised to be betrayed, just that it came from someone like Kessell who doesn't seem to gain very much from the death of the only person who had ever shown him more than polite consideration.
We soon see that Akar Kessell was manipulated into it by other wizards in the caravan. Apparently they promised him that he would be appointed to the Wizard's Guild in Luskan in Morkai's place, though it's pretty obvious that they have no intention of actually allowing that to happen. (One of the wizards even winks at the other behind the man's head).
Kessell is a moron and the other two wizards (Eldelac and the entertainingly named "Dendybar the Mottled") are very openly and obviously manipulating him. It's hard to feel too bad for Kessell as the first thing he does when he starts heading back to the stables is try to cast a "deadly" spell at a poor innocent alleycat. He fails, because he's incompetent. But fuck you, dude.
I wonder if we'll ever find out why Morkai had such a soft spot for Kessell (as mentioned by one of the others). Thus far, there doesn't seem to be anything about Kessell that actually warrants it. It's also not really clear what role the wizards will have in the ongoing story. I'm assuming they're antagonists, given their general aura of manipulative asshole (also, they're from Luskan, which is like Ye Olde Home of Evil Wizards), but at this point they seem motivated only by a desire to go home. And Kessell himself seems well, less than impressive.