l: had been over a month sine the armies sailed for Palanthas. The news Gunthar received from that city was snot good. A report had arrived early an the rncrning of the twenkyeigh:h, :n fact. heading it twice over, he sighed heavily,
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frowned, and tucked the paper into his belt.
The Council of Whitestone had met once before within the recent past, a meeting precipitated by the arrival of the refugee elves in Southern Ergoth and the appearance of the dragonarmies in northern Solamnia. This Council meeting was several months in the planning, and so, all members-either seated or advisory-were represented. Seated members, those who could vote, included the Knights of Solamnia, the gnomes, the hill dwarves, the dark-skinned, sea-faring people of Northern Ergoth, and a representative of the Solamnic exiles living on Sancrist., Advisory members were the elves, the mountain dwarves, and the kender. These members were invited to express their opinions, but they could not vote.
The first Council meeting, however, had not gone well. Some of the old feuds and animosities between the races represented burst into flame. Arrnan Kharas, representative of the mountain dwarves, and Duncan Hammerrock, of the hill dwarves, had to be physically restrained at one point, or blood from that ancient feud might have flowed again. Alhana Sta.rL~reeze, representative of the Silvanesti in her Eatheis absence, refused to speak a ward during the entire session. Alhana had come only because Porthios of the Qualinesti was there. She feared an .alliance between the Qualinesti and the humans and was -rietermined to prevent it.
Alhana need not have worried. Such was the distrust between humans and elves, that they spoke to each other only out of politeness. Not even Lord Gunthar's impassioned speech., in which the had declared, "Our unity begins peace; our division ends hope!" made an impression.
Porthios's answer to this had been to blame the dragons' reappearance on the humans. 'The humans, therefore, could'; extricate themselves from this disaster. Shortly after Porthiia
made his position clear, Alhana rose haughtily arid left, leaving no cane with any doubts about the position .of the ilvanesti. .
The mountain dwarf, Adman Kharas, had declared that ' people would be willing to help, but that until tine Hammer
ICtIaras was found, the mountain dwarves could not be unit ' No one knew at the time that the companions would
return the Hammer, so Gunthar was forced to discount the ' of the dwarves. The only person; in fact, who offered help
was Kronin Thistleknott, chief of the kender. Since the last thing any sane country wanted was the "aid" of an army of kenders, this gesture was received with polite smiles, while the members exchanged horrified looks behind Kronin's back.
The first Council disbanded, therefore, without accomplishing much of anything.
Gun thar had higher hopes for this second Council meeting. The discovery of the dragon orb, of course, put everything in a much brighter light. Representatives from both elven factions had arrived. These included the Speaker of the Suns, who brought with him a human claiming to be a cleric of Paladine. Gunthar had heard a great deal about Elistan from Sturm, and he looked forward to meeting him. Just who would represent the Silvanesti, Gunthar wasn't certain. He assumed it was the lord who had been declared regent following Alhana Starbreeze's mysterious disappearance.
The elves had arrived on Sancrist two days ago. Their tents stood out in the fields, gaily colored silk flags fluttering in brilliant contrast to the gray, stormy sky. They were the only other race to attend. There had not been time to send a message to the mountain dwarves, and the hill dwarves were reported to be fighting for their lives against the dragonarmies; no messenger could reach them.
Gunthar hoped this meeting would unite the humans and the elves in the great fight to drive the dragonarmies from Ansalon. Hut his hopes were dashed before the meeting began.
After scanning the report from the armies in Palanthas, Gunthar left his tent, preparing to make a final tour of the Glade of the Whitestone to see that everything was in order. Wills, his retainer, came dashing after him.
"My lord;' the old man puffed" "return immediately:"
'What is it?" Gunthar asked. )gut the old retainer was too much out of breath to reply.
Sighing, the Solamnic lord went back to his tent where he found Lord Michael, dressed in Eull armor, pacing nervously.
"What's the matter?" Gunthar said, his heart sinking as he saw the grave expression on the young lord's face.
– Michael advanced quickly, seizing Gunthar by the arm. "My lord, we have received ward that the elves will demand the return of the dragon orb. If we don't return it, they are prepared to go to war to recover it!"
"What?" Gunthar demanded incredulously. "War! Against us! That's ludicrous! They can't- Are you certain? How reliable is this information?"
"Very reliable, I'm afraid, Lord Gunthar"
"My lord, I present Elistan, cleric of Paladine;' Michael said. "I beg pardon for not introducing him earlier, but my mind has . been in a turmoil since he first brought me this news:"
"I have heard a great deal about you, sir;" Lord Gunthar said, extending his hand to the man.
The knight's eyes studied Elistan curiously. Gunthar hardly knew what he had expected to see in a purported cleric of Paladine-perhaps a weak-eyed aesthetic, pale and lean from study. Gunthar was not prepared for this tall, well-built man who might have ridden to battle with the best of the knights. The ancient symbol of Paladine-a platinum medallion engraved with a dragon-hung about his neck.
Gunthar reviewed all he had heard from Sturm concerning Elistan, including the cleric's intention to try and convince the elves to unite with the humans. Elistan smiled wearily, as if ; aware of every thought gassing through Gunthar's mind. They were the thoughts he answered.
"Yes, I have failed;' Elistan admitted. "It was all I could do to ' persuade them to attend the Council meeting, and they have:,
comehere only, I fear, to give you an ultimatum: return the orb.~
to the elves or fight to retain it:' ?
Gunthar sank into a chair,, gesturing weakly with his, hand for the others to be seated. Before him, an a table, were spread maps of the lands of Ansalon, showing in shades of darkness,: the insidious advance of the dragonarmies. Gunthar's gaa~, rested on the maps, then suddenly he swept them to the flood
"We might as well give up right now!" he snarled. ".'Send .~ message to the Dragon Highlords: 'Don't bather to come an wipe us out. We're managing quite nicely on our own.'
Angrily, he hurled on the table the message he had received "There''. That's from Palant!nas. The people have insisted knights leave the city. The Palarrthians are negotiating with t . Dragon B-lighloa~3s, and :he presence of the knights 'serio compromises their position.' They refuse to give us any ae And so an army of a thousand I'alanthiarss sits idle!"
"What is Lord Derek doing, my lord?" Michael asked.
"He and the knights and a thousand footmen, refugees from the occupied lands in Throtyl, are fortifying the High Cierist"s tower, south of Palanthas;' Gunthar said wearily. "itguards the only pass through the Vingaard Mountains. We'll protect Palanthas for a time, but if the dragonarmies get through . . :' He fell silent. "Damn it;' he whispered, beating his fist gently upon the table, "we could hold that pass with two thousand men! The fools! And now this?" He waved his hand in the direction of the elven tents.
Gunthar sighed, letting his head fall into his hands. "Well, what do you counsel, cleric?"
Elistan .•,•as quiet far a moment, before he answered. "It is written in the Disks of Mishakal that evil, by its very nature, will always turn in upon itself. Thus it becomes self-defeating:' He laid his hand upon Gunthar's shoulder. "I do not know what may come of this meeting. My gods have kept this secret from me. It could be they themselves do not know; that the future of the world stands in balance, and what we decide here will determine it. I do know this: Do not enter with defeat in your heart, far that will be the first victory of evil:"
So saying, Elistan rose and left the tent quietly.
Gunthar sat in silence after the cleric had gone. It seemed that the whole world was silent, in fact, he thought. The wind had died during the night. The storm clouds hung low and heave, muffling sound so that even the clarion trumpet's call marking day's dawning seemed flat. A rustling broke his concentration. Michael was slowly gathering up the spilled maps. Gunthar raised his head, rubbing; his eyes.
"What do you think?" "'Of what? The elves?" "That cleric;" Gunthar said, staring out the tent opening.
"Certainly nor. what I would have expected;" Michael answered, his gage following Gunthar's, "More like the stories
~n^'e've heard of the clerics of old, the ones that guided the KnigAts in the days before the Cataclysm. He's not much like these charlatans we've got now. Elistan is a man who would
stand beside you on the field of battle, calling dawn Paladine's blessing with one hand while wielding his mace with the other. He wears the medallion that none have seen since the gods
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abandoned us. But is he a true cleric?" Michael shrugged. "It will take a lot more than a medallion to convince me:"
"I agree:' Gunthar rose to his feet and began to walk toward the tent flap. "Well, it is nearly time. Stay here, Michael, in case any mare reports came in:" Starting to leave, he paused at the entrance to the tent. "Haw odd it is, Michael;' he murmured, his eyes following Elistan, now no more than a speck of white in the distance. "We have always been a people who looked to the gods for our hope, a people of faith, who distrusted magic. Yet now we look to magic for that hope, and when a chance comes to renew our faith, we question it:"
Lord Michael made no answer. Gunthar shook his head and, still pandering, made his way to the Glade of the Whitestone.
As Gunthar said, the Solamnic people had always been f aith-