more than twelve hundred feet above the floor of the extinct volcano, that towering edifice of smooth white stone was the tallest in all the world. The two dragons leapt out from the ledge, passing over the roofs of the city as they gathered speed before they began to climb steeply in a wide circle around the Hall of the Great One. The lowest floors comprised the Treasury of the Dragons, where the most important and valuable artifacts and treasures of their race had been gathered through the years. The Collar of the Dragons, the greatest of all their heirlooms, had been kept there through the centuries since the time of the founding of Windreach. Several floors above the treasury were occupied by the Parliament of the Dragons, including the private chambers of the members of the parliament.
The entire top half of the Hall of the Great One had been reserved as the stronghold of his clerics, with their own lairs and their places of training and research. Kharendaen led the way, climbing higher and higher until they were far above the outer wall of the city. The winds here were almost always strong, so that the two dragons had to fight increasingly fierce crosswinds. They took special care not to be thrown against the wall of the great building. Level after level, the Hall of the Great One became steadily narrower as they continued to climb, their circle becoming tighter and tighter.
Soon they neared the top, flying swiftly in and out between the highest of the great spires and towers of the Hall of the Great One. As she moved nearer to a group of the highest towers, Kharendaen suddenly darted toward a wide ledge of white stone set in the outer wall just beneath the steep, cone-shaped roof of the highest tower. She turned sharply to land on the ledge, which was barely large enough for Thelvyn to land as well. He made a desperate leap at the other end. The ledge was nothing more than a simple shelf of smooth stone, without rail or parapet. There was a small recessed area in the back of the ledge that offered slight protection from the treacherous winds, with a large door leading into the tower, Hanked by large glass windows.
Sir George dropped down from his saddle and retreated into the minimal safety of the recess, as far from the edge as he could get. The bulk of the two dragons offered him some protection from the cold wind, which threatened to pull them from the ledge. Even the dragons had to fold their wings quickly and crouch low.
Moving cautiously, Kharendaen approached the door. There was no handle or latch visible on the outside, not even a keyhole, although the door began to open by itself as she stood before it. They passed through the door into a chamber of vast size, large enough that it filled that entire level of the tower, although its exact proportions were difficult to gauge. Most of the hall was filled with deep shadows, as dark as night, broken by shafts of light that poured in from a few widely spaced windows. Great columns of smooth, white stone stood like ghostly sentries at the edge of the darkness. The dragons slowly descended the wide steps into a large recessed portion in the center, the only area that was well lighted.
'Come along, Sir George,' a voice said. 'There is nothing to fear.'
They turned abruptly to see that the Great One awaited them patiently on a small area like a simple stage above the recessed area where they now stood. He appeared not in his more authoritative guise of the great three-headed dragon, but in his less threatening form of an older dragon of some small, dull goldish gray breed that had long since disappeared from the world. This form was probably close to what his appearance had been in life. Sir George made a helpless gesture and descended the steps to join his companions.
'You have found the collar and unmasked your true enemies,' the Great One began. 'Indeed, you could not have done better. Unfortunately, the gemstone dragons will have learned from this that they do not dare take the Dragonking lightly. Nor are they likely to underestimate the dragons of this world, whom they have looked upon as far beneath themselves. I fear that you must expect them to be better prepared in the future.'
'You seem to know a great deal,' Thelvyn observed.
'Do not expect that I have special knowledge of such things,' the Great One explained. 'I know only what you know, what I have heard you say between yourselves and to Marthaen, for I am often with you even if you cannot see me. I know these gemstone dragons, for I fought them long ago. But my awareness cannot extend into their world.'
'But there was obviously much that you knew or expected,' Thelvyn said, with a note of impatience. 'You could have spoken a bit more plainly when we talked with you in Silvermist.'
'Yes, I could have,' he agreed. 'Indeed, I would have preferred to have given you better warning of what to expect. But I have not been acting alone in preparing the champion who will defend our world. Many Immortals are allied to my cause, but it has always been necessary for us to act circumspectly, remaining cautious of the limitations that we must respect to maintain the balances of good and evil.'
'It has always been best for us to proceed cautiously in dealing with mortals,' a woman's deep, resonant voice spoke from out of the darkness. The voice was that of the Immortal Terra, although the dragons could see only an indistinct form standing in the deepest shadows. 'Thelvyn, you must not forget that you are still young, especially for one of your race. I still believe that it was better to be safe with you.'
'Safe?' Thelvyn asked incredulously, although his two companions were obviously apprehensive that he was being so direct with the Immortals. 'You allowed us to be sent completely unprepared into a stronghold of the gemstone dragons.'
'The time has come when I can speak plainly to you on this matter,' the Great One said. 'All that you know and have concluded about the gemstone dragons is correct, although the situation is far more complex than you may think. For one thing, although they are called the Masters, they are not the true masters behind these events.'
'One of them said the gemstone dragons serve someone called the Overlord,' Thelvyn replied. 'Unfortunately, I do not know anything more.'
'Nor do I. They do indeed control Alessa Vyledaar, and as you suspected, they achieved that control only recently. Nor is she the only one in this world whose will they control. But you must be aware that they can control the will of any dragon just as they controlled Murodhir and his henchmen, although it was the traitor, Byen Kalestraan, who helped the Masters entrap them. You must also be aware that they have controlled the Flaemish people in the past, and it is within their power to seize control of the Flaem once again. Fortunately, they are not yet that strong in this world.'
'But who are the gemstone dragons?' Thelvyn asked. 'They know an ancient version of the language of the dragons, so we suspect they must have had some contact with this world long ago. Is it possible this isn't the first time that they have tried to conquer Mystara?'
'Indeed it is not the first time,' the Great One answered. 'Have you been told of the Eldar and the origin of the dragons? That will help you to better understand the gemstone dragons.'
The Great One paused a moment to recline along the length of the stage, still facing them. 'The time has come that you should learn the true history of the first Dragonlord, which even the dragons do not know. For in the time of ancient Blackmoor, there was no dragon Immortal to guide and protect the dragons. The dragons had been gaining in power and in knowledge, and their breeds continued to evolve, becoming larger and wiser. Magic became even more a part of their very being.
'In this time, there was a fellowship of powerful dragon sorcerers who had observed the slow advancement of their race and wished to gather and direct the magic they would need to accelerate that natural process. They wished to evolve into higher forms rather than be content to wait for their descendants to inherit the power and wisdom that would be their birthright.'
The Great One paused a moment, turning his head to look away. 'I must confess that I was a part of their band at first, for I was a cleric in the service of the Immortal Terra, and I supported anything that might benefit the dragons. At first their desires were pure and noble. But in time they came to believe that they could become Immortals, and that became their ultimate goal. I argued with them, warning them that they expected too much, but they would not listen. And so I withdrew from their company.
'In time, these dragon sorcerers worked great magic upon themselves, but their experiment failed. They did not become true Immortals but were instead transformed into the gemstone dragons, far more powerful than any dragon that lived at that time, even more powerful that most modern golds and reds. Believing that they had the right as the most powerful beings in the world to rule the world, they began to force lesser nations to their will. Eventually they made war upon Blackmoor.
'That was when the first misunderstanding began, since the men of Blackmoor believed that all dragons were at war with them, not understanding that it was only the gemstone dragons. And Blackmoor was slowly being defeated, so that in desperation they sought to create a weapon the dragons could not hope to fight. Eventually the wizards of Blackmoor created the first Dragonlord, who mistakenly made war upon all dragons and
