Much of Raesene’s history following his selfimposed exile in his remote domain was shrouded in myth and folklore, the accounts of the few travelers who had seen him so much embellished by the bards over the years that it was no longer possible to tell where truth ended and legend began. Most accounts at least agreed on a few basic points.
Raesene had brought an unspecified number of his followers from Deismaar to KalSaitharak, and this force had grown over the intervening years into an army composed of the dregs of Cerilia.
He numbered gnolls and goblins among his followers, as well as dwarves who had been cast out of their tribes, trolls from the surrounding mountains, and ogres from the southern regions. In addition to the demihumans, he also had the descendants of his human followers at Deismaar, as well as bandits, escaped criminals from the empire, and mercenaries so savage and depraved that they no longer cared for whom they fought, so long as they had a patron to support them.
A walled city had grown up around the castle, and that city was now known as KalSaitharak, while the castle itself was called Battlewaite.
Raesene never
400 ventured outside his domain, and according to some stories, his power would be diminished if he did, though Laera doubted that. He had gained his powers through bloodtheft, and blood abilities were not bound to the land. More likely, Raesene had reasons of his own for remaining in KalSaitharak, though what they might he was anybody’s guess. Perhaps the mutations in his body brought about by his powers rendered travel difficult, or he was dependent on the confluence of ley lines in his region for the energy required to increase his power. But whatever the reason may have been, it seemed to hold true for most of the awnsheghlien, who were rarely known to venture far from their domains.
By all accounts, Raesene did not look human anymore. He was said to be a massive, powerful giant with the head of a bull and the legs of a goat, which ended in sharp, diamond-hard hooves. His skin was described as dark and stony, and he was reputed to possess the power to slay with just his gaze, which could turn people to stone. At one time, Raesene was said to have been one of the greatest swordsman of Anuire, and he had instructed his younger halfbrothers, Haelyn and Roele, in the arts of combat.
Legend had it that in the centuries since, he had perfected his abilities with every weapon known to man and periodically held death matches to keep his skills honed.
The most recent account of a meeting with Raesene was over a hundred years old and was stored in the Imperial Library at Anuire. It was the report of a trader who had traveled to KalSaitharak and met with him.
This trader’s account had described the walled city as an armed camp, a rough-and-tumble
agglomeration of boisterous taverns, crooked gaming houses, and steamy fleshpots where the only law was whatever authority Raesene’s lieutenants chose to exert at any given time.
To walk the streets at night, the trader wrote, was to take one’s life into one’s own hands, even if well armed. KalSaitharak was a melting pot of races, most of which nursed age-old enmities, and battles in the streets were not uncommon. It was, perhaps, the main reason Raesene had not expanded his domain much farther than the Gorgon’s Crown. His army spent almost as much time fighting itself as raiding nearby territories.
The trader’s account had confirmed the stories about Raesene’s appearance, but disputed the claims that he had gone hopelessly insane.
He wrote that the Gorgon, perhaps hoping to encourage other traders to visit his domain, had received him warmly and that they had engaged in polite and interesting conversation in which his host had referred to himself as Prince Raesene and had seemed intelligent and in full possession of his faculties. However, that had been over a century ago, and popular belief now held that Raesene had lost all vestiges of his humanity and was little more than a wild beast.
Laera found that hard to credit. If it were true, it was doubtful Callador would have been able to negotiate with him and reach an agreement for his services. Aside from that, a wizard of Callador’s ability could have found another wealthy patron without a great deal of difficulty. He was too canny and had too strong a sense of self-preservation to sell his services to someone who had lost all sense of reason. If the Gorgon had gone mad, it was madness 40?
with a method that Callador could understand.
After her initial bout of panic, Laera had forced herself to calm down and think things through. She had followed Callador’s instructions and obtained a lock of hair from Derwyn, saying she wanted to keep it in a locket so that she would have a part of him to carry with her at all times. He had been charmed-it was so easy!-and had readily agreed to her request.
She had cut off a thick lock of his hair and kept a part of it to place inside a locket, in case he should request to see it. The rest she gave to Callador, who had used it to concoct a spell.
A week or so after her child had been delivered, Derwyn returned to share her bed. She did not think it prudent to put him off longer.
However, she had no fear of Derwyn’s discovering her relationship with the wizard who once served his father. When the misty tunnel started to
