Mark Anthonys crypt Of The Shadowking: A Fantasy :: essays research papers

Mark Anthony's "Crypt of the Shadowking": A Fantasy Crypt of the Shadowking by Mark Anthony is a fantasy tale of the never ending struggle of good against evil. The Zhentarim, the hell-bent organization which is more concerned with making a profit than the greater good of all has taken over the city of a thousand spires. The Harpers, a loosely construed group of people who are always meddling in others affairs to keep the proverbial balance between good and evil in check, are ready to get the once bustling trade city back on the track it once was with the help of a former member. Through out the book there is never a dull moment, making it easy to read in just one or two sittings. Anyone who loves a good fantasy should read this book. After seven long years of traveling, the rough looking, worn out Caledan Caldorien is returning to his home town Ireaebor and finds it has been taken over by a tyrant known as Cutter. In Caledan's absence, Cutter has passed many ridiculous laws and anyone violating any of these is forced into slavery under the Tor which the city is set upon, where Cutter is mining to find the crypt of the Shadowking, where the nightstone, an ancient artifact of great and evil power, believed to be. Caledan finds this out through a connection within the slums and goes to find his old traveling companions who once made up the Company of the Dreaming Dragon. After reuniting, the company goes to find the tomb of Merrimeck to find the secret of the shadow song, the known power against the Shadowking and the nightstone. As the company travels to toward the Fields of the Dead, they encounter a shadevar, a horrifying and powerful foe thought to have been banished from the world of Toril long ago. After a wild battle, and the death of the shadevar, the company thief, Ferrit, searches the corpse and finds a ring which enabled the shadervar to communicate with the frighteningly powerful creature who summoned it, and through magic the mage, Morhion, finds that the master of the shadevar was not the lord Cutter as they had once thought but Cutter's own lord steward, Snake. After returning, Ferrit does a little spying and finds that Snake has made a pact with the Shadowking and to conspire against Cutter and eventually rule over all of Toril. The Company of the Dreaming Dragon devise a plan to free all of the slaves and through a little flag waving get all of the slaves and cityfolk alike to revolt against Cutter