It is true that her life was spared, but my own suspicion is that this is due more to her "friend," the Death Knight Lord Soth, than to any lapse in Ariakus's judgment. It is hard to imagine the campaign being viewed by the Emperor as anything but a monstrously disastrous defeat.
In retrospect, Grand Master Gunthar Uth Wistan's appointment of Laurana as the army's commander stands clearly vindicated. The Golden General proved capable of initiative and audacity far beyond what any Knight of Solamnia could have mustered. In fact, her use of dragon breath for strategic purposes (damming the river) clearly shows how she managed to outwit even her battleseasoned opponents — no Highlord used the dragons for any purpose other than a tactical application on the battlefield.
In conclusion, Lauralanthalasa of Qualinesti must clearly stand alongside Kith-Kanan, Vinas Solamnus, and Huma himself as one of the greatest generals of Krynn.
In gratitude, I shall remain heretofore,
Foryth Teel, Senior Scribe of Astinus
The Story That Tasslehoff Promised He Would Never, Ever, Ever Tell
CHAPTER ONE
So I guess you're wondering why I'm telling you this, since I promised not to. I'm sure Tanis wouldn't mind, seeing that it's you. I mean, you've heard the other stories, all about the War of the Lance and the Heroes of the Lance (of which I, Tasslehoff Burrfoot, am one) and how ten years ago we defeated the Dark Queen and her dragons. This is just one more story, one that never was told. As to why it was never told, you'll find that out when I get around to the part about promising Fizban.
It all began about a month ago. I was traveling up the Vingaard River, heading for Dargaard Keep. You've heard the stories about Dargaard Keep, how it's cursed and Lord Soth is supposed to haunt it. I hadn't seen Lord Soth in a while — he's a death knight and while we're not exactly friends, he is what you might call a close personal acquaintance. I was thinking about him one night and how he very nearly killed me once. (I don't harbor a grudge; death knights have to do these things, you see.) And it occurred to me that he might be bored, what with having nothing to do for the past ten years, ever since we defeated the Dark Queen, except haunt people.
Anyway, I thought I'd go find Lord Soth and fill him in on Recent Events and maybe he'd glare at me with his fiery eyes, and make me go all wonderfully cold and shivery inside.
I was on my way to Dargaard Keep when I stopped over in a little town that I can show you on my map, though I can't remember the name. They have a very nice jail there. I know, because I was spending the night in it, having become involved in an argument with a butcher over a string of sausages that had followed me out of his shop.
I tried to point out to the butcher that they must be magical sausages, because I couldn't think of any other way they would have ended up trailing after me like that. I thought he'd be pleased, you know, to realize he had the power to make magical sausages. And if I did eat two of them, it was just to find out if they did anything magical in the stomach. (They did, but I don't think that counts as magic. I'll have to ask Dalamar.) To make a long story short, he was not pleased to hear he had magical sausages and I was taken away to jail.
Things have a way of working out, though, as my grandmother Burrfoot used to say. There were a whole lot of other kender in the jail. (Quite a remarkable coincidence, don't you think?) We had a very agreeable time together, and I caught up on all the news of Kendermore.
And I found out that someone had been looking for me!
He was a friend of a friend of a friend and he had an important message for me. Just think! An Important Message. Kender all over Ansalon had been told to give it to me if they ran into me. This was the Important Message.
"Meet me at the Silver Dragon Mountain during this anniversary. Signed, FB."
I must say that I thought the message a bit confused, and I still think it probably lost something over having been passed around by so many people. But my friends assured me that was exactly how they'd heard it or close enough as not to make any difference. I knew right off who FB was, of course, and you must, too. (Tanis did. I could tell that from the groan he gave when I mentioned it.) And I knew where the Silver Dragon Mountain was. I'd been there before, with Flint and Laurana and Gilthanas and Theros Ironfeld and Silvara before we knew she was a silver dragon herself. You remember that story, don't you? Astinus wrote it all down and called it Dragons of Winter Night.
I was puzzling over this message and wondering what anniversary it was talking about, when the kender who gave it to me said that there was another part to it.
"Repeat the name Fizban backwards three times and clap your hands."
That sounded like magic to me and I am extremely fond of magic. But, knowing Fizban as I did, I thought it wise to take precautions. I told the other kender in the cell with me that this message was from a rather fuddled old wizard and that the spell might be Quite Interesting and that maybe I should wait until we were all out of jail in the morning.
But the other kender said that, while it would be a shame to blow up this nice jail, if I did blow it up, they didn't want to miss it. They all gathered around and I began.
"Nabzif, Nabzif, Nabzif!" I said quickly, kind of holding my breath, and I clapped my hands.
Poof!
Once I cleared away the smoke, I discovered I was holding a scroll. I unrolled it quickly, thinking it might be another spell, you see. But it wasn't. The other kender were considerably disappointed and rather miffed that I hadn't blown up either the jail or myself. They went back to comparing jails in other parts of Solamnia. I read what I was holding in my hands.
It turned out to be an invitation. At least I think that's what it was. It was hard to tell, what with all the burn holes and smudges and smears of what smelled like grape jelly.
The writing was very pretty and elaborate. I can't copy it, but this is what it said (I'm including smudges and blots):
A CELEBRATION OF THE TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE (Blot) OF THE DRAGONL (smudge) TO BE HELD AT THE SILVER DRAGON MOUNTAIN YULETIME. HERO OF THE LANCE YOUR PRESENCE IS MOST EARNESTLY REQUESTED. WE HONOR THE KNIGHT OF SOLAMNIA WHO FIRST DID BATTLE WITH THE (blob, blot), SIR (smear and tarbean tea-stain) OWER It was signed LORD GUNTHAR UTH WISTAN.
Well, of course, this explained everything (not counting the blots). The knights were holding a celebration in honor of something, probably the War of the Lance. And, since I'm one of the Heroes, I was invited! This was incredibly exciting. I put off my visit to Lord Soth (I hope he understands, if he reads this), let myself out of jail with a key I found in my pocket, and headed immediately for Silver Dragon Mountain.
It used to be you couldn't find Silver Dragon Mountain, but after the War, the knights turned it into a Monument and fixed the roads so that they could get to it easier. They left the Ruined Keep ruined. I traveled past it and wandered through the Woods of Peace awhile, then I stopped to admire the hot springs that boil just like Tika's tea kettle and I crossed the bridge where I saw the statues that looked like my friends, only they were just statues now. Probably because of the Monument. And then I came to Foghaven Vale.
Foghaven Vale has a lot to do with the rest of my story, so I'll tell you about it, in case you've forgotten from the last time I was there. 1 The Hot Springs mixing with the water of the Cool Lake makes fog so thick that it's hard to see your topknot in front of your nose. No one used to know where this Vale was, a long time ago, except Silvara and the other silver dragons, who guarded Huma's Tomb, the final resting place of a truly great knight from long, long ago. His tomb is there, only he isn't.