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Thelonius
Senior Scribe
Spain
730 Posts |
 Posted - 03 Aug 2011 : 19:48:44
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I'm actually reading Gauntlgrym and I've seen references to something called "Dread Rings" I don't know what are they and what is it's purpose, though I think It has to be with achieving godhood. As I read novels with no order maybe this is explained in some source I haven't seen. I also used the forums search tool but found nothing, besides the godhood reference by ESB in a 4E thread. Could someone give a quick explanation of what they are?
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"If you are to truly understand, then you will need the contrast, not adherence to a single ideal." - Kreia
"I THINK I JUST HAD ANOTHER NEAR-RINCEWIND EXPERIENCE"- Discworld's Death frustrated after Rincewind scapes his grasp... again.
"I am death, come for thee" - Nimbul, from Baldur's Gate I just before being badly spanked
Sapientia sola libertas est |
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Cleric Generic
Senior Scribe
United Kingdom
565 Posts |
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Ayrik
Great Reader
Canada
7989 Posts |
Posted - 03 Aug 2011 : 20:07:43
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I haven't read Gauntlgrym, but dread rings received a fair amount of attention when they were introduced to the Realms as a significant plot element in RLB's Haunted Lands novel trilogy. They are essentially castle-sized fortifications arranged in a geometrically precise pattern, something sort of like a magical glyph but built on a massive geographic scale and accomodating terrain features (and natural ley-lines, etc) within the design. The details are a little vague, but Szass Tam spent decades constructing a perimeter of dread rings surrounding the nation of Thay, and their purpose was to somehow channel all the living/magical energies of the land (and presumably everyone/everything in it) while Szass cast the dread ring ritual he discovered in the most ancient and forbidden corners of the universe. His intent with this ritual was to basically become a god and destroy/reformat the entire world in his own arrogant and ambiguously "improved" image ... but the sudden arrival of 4E beat him to it.
Dread rings and the ritual involving them have been discussed at some length in several scrolls within the keep, if you should choose to search. You might of course also direct your questions about dread rings to RLB or RAS, or search for what answers they have already volunteered about the topic. |
[/Ayrik] |
Edited by - Ayrik on 03 Aug 2011 20:38:33 |
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Foxhelm
Senior Scribe
Canada
592 Posts |
Posted - 03 Aug 2011 : 20:19:18
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The Dread Rings are mentioned in the Neverwinter Campaign book and it's articles for Wizards of the Coast Webpage.
Seems like Thay tried to use a primordial under Neverwinter to power Dread Rings, only that failed and lead to the city's destruction. Now a Thay fraction is involved in the City and it's surrounding like Gauntlgrym. |
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Chosen of Asmodeus
Master of Realmslore
1221 Posts |
Posted - 03 Aug 2011 : 21:27:27
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They also apparently have a nasty backlash; Tam's ritual failing more or less destroyed Thay, turning the bulk of its population into mindless undead.
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Ayrik
Great Reader
Canada
7989 Posts |
Posted - 03 Aug 2011 : 22:10:12
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[/Ayrik] |
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Chosen of Asmodeus
Master of Realmslore
1221 Posts |
Posted - 03 Aug 2011 : 22:25:29
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The forgotten realms campaign guide...or was it the player's guide. Been a while since I had a look. But one mentioned that the rest of the zulkirs united against him to interrupt and sabotage the ritual, and that they succeeded. It's the main reason he's taken to making dread rings along the sword coast; Thay is a dead land and useless to him for the purposes of the ritual, so he has to try somewhere else.
Also, as his goal was to become an overgod on the level of Ao, the fact that the world still exists is a pretty strong indicator that Tam didn't succeed. |
"Then I saw there was a way to Hell even from the gates of Heaven"
- John Bunyan, Pilgrim's Progress
Fatum Iustum Stultorum. Righteous is the destiny of fools.
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Dennis
Great Reader
9933 Posts |
Posted - 04 Aug 2011 : 03:45:16
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quote:
Originally posted by Arik
Who said his ritual failed?
The zulkirs and Aoth and Co. destroyed one of the Dread Rings. But Tam's diadem and staff should have rectified the loss. Malark used them as he tried to cast the Unmaking in a worldlet, a Chaos realm, that Tam created. However, Aoth, Barreris, and Mirror managed to kill the trecherous spy, and Barreris cast a spell that shattered both the diadem and the staff.
Here's what Tam said after Malark's death in Unholy:
quote:
"The Unmaking will never happen now," Szass Tam said. Aoth risked a glance skyward and saw that, in fact, the churning vileness was gone. "We're all tired, in some cases wounded, our magic largely exhausted. And perhaps we've had our fill of revenge, killing the man who, at one time or another, betrayed each and every one of us. So I propose we go our separate ways. I promise you and your legions safe passage out of Thay."
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Every beginning has an end. |
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Dennis
Great Reader
9933 Posts |
Posted - 04 Aug 2011 : 03:54:53
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quote:
Originally posted by Thelonius
I'm actually reading Gauntlgrym and I've seen references to something called "Dread Rings" I don't know what are they and what is it's purpose, though I think It has to be with achieving godhood. As I read novels with no order maybe this is explained in some source I haven't seen. I also used the forums search tool but found nothing, besides the godhood reference by ESB in a 4E thread. Could someone give a quick explanation of what they are?
As Arik noted. In addition, the Dread Rings are not just the stone walls and bastions. They are more like a focus point. The real Dread Rings are the complex webs of inexhaustible power. Here's an explanation from the novel Unholy:
quote:
Last but most clearly of all, she discerned the Dread Ring itself like a festering wound in the earth. Like a well of unnatural and inexhaustible power. Arcing away from it were lines of force linking it to other such talismans, defining an immense dark circle of death on the face of the land.
That was the Dread Ring that Jhesrhi and her allies had to destroy. Not the stone walls and bastions, although some of those might crack and crumble as an incidental effect of their assault, for battlements and towers could be rebuilt. They had to attack the concept, the potential of the Ring. If they could obliterate that, it would spoil the whole pattern, and none of the similar castles scattered across Thay would serve its intended purpose anymore.
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Every beginning has an end. |
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Thelonius
Senior Scribe
Spain
730 Posts |
Posted - 04 Aug 2011 : 07:21:24
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Much clearer now, thasnks you all for the info, now it's easier to understand the movements around them  |
"If you are to truly understand, then you will need the contrast, not adherence to a single ideal." - Kreia
"I THINK I JUST HAD ANOTHER NEAR-RINCEWIND EXPERIENCE"- Discworld's Death frustrated after Rincewind scapes his grasp... again.
"I am death, come for thee" - Nimbul, from Baldur's Gate I just before being badly spanked
Sapientia sola libertas est |
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Dennis
Great Reader
9933 Posts |
Posted - 04 Aug 2011 : 07:44:30
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quote:
Originally posted by Thelonius
Much clearer now, thasnks you all for the info, now it's easier to understand the movements around them
You're welcome. And oh, I must say, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND The Haunted Lands trilogy by Richard Lee Byers. One of the best FR series.
(The OMNIBUS will be released next year.) |
Every beginning has an end. |
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Thelonius
Senior Scribe
Spain
730 Posts |
Posted - 04 Aug 2011 : 09:17:03
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quote:
Originally posted by Dennis
quote:
Originally posted by Thelonius
Much clearer now, thasnks you all for the info, now it's easier to understand the movements around them
You're welcome. And oh, I must say, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND The Haunted Lands trilogy by Richard Lee Byers. One of the best FR series.
(The OMNIBUS will be released next year.)
Nice I was looking for some more RLB material, he is one of my fav FR writer Thanks a lot Dennis |
"If you are to truly understand, then you will need the contrast, not adherence to a single ideal." - Kreia
"I THINK I JUST HAD ANOTHER NEAR-RINCEWIND EXPERIENCE"- Discworld's Death frustrated after Rincewind scapes his grasp... again.
"I am death, come for thee" - Nimbul, from Baldur's Gate I just before being badly spanked
Sapientia sola libertas est |
Edited by - Thelonius on 04 Aug 2011 09:17:24 |
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Hawkins
Great Reader
USA
2131 Posts |
Posted - 04 Aug 2011 : 16:19:59
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| You might be able to learn more about dread rings from RLB himself on his Chamber of Sages scroll. |
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Eltheron
Senior Scribe
740 Posts |
Posted - 04 Aug 2011 : 18:12:16
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Dread rings are made with onions, beer-batter, and really hot chipotle peppers. :)
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Brian R. James
Forgotten Realms Game Designer
USA
1098 Posts |
Posted - 04 Aug 2011 : 21:32:36
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As I was doing research for the Neverwinter Campaign Guide, the inclusion of a Neverwinter dread ring raised some continuity concerns. As highlighted in the quote below, Byer's original seven Dread Rings were built in very specific geographic locales throughout Thay to power a ritual. So introducing a new ring in far away Neverwinter Wood didn't jive with the established lore.
More importantly, the timeline of events didn't match up. Supposedly the Thayans awakened the primordial beneath Gauntlgrym in 1452 DR to power the Neverwinter Dread Ring. But Szass Tam would not have needed to build any additional dread rings outside of Thay until his setback in 1478 DR (from the Haunted Lands trilogy). But alas, the background story of the Gauntlgrym novel was already set in stone at that point and couldn't be changed.
So it's kinda left up to the fans to explain why Szass Tam built a one-off Dread Ring far from Thay nearly three decades before building the other seven. Was it a prototype ring? Perhaps.
quote:
Originally posted by Dennis
As Arik noted. In addition, the Dread Rings are not just the stone walls and bastions. They are more like a focus point. The real Dread Rings are the complex webs of inexhaustible power. Here's an explanation from the novel Unholy:
quote:
Last but most clearly of all, she discerned the Dread Ring itself like a festering wound in the earth. Like a well of unnatural and inexhaustible power. Arcing away from it were lines of force linking it to other such talismans, defining an immense dark circle of death on the face of the land.
That was the Dread Ring that Jhesrhi and her allies had to destroy. Not the stone walls and bastions, although some of those might crack and crumble as an incidental effect of their assault, for battlements and towers could be rebuilt. They had to attack the concept, the potential of the Ring. If they could obliterate that, it would spoil the whole pattern, and none of the similar castles scattered across Thay would serve its intended purpose anymore.
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Brian R. James - Freelance Game Designer
Follow me on Twitter @brianrjames |
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Saer Cormaeril
Learned Scribe
124 Posts |
Posted - 04 Aug 2011 : 21:46:02
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Is this to say that the design team will not give a reason why Tam built this Dread Ring in Nevewinter Wood prior to his more 'famous' Dread Ring in Thay?
Further, why does it 'raise continuity concerns'? Last I checked, Byers is not a character in the Realms, so his intentions aren't really relevant.
Why has the design team decided to fail at continuity, when maintaining it would be so easy? I mean, this is as easy as saying that the zulkir of Necromancy would've preferred the North to be a Haunted Land, and Thaymount the ruling, living, society...
quote:
Originally posted by Brian R. James
As I was doing research for the Neverwinter Campaign Guide, the inclusion of a Neverwinter dread ring raised some continuity concerns. As highlighted in the quote below, Byer's original seven Dread Rings were built in very specific geographic locales throughout Thay to power a ritual. So introducing a new ring in far away Neverwinter Wood didn't jive with the established lore.
More importantly, the timeline of events didn't match up. Supposedly the Thayans awakened the primordial beneath Gauntlgrym in 1452 DR to power the Neverwinter Dread Ring. But Szass Tam would not have needed to build any additional dread rings outside of Thay until his setback in 1478 DR (from the Haunted Lands trilogy). But alas, the background story of the Gauntlgrym novel was already set in stone at that point and couldn't be changed.
So it's kinda left up to the fans to explain why Szass Tam built a one-off Dread Ring far from Thay nearly three decades before building the other seven. Was it a prototype ring? Perhaps.
quote:
Originally posted by Dennis
As Arik noted. In addition, the Dread Rings are not just the stone walls and bastions. They are more like a focus point. The real Dread Rings are the complex webs of inexhaustible power. Here's an explanation from the novel Unholy:
quote:
Last but most clearly of all, she discerned the Dread Ring itself like a festering wound in the earth. Like a well of unnatural and inexhaustible power. Arcing away from it were lines of force linking it to other such talismans, defining an immense dark circle of death on the face of the land.
That was the Dread Ring that Jhesrhi and her allies had to destroy. Not the stone walls and bastions, although some of those might crack and crumble as an incidental effect of their assault, for battlements and towers could be rebuilt. They had to attack the concept, the potential of the Ring. If they could obliterate that, it would spoil the whole pattern, and none of the similar castles scattered across Thay would serve its intended purpose anymore.
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Brace Cormaeril |
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Brimstone
Great Reader
USA
3287 Posts |
Posted - 05 Aug 2011 : 01:27:28
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quote:
Originally posted by Brian R. James
So it's kinda left up to the fans to explain why Szass Tam built a one-off Dread Ring far from Thay nearly three decades before building the other seven. Was it a prototype ring? Perhaps.
Thats how I would spin it.
Or maybe Larloch is up to no good, hmmm? |
"These things also I have observed: that knowledge of our world is
to be nurtured like a precious flower, for it is the most precious
thing we have. Wherefore guard the word written and heed
words unwritten and set them down ere they fade . . . Learn
then, well, the arts of reading, writing, and listening true, and they
will lead you to the greatest art of all: understanding."
Alaundo of Candlekeep |
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Dennis
Great Reader
9933 Posts |
Posted - 05 Aug 2011 : 03:06:02
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quote:
Originally posted by Brian R. James
As I was doing research for the Neverwinter Campaign Guide, the inclusion of a Neverwinter dread ring raised some continuity concerns. As highlighted in the quote below, Byer's original seven Dread Rings were built in very specific geographic locales throughout Thay to power a ritual. So introducing a new ring in far away Neverwinter Wood didn't jive with the established lore.
More importantly, the timeline of events didn't match up. Supposedly the Thayans awakened the primordial beneath Gauntlgrym in 1452 DR to power the Neverwinter Dread Ring. But Szass Tam would not have needed to build any additional dread rings outside of Thay until his setback in 1478 DR (from the Haunted Lands trilogy). But alas, the background story of the Gauntlgrym novel was already set in stone at that point and couldn't be changed.
So it's kinda left up to the fans to explain why Szass Tam built a one-off Dread Ring far from Thay nearly three decades before building the other seven. Was it a prototype ring? Perhaps.
I doubt it's a prototype. Why would Tam waste time erecting the Dread Rings outside of Thay and risk attracting the attention of powerful individuals and groups in the Sword Coast? There is only one reason why---and that's because his DR's in Thay failed. So it's a problem with continuity, something which I shouldn't be surprised with, considering it's not the first in the history of FR fiction. |
Every beginning has an end. |
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Saer Cormaeril
Learned Scribe
124 Posts |
Posted - 05 Aug 2011 : 16:56:39
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Kinda' sad that the new breed of developers aren't even trying. So much for my support of the product line.
quote:
Originally posted by Dennis
quote:
Originally posted by Brian R. James
As I was doing research for the Neverwinter Campaign Guide, the inclusion of a Neverwinter dread ring raised some continuity concerns. As highlighted in the quote below, Byer's original seven Dread Rings were built in very specific geographic locales throughout Thay to power a ritual. So introducing a new ring in far away Neverwinter Wood didn't jive with the established lore.
More importantly, the timeline of events didn't match up. Supposedly the Thayans awakened the primordial beneath Gauntlgrym in 1452 DR to power the Neverwinter Dread Ring. But Szass Tam would not have needed to build any additional dread rings outside of Thay until his setback in 1478 DR (from the Haunted Lands trilogy). But alas, the background story of the Gauntlgrym novel was already set in stone at that point and couldn't be changed.
So it's kinda left up to the fans to explain why Szass Tam built a one-off Dread Ring far from Thay nearly three decades before building the other seven. Was it a prototype ring? Perhaps.
I doubt it's a prototype. Why would Tam waste time erecting the Dread Rings outside of Thay and risk attracting the attention of powerful individuals and groups in the Sword Coast? There is only one reason why---and that's because his DR's in Thay failed. So it's a problem with continuity, something which I shouldn't be surprised with, considering it's not the first in the history of FR fiction.
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Brace Cormaeril |
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Thieran
Learned Scribe
Germany
293 Posts |
Posted - 05 Aug 2011 : 17:11:55
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quote:
Originally posted by Saer Cormaeril
Kinda' sad that the new breed of developers aren't even trying.
[...]
I think that's a rather unfair generalisation (if true at all). |
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Dennis
Great Reader
9933 Posts |
Posted - 05 Aug 2011 : 19:18:15
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I'm almost certain that they must have tried. Though seeing how something so simple as timeline jive could not even be done right may mean they didn't try hard enough. |
Every beginning has an end. |
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Ayrik
Great Reader
Canada
7989 Posts |
Posted - 05 Aug 2011 : 22:48:15
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Is it impossible to say Szass constructed (or arranged for the construction of) this dread ring during the same period of time he constructed the others? There might be any number of dread rings scattered throughout the distant corners of Faerūn ... it might be said that although they appear isolated they are in fact integrated within the grander dread ring design.
I suspect we'll see dread rings become another tired iconic theme in the Realms, popping up all over the land like evil mushrooms whenever sufficiently dark and noxious individuals take root. An easy explanation might be that dread rings and associated rituals are the workings of some exiled evil deity, ambitious arch-fiend, malignant tendrils of ravenloft, incomprehensible Cthulhu manipulations, or the usual unexciting plain vanilla nasty megalomaniacal archlich sort ... Szass Tam might be carrying out "his" dread ring plans as a partner or agent of other agencies (knowingly or otherwise), he could be as much of an ignorant helpless pawn of some greater evil as the citizens of Thay were to him. |
[/Ayrik] |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36826 Posts |
Posted - 05 Aug 2011 : 23:56:49
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| Do we know that Szassy was behind the construction of that oddball Dread Ring? If it's not explicitly stated, you could spin it that it was a separate faction -- maybe he even got the idea from them, or maybe he gave them the idea to see what it could do... |
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Dennis
Great Reader
9933 Posts |
Posted - 06 Aug 2011 : 03:14:59
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quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
Do we know that Szassy was behind the construction of that oddball Dread Ring? If it's not explicitly stated, you could spin it that it was a separate faction -- maybe he even got the idea from them, or maybe he gave them the idea to see what it could do...
I haven't read Gauntlgrym, so I'll base my answer on the events in The Haunted Lands trilogy. And that is, yes. Tam already learned his lesson of not trusting anyone. First, his female apprentice (the one in the short story Red Ambition by Jean Rabe). And then there's the monk/spy Malark. Both betrayed him. He swore never to put his trust in anybody. The construction of the "physical" Dread Rings---the stone walls; that's a menial job he no doubt relegated to his lackeys. But the making of the intricate web of spells which are the true forms of the Dread Rings? That I'm almost certain he did hands on. Such secret he guards pretty well, or else he'll be making the same mistakes he did with Malark. |
Every beginning has an end. |
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Dennis
Great Reader
9933 Posts |
Posted - 06 Aug 2011 : 03:23:00
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quote:
Originally posted by Arik
Is it impossible to say Szass constructed (or arranged for the construction of) this dread ring during the same period of time he constructed the others? There might be any number of dread rings scattered throughout the distant corners of Faerūn ... it might be said that although they appear isolated they are in fact integrated within the grander dread ring design.
I suspect we'll see dread rings become another tired iconic theme in the Realms, popping up all over the land like evil mushrooms whenever sufficiently dark and noxious individuals take root. An easy explanation might be that dread rings and associated rituals are the workings of some exiled evil deity, ambitious arch-fiend, malignant tendrils of ravenloft, incomprehensible Cthulhu manipulations, or the usual unexciting plain vanilla nasty megalomaniacal archlich sort ... Szass Tam might be carrying out "his" dread ring plans as a partner or agent of other agencies (knowingly or otherwise), he could be as much of an ignorant helpless pawn of some greater evil as the citizens of Thay were to him.
He made it pretty clear in The Haunted Lands that he wanted to be a god and remake the world according to his whims. He even stooped down to bargaining a thousand years of his existence with Bane just so the Dark God could lend him enough power during the Spellplague, when magic was unstable. I'd also like to think he's working for someone, or some agency. But trying to achieve godhood is a rather personal, selfish undertaking. |
Every beginning has an end. |
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Brimstone
Great Reader
USA
3287 Posts |
Posted - 06 Aug 2011 : 04:37:53
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quote:
Originally posted by Arik
Is it impossible to say Szass constructed (or arranged for the construction of) this dread ring during the same period of time he constructed the others? There might be any number of dread rings scattered throughout the distant corners of Faerūn ... it might be said that although they appear isolated they are in fact integrated within the grander dread ring design.
I suspect we'll see dread rings become another tired iconic theme in the Realms, popping up all over the land like evil mushrooms whenever sufficiently dark and noxious individuals take root. An easy explanation might be that dread rings and associated rituals are the workings of some exiled evil deity, ambitious arch-fiend, malignant tendrils of ravenloft, incomprehensible Cthulhu manipulations, or the usual unexciting plain vanilla nasty megalomaniacal archlich sort ... Szass Tam might be carrying out "his" dread ring plans as a partner or agent of other agencies (knowingly or otherwise), he could be as much of an ignorant helpless pawn of some greater evil as the citizens of Thay were to him.
This! |
"These things also I have observed: that knowledge of our world is
to be nurtured like a precious flower, for it is the most precious
thing we have. Wherefore guard the word written and heed
words unwritten and set them down ere they fade . . . Learn
then, well, the arts of reading, writing, and listening true, and they
will lead you to the greatest art of all: understanding."
Alaundo of Candlekeep |
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Ayrik
Great Reader
Canada
7989 Posts |
Posted - 06 Aug 2011 : 04:41:03
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I understand what you're saying, Dennis. But the important detail is that ultimately we don't really know whether the dread ring ritual could have succeeded. Would Szass Tam have become an Ao-like supreme overgod of the cosmos? Or simply ascend one rung up the ladder of divine rank? Or merely gain supermortal powers similar in magnitude to Larloch's? Or simply be standing at ground zero when the nuke goes off? Or be disappointed after a spectacularly grand fizzle?
Would the ritual actually do what Szass Tam intends? Perhaps it would elevate him to some higher state as he believes it will, though not unlikely in some manner which is not quite as he expects. It might tear a rift through the planes for something powerfully incomprensible (and dangerous) to cross over. It might be a standard issue permanent gate to Hell for armies of fiends to march through. In fact, Szass has never had opportunity to field test this ritual, he and we cannot be certain it works at all. Worse, it might serve a darker purpose unknown even to Szass ... he's a bright fellow but surely cannot compete against the eternally patient, nearly omniscient, and inhumanly maleficent intellect of a truly disenfranchised god ...
These thoughts are just off the top of my head. No doubt the talented authors and designers who do such stuff for a living could produce far more (and more entertaining) details when needed. Assuming they haven't done so already. I think it's unfair to accuse them of showing no effort, at least not before they deflect it from behind their "it's NDA" trump card. Especially since it's been said a thousand times that the most magnificent tales about the Realms are those which haven't yet been told. |
[/Ayrik] |
Edited by - Ayrik on 06 Aug 2011 04:46:47 |
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Dennis
Great Reader
9933 Posts |
Posted - 06 Aug 2011 : 04:51:10
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The results do not matter, as far as Szass Tam is concerned, because he believes the ritual will succeed. His intentions alone determine whether or not he's working for someone, or simply for himself. And I say 'tis the latter, for the reasons I previously noted. |
Every beginning has an end. |
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Ayunken-vanzan
Senior Scribe
Germany
657 Posts |
Posted - 06 Aug 2011 : 07:22:20
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Just a clarification: The purpose of the Dread Rings is to unmake the whole multiverse, all of reality, to destroy every plane of existence, all spheres and gods and creatures, simply just everything, and to convey it to a state of primal chaos - all with the exeception of Szass Tam himself. He would then be able to mold this primal chaos into a new multiverse of his liking.
This has to be considered in speculating about the Neverwinter Dread Ring - some suggestions here are way to tame in regard to Tam's intentions ...  |
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Dennis
Great Reader
9933 Posts |
Posted - 06 Aug 2011 : 07:35:46
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I'm not so sure which suggestions you're referring to. But that's precisely what I noted---Tam's true intentions of stealing the mad wizard Fastrin's notes, erecting the Dread Rings, and performing the ritual: to undo everything and remake the world according to his (possibly better) plans. (Let me look into that exact passage...I recall he said it in one of his conversations with Malark.) |
Every beginning has an end. |
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Dennis
Great Reader
9933 Posts |
Posted - 06 Aug 2011 : 07:52:31
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Here's the scene from Unholy, Chapter Four, pages 68-69:
quote:
Malark bowed. "Sorry to interrupt whatever you were doing."
"I was meditating," Szass Tam replied. "Preparing for the ritual. When the time comes, I have to be ready to let go of everything. If I feel even a flicker of attachment or regret, it could ruin the casting. So I'm cultivating the habit of viewing all things with scorn."
The outlander grinned. "I hope knowing me doesn't put you off your game. I mean, since I'm indisputably such a marvelous fellow."
Szass Tam smiled. "You've been a true friend this past century, I'll give you that. And I tell you again, I can recreate you in the universe to come."
"Then I'll tell you again, that's the last thing I want. I just want to watch death devour the world I know, and fall into darkness along with it."
"All right."
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Dread Rings
