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The Lords Who Sleep ... ... I had at various times a Dragon/Dungeon article in the works for those fellows. But then Troy Denning decided to kill them all. Offstage. Finito. One of the less inspired decisions of the FR novel line IMO.

What follows is the beginnings of a Dragon article that I held onto for sentimental reasons.

“When Sitral’s brood pace the cobbles deep,
And great wyrms scour the twisted stones,
Ondeth’s blood will set the Lords Who Sleep
To slumber in Grolag’s bones.
For legions of fiends and the walking dead
Will bring ruin to this wooded land,
Unless those who should have been long dead
Array for battle and take stand.”

“The Foretellings”
Alaundo of Candlekeep
The Year of the Smiling Prophet (-58DR)

The realm of Cormyr has claimed the Stonelands, that area of trackless ravines and stone monoliths atop a rugged and imposing plateau north of the Storm Horns, for many centuries. Yet in all those long years Cormyr’s rule over the Stonelands has never exceeded the reach of a Purple Dragon’s blade. As the centuries have rolled on, various Cormyrean monarchs have awarded ambitious and successful adventurers the title “Baron of the Stonelands”, and charged them with building fortresses, fighting monsters and in truth holding the region for Cormyr. Such endeavors have met with limited success over the passing years however, due to the countless humanoids that infest the region and the vile machinations of the Zhentarim aimed at controlling overland trade routes throughout the Inner Sea. Yet the truth of Cormyr’s quest to rule the Stonelands lies in a secret known only to a few sages, the royal family of Cormyr and its High Wizard, and a shadowy group known as the Guardians. The secret relates to The Lords Who Sleep, great warriors placed in magical temporal stasis long ago to await the hour when the prophecy of the long-dead seer Alaundo would come to pass. As a matter of policy, the royal court of Cormyr refers to these stalwarts as “the Sleeping Sword”, so that most who overhear believe that an actual, magical sword is being spoken of.

History of The Sleeping Sword

The blood of House Obarskyr was fresh on the soil of Cormyr when King Keldroun succeeded his brothers Torst and Gordroun in the Year of the Waking Dreams (289 DR). King Torst and Gordroun had perished in flooded Marsember at the hands of Belorth “the Pretender” and his father, the pirate Kurrurdan, and Keldroun saw to it that Gordroun was crowned posthumously although he truly never ruled the Forest Kingdom.

Due to the suddenness with which Keldroun had the ruler’s mantle thrust upon him, the High Wizard Baerauble, along with the patriarchs of the Silver noble families, chose Aluth Greatgaunt to be the king’s constant companion and advisor. Aluth was a common born general who was blessed with great energy, foresight and an unshakeable loyalty to the Obarskyr line. He tempered the young king’s rashness and gently steered him toward a path of securing the realm against future harm.

The spread of great Anauroch in the half a century preceding the rule of King Keldroun, had seen the gradual disintegration of Hlundadim, the goblin nation north of the Storm Horns. The lapping sands of the Great Desert had brought this once mighty foe of Cormyr low, and many goblinkin fled into the High Moors, the Stonelands, and the northern fringes of Cormyr rather than face the brutal elements. King Keldroun led the Royal Host of Cormyr in hunting down the goblinkin raiders that plagued the northern settlements, and supported Melandrar Greatwyrm, an old battle companion of Aluth Greatgaunt’s, in his efforts to claim and hold the Stonelands for the kingdom as a first bulwark against the humanoid raiders. The “Stone Baron”, as Melandrar came to be known, led his mounted knights on many forays into the treacherous ravines of the Stonelands, slaying countless humanoids, and establishing the Stonebolt Trail, a crucial trade route connecting Cormyr with Myth Drannor. He also built a chain of hill forts west of the Stonebolt Trail to guard against the raids of the goblinkin that plagued the many trade caravans that now passed through the area.

Having brought stability to Cormyr, King Keldroun’s sense of satisfaction was deeply shaken by the counsel he received from Baerauble, High Wizard of Cormyr, in the Year of the Vintner’s Dagger (291 DR). The archmage brought to the king’s attention the passage from the prophecies of Alaundo that all scholars and sages agreed referred to the kingdom of Cormyr. Baerauble was sure that the time of Alaundo’s dread prophecy was nigh, pointing to submerged Marsember and the activities of Melandrar, the “great wyrm” of the prophecy, to support his belief. After taking counsel with Lord Greatgaunt, and being persuaded that his most loyal adviser was in firm agreement with the High Wizard, Keldroun had the Royal Sage Imindarth search the libraries and archives of the court for any reference to the mysterious “Grolag” of whom Alaundo spoke. Several days of feverish searching brought rewarding news when Imindarth discovered a reference to a goblin army of Hlundadim led by a chieftain named Grolag. King Moriann of Cormyr had defeated Grolag and his army in the Year of the Cold Enchanter (199 DR) in an area of the Stonelands known as the Needlespires for its countless, upward thrusting columns of stone. To the delight of King Keldroun, Baron Melandrar declared that he knew the site well, for it was a place avoided by the humanoids of the region, and used often by his men as a base camp.

Having unraveled the mystery of the reference to “Grolag’s bones” in the prophecy, the king’s closest advisors bent their wisdom toward deducing what the final lines of the prophecy meant. After more than a tenday of sometimes heated discussion the view of the High Wizard Baerauble prevailed that the phrase “those who should have been long dead” meant warriors magically preserved past their normal lifespans, rather than undead or the recipients of unreliable longevity magics. The task of selecting the warriors and constructing their place of rest fell to Lord Greatgaunt and he went about his work with the greatest possible secrecy and speed.

In the months that followed various well-known noble sons and some more notorious members of the nobility were recruited by Lord Greatgaunt to become The Lords Who Sleep. Having passed the rigorous magical probing of the High Wizard Baerauble, these worthies were whisked away by the High Wizard’s Art to the underground fastness that had been constructed beneath the Needlespires ...

That's about as far as I got before "Beyond the High Road" destroyed that little lore hook.

As an aside I can note that the creation of the Sleeping Sword led indirectly to the death of King Keldroun. The sudden disappearance of a host of younger noble sons sent rumours swirling that Keldroun was killing off various noble lines or kidnapping its members for his own evil, future plans. Nothing could have been further from the truth, but that didn't stop him being murdered by a group of allied nobles from the Turcassan, Immerdusk and Huntcrown families who saw the disappearance of their kin and younglings as a direct attack against their families' survival.

I recall from Ed's notes that Melandrar had a weredragon (song dragon) consort who was one of the Guardians like Emperel. Other notable members of the Sleeping Sword included Gelroth Turcassan "the Crimson Cavalier" (named such for his rose-hued platemail and his devotion to Sune), Andonia Huntcrown (a deadly warrior who many considered the best sword wielder, male or female, in the kingdom at that time) and the twins Arbruin and Erbruin Immerdusk (known as the "Bearblades" for their massive height and girth and proclivity to spout forth almost unintelligible warcries in the thick of battle).

I do recall that Brian mentioned to me a couple of years ago that he had "plans" for the Sleeping Sword and I remember that he had a 'play' with my rhyme above, but I'm not sure what happened to that project? Brian?

-- George Krashos

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Originally posted by Markustay

I had forgotten about that - excellent point.

The Mage Royal that preceded Vangerdehast is still alive (the name escapes me), and perhaps he has not yet revealed the 'deeper truth' to Vangy. Maybe Amedehast (sp?) set it up so that certain facts were only transferred to the next Mage Royal after the death of the current one (and the survival of that one hiding in Seros was something unforeseen even by Amedehast). Certain magics and knowledge are know to be triggered by a person's death (even in Buffy - one of the few episodes I was able to stomach had a second Slayer 'awakening' when Sarah Michelle Geller briefly died), and I wouldn't put it past Amedehast (and a couple of her predecessors) to have set things up this way, so that only one living person at a time would know the deepest 'state secrets'.

If someone would be kind enough to provide the name of that still-living former Mage Royal (from the Sea of Fallen Stars supplement) that would be great - I am still nowhere near any of my sources ATM. That's pretty much the only 'out' I can think of, and still have my theories above work.

If this does turn out to be the case, I'd love to see the look on Vangy's face when he realizes the situation he caused in Elminster's Daughter was all for naught. That is assuming the other Mage Royal died during the Plague years; an easy assumption to make, considering the devastation Seros must have undergone between the massive displacement of water and the arrival of the Aboleths.

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Originally posted by Mr_Miscellany

Jorunhast is still around?!?

I think I just peed me pants.

Heh...this just gets better and better.

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