The Captive Flame

The Captive Flame by Richard Lee Byers This is the first book in The Brotherhood of the Griffon trilogy. The second book is titled Whisper of Venom and is due out in November of 2010. The third book is titled The Spectral Blaze and is due out in June 2011. The Captive Flame is set in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting of Dungeons and Dragons. Richard Lee Byers has written a number of books, mostly focused on the horror genre; Deathward, Fright Line, The Vampire's Apprentice, Dark Fortune, Dead Time, The Tale of Terrible Toys, and The Tale of Gaia and Uktena: Werewolf, 5. He has a collection book titled Dark Kingdoms. He's also contributed a number of stories to other series including; Nightmare Club (Joyride, Warlock Games, and Party Til You Drop), World of Darkness (Caravan of Shadows, Netherworld: Vampire, On a Darkling Plane, and Wraith: The Ebon Mask), X-Men (Soul Killer), and Warhammer (The Enemy Within). He's also written a trilogy for the Scarred Lands called Dead God trilogy (Forsaken, Forsworn, and Forbidden). He has written a number of Forgotten Realms novels as well; Sembia: Gateway to the Realms series (a short story in the first book of the series, The Halls of Stormweather, and the third book, The Shattered Mask), R. A. Salvatore's War of the Spider Queen series (Dissolution), The Rogues series (The Black Bouquet), The Year of the Rogue Dragons trilogy (The Rage, The Rite, and The Ruin), The Priest series (Queen of the Depths), and The Haunted Lands trilogy (Unclean, Undead, and Unholy). He's also contributed a vast amount of short stories to various anthologies. The Captive Flame was released in May 2010 by Wizards of the Coast, Inc. Quick Continuity Point: The Captive Flame has characters that have appeared in The Haunted Lands trilogy as well as referencing events of The Year of the Rogue Dragon trilogy. Aoth Fezim's mercenary band called The Brotherhood of the Griffon hasn't been in that good of shape since we last saw them in The Haunted Lands trilogy. The Brotherhood has come across a string of bad luck and are fortunate enough to find work in the country of Chessenta, who are notorious in their hatred of magic and mages. That makes things a little difficult for Aoth, a war-mage, and his lieutenant, Jhesrhi, as they encounter distrust and hatred for their magical abilities. It doesn't help that a series of murders have been committed in the capital city of Luthcheq targeting prominent 'wizard haters'. The only clue is the killer leaves behind a green hand print, which singles out the wizards of Chessenta who are forced to have one of their hands tattooed green. But that can't be why the Brotherhood is hired for Chessenta could it? After finding out the who's responsible, the Brotherhood is placed in a town named Soolabax by the border of Threskel to help prevent raids by Threskel into Chessenta, but also are tasked with a secret mission. That mission, lead by Jhesrhi and another of the Brotherhood's lieutenants, Gaedynn