[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.Five for the voting members of the Council stood to the left side of the Whitestone, three for the advisory members stood on the right.Polished benches for the witnesses to the proceedings as demanded by the Measure, sat facing the Whitestone and the Council members.Some of the witnesses had already begun arriving, Gunthar noticed.Most of the elven party traveling with the Speaker and the Silvanesti lord were taking their seats.The two estranged elven races sat near each other, apart from the humans who were filing in as well.Everyone sat quietly, some in remembrance of Famine Day; others, like the gnomes, who did not celebrate that holiday, in awe of their surroundings.Seats in the front row were reserved for honored guests or for those with leave to speak before the Council.Gunthar saw the Speaker’s stern-faced son, Porthios, enter with a retinue of elven warriors.They took their seats in the front.Gunthar wondered where Elistan was.He’d intended to ask him to speak.He had been impressed with the man’s words (even if he was a charlatan) and hoped he would repeat them.As he searched in vain for Elistan, he saw three strange figures enter and seat themselves in the front row: it was the old mage in his bent and shapeless hat, his kender friend, and a gnome they had brought back with them from Mount Nevermind.The three had arrived back from their journey only last night.Gunthar was forced to turn his attention back to the Whitestone.The advisory Council members were entering.There were only two, Lord Quinath of the Silvanesti, and the Speaker of the Suns.Gunthar looked at the Speaker curiously, knowing he was one of the few beings on Krynn to still remember the horrors of the Cataclysm.The Speaker was so stooped that he seemed almost crippled.His hair was gray; his face haggard.But as he took his seat and turned his gaze to the witnesses, Gunthar saw the elf’s eyes were bright and arresting.Lord Quinath, seated next to him, was known to Gunthar, who considered him as arrogant and proud as Porthios of the Qualinesti, but lacking in the intelligence Porthios possessed.As for Porthios, Gunthar thought he could probably come to like the Speaker’s eldest son quite well.Porthios had every characteristic the knights admired, with one exception—his quick temper.Gunthar’s observations were interrupted, for now it was time for the voting Council members to enter and Gunthar had to take his place.First came Mir Kar-thon of Northern Ergoth, a dark-complexioned man with iron-gray hair and the arms of a giant.Next came Serdin MarThasal, representing the Exiles on Sancrist, and finally Lord Gunthar, Knight of Solamnia.Once seated, Gunthar glanced around a final time.The huge Whitestone glistened behind him, casting its own strange radiance, for the sun world not shine today.On the other side of the Whitestone sat the Speaker, next to him Lord Quinath.Across from them, facing the Council, sat the witnesses upon their benches.The kender was sitting subdued, swinging his short legs on his tall bench.The gnome shuffled through what looked like a ream of paper; Gunthar shuddered, wishing there’d been time to ask for a condensed report.The old magician yawned and scratched his head, peering around vaguely.AII was ready.At Gunthar’s signal, two knights entered, bearing a golden stand and a wooden chest.A silence that was almost deathlike descended on the crowd as they watched the entrance of the dragon orb.The knights carne to a halt, standing directly in front of the Whitestone.Here, one of the knights placed the golden stand upon the ground.The other set down the chest, unlocked it and carefully brought forth the orb that was back to its origin size, over two feet in diameter.A murmur went through the crowd.The Speaker of the Suns shifted uncomfortably, scowling.His son, Porthios, turned to say something to an elflord near him.All of the elves, Gunthar noted, were armed.Not a good sign, from what little he knew of elven protocol.He had no choice but to proceed.Calling the meeting to order, Lord Gunthar Uth Wistan announced, ‘Let the Council of Whitestone begin.’After about two minutes, it was obvious to Tasslehoff that things were in a real mess.Before Lord Gunthar had even concluded his speech of welcome, the Speaker of the Suns rose.‘My talk will be brief,’ the elven leader stated in a voice that matched the steely gray of the storm clouds above him.‘The Silvanesti, the Qualinesti, and the Kaganesti met in council shortly after the orb was removed from our camp.It is the first time the members of the three communities have met since the Kinslayer wars.’ He paused, laying a heavy emphasis on those last words.Then he continued.‘We have decided to set aside our own differences in our perfect agreement that the dragon orb belongs in the hands of the elves, not in the hands of humans or any other race upon Krynn.Therefore, we come before the Council of Whitestone and ask that the dragon orb be given over to us forthwith.In return, we guarantee that we will take it to our lands and keep it safe until such time—if ever—it be needed [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]