- The Hall of the Revered lies beneath the Spires of the Forge.Enter the door above the tangled valley.Look neither left nor right. The riches there are not for you.Hold to the path that leads to the Hall and find what waits in the shade of the Grieving Tree.
A trilogy of Eberron novels by Don Bassingthwaite detailing the adventures of a shifter named Geth, a wizard named Singe, and a kalashtar named Dandra who has a dark secret. The three are joined by many more on their quest to stop the Servant of Madness, the priest of the Dragon Below, Dah'mir, and the barbarian tribe known as the Bonetree that he controls. Notable among novels based on D&D campaign settings in that it doesn't suck. The three books in the series are:
- The Binding Stone
- The Grieving Tree
- The Killing Song
Also has a sequel trilogy written by the same author and using some of the same characters, The Legacy of Dhakaan.
Contains examples of:
- Action Girl: Dandra
- Attack Its Weak Point: At the end of the first novel, Dah'mir is severely injured by being stabbed in the primary dragonshard that he keeps on his chest.
- Big Bad: The Master of Silence.
- Defector from Decadence: Ashi, from the Bonetree.
- Determinator: Dandra. Literally. She is determination.
- Deus ex Machina: A very well done type 4 when Ashi manifests the Siberys Mark of Sentinel, something that has been hinted at for two and a half books.
- The Dragon: Dah'mir to the Master of Silence, Medala to Dah'mir. Until Medala tries to take over Xoriat.
- Eldritch Abomination: The daelkyr.
- Evil Sorcerer: Dah'mir. Possibly subverted, given that as a dragon his abilities are innate, rather than learned.
- Fate Worse than Death: The Grieving Tree was considered one of the greatest wonders ever created by the artificers of the ancient Dhakaan empire, grabbing a prisoner that was set to be executed in its branches and draining them of life for weeks before they finally perished.
- Magic Knight: Singe is very good at combining magic with swordsmanship; in a variation, Dandra is a psionic warrior, rather than a magical one.
- Magic Music: Ekhaas and the other duur'kaala.
- Mind Rape: The Killing Song is used in an attempt to brainwash Sharn's large population of Kalashtar into serving the Master of Silence. He wants them as an army because they do not possess the weakness to Gatekeeper magic that the Daelkyr and their servant abominations have.
- Non-Human Undead: The daelkyr fortress has dessicated remains of an ancient goblin army attack intruders. The ghost of a daelkyr with razor talons also calls it home.
- Playing with Fire: Singe, of course, but also Dandra to a lesser extent.
- Power Born of Madness: Literally, in the case of the stronger servants of the daelkyr.
- Power Crystal: Dah'mir wears an entire cloak covered with different types of dragonshards to flount his power and resources.
- Proud Warrior Race Girl: Ashi.
- The Reveal: Dah'mir is a fucking dragon??
- and also that Dandra isn't really a kalashtar, but the psicrystal spirit created by the kalashtar Tetkashtai, trapped in her body.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: The Master of Silence was sealed away again at the end of the trilogy.
- Title Drop: Kinda sorta. The phrase "the binding stone" isn't used until the second book, and "the grieving tree" is mentioned in the little poem at the beginning of the same book, seen above.
- Unfortunate Names: Singe seems to think his real name (Etan Beyard) is a curse—partly because he doesn't like it, and partly because he hates his family. Besides, if you could get away with being called Singe, wouldn't you use it? Also leads to Do Not Call Me "Paul".
