A trilogy of Eberron books written by Don Bassingthwaite as a sequel to his previous trilogy, The Dragon Below. It shouldn't be a shock that in discussing this trilogy some surprises from the first one will be revealed. Here there be spoilers.
Eight months after the events of The Dragon Below the majority of the characters have moved on with their lives, but the consequences of their previous adventures still linger: Ashi is having trouble adjusting to life in House Deneith, Geth remains the bearer of the ancient Dhakaani blade named Aram but has grown to miss the group's adventures, and Ekhaas continues her work hunting artifacts for the Wordbearers. But the scattered friends are quickly brought back together to play a part in Lhesh Haruuc's efforts to secure the future of his young goblin nation, Darguun. The old warlord is looking to a future that includes closer ties to House Deneith, and more importantly to the past for a symbol that will allow his successor to keep Darguun from falling into chaos.
The three books in the series are:
- The Doom of Kings (2008)
- The Word of Traitors (2009)
- The Tyranny of Ghosts (2010)
Contains examples of:
- Always Chaotic Evil: Subverted (it is an Eberron novel, after all) and played slightly straight. Goblinoids are shown to have a taste for pain and bloodshed that makes other races uncomfortable...even the ones who realize that giving into those desires would be bad for the fledgling nation.
- Artifact of Doom: The Rod of Kings.
- Badass Bookworm: Midian Mit Davandi, scholar of the Library of Korranberg [[and an agent of the Trust]].
- Blood Knight: All three of the Goblin races show traits of being a Blood Knight to some degree. Geth and Ashi too, but much less so than the Goblins.
- Chekhov's Gun: Geth's continued ownership of Aram (the story of which had seemed to have already played itself out) actually ends up getting him involved in this new adventure. Later, there's also the The Shield of Nobles.
- Expressive Ears: The three goblin races have these, but especially the Hobgoblins.
- Grey-and-Grey Morality: One of the characters is Llesh Haruuc, leader of Darguun. He is a warlord who led a rebellion against the House that was employing him and cut a bloody chunk out of Cyre as his new nation... and he's unquestionably one of the kindest and fairest characters in the book.
- Magic Music: Ekhaas, being a duur'kala (that is, a bard) has all sorts of neat magic that she can create with music.
- Ninja: Chetiin
- Title Drop: One per book.
- "That's the doom of kings, Geth. We're men and women when we take the throne, but we lose ourselves to our people. We stop being individuals and become nations."
- "The word of traitors is written on the wind."
- "We don't just live with ghosts—we live under the tyranny of ghosts." A reference to the way the Dhakaani Empire seeps into Darguul culture.
- True Companions: Geth, Ashi, and Ekhaas.
- Worthy Opponent: The elves of Valenar are seen as this by Darguuls, since Valenar's ancestors were on Khorvaire (and fighting) when the Dhakaani Empire still existed.
