Elminster Must Die

Elminster Must Die by Ed Greenwood is the debut fourth-edition appearance of Elminster. It is the first novel in the Sage of Shadowdale series.
==Summary==
Almost a century after the Spellplague, the Bloodshields Band looks for Elminster in Shadowdale; at the Old Skull Inn, they enlist a young man, Thal, to lead them to him. He leads them to a cave, where the Elminster they find turns out to be a doppelganger whose band kills them from ambush. When the young man, actually a doppelganger, asks if Elminster's real out of curiosity, the others answer they don't have a clue.
On the evening of Mirtul 5, in the , Elminster Aumar steals the Royal Gorget of Battle from Castle Obarskyr, to feed it to The Simbul, former queen of Aglarond, now completely insane due to Mystra's death and needing to absorb magic items to remain coherent. He is unaware a tracer spell has been put on it; a gaggle of War Wizards and Highknights led by Kelgantor teleports to his hideout in Tethgard to retrieve the gorget and kill him if need be. Though the talk stalls long, Elminster, the Simbul, and Storm Silverhand successfully slay most of them; one of the few survivors is Rorskryn Mreldrake. Back in Cormyr, Manshoon conspires in hiding with Marlin Stormserpent, a nobleman, and Talane, the alias of a noblewoman, scheming to take control of all of Cormyr by finding items that control blueflame ghosts. Elminster heads back into the palace to retrieve more magic; he is ambushed by more War Wizards along his secret passage, but Alusair Obarskyr, now a ghost, saves him. In that night, the night of Mirtul 26, the Open Feast is held in Castle Obarskyr, which Amarune Whitewave, a coinlass, attends as an escort for Parespur Bloodbright. Meanwhile, Marlin Stormserpent heads for the Haunted Wing of the palace, where he's spotted briefly by Elminster and Alusair on his way to retrieve the Wyverntongue Chalice from the Dragonskull Chamber.
In the morning, almost certainly Mirtul 27, the nobleman Arclath Delcastle brings his friends Halance Tarandar and Belnar Buckmantle to the Dragonriders Club, to help them de-stress. While they talk, Amarune, who is also a mask dancer at the club, listens to their conversation out of curiosity. Elminster battles another ambush of War Wizards, while Alusair is disabled by one of the unseen Manshoon's spells. Manshoon also awakens Targrael, a former highknight and now death knight who sees herself as the one true defender of Cormyr, biding her protect Marlin Stormserpent. Stormserpent leaves the castle through a hidden tunnel into the Old Dwarf, where Targrael protects him against the associates of a treacherous henchman.
On the evening, Amarune is awakened by Ruthgul, her mentor, trying to climb into her window; he has a contract for her to forge, but they're cut short by his client, who introduces herself as Talane, and reveals to Amarune she knows about her past. The day after, almost certainly Mirtul 28, Arclath Delcastle's breakfast at The Eel Revealed is interrupted by the War Wizard Glathra Barcantle, demanding what he knows of the murder of Halance Tarandar and Belnar Buckmantle; she reveals Tarandar made note of the fact a mask dancer was listening in to their converse. Glathra assigns a messenger, Delnor, to stick with Arclath until the mask dancer is found. They find her entirely by chance, while Elminster and Storm make their way out of palace trying to disguise themselves as the Royal Magician, Ganrahast, and his second in command, Vainrence. They're spotted by Rorskryn Mreldrake, who explains he's just seen the two elsewhere; while they are taken for questioning, an image of the Simbul appears and distracts the guards; Elminster takes this as a sign she needs immediate aid, the two of them heading for the Dalestride Portal near the Room of the Watchful Sentinel. Arclath Delcastle waits for Amarune at the Club before her show, in her room; she believes he's grown dangerously obsessed, and attacks him. She's pulled off by the club owner, Tress, and the guards; Arclath convinces them he paid her to do so. Amarune denies having spoken to anyone of what she overheard of their converse, or having been hired by anyone to eavesdrop on them.
Meanwhile, Ganrahast and Vainrence are caught in a stasis trap while investigating the royal crypts. Marlin Stormserpent returns to Dragonskull Chamber, where he summons two blueflame ghosts: the ghost of Treth Halonter from the Wyverntongue Chalice and Relve Langral from the Flying Blade, a hidden relic of his family. He commands them to kill a certain noble, and the ghosts rampage through Suzail until they come across someone to tell them where the man dines. Meanwhile, nobles allied with Marlin Stormserpent, headed by Broryn Windstag, arrive drunk and rowdy at the Dragonriders Club, striking down Delnor. They're held off until Purple Dragons arrive to defuse the situation; the Purple Dragons are called away by the news of ghosts working a massacre at the Bold Blazon. Elminster and Arclath converge on the club, the latter accompanied by Amarune; seeing her there, Elminster's decision to call on her aid, as she is one of his descendants, crystallizes. Amarune and Arclath walk until morning. Meanwhile in the Dales, the Simbul barely gains any respite from madness with the items Storm carries; while leaving, Storm learns that there's a group trying to find Elminster, determined to search every cave, which must include the one where the Simbul is hidden.
At a tavern on the next day, almost certainly Mirtul 29, Marlin Stormserpent learns that another blueflame item in the possession of some noble is a largish hand axe. Eskrel Starbridge heads out with a team towards Shadowdale, where they intend to investigate Elminster once and for all. Arclath and Amarune finally make it to her lodgings; there is a man murdered, whom she recognizes as Ruthgul. Then his face shifts, and he turns into Gaskur, a servant of House Stormserpent. As Amarune and Arclath part, he is brought to the palace by Glathra, while Amarune is sought by an old man, revealing himself to be Elminster. He wants her help saving the Realms. Marlin Stormserpent is visited by the Purple Dragons investigating the murder of Gaskur. He is shaken by his trusty's death. Amarune heads to Arclath's home, Delcastle Manor, where she sleeps, after learning of Marlin Stormserpent's quest for a largish hand axe.
On Mirtul 30, Arclath heads to the Palace, to moot with Glathra. He meets with Elminster shortly after, and talks briefly; Glathra is then revealed to have been listening, and having learned that he's after the blueflame items, she declares Arclath must prevent him from seizing them. Windstag and his cronies locate the largish hand axe, steal it by force, and run back to Marlin Stormserpent; he calls out the ghost, but instead, Mirt appears out of it. Eskrel Starbridge's knights think they find Elminster in Shadowdale, but it is actually Storm Silverhand; convincing them she is in fact a noble of Cormyr, that her title as Marchioness Immerdusk remains valid, she takes Eskrel's teleport ring and returns to the Royal Crypt, where Elminster is. The two are struck by a deadly spell, saved only by Alusair and Vangerdahast, now a wraith, helping them. Soldiers attempt to evict Arclath from the castle in preparation for the Council of the Dragon; he catches sight of Mirt being refused entry and Marlin's pet stirge, Thirsty, getting killed at the door. Amarune learns of Stormserpent's attempt to claim a blueflame axe, and heads to Delcastle Manor to tell Arclath. He goes off to confront Stormserpent; after their talk, his suspicions are confirmed. Elminster is teleported to Stormserpent Towers, where he stops Marlin's last orders to his blueflame slayers; however, he's then magically teleported to the castle again, where in the body of a beholder, Manshoon attempts to execute him and Storm Silverhand. Elminster's reduced to ashes, but remains active and conscious. The beholder emerges into the path of Amarune and Arclath as they turn up at the castle to reveal what they know of Stormserpent; before it can kill them, it is blasted into shreds by a War Wizard brought by Vangerdahast.
Storm casts a spell to let Elminster's ashes use Amarune's body if needed; together, Amarune, Arclath, Elminster, and Storm escape Suzail in Ruthgul's wine cart, plotting their move for the Council of the Dragon of the next day.
==Index (Mass Market Paperback)==
==Appendix==
===Background===
At some point, the novel's title was changed from Elminster Must Die! to Elminster Must Die. During that change, the novel's series was changed from The Sage of Shadowdale to simply Sage of Shadowdale.
===Gallery===
ElminsterMustDie.jpg|Original cover.
Elminster Must Die suzail map.png|The map of Suzail featured in Elminster Must Die.
Elminster Must Die Wallpaper.jpg|Cover art as a wallpaper.
===References===
Category:Novels
Category:Books
Category:Works by Ed Greenwood
Category:Published in 2010
Category:Published in 2011