“Certainly, at first examination, your interpretation appears correct. When you take into account the assassination attempt on the king eighteen years ago and the fact that the innkeeper’s daughter spilled a pail of milk this morning, though . . . surely you see the implications?”
—Vyssilthar the Shadow-Seer
Dragons note the passage of decades as the lesser races do days, but the last few thousand years have passed even more swiftly for the black dragon Vyssilthar the Shadow-Seer.
Three thousand years ago, she looked over her shoulder for a last glimpse of her mate, Qataakhast. Then Sarlona passed from sight, and Vyssilthar turned her attention to the new continent across the Sea of Rage.
Vyssilthar had known for some time that her destiny waited in Khorvaire. Interpreting the Prophecy is an art, and Vyssilthar is an artist. She gained the title “Shadow-Seer” from her uncanny ability to reveal the hidden nuances of the Prophecy and see accurately into the shadows of the future.
When it came time for the expedition to leave, Vyssilthar asked Qataakhast to accompany her across the sea. Qataakhast had to refuse, for he was serving a penance that required him to remain in exile on Sarlona (see page 120). Although she knew what Qataakhast’s answer would be, Vyssilthar felt compelled to ask—possibly the only time she tried to deny the power of the Prophecy.
Over the weeks of sea travel in half-elf guise, Vyssilthar forged an unexpected friendship with Lhazaar, the captain of the expedition. She found the human to be both intelligent and clever, as brave as practical. Vyssilthar read the Prophecy in the stars and the movement of the waves and decided to stay with Lhazaar—the future showed much chaos and pain if the pirate queen followed one path over another.
After Lhazaar’s death, Vyssilthar discerned from her studies that she was required to be active and relatively young at a period roughly three thousand years in the future. She cultivated an isolated clan of Lhazaar’s descendants and granted them a birthright. The oldest member of this clan cast flesh to stone on the dragon and secured the “half-elf” statue in a specially prepared chamber along with a carefully wrapped stone to flesh scroll. According to tradition, passed down from clan elder to clan elder, the scroll was to be read only when the stars were right, “during an age when Khorvaire is bathed in blood.” Crafting such a plan required a monumental leap of faith on Vyssilthar’s part, but she was certain that Prophecy would provide. And so it did.
Awakened roughly 50 years ago, Vyssilthar has remained in the area now called the Lhazaar Principalities. She soon discovered and informed a local Chamber agent of her existence and talents. Now the black dragon acts as a consultant for Chamber agents from time to time, but she is a solitary creature and is more concerned with her own destiny than the future of all reality.
Vyssilthar’s main interest is interpreting the fragments of Prophecy with which she comes into direct contact. She is convinced the Prophecy guides her actions and puts her where she needs to be. She still mourns Lhazaar’s death and misses Qataakhast—their loss is still recent for her. Sometimes Vyssilthar thinks of returning to her mate, until she remembers that he might no longer be alive; even if he is, he is now far older than she and likely has no use for her. Vyssilthar has accepted that, for now, her place is in Khorvaire, but she holds out hope that she might yet speak with Qataakhast one day.
Description
In dragon form, Vyssilthar is a magnificent sable in color. Qataakhast often likened Vyssilthar’s hide to a sunset; violet crest, indigo body, and pitch-black claws, tail, and wings. Silver horns curve down over Vyssilthar’s face. Milky white eyes make the dragon appear blind, but she sees as well as any dragon.
When in disguise, Vyssilthar favors the form of a female half-elf with black, gray, or silver hair. In either form, she always wears a bronze ring that Qataakhast gave her the ring shortly after they first met. Vyssilthar had the trinket ensorcelled, and now it automatically resizes with her as she changes shape.
Minions
Except for her personal servants, who might be the last remaining descendants of Lhazaar, Vyssilthar’s minions don’t realize they work for a dragon. She maintains various guises and uses them to recruit aid when necessary. The first mate of a ship in Prince Ryger’s Seadragons sells naval charts and reports of sea activity to a cartographer in Regalport. A House Thuranni spy sometimes trades information with a scribe who works for noble houses, a mutually satisfactory transaction. A House Lyrandar shipwright discusses the affairs of the day and the finer points of airship design with an amateur carpenter over a mug of ale in Port Verge once a week. The cartographer, scribe, and carpenter are all Vyssilthar in disguise.
Allies and Enemies
Vyssilthar has centuries of experience and a great natural talent, but she is not perfect. Her House Thuranni contact grows more suspicious at every meeting with his scribe contact: The information always sounds valuable but turns out to be less important than it first appeared, while that the scribe asks for in return always seems innocuous but later turns out to be of great import. Vyssilthar doesn’t know yet, but she is the subject of a House Thuranni investigation to uncover her secrets.
Of all those secrets, the greatest is the youngest of Vyssilthar’s Lhazaarite clan. Roe Farwynd bears a physical resemblance to Lhazaar, and her mannerisms evoke strong memories of Vyssilthar’s old companion. The dragon treats Roe as an ally, rather than a minion, and supports Roe’s goals as her own.
Roe wants nothing more than to return the Lhazaar Principalities to a position of greatness and influence in the world. Like Prince Ryger, she hopes to unite the kingdom, but she doesn’t believe Ryger is the best person to do so. She wants to forge a kingdom that will stand the test of time and contribute to the greater good.
Roe has gathered a small band of allies who believe in her cause, and she wants Vyssilthar to take the lead in uniting the Principalities. At first Vyssilthar resisted, but after interpreting countless threads of the Prophecy, she is beginning to believe uniting the Principalities could be the reason that she went to such extraordinary lengths to extend her existence.