The Magehound

The Magehound, by Elaine Cunningham, is the first book in the Counselors & Kings Trilogy.

Summary[]

In the Akhlaur Swamp, an expedition of wizards led by the necromancer Zilgorn seeking Akhlaur's Tower instead stumble upon Chalzaster, Zilgorn’s former master who was killed by a magic draining creature known as a laraken. He is watched through a scrying orb by Kiva, a wild elf who arranged for the expedition to take place, and Mbatu, Kiva’s wemic servant.

After a Halruaan skyship display over Halarahh, Procopio Sceptus, Lord Mayor of the city, wins a bet with his rival Basel Indoulur over a race. He discuss hiring a new Jordain vizier with Zephyr, his elven jordain. Zephyr is actually an agent of Kiva who arranged to have Iago, the former jordain, kidnapped by her. He recommends two candidates, Andris and Matteo, to the ambitious Procopio, who seeks to replace Zalathorm Kirkson as king of Halruaa.

Andris and Matteo are both jordain in training at House Jordain. However, Kiva, who is an inquisitrix with the Church of Azuth, arrives and accuses Andris of hiding magical ability.

Tzigone, a homeless woman who possesses unique magical properties and was once on the run with her mother from her mother's husband, is hunted by a wemic. Tzigone has some natural spellcasting ability, but also total magical resistance.

Kiva has Andris executed by Mbatu. Matteo travels to Khaerbaal to prevent Themo, another student known for tavern brawls, from getting into too much trouble in his grief. Matteo saves Themo and witnesses Tzigone performing political satire in the style of a jordain lecture. Mbatu appears and attacks Tzigone, but Matteo saves her, and she declares she will follow him until she has a chance to repay her debt.

Kiva, scrying through Mbatu, becomes interested in Matteo, while keeping Andris nearby. His death was merely an illusion allowing her to kidnap him. She plans to recruit Matteo, and in order to do so, makes arrangements for him to be prevented from undergoing the Ritual of Purification, a process of castration that jordain go through. She has Matteo arrested, kidnaps a peasant man as a decoy, and pressures a master of the Jordain College, revealed through the conversation to secretly be Matteo's father, into ensuring the decoy undergoes the ritual instead. Matteo is eventually freed by Kiva and assigned to Procopio.

Tzigone follows Matteo to Halarahh. Having followed the decoy and witnessed the ritual, she realizes he did not truly undergo it, since he believes it was simply meditation. Kiva manipulates Andris into thinking he has been charged by King Zalathorm to clear out the undead-infested Kilmaruu Swamp, a task that generations of Halruaans have failed to do. Andris begins training a force of nonmagical soldiers, having deduced that the reason so many have failed against the undead is that they are powered by magic. However, this is only practice for Kiva’s true goal of clearing out the Swamp of Akhlaur. She reveals knowledge of Tzigone’s parentage and her mother, Keturah, and that she seeks Tzigone because her unique magical properties will lure the laraken, allowing Kiva to close a portal to the Elemental Plane of Water in the Akhlaur which sustains and empowers the laraken.

While delivering a message to Xavierlyn, Procopio’s rival, Matteo gets into an argument with Frando, Xaierlyn’s jordain. Tzigone tries to help, but merely offends Frando further, causing him to challenge Matteo to a debate, which he does not want, as it is equivalent to a confrontation between Procopio and Xavierlyn. In trying to help further, Tzigone attracts the attention of Cassia, jordain to King Zalathorm and rival to queen Beatrix. Cassia declares her intent to recommend him to Beatrix’s service. Finally, after Tzigone drops a bag containing a stolen spellbook, the necromancer who owns the spellbook arrives and attacks Tzigone and Matteo. Matteo kills the necromancer during the battle.

Cassia comes to Procopio and tells him Matteo has befriended Tzigone, who he recognizes as Keturah’s daughter, a loose end of a marriage arranged by the Cabal: a group of Halruaan wizards who control all marriages among wizards. When questioned by Zephyr, Cassia explains the political maneuvering behind recommending Matteo to Beatrix. With Matteo in Beatrix’s service, a public debate between Frando and Matteo will pit Xavierlyn against Beatrix instead of Procopio, likely ending Xavierlyn’s political power and eliminating her as a rival. And since Matteo has a connection to Tzigone, Cassia expects the Cabal is certain to follow him, and thus having him in the service of the queen will pit the queen against the Cabal. When he is transferred to serving the queen, Matteo discovers she has been reclusive and absent minded ever since a magical examination performed on her by Kiva.

Zephyr reflects on Kiva’s past. As a child, she was kidnapped by the wizard Akhlaur, tortured for many years until she escaped the country, then later returned. They both seek to destroy the laraken which Akhlaur used them to create, but Zephyr suspects Kiva’s desire for vengeance runs deeper. Tzigone learns jordaini memory techniques from Matteo, seeking to uncover her origins, and he realizes she has magical abilities. Andris leads an expedition into the Kilmaru Swamp and retrieves a magic crystal that empowered the undead and allowed them to absorb magic.

Tzigone breaks into the palace, stealing jordaini clothing from Matteo and impersonating a jordaini to get into the queen’s room to examine genealogy records. She is discovered by Cassia, but escapes with Matteo’s house. She leads Matteo to a woman whose mind has been shattered and reveals that mothers to jordaini have their magic drained to make the jordaini stronger. What she does not tell him, however, is that the woman is his mother.

Matteo shows Tzigone a note from Cassia hinting that she knows the truth of Tzigone’s parentage, and promises that he will learn the truth while she flees the city. He returns to the palace, but Cassia is murdered soon after. Matteo discovers that the note from Cassia was fake, meant to lure in Tzigone, and both Kiva and Tzigone were present at the crime scene. He tracks Kiva to the Akhlaur swamp and reunites with Tzigone, and then with Andris.

Matteo, Andris, and Tzigone unravel Kiva’s plan, realizing that she blackmailed a jordaini master into telling her of Andris’s plan to destroy the Kilmaru swamp. Tzigone reveals the secret used to blackmail him was that he was Matteo’s father. She unlocks her suppressed memories, gaining some of her mother’s magical abilities and learning that her mother sealed away her memories shortly before being killed by Kiva.

Since Matteo cannot convince Andris that Kiva has bad intentions, he joins the expedition to kill the laraken. The laraken begins to feed on innate magic that Andris possesses, possibly due to his elven blood, but Tzigone uses her mother’s magic to call it and they begin to injure the creature. Kiva and Mbatu teleport in to prevent the laraken from dying, since she never wanted it dead, but unleashed on the wizards of Halruaa. Mbatu is killed and Kiva moves the gate when the laraken turns on her.

Kiva is turned over to the church of Azuth and stripped of her wizard magic. She blames the scheme to free the laraken on Zephyr and escapes. Tzigone accepts a wizard apprenticeship with Basel Indolour. Matteo hears Queen Beatrix singing the same song that Tzigone sang in the swamp, which Tzigone learned from memories of her mother.

Index[]

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Characters[]

Annalia Gray • Akhlaur • Andris • Basel Indoulur • Beatrix • Cassia • Chalzaster • Cyric (horse) • Dimidis • Dranklish • Farrah Noor • Ferris Grail • Frando • Gio • Hazzle • Iago • Justin • Keturah • Kholstar • Kiva • Mason • Margot • Matteo (Halruaa) • Mbatu • Penelope Septus • Procopio Septus • Rhodea Firehair • Rualli • Sindra • Sinestra Belajoon • Spalding • Sprite (individual) • Themo • Tzigone • Vishna • Xavierlyn • Zalathorm Kirkson • Zephyr • Zilgorn

Referenced only

Alicia Kendrick • Blue Bess • Carmelo • Chartain • Ethan • Grozalum • Gwillon • Iago • Mycontil • Obold • Old Bess • Spider Queen (wizard) • Tristan Kendrick • Uriah Belajoon • Viente • Zanfeld Yemandi

Creatures[]

bee • behir • bird • boar • cat • clockwork dragon • dove • dwarf • eel • elf • faerie dragon • fish • half-elf • Halruaan glass spider • Halruaan scaled spider • horse • human • human (Northman) • laraken • panther • sprite • starsnake • stirge • tressym • unseelie • wemic • wild elf • winged lizard • zombie

Referenced only

aurochs • chicken • cow • Crinti • crocodile • donkey • dragon • drow • Durpari • elephant • giant sea turtle • giant snake • goose • griffon • halfling • hummingbird • Ilythiiri • Llewyrr • merfolk • mockingbird • monkey • mule • pullet • rabbit • raven • roc • rothé • sahuagin • shark • sheep • tiger • unicorn • white dragon

Locations[]

Regions

Halruaa

Referenced only

Amn • Cormyr • Dambrath • Mhair • Moonshae Isles • Mulhorand • Nath • Netheril • Shaar • Thay • Unther

Settlements

Halarahh • Khaerbaal • Zalasuu

Referenced only

Achelar • Aluarim • Halagard • Myth Drannor • Nath • Silverymoon • Sulazir • Zhentil Keep

Sites & Buildings

Akhlaur's Tower • Arbor Square • Behir's Nest • Falling Star Tavern • Ilysium • Kiva's villa • Promenade (Halarahh) • School of Augury • Sultan Street • Reef Street • Temple of Mystra (Swamp of Akhlaur) • Zalathorm's Palace

Referenced only

Low Street

Wilderness

Bay of Taertal • Lake Halruaa • River Aluar • River Halar • Swamp of Akhlaur

Referenced only

Bay of Azuth • Great Sea • Mhair Jungles • Muaraghal Wall • Swamp of Kilmaruu • Walls of Halruaa

Other

Selûne (moon)

Referenced only

Arvanaith • Elemental Plane of Water • Ilythiir

Organizations[]

Cabal • Church of Azuth • Church of Mystra • Council of Elders (Halruaa) • Disputation Table • Diviner's Registry • House Jordain • Inquisitors • Jordaini College • Jordaini Council • jordainis • Troupe Gioviente

Referenced only

bladesinger • Unseelie Court

Magic[]

Spells

dancing lights • heat metal • lich touch • light • lightning storm • Obold's brightness • scorching ray • stoneskin • scrying (spell) • sleep • spell of seeking • sun arrow • teleport • wind charm

Referenced only

cone of ice

Items

holy symbol • incense of somnolence • portable hole • scroll • spellbook

Referenced only

carpet of flying • lightning sheet

Religions[]

Azuth • Mystra

Referenced only

Cyric • Lolth

Miscellaneous[]

Vegetation

almond tree • bilboa • date palm • grape • herb • jasmine (plant) • mazganut • mint • reed • rose • sandalwood • swamp blossom • venom flower

Referenced only

cherrynut tree • hanging moss • water lily

Food & Drink

allspice • bread • cardamom • golden wine • hangman's noose • mace (spice) • orange • roasted dove • sugar • tea • wine

Referenced only

ale • bacon • egg • honeycake • mango • melon • mutton • soup • stew • sugared wine

Substances & Material

amethyst • brocade • bronze • coral • electrum • emerald • flint • gold • ink • ivory • kohl • leather • linen • lightning (material) • lodestone • marble • oil • parchment • pearl • plaster • porcelan • rattan • ruby • silk • silver • spider-silk • steel • tiger's eye • velvet

Referenced only

amber • moonstone • sulfur

Equipment

baldric • broadsword • dagger • grappling hook • kirtle • leggings • machete • pike • short sword • sword • torch • tunic

Events

Lady Day • Monster Fair • spring regatta

Referenced only

Mycontil's Stand

Works

Kilmaruu Paradox • Obold's Spellbook • These Men of Zhentil Keep

Ships

Avariel (ship) • Halruaan skyship • Starsnake (ship)

Other

albinism • aqueduct • caltrops • Castles (game) • chess • cloudcart • cock fight • Common • fishing lure • harp • horn • Old Netherese • Skie (currency) • stilts • sunsleep • mirror • music box (Halruaa) • pantaloons • snood • teeter board • water clock

Referenced only

Common • trade bar • Turmish language

Appendix[]

References[]