A Fantasy Essay Research Paper A FantasyCrypt

A Fantasy Essay, Research Paper A Fantasy Crypt of the Shadowking by Mark Anthony is a fantasy tale of the never ending struggle of good against evil. The Zhentarim, the hell-bent organization which is more concerned with making a profit than the greater good of all has taken over the city of a thousand spires. The Harpers, a loosely construed group of people who are always meddling in others affairs to keep the proverbial balance between good and evil in check, are ready to get the once bustling trade city back on the track it once was with the help of a former member. Through out the book there is never a dull moment, making it easy to read in just one or two sittings. Anyone who loves a good fantasy should read this book. After seven long years of traveling, the rough

looking, worn out Caledan Caldorien is returning to his home town Ireaebor and finds it has been taken over by a tyrant known as Cutter. In Caledan?s absence, Cutter has passed many ridiculous laws and anyone violating any of these is forced into slavery under the Tor which the city is set upon, where Cutter is mining to find the crypt of the Shadowking, where the nightstone, an ancient artifact of great and evil power, believed to be. Caledan finds this out through a connection within the slums and goes to find his old traveling companions who once made up the Company of the Dreaming Dragon. After reuniting, the company goes to find the tomb of Merrimeck to find the secret of the shadow song, the known power against the Shadowking and the nightstone. As the company travels to

toward the Fields of the Dead, they encounter a shadevar, a horrifying and powerful foe thought to have been banished from the world of Toril long ago. After a wild battle, and the death of the shadevar, the company thief, Ferrit, searches the corpse and finds a ring which enabled the shadervar to communicate with the frighteningly powerful creature who summoned it, and through magic the mage, Morhion, finds that the master of the shadevar was not the lord Cutter as they had once thought but Cutter?s own lord steward, Snake. After returning, Ferrit does a little spying and finds that Snake has made a pact with the Shadowking and to conspire against Cutter and eventually rule over all of Toril. The Company of the Dreaming Dragon devise a plan to free all of the slaves and through

a little flag waving get all of the slaves and cityfolk alike to revolt against Cutter and the Zhentarim. As the slaves are freed, however, Cutter finds the Crypt while personally leading a group of soldiers against the revolt, unleashes the Shadowking while greedily trying to take the nightstone for her own, and is grotesquely killed by the being. But of course the Company intervenes and uses the shadowsong to drive the Shadowking back into the crypt and they save the world. The book revolves around the main character Caledan Caldorien. The fact that Caledan cannot be around his friends from the past without rousing memories of his wife who was killed seven years before causes a conflict within him, man versus self, because he has to have the help of his old traveling companions

to survive. With Cutter leading the Zhentarim forces into Iriaebor and Snake conspiring with the Shadowking, the company has to stop the dictator and the being of evil before the Shadowking arises and all hope is lost, a good versus evil conflict. Being told in third person omniscient point of view, the reader is opened to all characters thoughts: ??Caledan swore under his breath, that was all he needed, another female to make his life miserable.?, ??Snake was going to have to take action, and he would need lord Cutter?s help, but first he would half to decide how much to tell her.? When Cutter finds the nightstone the climax hits and sends the reader into such a frenzy that one may skip over half a page to find out what happens next. ? This time the pain showed clearly on