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“Council members, I am
the one who you seek.  I am the one who compiled the gen’s book of lore on the
Mountain King.  I have studied Palacid extensively.  I have read the same
prophecies gathered by the last Lord Kale as my father has.  I am fluent in
reading the writings of the dwarves and elves, and I both speak and read
Draconic.”
    Lord Karthan looked concerned. “Kiria, are you
sure that you want to do this?  Do you understand how great the dangers are
that you would encounter?”
    “I do, Father,” she replied.  “In fact, I would
dare say that no one knows them better than I.”  Knowing she had the council’s
attention, Kiria continued, “There is much that is not known in this quest. 
But the prophecies that we’ve read state that the stones of all five of the
major gens will be gathered to Palacid.  If that is where the Kale Stone is to
be found, then this quest that has been given to Durik’s Company is really
two-fold, for in order to enter the great stronghold of Palacid, one must have
the key to the entrance.”  She paused, looking into the skeptical faces of the
council members.  “The last Lord Kale’s journal records that the key to Palacid
is to be found in a dwarven tomb.  If that is true, then it must lie within the
Hall of the Mountain King far to the north of here.  The lore concerning the
Mountain King and his stronghold is as vast as the halls themselves, from the
Dwarven language that only a handful of us can read to the complex traps,
detailed by the most cryptic clues, that guarded their most closely held
treasures.
    “And that would be only the first part of the
quest.  It may be that we must enter our ancient home and, if it still
functions, subdue or defeat the guards that The Sorcerer Himself caused to be
placed there, or perhaps to turn them to our cause that we might reclaim the Kale
Stone.”  She paused a moment, considering her words carefully.  Though she and
her father weren’t sure where the Kale Stone was to be found exactly, the fact
that they thought it might be found at Palacid could certainly serve to
strengthen her argument that she should accompany the yearling group.  She
decided to end her words.
    Kiria met the council members’ stares as she
finished. “It is to that end, the reclaiming of the Kale Stone, that I pledge
my life.”
    There was silence in the hall.  With much anticipation,
all eyes seemed to be on Lord Karthan, to see if he would allow this, or if he
would protect his daughter from what they all saw as her own folly.  Lord
Karthan looked down, then, raising his eyes to the crowd and holding back the
emotion he felt, he said, “I will not stand in her way.”
    Kiria had never felt the fervor of her own
decision burn stronger in her heart than now.  Looking into the eyes of the
council members, she spoke her conviction.  “I also believe in the quest that
is laid before us this day.  I do not go for glory, for despite my birth I too
am without caste as are all females in this gen.  I do not go on the bidding of
my father, for he does not wish me to go.  Rather, I go because I believe in
this path that is laid before our gen.  I would go for the greater good of
this, our gen.”
    Durik had been as surprised as the rest of the gen
at Kiria’s move… but in his heart he admired her tenacity.  And the confidence
with which she addressed the entire leadership of the gen seemed part of her,
not summoned for this occasion alone.  Yet as he began to think about the two
months of training down in the underdark that they had completed just before
the Trials of Caste, he began to doubt the wisdom of taking along one so
unfamiliar in the ways of warriors as the daughter of Lord Karthan.  And if she
died!  The thought brought both fear of Lord Karthan’s anger and a sharpened
awareness of his own feelings for her.
    With a stern look on his face, Raoros Fang calmly
stood, choosing his words carefully and more precisely than he