Children of the Rune

“No one, in truth, knows for sure where the power of the rune comes from . . .” Hvanen said. “Some speculate that it has to do with the ancient dragons that left the realm for the west. Some think it comes from the gods. Or that the land itself has a level of awareness and intelli- gence all its own. Since we do not even understand the power’s origins, certainly no one knows for sure why runes appear on the flesh of some but not others.” He glanced at Rand, who stared back intently, not attempting to conceal his eagerness to hear more of such secrets. “I suspect,” the verrik continued, “that the runes are tied to the very nature of the land itself. The power of the runechildren is the might of the land made manifest. Those who find themselves so marked are those who would use the power on behalf of the land. Somehow, the runes seem to know who should have them, and who should not. It is far less a reward than a responsibility.” “A burden, then?” asked Rand. “That is not the word I choose.” “A manifestation of destiny?” “More a manifestation of power,” said Hvanen. “A bequeathal of the right abilities on the right person at the right time. . . .” Sample file PROUDLY PRESENTS

MONTE COOK’S ARCANA UNEARTHED A variant player’s handbook written by one of the designers of 3rd Edition Dungeons & Dragons®. Features new roleplaying classes, races, skills, feats, and spells, plus an alternate magic system.

MONTE COOK’S ARCANA UNEARTHED: THE DIAMOND THRONE Provides fundamental gameplay support for the variant rules in Monte Cook’s Arcana Unearthed. Includes the basic source material of the setting plus new prestige classes, monsters, magic items, and more.

MONTE COOK’S ARCANA UNEARTHED: DM’S SCREEN AND PLAYER’S GUIDE A three-paneled horizontal screen with all the charts a DM needs to run the game, plus a separate player reference card. Guide includes eleven different character sheets, conversion guidelines, and character archetypes.

MONTE COOK’S ARCANA UNEARTHED: LEGACY OF THE DRAGONS Provides new adversaries and allies created using the rules from the variant player’s handbook. Also includes important and exciting new nonplayer character personalities from the land of the Diamond Throne.

MONTE COOK’S ARCANA UNEARTHED: MYSTIC SECRETS Expands the magical options available to all characters with new spells, magic items, and arcane methods; mystic sites; new rules for runes; and ceremonies to forge magic bonds with weapons, animals, and allies. Available November 2004 Samplewww.arcanaunearthed.com file TALES FROM THE LAND OF THE DIAMOND THRONE BY MONTE COOK ED GREENWOOD JEFF GRUBB AND OTHERS

EDITED BY SUE WEINLEIN COOK

Sample® file MONTE COOK’S ARCANA UNEARTHED: CHILDREN OF THE RUNE

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All persons, places, and organizations in this book—except those clearly in the public domain—are fictitious, and any resemblance that may seem to exist to actual persons, places, or organizations living, dead, or defunct is purely coincidental. The mention of or reference to any companies or products in these pages is not a challenge to the trademarks or copyrights concerned. Unearthed Arcana is a trademark of Wizards of the Coast, a subsidiary of Hasbro, in the USA and other countries. Arcana Unearthed is used with permission from Wizards, and all rights are reserved.

Children of the Rune is published by Malhavoc Press LLC. This anthology is ©2004 Monte J. Cook The contents of each individual story in this anthology is copyright as listed below, excepting those elements that are components of the Monte Cook’s Arcana Unearthed and The Diamond Throne intellectual properties. Such elements are TM and © Monte J. Cook. All rights reserved. Introduction ©2004 Sue Weinlein Cook • “Stone Ghosts” ©2004 Lucien Soulban “How it Works” and “Not Without Cost” ©2004 Monte J. Cook • “Skin Deep” ©2004 Steven Brown “The Silent Man” ©2004 Richard Lee Byers • “The Fallen Star” ©2004 Ed Greenwood “Hollows of the Heart” ©2004 Bruce R. Cordell and Keith Francis Strohm “Child of the Street” ©2004 William B. McDermott • “Clash of Duty” ©2004 Miranda Horner “The Pebble Before the Avalanche” ©2004 Mike Mearls • “Name Day” ©2004 Wolfgang Baur “Singer for the Dead” ©2004 John J. Grubb • “Precious Things” ©2004 Thomas M. Reid

Cover art by Mark Zug Cover and interior design by Peter Whitley Cartography by Ed Bourelle

ISBN: 1-58846-864-X Stock #WW16145 First Printing: August 2004 Printed in Canada

Distributed for Malhavoc Press by White Wolf Publishing Sample1554 Litton Drive file Stone Mountain, GA 30083 www.montecook.com MONTE COOK’S ARCANA UNEARTHED: CHILDREN OF THE RUNE

VI INTRODUCTION SUE WEINLEIN COOK

1 STONE GHOSTS LUCIEN SOULBAN

23 HOW IT WORKS MONTE COOK

36 THE SILENT MAN RICHARD LEE BYERS

60 HOLLOWS OF THE HEART BRUCE R. CORDELL & KEITH FRANCIS STROHM

80 THE FALLEN STAR ED GREENWOOD

99 SampleCHILD OF THE STREET file WILL MCDERMOTT 120 CLASH OF DUTY MIRANDA HORNER

144 THE PEBBLE BEFORE THE AVALANCHE MIKE MEARLS

165 NAME DAY WOLFGANG BAUR

184 SINGER FOR THE DEAD JEFF GRUBB

205 PRECIOUS THINGS THOMAS M. REID

224 SKIN DEEP STAN!

248 NOT WITHOUT COST SampleMONTE COOK file