"Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman - Deathgate Cycle 2 - Elven Star" - читать интересную книгу автора (Weis Margaret)

About Pryan, the World of Fire, we know little except that its area is
purportedly vast. The model left behind by the Sartan pictures a gigantic ball
of stone surrounding a core of fire, similar to the ancient world but far, far
larger. It is the size that puzzles me. Why did the Sartan feel the need to
make this planet so incredibly immense? Something else I do not quite
understand and that is—where is its sun? These are among the many questions
you will endeavor to answer.

Because of the enormous amount of land space on Pryan, I can only assume that
its population must tend to be scattered about in small groups, isolated from
each other. I base this on knowledge of the estimated number of people the
Sartan transported to Pryan. Even with an unprecedented population explosion,
the elves, humans, and dwarves could never have expanded to cover such a large
land mass. A disciple to draw the people together, such as you brought me from
Arianus, will be of no use to me under such circumstances.

• 4*

WEIS AND HICKMAN
You are being sent to Pryan primarily as investigator. Learn all you can about
this world and its inhabitants. And, as in Arianus, search diligently for some
sign of the Sartan. Although you did not (with one exception) discover them
living in the World of Air, it is possible that they may have fled that world
and sought exile on Pryan.

Be careful, Haplo, be circumspect. Do nothing to draw attention to yourself. I
embrace you in my heart. I look forward to embracing you in my arms on your
safe and successful return. Your lord and father.3

CHAPTER » 1

EQUILAN, TREETOP LEVEL

3Hapk>, Pryan, World of Fire, vol. 2 of Death Gate journals.

CALANDRA QUINDINIAR SAT AT THE HUGE POLISHED SCROLL DESK ADDING up the last
month's earnings. Her white fingers darted rapidly over the abacus, sliding
the beads up and down, muttering the figures aloud to herself as she wrote
them in the old leather-bound ledger. Her handwriting was much like herself:
thin, upright, precise, and easy to read.

Above her head whirled four plumes made of swans' feathers, keeping the air
moving. Despite the suffocating midcycle heat outside, the interior of the
house was cool. It stood on the highest elevation in the city and so obtained
the breeze that Otherwise was often lost in the jungle vegetation.

The house was the largest in the city, next to the royal palace. (Lenthan
Quindiniar had the money to build his house larger than the royal palace, but
he was a modest elf and knew his place,) The rooms were spacious and airy with