The DragonCrown War Cycle is a four book fantasy series consisting of a prequel, The Dark Glory War, and three main volumes, Fortress Draconis, When Dragons Rage, and The Grand Crusade. The books were written by Michael A. Stackpole and published by Bantam Spectra, a subsidiary of Randomhouse inc. over the course of 4 years from 2000-2003. The books follow a group of heroes as they struggle to bring to fruition the Norrington Prophecy, so that they can defeat the evil Queen of the north, Chytrine, and save the southern kingdoms from destruction.
The Norrington Prophecy The words of the prophecy are printed in every book on the pages before the story starts.
A Norrington to lead them,Immortal, washed in fireVictorious, from sea to icePower of the north he will shatter,A scourge he will kill,Then Vorquellyn he will redeem.
The Dragon Crown
The Dragon Crown is a magical artifact of great power. In ages long past, the powerful sorcerer Kirun created the crown using Dragon Heartstones gifted to him by the Dragon Council. Each Stone held the soul of an old and powerful dragon. Drawing from their strength, Kirun wove spells and created a crown that allowed the wearer, if they are powerful enough, to bend Dragons to their will. However, after Kirun's defeat the pieces were separated and hidden. Chytrine has been trying to recover the crown fragments while the people of the southern kingdoms fight to protect them because if Chytrine could wield the power of the crown, none could stand before her.
Book Summaries
The Dark Glory War
It is Moon Month in Oriosa, the month where boys participate in the joyous festivals of becoming men. Three childhood friends Leigh Norrington, Tarrant Hawkins, and Rounce Playfair are joined by a newcomer Naysmith Carver as they are sent out into the forest to prove themselves worthy of earning their adult masks to replace their recently received moonmasks. In Oriosa, a person without a mask has no identity and is a shame to his family. While out in the forest their hidden guide is killed and the boys must fight a monstrous temeryx. They succeed in killing the monster but Rounce is severely hurt and cannot continue in their adventures. The boys return to their town to inform Leigh's father, Lord Norrington, of their encounter. Norrington realizing that the arrival of the temeryx from the north means the evil Queen Chytrine of Aurolan was renewing her effort to conquer the world. Norrington, the boys, and Norrington's soldiers set out to tell the Queen of Oriosa their discovery. From there they join forces with the Queen's armies and set out to fight the Aurolan armies of Gibberers and temeryxes. They fight various roving armies as they are en route to the besieged Fortress Draconis, the gateway to the north. During the trip the young heroes are awarded their adult masks by Lord Norrington. In these battles they are greatly aided by a magical sword Temmer discovered by Leigh Norrington. Temmer makes the user invincible in battle but will eventually cause the wielder to lose his sanity. When Leigh discovers the sword he also discovers a prophecy that seems to suggest he will be the one to destroy Chytrine once and for all. When the heroes reach Fortress Draconis their armies help win the battle. However, the main heroes believing themselves invincible with prophecy leave their armies to orchestrate a sneak attack against Chytrine in her own territory. Unfortunately, the heroes are defeated by Chytrine with some dying and others giving up and being magically corrupted into becoming Chytrine's new sullanciri(Dark Lancers). They ironically replace her old generals whom they had killed earlier in their adventures. The only one to escape is Tarrant Hawkins but he does not believe that he escaped truly alive. He is stripped of his adult mask by his father upon returning to Yslin. The Crown heads don't want him spreading word of Chytrine's promise to return. Without his mask, he is without his identity so Tarrant Hawkins dies and becomes Kedyn's Crow.
Fortress Draconis
Will is a thief in the slums of the once great city of Yslin. He usually sticks to small thefts but today he has something big planned. Something that will force his landlord and mentor, Marcus, from kicking him out of the thief's den. He waits all night for the Vorquelf, Predator, to go to sleep. Will sneaks in the house and steals what to him is just a metallic leaf. He does not know its true purpose but suddenly feels as if he was destined to have it. Unfortunately, he lingers too long and Predator becomes aware of his presence. Predator and his band of Vorqs chase Will until they are intercepted by a Vorq even bigger than Predator. Resolute beats down the Vorqs with the help of an older man named Crow. After their rescue they take Will to a tavern to get him washed up and to spread false tales of their plans. Now taking a bewildered Will with them, Resolute and Crow leave the city and head into the countryside. They pass through a town called Stellin that should be peaceful but is on edge because of recent gibberer incursions. They pass through quickly, heading towards the mountains. There they meet the Oracle, a Vorq with the power to see the future, among other things. Using Will's blood and her magic, she manages to summon a Sullanciri into her cave. While some minor damage is caused trying to get the Dark Lancer to leave, his presence confirms that Will is, at least, strongly connected to the person Resolute and Crow have been looking for. After this encounter the group heads back towards Stellin and finds it ready for a battle. The group help the town set up better defenses and drops off a girl named Sephi they had saved in the woods. The group hides in the stables waiting for the gibberers. They kill many but would have been overrun if not for the arrival of Princess Alyx and her golden bandits. The group sneaks away while the bandits finish the battle.
From the town Will, Resolute, and Crow head towards a city to find boat passage to Fortress Draconis. Alyx on the other hand heads to a different city that is being overrun by Aurolani forces. She stages a brilliant plan and saves the city only to have it be destroyed a few days later by a dragon Chytrine has gained control of with a piece of the legendary DragonCrown. After The victory she is taken to Yslin by King Augustus in order to help him influence the Okrannel refugees in the city during the Harvest festival. Meanwhile on the way towards the sea our heroes encounter and save a man named Dranae who towers above even Resolute. With him in tow they reach the desired city only to be press ganged into serving on a ship headed to protect the island of Vilwan where the strongest mages of the era live and train. They get there just in time to help set up the defenses. The battle seems destined to be a Vilwaneese victory until Chytrine's dragon appears. Luckily another dragon materializes, wounds the golden dragon, destroys the pirates' flagship and flies away carrying its younger brethren in its massive claws. Without the dragon the mages easily win but at great cost. Many of the young apprentices evacuated before the battle were sought after and killed by the pirates. Luckily for the world, a young Adept named Kerrigan Reese survived his time on the high sea. He is the most powerful mage in a generation granted powers that a human hasn't possessed in centuries. However he is just a boy and his isolation in Vilwan has made him soft. After the battle Will and company find themselves taken to the Harvest Festival. Kerrigan also finds his way there after being rescued from the sea by his tutor Orla and a Panqui named Lombo. Once there Will learns he is the Norrington from the prophecy and runs away. While people search for him, all the kings and queens at the festival meet to discuss their plans. One side wishes to reinforce Fortress Draconis and remove the pieces of the DragonCrown hidden there. Another faction wishes to free Okrannel before sweeping into Aurolani.
Eventually the Okrannel side wins out over the more reasonable plan. Will is found and sent with the Okrannel army featuring Princess Alexia as one of its generals. Kerrigan also joins the troops as Will's protector from magical attacks. The Baron Draconis leaves angrily and with less reinforcements than he wanted. During the expedition into Okrannel the army manages to free the once important city of Svoid but find it is not worth protecting and burn it. However, Alexia learns that a thief has stolen a piece of the DragonCrown and given it to a pirate Queen. The main group of heroes leaves the battlefront in the capable hands of General Adrogans in order to retrieve it. They infiltrate a pirate city and take back the crown though in the process Orla dies. From there they decide to head to Fortress Draconis to try to save other pieces of the DragonCrown. They succeed in saving one more piece thanks to Kerrigan's magic and the massive number of soldiers who gave their lives defending the Fortress. Chytrine wins out in the end with the help of her dragon and takes hold of the Fortress and the two other pieces of the Crown left there. Luckily a force of the fortresses' men stays behind and will continue to harass her armies until they die or the southern armies liberate them. The main cast of heroes is stopped on the road as they lead the refugees back towards the south. Crow is arrested as it is revealed to the rest of the group that he is in fact Tarrant Hawkins, who most people believed caused the failure of the original Norrington quest.
When Dragons Rage
Will, Resolute, Alyx, Kerrigan and their allies are being led by Orosian soldiers towards the capital city of Meredo. On the way they discuss plans for freeing Crow from his imprisonment. Will wants to take a direct approach but Alyx discovers another way after a secret meeting in her dreams with the black dragon. The Black Dragon is a member of secret society that Alyx was inducted to during the events of the last book. She secretly marries Crow giving him all the rights a royal consort would be given. Upon arrival in Meredo she spars verbally with King Scrainwood and achieves her goal of getting Crow a fair trial. Meanwhile Will and Kerrigan make preparations to hide the piece of the DragonCrown they rescued. Kerrigan is summoned by a Magister to the Vilwan consulate but using his new found confidence and experience he refuses calmly and effectively. Later he is summoned by the Grand Magister and decides to go. In the northern lands of Aurolan, Chytrine begins to prepare her adopted daughter for a trip south as her agent. Chytrine also creates another Sullanciri out of what used to be the renowned thief the Azure Spire to send south with her daughter.
Keydn's trial begins with Will assuming the role of Lord Norrington in order to plead Crow's case. However, the sullanciri that was once Lord Norrington appears and citing many laws of Oriosa is allowed to speak. He acquits Tarrant of many of his supposed crimes but still accuses him of treason because he would not kill Lord Norrington before he could become a sullanciri. Another setback occurs when Kerrigan is abducted by an unknown person as he was trying to attend his summons. He awakes in a cell and begins to use magic but every time he does an entity breaks his concentration until he lights a fire with just a rock and his manacles. Someone was testing to see if Kerrigan could actually save the world. Will had bolted from the courtroom when the sullanciri was allowed to speak. He suddenly realizes it is a distraction and runa to his room to try to protect his piece of the dragoncrown. When he arrives he finds the new Azure Spider trapped in Kerrigan's protective spells. Will is relieved until the Spider sprays Will with venom who begins to feel paralysis set in.