Book of Bone and Ebony

short, and lines of middle age crease his pale face. On his
back, the tall ghost carries his enormous, black-iron blade,
the symbol of his district and the badge of his office. With
his smooth, tenor voice, he is a deft conversationalist,
making casual jokes or discussing complex topics with
equal ease. However, his quick wit and fine grooming are
carefully cultivated disguises for his selfishness and ambition.
Wealth is his foremost concern, and his passions
drive him forward to seek more power and more profits.
Despite his pretensions, his actions have proven that he
sets his own interests before those of Stygia, earning him
the enmity of the population.
No Council member wields as much power as Lord
Stalwart. His enterprises have afforded him great wealth,
and only the Deathlords and the Dual Monarchy have
access to more resources within Stygia. With bribes, he can
encourage officials to ignore his less legal deeds and buy
their favors. A small army of thugs and bodyguards are on
his official payroll, and those whom Lord Stalwart cannot
buy, he can bully. He isn’t so foolish as to trust his safety
entirely to his wealth, however, and he is an exceptional
warrior with his sword. Within the Council, there are few
willing to challenge his might, and only his unpopularity
keeps him from outright domination.
Lord Stalwart forged his alliance with the First and
Forsaken Lion when the Deathlord seemed on the verge of
conquering the necropolis. Though his partnership granted
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CHAPTER ONE • STYGIA
him a great deal of influence, the businessman has begun
to chafe under his master’s iron fist. Squirming to gain a
more equal footing with his partner, he finds himself in the
laps of the Courtier of Silk and Shadow and the Emissary
of Righteous Victory and deeper within the clutches of
Oblivion. With three of his lieutenants fallen to the
Whisper of Oblivion, an awareness of the price of his
machinations slowly dawns on Lord Stalwart, and the
councilman can no longer close his eyes to the agenda of
his allies. Caught in an ever-tightening web of greed and
deceit, he sees that the madness of the Void is inevitable
if he continues his course but has no idea how to escape his
fate. Whether Lord Stalwart will make a mad, suicidal dash
for freedom or succumb reluctantly to his destiny remains
to be seen.
THE HOLLOW KING
Any examination of the longest seated member of the
Council is a study in contrasts, for the Hollow King appears
both sophisticated and primitive. His robes are woven of
fine silks and linens, but the swirling, hypnotic patterns that
decorate them are primal in design. He covers his face with
a wooden, tribal mask depicting upturned eyes and a smiling
mouth, and he wears his dark, coarse hair in a long mass of
thick braids. His fingers end in graceful talons, which he uses
with elegant ease, whether to lift a goblet of wine to his
wooden lips or to gesture sharply as he illustrates a point.