Azure Bonds

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Azure Bonds
paperback edition (reprint) cover
Author	Kate Novak & Jeff Grubb
Cover artist	Clyde Caldwell
Country	U.S.A.
Language	English
Series	Finders Stone Trilogy
Genre(s)	Fantasy Novel
Publisher	TSR
Publication date	October, 1988
Media type	Print (Paperback)
Pages	380
ISBN	ISBN 0-88038-612-6
Followed by	The Wyvern's Spur

Azure Bonds is a fantasy novel written by Kate Novak and Jeff Grubb and was originally published in 1988. It is the opening novel of the Finder’s Stone Trilogy which is set within the world of the Forgotten Realms. It served as the basis for the computer game, Curse of the Azure Bonds. The novel was awarded 3 stars in a review by OtherRealms. ^[1] One of the co-authors, Jeff Grubb, stated that Azure Bonds is one of his favourite novels that he has written.^[2]

Contents 1 Plot 2 Characters 3 Reception 4 Other Media 4.1 Game Module 4.2 Computer Game 5 See Also 6 References

[edit] Plot

The trilogy’s titular “finder’s stone” plays a relatively limited role and has an essentially introductory presence in the novel.

The story begins with the main character, an adventuress named Alias, awakening in a disoriented and amnesic state. She soon discovers that she has a newly acquired azure colored tattoo imprinted on the inside of her sword arm in the space between her wrist and elbow. At first she attributes her memory loss to inebriation and the tattoo as a drunken prank by companions. She soon finds that the tattoo is magical in origin, resists attempts to remove it and most worryingly, exerts a power to compel her actions.

Before long, Alias becomes the nucleus of a disparate party of adventurers namely; Dragonbait, Akabar Bel Akash and Olive Ruskettle. The novel's plot follows the actions of the party which are combinations of the group’s investigations and interruptions caused by the compulsions of the tattoo.

It is later revealed that Alias herself is in fact a complicated, magically created, artificial being intended by her creators to be their proxy in various nefarious purposes. The tattoo was to be a means of control as well as a branding of ownership by each of the collaborating parties involved in her creation. Her long term memories were actually granted to her by her sole benign (but misled) creator and her short term memory loss is due in part to the gap between the end of her artificial memories and her premature awakening.

Alias eventually wins the freedom to control her actions and is able to embark on a life of her own. Events towards the end of the novel result in Giogioni Wyvernspur (a recurring supporting character), inadvertently acquiring the finder’s stone forming the back-story of the next novel in the trilogy, The Wyvern's Spur.

[edit] Characters

The novel marks the initial appearances of an ensemble of enduring characters, the foremost amongst which being Alias and Dragonbait. During the course of the story, several prominent characters of the larger fantasy world of the Forgotten Realms are featured. These include Azoun IV and Vangerdahast, Elminster, Moander, and The Nameless Bard (Finder Wyvernspur).

Alias

A female warrior and the protagonist of the novel. At the onset of the story she is portrayed as an archetypal adventuress, being a seasoned traveler and veteran hired guard. She is depicted on the cover artwork in ceremonial armour.

Dragonbait

Dragonbait is the first of the companions encountered by Alias. He has the most unusual appearance of the party and physically resembles a greenish, lizardman-like creature. Incapable of normal speech, his early behavior is often clownish and servile but obedient. It is eventually learned that he is in fact a highly accomplished member of his race that are known as saurials. His name is actually an acquired nickname courtesy of Alias.

Akabar Bel Akash

A native from the southern lands of Turmish — a region of the Forgotten Realms roughly comparable in style and culture to the medieval middle-east. Initially, Akabar is conducting his affairs as a merchant but he also has training as a mage and inwardly yearns to prove himself as an adventurer.

He is a tall man with dusky skin and brown hair. He wears a mustache and a beard, the beard being cut straight across the bottom. He has blue eyes, three dots tattooed on his forehead (marking him as a scholar of religion, reading, and magic), and a sapphire earring denoting that he is married.

Akabar describes himself as a mage "of no small water," though Alias refers to him constantly as a "greengrocer," or a dabbler in the art. His work shown in the first book would tend to bear out Alias' disparagement, though he is clearly far more advanced during the third book. He does not have a part in the events of the second book.

Akabar joined Alias almost from the first, being the one who reassured the ownership and clientèle of the inn that Alias found herself in at the beginning of Azure Bonds that the unconscious woman was not a witch. His attempt to work a magic spell to confirm the origin of the blue tattoos resulted in a violent explosion of blue light. From much that point further, Akabar’s destiny was ruled by that tattoo.

He worked alongside Alias’ other companions to free her from those who masterminded her creation, and returned to his lands thereafter. Akabar’s life was far from finished with regard to Alias, however. During the time between the end of Azure Bonds and the beginning of Song of the Saurials, Akabar met and married a third wife, Zhara, a priestess of Tymora. It is revealed shortly after her first appearance that she, too, is a clone of Alias.

Akabar is eventually taken by the dark god Moander, though he managed to retain his own will. In the end, his body overtaken by Moander’s vines of possession, Akabar called to the gods he’d served through his life to take him into their hands, to teach Finder how an unselfish man dies.

Olive Ruskettle

Olive is a female Halfling and the final member of the party to be encountered. She is a self-styled bard but displays the duplicity and skill at thievery and pilfering characteristically associated with Halflings; in the course of the book, it is revealed that she has taken on the identity of a true bard, one Olaf Ruskettle, and feminized his given name for her purposes.

[edit] Reception

The winner of the 1989 Hugo for Best Fanzine, OtherRealms ^[3], stated that Azure Bonds was written to have a broader appeal to those not familiar with the AD&D game. The reviewer also noted that although it has good characterization, several key scenes felt glossed over. ^[4] Brett Franklin from Candlekeep.com gave a positive review, praising the characterization and the fixed linear storyline whilst another reviewer from Candlekeep.com stated the ending was not as succinct as he would have liked.^[5] On RPGNet it was ranked 391 out of 461 compared to other Gaming Fiction with a rating of 6.51. ^[6]

[edit] Other Media

[edit] Game Module

A game module Curse of the Azure Bonds has also been released in April 1989 under Forgotten Realms Module FRC2. The module was written by Jeff Grubb and George MacDonald.^[7] The module follows the main character Alias in the story where the characters awaken with mysterious blue sigils.

[edit] Computer Game

Main article: Curse of the Azure Bonds

In 1989, SSI published a computer game titled “Curse of the Azure Bonds”. The game’s plot follows a similar premise to the novel but is set sometime after the events of the novel instead of being a direct adaptation. The game had a favourable reception achieving a score of 90% from Amiga Magazine Rack. The reviewer Paul Rigby describes it an improvement over its predecessor Pool of Radiance and it has "a good storyline and excellent graphics. CAB is recommended whatever version you have."^[8]

[edit] See Also

• The Wyvern's Spur - 2nd Book in Finders Stone Trilogy
• Song of the Saurials - 3rd Book in Finders Stone Trilogy

[edit] References