In the bleak Khalkist Mountains, on a stormy winter night, a child is born amid hard words, ill will, and the ominous prophecy of a druidess. Young Verminaard grows up unlovely and unloved, trading friends and family for a dark romance with an evil, mysterious voice and the sinister weapon it comes to inhabit. Michael and Teri Williams, long known for their poems, novels, and stories in the continuing DRAGONLANCE saga, reveal the origins of the evil cleric Verminaard.