''The Parched Sea'' is the first novel in the Harpers series, set in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting. The book was written by Troy Denning.

Plot summary

The Parched Sea is another name for the

desert A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About on ...

'' Anauroch'' in which the novel takes place. The Zhentarim, determined to drive a trade route through Anauroch, send an army to enslave the

nomad A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the popu ...

s of the Great Desert. Ruha, an outcast witch, tries to gain the trust of the

Sheikh Sheikh (pronounced or ; ar, شيخ ' , mostly pronounced , plural ' )—also transliterated sheekh, sheyikh, shaykh, shayk, shekh, shaik and Shaikh, shak—is an honorific title in the Arabic language. It commonly designates a chief of a ...

as tribe after tribe fall to the Zhentarim. The Harpers send an agent to counter the Zhentarim, and Ruha helps this stranger win the Sheikh's trust, so that he can overcome the tribes' ancestral rivalries and drive the invaders from the desert.

Release details

*1991, USA, TSR (), Pub Date ? July 1991, Paperback

Reviews

*''

Magia i Miecz ''Magia i Miecz'' (Polish language, Polish for: ''Magic and Sword'') was the first Role-playing game, RPG-oriented magazine in Poland. Started in 1993, it ceased publishing in 2002 after 103 issues. The publisher was Wydawnictwo MAG. Tomasz Kołod ...

'' #59 (November 1998) (Polish)

References

1991 American novels Forgotten Realms novels Novels set in deserts {{ForgottenRealms-stub